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Cato (MARCUS PORCIUS the Censor)

MARCUS PORCIUS, the Censor, surnamed Priscus, the Wise and the Elder, a celebrated Roman, born in Tusculum, in 234 в. c. He inherited from his father, a plebeian, a small estate in the territory of the Sabines, which he cultivated with his own hands. By the advice of Valerius Flaccus he removed to Rome, where his forensic abilities had free scope. He rose rapidly, accompanied Scipio to Sicily as quæstor in 204 в. C., became an ædile in 199, and in 198 was chosen prætor, and appointed to the province of Sardinia. Three years later he gained the consulship, and in 194 for his brilliant campaign in Spain obtained the honor of a triumph. In 191 he served as military tribune against Antiochus, and then, having abundantly proved his his soldierly qualities, returned to Rome.

For some years he exercised a practical censorship, scrutinizing the characters of candidates for office, and denouncing false claims, peculations, etc. His election to the censorship in 184 set an official seal to his efforts, the unsparing severity of which has made his name proverbial. From that year until his death he held no public office, though zealously continuing his unofficial labors for the state. His hostility to Carthage, the destruction of which he advocated in every speech made by him in the forum, was the most striking feature of his closing years. His incessant "Delenda est Carthago" (Carthage must be destroyed) did much to further the third Punic war. Of his works his "De Re Rustica" (On Rural Economy) alone survives, though there exist in quotation fragments of his history and speeches.

He died 149 B. C.