LVII. Matters were in bad plight between Scipio and Varus, for in consequence of their disagreement and disunion they were secretly trying to win the favour of Juba,[746] who was intolerable for the arrogance of his temper and his haughtiness by reason of his wealth and power. When he was going to have his first interview with Cato, Juba placed his seat between the seats of Scipio and Cato. However, when Cato observed it, he took up his seat and moved it to the other side so as to leave Scipio in the middle, though Scipio was his enemy, and had published a certain writing which contained abuse of Cato. This, indeed, people make no account of; but they blame Cato that in Sicily he placed Philostratus[747] in the middle, as he was walking about with him, to do honour to philosophy. On this occasion, however, he checked Juba, who had all but made Scipio and Varus his satraps, and he reconciled them. Though all invited Cato to the command, and Scipio and Varus were the first to surrender and give it up to him, he said that he would not break the laws in defence of which they were fighting against him who broke them, nor would he place himself, who was a propraetor, before a proconsul who was present. For Scipio had been appointed proconsul, and the majority, on account of the name, had confidence that they should be successful, if a Scipio commanded in Libya.

LVIII. However when Scipio[748] immediately on receiving the command, wished to please Juba by putting to death all the people of Utica who were capable of bearing arms, and to dig down the city, because it favoured Caesar, Cato would not endure this, but with adjurations and loud cries in the council and by appealing to the gods he with difficulty rescued the people from their cruelty; and partly at the request of the citizens of Utica[749] and partly at the instance of Scipio, he undertook to keep guard in the city, that it should not either involuntarily or voluntarily join Caesar. For the place was in all respects advantageous, and defensible by those who held it; and it was strengthened still more by Cato. For he brought abundance of corn into the city, and he strengthened the walls by raising towers, and making strong ditches and palisado-work in front of the city. To the people of Utica who were able to bear arms he assigned the palisado-work as their quarter, and made them give up their arms to him; but he kept the rest in the city, and took great care that they should not be wronged and should suffer no harm from the Romans. He also sent out a great quantity of arms, supplies and grain to those in camp, and altogether he made the city the storehouse for the war. But the advice which he gave Pompeius before, and gave Scipio then, not to fight with a man of a warlike turn and great ability, but to take advantage of time which wastes all the vigour wherein the strength of tyranny lies, Scipio through self-will despised; and on one occasion he wrote to Cato upbraiding him with cowardice, in that he was not content to sit down within a city and walls, but would not even let others boldly use their own judgment as opportunity offered. To this Cato replied, that he was ready to take the legionary soldiers and horsemen whom he had brought into Libya, and carry them over to Italy, and so make Caesar change his place and to turn him from them to himself. And when Scipio mocked at this also, it was clear that Cato was much annoyed that he had declined the command, for he saw that Scipio would neither conduct the war well, nor, if he should succeed contrary to expectation, would he behave with moderation to the citizens in his victory. Accordingly Cato formed the opinion and mentioned it to some of his friends, that he had no good hopes of the war on account of the inexperience and confidence of the commanders, but if there should be any good fortune, and Caesar should be worsted, he would not stay in Rome, and would fly from the harshness and cruelty of Scipio, who was even then uttering dreadful and extravagant threats against many. But it turned out worse than he expected; and late in the evening there arrived a messenger from the camp who had been three days on the road, with the news that a great battle had been fought at Thapsus[750] in which their affairs were entirely ruined, that Caesar was in possession of the camps, Scipio and Juba had escaped with a few men, and the rest of the army was destroyed.

LIX. On the arrival of this intelligence, the city, as was natural on the receipt of such news by night and in time of war, nearly lost its reason, and hardly contained itself within the walls; but Cato coming forward, whenever he met with any one running about and calling out, laid hold of him, and cheering him took away the excessive fright and confusion of his alarm, by saying that matters perchance were not so bad as they had been reported, but were magnified by rumour; and so he stayed the tumult. At daybreak he made proclamation that the three hundred, whom he had as a Senate, and these were Romans, and were carrying on business in Libya as merchants and money-lenders, should assemble at the temple of Jupiter, and also all the Roman senators who were present and their sons. While they were still assembling, Cato advanced, without hurry and with a tranquil countenance, as if nothing new had happened, holding a book in his hand, which he was reading; and this was a register of the military engines, arms, corn, bows, and legionary soldiers. When they had come together, beginning with the three hundred, and commending at some length the zeal and fidelity which they had displayed in aiding with their means and persons and advice, he exhorted them not to let their hopes be destroyed, and not severally to provide for their flight or escape. For, he said, that if they would keep together, Caesar would despise them less if they made resistance, and would spare them more if they asked his mercy. And he urged them to deliberate about themselves, and that he would not find fault with their deciding either way, and if they should be disposed to turn to the fortunate side, he should attribute the change to necessity; but if they preferred to oppose the danger and to undertake the hazard in defence of liberty, he should not only commend them, but admire their virtue, and make himself their commander and fellow-combatant, till they had tried the last fortune of their country, which was not Utica or Adrumetum only, but Rome, that had often by her might recovered from greater falls. And they had many grounds for safety and security; and chief of all, that they were warring against a man who was pulled in many directions by the circumstances of the times, for Iberia had gone over to Pompeius the young, and Rome herself had not yet altogether received the bit for want of being used to it, but was impatient of suffering and ready to rise up collected upon every change, and danger was not a thing to fly from, but they should take as a pattern the enemy, who was not sparing of his life for accomplishing the greatest wrongs, and for whom the uncertainty of the war had not the same result as for them, to whom it would bring the happiest life, if they were successful, and the most glorious death if they failed. However, he said they ought to deliberate by themselves, and he joined them in praying that in consideration of their former virtue and zeal what they resolved might be for the best.

LX. When Cato had spoken to this effect, some of them indeed were brought to confidence by his words; but the greater part seeing his fearlessness and noble and generous temper, nearly forgot present circumstances, and considering him alone as an invincible leader and superior to all fortune, prayed him to use their persons and property and arms as he judged best, for they said it was better to die in obedience to him than to save their lives by betraying such virtue. On a certain person observing that they should declare freedom to the slaves, and most of them assenting to this, Cato said he would not do so, for it was not lawful nor yet right; but if the masters were ready to give up their slaves, they should receive those who were of military age. Many offers were made, and Cato, after telling them to enrol every man who was willing, retired. Shortly after there came to him letters from Juba and Scipio; from Juba, who was hid in a mountain with a few men, asking him what he had resolved to do; and that if Cato left Utica he would wait for him, and if he stood a siege he would come to aid him with an army; from Scipio, who was in a vessel off a certain point not far from Utica, and waiting with the same views.

LXI. Accordingly Cato determined to detain the letter-carriers till he had confirmed the resolution of the three hundred. For the senators were zealous, and immediately manumitted their slaves, and set about arming them. But with respect to the three hundred, inasmuch as they were men engaged in maritime affairs and money lending, and had the chief part of their substance in slaves, the words of Cato stood no long time in them, but oozed out, just as bodies which have a great degree of rarity easily receive heat and again part with it, being cooled when the fire is removed; in like manner Cato, while they saw him, fanned the flame and warmed those men; but when they began to reflect by themselves, the fear of Caesar drove out of them all regard to Cato and to honour. "Who are we," said they, "and who is the man whose commands we are refusing to obey? Is not this Caesar, to whom the whole power of the Romans has been transferred? and not one of us is a Scipio, nor a Pompeius, nor a Cato. But at a time when all men by reason of fear are humbled in mind more than is fitting, at such a time shall we fight in defence of the liberty of the Romans, and contend in Utica against a man before whom Cato with Pompeius Magnus fled and gave up Italy; and shall we manumit our slaves to oppose Caesar, we who have only as much freedom as he shall choose to give? No, even yet, miserable wretches, let us know our own weakness, and deprecate the conqueror, and send persons to supplicate him." This was what the most moderate among the three hundred recommended; but the majority were forming a design on the senatorial class, with the hope that, if they seized them, they would pacify Caesar's rage against themselves.

LXII. Though Cato suspected the change, he took no notice of it. However he wrote to Scipio and Juba to tell them to keep away from Utica, because he distrusted the three hundred, and he sent off the letter-carriers. But the horsemen who had escaped from the battle, no contemptible number, riding up to Utica, sent to Cato three men, who did not bring the same message from all; for one party was bent on going to Juba, another wished to join Cato, and a third was afraid of entering Utica. Cato on hearing this ordered Marcus Rubrius to observe the three hundred and quietly to receive the registrations of those who manumitted their slaves without forcing any one; and himself taking the senatorial men went out of Utica, and meeting with the commanders of the cavalry he besought them not to betray so many Roman senators, nor to choose Juba for their commander in place of Cato but to secure their own safety and that of the rest by coming into a city which could not be taken by storm, and contained both corn and other resources for many years. The senatorial men joined in this prayer and wept; and the commanders conferred with the cavalry, while Cato sat down on a mound with the senatorial men and waited for the answer.

LXIII. In the meantime Rubrius came in a passion, charging the three hundred with great disorder and tumult, inasmuch, as they were falling off and disturbing the city. On which the rest, altogether despairing, fell to weeping and lamentation, but Cato attempted to cheer them, and sent to the three hundred and bade them wait. But the representatives on the part of the horsemen came with no reasonable requisitions: for they said that they neither wanted Juba for their pay-master, nor were they afraid of Caesar if they had Cato to command them, but it was a dangerous thing to shut themselves up with the citizens of Utica, who were Phoenicians and an inconstant people; and if they should keep quiet now, they would set upon them and betray them, when Caesar came. If then any man wanted their aid in war and their presence, he must eject or kill all the people of Utica, and then invite them into a city free from enemies and barbarians. Cato considered this to be an excessively savage and barbarous proposal, but he answered mildly and said that he would consult with the three hundred. When he had returned into the city he found the men no longer making pretexts or evasions out of respect to him, but openly complaining that any one should force them to fight with Caesar when they were neither able nor willing. Some even whispered with respect to the senatorial men, that they ought to keep them in the city, since Caesar was near. Cato let this pass as if he did not hear it, and indeed he was somewhat deaf; but when one came up to him and reported that the horsemen were going away, Cato, fearing that the three hundred might do something desperate to the senatorial men, got up with his friends and set out walking; but observing that they had already advanced some distance, he seized a horse and rode to them. The horsemen were glad to see him approach, and received him and urged him to save himself with them. Then it is said that Cato even shed tears, beseeching on behalf of the senatorial men and holding forth his hands, and turning back the horses of some and laying hold of their arms, until he prevailed on them to abide there for that day at least, and secure the senatorial men in their flight.

LXIV. When Cato arrived with the horsemen, and had posted some at the gates, and had delivered the citadel to others to watch, the three hundred, who were afraid that they should be punished for their change, sent to Cato and prayed him by all means to come to them. But the senatorial men crowding round him would not let him go, and they declared that they would not give up their guardian and saviour to faithless men and traitors. For a most lively perception, as it appears, and affection and admiration of Cato's virtue had been implanted in all alike who were in Utica, inasmuch as nothing spurious or deceitful was mingled with what he did. And as the man had long resolved to kill himself, he laboured with prodigious toil, and had care and pain on behalf of others, in order that after placing all in safety he might be released from life. For his resolution to die was no secret, though he said nothing. Accordingly he complied with the wish of the three hundred after comforting the senatorial men, and he went alone to the three hundred, who thanked him, and prayed him to employ them and trust them in everything else, and if they are not Catos, and not capable of the lofty mind of Cato, he should have pity on their weakness; and as they had determined to supplicate Caesar and to send to him, on Cato's behalf chiefly and for him first of all they would prefer their prayer; and if they could not prevail on Caesar, neither would they receive the grace if it were offered to themselves, but so long as they breathed would fight for him. In reply to this Cato commended their good intentions, but said that they ought for their own safety's sake to send quickly, and not to offer any petition on his behalf, for entreaty belonged to the vanquished, and deprecation of vengeance to those who were wrongdoers; that he had not only been unvanquished all through life, but that he was victorious as far as he chose to be, and had the superiority over Caesar in things honourable and just, and that Caesar was the party who was captured and conquered; for what he used to deny that he was doing against his country long ago, he was now convicted of and detected therein.

LXV. Having thus spoken to the three hundred he went away, and hearing that Caesar at the head of all his army was already on his march, "Ha!" said he, "he considers that he has to deal with men;" and turning to the senators he urged them not to delay, but to make their escape while the horsemen were still staying there. He also closed the gates, except one that led to the sea, where he assigned vessels to those under his command and preserved order by stopping wrong-doing and settling disturbances, and supplying with stores those who were ill provided. And when Marcus Octavius[751] with two legions had encamped near, and had sent a message to Cato, in which he called on Cato to come to some terms with him about the command, Cato gave him no answer, but he said to his friends, "Do we wonder why our affairs are ruined, when we see that love of power abides among us even when we are in the midst of ruin?" In the mean time hearing that the horsemen, as they were leaving the city, were pillaging and plundering the people of Utica, as if their property was booty, Cato hurried to them as fast as he could run, and took the plunder from the first that he met with, and the rest made haste to throw it away or set it down on the ground, and all of them for very shame retired in silence and with downcast looks. Cato having called together the people of Utica in the city, entreated them not to irritate Caesar against the three hundred, but to unite altogether to secure their safety. Then again betaking himself to the sea he inspected the persons who were embarking, and all his friends and acquaintance whom he could persuade to go away, he embraced and accompanied to the shore. But he did not recommend his son to take shipping, nor did he think it his duty to turn him from his purpose of sticking to his father. There was one Statyllius, in years a young man, but one who aimed at being resolute in character and an imitator of the indifference of Cato. This man Cato entreated to embark, for he was notoriously a hater of Caesar; and-when he would not go, Cato looking on Apollonides the Stoic and Demetrius the Peripatetic said—"It is your business to soften this stubborn man and to fashion him to his own interests." But Cato himself was busied all the night and the greatest part of the following day in assisting the rest in making their escape and helping those who wanted his aid.

LXVI. When Lucius Caaesar,[752] who was a kinsman of Caesar, and about to go to him as ambassador on behalf of the three hundred, urged Cato to help him in devising some plausible speech which he should employ on behalf of the three hundred, "for on thy behalf," he continued, "it is becoming for me to touch the hands and to fall down at the knees of Caesar," Cato would not allow him to do this, and said, "For my part, if I wished to save my life by Caesar's favour, I ought to go to him myself. But I do not choose to thank a tyrant for his illegal acts; and he acts illegally in sparing as master those whom he has no right to lord it over. However, if you please, let us consider how you shall get pardon for the three hundred." After talking with Lucius on this matter he presented his son and his friends to him as he was departing, and after accompanying him some distance and taking leave of him he returned home, and then calling together his son and his friends he spoke on many subjects, among which he forbade his son to meddle in political matters, for, he said, circumstances no longer allowed him to act as befitted a Cato, and to act otherwise was base. At evening he went to the bath. While he was bathing, he remembered Statyllius, and calling out aloud he said, "Apollonides, have you sent Statyllius away, and brought him down from his stubborn temper, and has the man gone without even taking leave of us?" "By no means," replied Apollonides, "though we said much to him, but he is lofty and immovable and says he will stay and do whatever you do." On this they say that Cato smiled and replied, "Well, this will soon be shown."

LXVII. After taking the bath he supped in much company, still sitting as his fashion had been since the battle, for he never reclined except when he was sleeping; and there were at supper with him all his friends and the magistrates of Utica. After supper the drinking went on with much gaiety and enjoyment, one philosophical subject after another taking its turn, till at last the enquiry came round to the so-called paradoxes of the Stoics, that the good man alone is free, and that all the bad are slaves. Hereupon the Peripatetic making objections, as one might expect, Cato broke in with great vehemence, and with a loud tone and harsh voice maintained his discourse at great length, and displayed wonderful energy, so that no one failed to observe that he had resolved to end his life and relieve himself from present troubles. Wherefore as there was silence and depression of spirits among all the company, after he had done speaking, with the view of cheering them up and diverting their suspicions, Cato again begun to put questions and to express anxiety about the state of affairs, and his fears for those who had sailed away, and also for those who were going through a waterless and barbarian desert.

LXVIII. At the end of the entertainment he took his usual walk with his friends after supper, and after giving the officers of the watch the proper orders, he retired to his chamber, but he first embraced his son and his friends with more than his usual expression of kindness, which again made them suspect what was going to happen. On entering his chamber and lying down he took Plato's dialogue on the Soul,[753] and when he had gone through the greater part of it, he looked up over his head, and not seeing his sword hanging there, for his son had caused it to be taken away while he was at supper, he called a slave and asked who had taken his sword. The slave made no answer and Cato was again at the book, but after a short interval, as if he were in no haste or hurry, and was merely looking for his sword, he bade the slave bring it. As there was some delay and nobody brought it, after having read the dialogue through he again called his slaves one by one, and raising his voice demanded his sword; and striking the mouth of one of them with his fist he bruised his hand, being in a great passion and calling out aloud that he was surrendered defenceless to the enemy by his son and his slaves, till at last his son ran in weeping with his friends, and embracing him fell to lamentations and entreaties. But Cato rising up looked sternly and said, "When and where have I been proved, and without knowing it, to have lost my reason, that no one instructs me or teaches me in the matters wherein I am judged to have determined ill, but I am hindered from using my own reasonings and am deprived of my weapons? Why don't you put your father in chains also, generous son, and his hands behind his back, till Caesar shall come and find me unable even to defend myself? For I need not a sword to kill myself, when it is in my power to die by holding my breath for a short time and giving my head a single blow against the wall."

LXIX. As he said this the youth went out weeping, and all the rest, except Demetrius and Apollonides, to whom when they were left by themselves Cato begun to speak in milder terms, and said, "I suppose you too have resolved by force to keep alive a man of my age and to sit here in silence and to watch him, or are you come to prove that it is neither a shocking nor a shameful thing for Cato, when he has no other way to save his life, to wait for mercy from his enemy? Why then do you not speak and convince me of this and teach me a new doctrine, that we may cast away those former opinions and reasons in which we lived together, and being made wiser through Caesar owe him the greater thanks for it? And yet for my part I have come to no resolve about myself, but it is necessary that when I have resolved I have power to do what I have determined. And I will deliberate in a manner together with you, deliberating with the reasons which even you in your philosophy follow. Go away then in good heart and tell my son not to force his father when he cannot persuade him."

LXX. Upon this Demetrius and Apollonides without making any reply retired weeping. The sword was sent in by a child, and when Cato received it he drew it and looked at it. Seeing that the point was entire and the edge preserved, he said, "Now I am my own master," and laying the sword down, he began reading the book again, and he is said to have read it through twice.[754] He then fell into so sound a sleep that those who were outside the chamber were aware of it, and about midnight he called his freedmen Cleanthes the physician and Butas whom he employed chief of all in public matters. He sent Butas to the sea to examine if all had set sail and to report to him, and he presented his hand to the physician to tie it up, as it was inflamed from the blow which he gave the slave. And this made them all more cheerful, for they thought that Cato was inclined to live. In a little time Butas came and reported that all had set sail except Crassus,[755] who was detained by some business, and that even he was now all but on board, and that a violent storm and wind prevailed at sea. Cato hearing this groaned for pity of those who were at sea and he sent Butas again to the sea, to learn if any one were driven back and waited any necessaries, and to let him know. And now the birds were beginning to sing,[756] and he sank asleep again for a while. When Butas had returned and reported that all was quiet about the ports, Cato, bidding him close the door, threw himself on the bed as if he were going to sleep for the rest of the night. When Butas had gone out, he drew the sword and thrust it beneath his chest, but as he used his hand with less effect owing to the inflammation, he did not immediately despatch himself, and having some difficulty in dying he fell from the bed and made a noise by overturning a little abacus of the geometrical kind that stood by, which his attendants perceiving called out and his son and his friends immediately ran in. Seeing him smeared with blood and the greater part of his bowels protruding, though he was still alive and his eyes were open, they were all dreadfully alarmed, and the physician going up to him attempted to replace his bowels, which remained uninjured, and to sew up the wound. But when Cato recovered and saw this, he pushed the physician away, and tearing the bowels with his hands and at the same time rending the wound he died.[757] LXXI. In a space of time which one would not have thought enough for all in the house to have heard of the event, there were present at the door the three hundred, and soon after the people of Utica were assembled, with one voice calling Cato benefactor and saviour and the only free man, the only unvanquished. And this they did though it was told that Caesar was advancing; but neither fear nor subserviency towards the conqueror nor their mutual differences and quarrels dulled them towards doing honour to Cato. They decorated the body in splendid style, and made a pompous procession and interred him near the sea, where a statue of him now stands with a sword in his hand, and then they began to think how they should save themselves and their city.

LXXII. Caesar hearing from those who came to him that Cato was staying in Utica and not flying away, and that he was sending off the rest, while himself and his companions and his son were fearlessly going about, thought it difficult to ascertain the intentions of the man, but as he made most account of him he advanced with his force by quick marches. When he heard of his death, it is reported that he said this, "Cato, I grudge thee thy death, for thou hast grudged me thy safety." For in fact if Cato had submitted to receive his life from Caesar, he would not have been considered to have lowered his own fame so much as to have added to the splendour of Caesar's. What would have been done is uncertain, but with respect to Caesar the milder measures are more probable.

LXXIII. When Cato died he was fifty[758] years of age save two. His son[759] received no harm from Caesar, but he is said to have been fond of pleasure and not free from blame with regard to women. In Cappadocia he had as his host Marphadates, one of the royal family, who possessed a handsome wife, and as Cato stayed longer with them than was decent, he was satirized in such terms as these:

"To-morrow Cato goes away, to-morrow thirty days."

And:

"Porcius and Marphadates, friends are two, but Psyche one."

For the wife of Marphadates was named Psyche (Soul). And again:

"Of noble blood and splendid fame, Cato has a royal Soul."

But he blotted out and destroyed all such ill report by his death; for while fighting at Philippi against Caesar and Antonius in defence of liberty, and the line was giving way, not deigning either to fly or to secrete himself, but challenging the enemy and showing himself in front of them and cheering on those who kept the ground with him he fell after exhibiting to his adversaries prodigies of valour. And still more, the daughter of Cato being inferior neither in virtue nor courage (for she was the wife of Brutus who killed Caesar) was both privy to the conspiracy and parted with life in a manner worthy of her noble birth and merit, as is told in the Life of Brutus. Statyllius, who said that he would follow Cato's example, was prevented indeed at the time by the philosophers, though he wished to kill himself, but afterwards he showed himself most faithful to Brutus and most serviceable at Philippi, and there he died.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 653: Cato was a cognomen of the Porcia Gens, which was Plebeian. The name Cato was first given to M. Porcius Cato Censorius, who was consul B.C. 195 and censor B.C. 184. The father of the Cato whose life is here written was M. Porcius Cato, a Tribunus Plebis, who married Livia, a sister of the tribune M. Livius Drusus. This Cato, the tribune, was the son of M. Porcius Cato Salonianus, who was the son of Cato the Censor. Cato the Censor was therefore the great-grandfather of the Cato whose life is here written. See the Life of Cato the Censor by Plutarch, c. 24. 97. This Cato was born B.C. 95.]

[Footnote 654: The text of Plutarch says that Livius Drusus was the uncle of Cato's mother, but this is a mistake, and accordingly Xylander proposed to read [Greek: theio men onti pros tes metros]. But Sintenis supposes that Plutarch may have misunderstood the Roman expression "avunculus maternus." Cato's father had by his wife Livia a daughter Porcia, who married J. Domitius Ahenobarbus. Livia's second husband was Q. Servilius Caepio, by whom she had a son Q. Servilius Caepio, whom Plutarch calls Cato's brother, and two daughters, named Servilia, one of whom married M. Junius Brutus, the father of the Brutus who was one of Caesar's assassins, and the other married L. Licinius Lucullus (Life of Lucullus. c. 38).]

[Footnote 655: The word is [Greek: anamnestikous]. The meaning of Plutarch is perhaps not quite clear. See the note in Schaefer's edition.]

[Footnote 656: These were the Roman Socii, or Italian states, which were in a kind of alliance with and subordination to Rome. They had to furnish troops for the wars, and to share the burdens of the Roman State in return for which they claimed the citizenship (Life of Marius, c. 32).]

[Footnote 657: Or Silo (Life of Marius, c. 33).]

[Footnote 658: There is obviously an error here in Plutarch's text, as Sintenis observes. The real meaning of what Pompaedius said appears from the context, and from a passage of Valerius Maximus (3. 1, 2), who tells the same story.]

[Footnote 659: This sham fight was according to an old tradition established by AEneas. It is described by Virgil, AEneid, v. 553, &c. See Tacitus, Annal. xi. 11; and Dion Cassius, 43. c. 23, and 49. c. 43. These games (ludi) were also celebrated under the early Emperors.]

[Footnote 660: The text is literally "a place for the impious," not the place. But Plutarch may allude to the tortures of the wicked in the regions below, according to the popular notions.]

[Footnote 661: The possession of a priestly office by a person who also discharged the functions of civil life was common among the Romans. The effect of this political institution was more extensive than at first sight may appear, but the examination of such a question belongs, as Plutarch sometimes observes, to another place.]

[Footnote 662: He is mentioned by Cicero (De Offic. ii. 24), but some suppose that there were two Tyrian philosophers of that name.]

[Footnote 663: See Plutarch's Life of Cato the Censor, c. 19. This, the first Roman Basilica, was erected B.C. 182 (Livy, 39. c. 44). A basilica was a place for law business and the meeting of traders and the like.]

[Footnote 664: The highest cast with four dice of six sides was twenty-four points, and it was called Venus. The lowest cast was four points, and it was called Canis. This is one explanation. But the Venus is also explained to be the throw which resulted in all the dice turning up with different faces. See the notes in Burmann's edition of Suetonius, Octav. Augustus, c. 71. It is said that sometimes they played with four-sided dice, sometimes with six-sided. The subject is somewhat obscure, and the investigation not suited to all people.]

[Footnote 665: Probably C. Memmius Gemellus, tribune of the Plebs, B.C. 66. See the Life of Lucullus, c. 37.]

[Footnote 666: This was Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio, the son of P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica, praetor B.C. 94. He was the adopted son of Q. Metellus Pius, consul B.C. 80, who is mentioned in the Life of Sulla, c. 28. This rival of Cato was the Metellus who was defeated by Caesar at the battle of Thapsus, and is often mentioned in this Life. It is not said what legal process Cato could have instituted for the loss of his promised marriage.]

[Footnote 667: This Greek poet, who was probably born about the close of the eighth century B.C. at Paros, was noted for his biting Iambics, which became proverbial.

"Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo."

HORAT. Ars Poet., v. 79.]

[Footnote 668: This was of course a gentile name. The name Soranus should be Seranus or Serranus.]

[Footnote 669: C. Laelius, the friend of the elder Scipio Africanus, is probably meant.]

[Footnote 670: The history of this insurrection of Spartacus is told in the Life of Crassus, c. 8, &c. As to Gellius, see the Life of Crassus, c. 9.]

[Footnote 671: Nomenclators, literally, "persons who called or addressed others by name," were slaves and sometimes perhaps other persons, whose business it was to know every man's name, to attend a candidate in his canvass, and to inform him of the names of those whom he was going to address, in order that he might appear to be acquainted with them; for in accordance with a feeling, which all men have in some degree, a desire to be known, a voter was pleased to find himself addressed by a candidate as if his face and name were familiar. This kind of notice from people who are above another in rank and station is peculiarly gratifying to those who are conscious that they have no real merit, and the pleasure which such attention gives to those who receive it is the exact measure of their own real opinion of their insignificance. I say their real opinion, for such persons have a true opinion of themselves, though they attempt to conceal it from themselves, and also to conceal it from others, in neither of which attempts are they quite successful. It makes no difference if a man knows that the great man who affects to know him really does not know him, for he knows that the great man does not know everybody and cares for very few; but the mere pretence of knowing, the mere show of knowing and recognising, which the great man assumes, he is willing to take for what he knows that it is not, a mark of respect; and mainly, that others, as he hopes, may be deceived by the false appearance, and take him to be what he knows that he is not.

Cato's tribuneship was a military tribuneship (tribunus militum).]

[Footnote 672: He was a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, and at the time of Cato's visit to him he had the care of the library at Pergamus. Strabo (p. 674, ed. Casaub.) says that he died in Cato's house at Rome.]

[Footnote 673: AEnus was a small town at the mouth of the river Hebrus, now the Maritza. The island of Thasos, now Thaso, contains marble. The monument was a costly memorial, if the Attic talent was meant, which we must presume. Talents of silver are of course intended.]

[Footnote 674: The allusion is to the Anticato of Caesar (Life of Caesar, c. 54). How the matter really was, no one can tell; but such a story is not likely to be a pure invention.]

[Footnote 675: He is mentioned as being an old man in B.C. 54 (Life of Crassus c. 17). Deiotarus was a friend of the Romans in their Asiatic wars against Mithridates, and the senate conferred on him the title of king. He knew what kind of people he had to deal with when he showed such attention to Cato's train (c. 15). His history is closely connected with that of Caesar, and of Cicero, who made a speech in his defence before Caesar at Rome B.C. 45 (Pro Rege Deiotaro).]

[Footnote 676: The story about Demetrius, the contemptible favourite of Pompeius, is told by Plutarch in his Life of Pompeius, c. 40. Plutarch makes the visit to Asia precede Cato's quaestorship, upon which see the remarks of Drumann, Geschichte Roms, v. 157. The narration of Plutarch is evidently confused as will appear from the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters.]

[Footnote 677: Either C. Scribonius Curio who was consul B.C. 76, or his son the tribune, an adherent of Caesar; but probably the father is meant.]

[Footnote 678: See the Life of Marius, c. 17.]

[Footnote 679: Cato's quaestorship was in the year B.C. 65.]

[Footnote 680: Lutatius Catulus, censor B.C. 65, was the son of Catulus who with Marius defeated the Cimbri at Vercellae B.C. 101. (Life of Marius, c. 25.)]

[Footnote 681: This pasange, which has been supposed by some translators to mean that Catulus ran the risk of being degraded from his office, is correctly translated and explained by Kaltwasser. Cato hinted that the officers of the Court would turn Catulus out, if he continued to act as he did. Plutarch has told the same story in his treatise [Greek: peri dusopias], De Vitioso Pudore c. 13, to which Kaltwasser refers.]

[Footnote 682: He may be C. Claudius Marcellus afterwards consul B.C. 50, or his cousin of the same name who was consul B.C. 49.]

[Footnote 683: The parentage of Terentia, Cicero's wife, is unknown. The mother of Terentia must have married a Fabius, by whom she had this Fabia, the half sister of Terentia. Fabia was a woman of rank. Though a vestal virgin, she did not escape scandal, for she was tried B.C. 73 for sexual intercourse with Catilina: Fabia was acquitted (Drumann, Geschichte Roms, v. 392).

There is a mistake in the text: "charges" (p. 25) is a misprint, and should be "changes;" in place of "Cicero's wide, he was in great danger, but he involved Clodius," it should be "Cicero's wife, and she was in great danger, he involved Clodius."

Therefore in place of "he was," line 10 from bottom, read "and she was;" and in the same line omit "but." In line 13 from the bottom read "changes" for "charges."]

[Footnote 684: Probably the name is corrupted. The expression is attributed to Cato, in the Life of Lucullus, c. 40.]

[Footnote 685: Q. Metellus Nepos was serving under Pompeius in Asia in B.C. 64. He came to Rome in B.C. 63 to be a candidate for the tribuneship.]

[Footnote 686: D. Junius Silanus, who was consul with Licinius Murena, B.C. 62, was now the husbaud of Servilia, who had been the wife of D. Junius Brutus.]

[Footnote 687: He was the son of L. Licinius Murena, who served under Sulla in Greece. The son served under his father in B.C. 83 against Mithridates. After the consular election in B.C. 63 he was prosecuted for bribery (ambitus). Cicero's speech in defence of Murena is extant.]

[Footnote 688: The affair of Catiline is spoken of in the Life of Caesar, c. 17, and in the Life of Cicero, c. 10, &c.]

[Footnote 689: This Servilia was now the wife of Silanus the consul. Lucullus the husband of the other Servilia had his triumph in the year of Cicero's consulship B.C. 63 (Life of Lucullus, c. 37). He was probably the husband of Servilia at this time.]

[Footnote 690: Short-hand writers were called by the Romans "actuarii" and "notarii," of which last word Plutarch's word ([Greek: semeiographoi] ) is a translation. It is not likely that short-hand writing was invented for the occasion, as Plutarch says. Under the empire short-hand writers are often mentioned.]

[Footnote 691: L. Marcius Philippus, consul in B.C. 56 with Cn. Cornelius Lentulus.]

[Footnote 692: L. Thrasea Paetus, a Latin writer, a native of Padua, who was put to death by Nero (Tacitus, Annal. xvi. 34, 25). His authority for the Life of Cato was, as it appears, Munatius Rufus, who accompanied Cato to Cyprus (c. 37).]

[Footnote 693: Quintus Hortensius was consul B.C. 69, a distinguished orator and a man of refined and luxurious habits. Bibulus is M. Calpurnius Bibulus, the colleague of Caesar in his consulship B.C. 59. He had three sons by Porcia, Cato's daughter by Atilia.

This transfer of Marcia is oddly told by Plutarch. It was not a mere case of lending the woman for the purpose of procreation, for the child of Hortensius could not be his legal child, unless Marcia became his legal wife. Cato must accordingly have divorced his wife, which was done at Rome without any trouble. The only thing then that is peculiar in the affair is, that Cato did not divorce his wife because he was dissatisfied with her on good grounds, nor for such grounds as Cicero divorced his wife, but for the reason mentioned in the text. Marcia continued to be the wife of Hortensius till his death. The marriage with Hortensius probably took place about B.C. 56.

This affair has caused the critics much difficulty. But as we may assume that Hortensius wished to have a child that would be his own, which is in fact Plutarch's statement, and one that would be in his paternal power, he must have married Marcia, and Cato must have divorced her in proper form. The fact of Philippus giving his daughter away shows that she was then at his disposal. Cato married her again, and his conduct proved that he trusted her. The notion of Cato lending his wife would have been as inconsistent with legal principle and morality in Rome as such a transaction would be in England.]

[Footnote 694: Compare the Life of Caesar, c. 8.]

[Footnote 695: Pompeius was now in Asia. See the Life of Pompeius, c. 42, 43.]

[Footnote 696: Castor and Pollux. See the Life of Tiberius Gracchus, c. 2. The temple was on the south side of the Forum Romanum. The steps are those which led to the Rostra.]

[Footnote 697: This is the translation of the reading [Greek: oikothen] , which is probably incorrect. Solanus proposes [Greek: autothen], and Kaltwasser proposes [Greek: apothen] , "from a distance," which he has adopted in his version, "und liess die bewaffneten, die von fern standen, mit furchbarem Geschre* anruecken."]

[Footnote 698: Lucullus returned B.C. 66. He triumphed B.C. 63. See the Life of Lucullus, c. 37. Plutarch has here confused the order of events. Kaltwasser translates this passage as if Lucullus had returned to Rome after Metellus left it in B.C. 62.]

[Footnote 699: He returned B.C. 62. The consuls who were elected for the year B.C. 61, were M. Pupius Piso, who had been a legatus of Pompeius in Asia, and M. Valerius Messalla. See the Life of Pompeius, c. 44.]

[Footnote 700: Probably Munatius Rufus, who is mentioned again in c. 36. Drumann (Porcii, p. 162) says it was Munatius Plancus.]

[Footnote 701: This was in B.C. 61, at the election of the consuls L. Afranius and Q. Caecilius Metellus Celer, the consuls of B.C. 60. See the Life of Pompeius, c. 44.]

[Footnote 702: Caesar returned B.C. 60, and was consul B.C. 59. See the Life of Caesar, c. 13, 14, for the events alluded to in this 31st chapter; and the Life of Pompeius, c. 47.]

[Footnote 703: See the Life of Caesar, c. 14.]

[Footnote 704: Numidicus. The story is told in the Life of Marius, c. 29. The matters referred to in this and the following chapter are told circumstantially by Dion Cassius (38, c. 1-7). See Life of Caesar, c. 14.]

[Footnote 705: L. Calpurnius Piso, the father of Calpurnia the wife of Caesar, and Aulus Gabinius were consuls B.C. 58. Aulus Gabinius, when Tribunus Plebis B.C. 67, proposed the law which gave Pompeius the command against the pirates. The meaning of the obscure allusion at the end of the chapter, which is literally rendered, may be collected from the context; and still more plainly from the abuse which Cicero heaps on Gabinius for his dissolute life after he had been banished in the consulship of Gabinius (Drumann, Gabinii, p. 60).]

[Footnote 706: This Ptolemaeus, the brother of Ptolemaeus Auletes, King of Egypt, was now in possession of Cyprus, and the mission of Cato, which could not be to his taste, was to take possession of the island for the Romans. When Clodius had been made prisoner by the pirates nine years before, Ptolemaeus was asked to contribute to his ransom but he only sent two talents, for which ill-timed saving he was mulcted in his whole kingdom by this unprincipled tribune (Drumann, Claudii, p. 263).]

[Footnote 707: He is called Caninius in the Life of Brutus, c. 3.]

[Footnote 708: The feeble king had not spirit to attempt a resistance, which indeed would have been useless. He put an end to himself by poison (c. 36), and the Romans took the island. A more unjustifiable act of aggression than the occupation of Cyprus, hardly occurs even in the history of Rome.]

[Footnote 709: The priesthood of such temples as Paphos was a valuable thing. These temples had lands and slaves.]

[Footnote 710: This was Auletes, the father of Cleopatra. He was restored to his kingdom by A. Gabinius B.C. 55, while he was governor of Syria.]

[Footnote 711: This is the meaning of the passage. The interview was ludicrous enough, but Dacier makes it still more so, by seating Cato on a close-stool; and Kind and Schirach, two German translators, make him receive the king in the same way (Kaltwasser's note).]

[Footnote 712: This was M. Junius Brutus, afterwards Caesar's friend and assassin. Cato could not have found a better man for his purpose; at least for laying his hands on all that came in his way. Brutus took the opportunity of helping himself to some of the plunder in his uncle's absence. At a later time he had large sums out at interest in Cyprus and partly in other persons' names. He was a merciless usurer. (Cicero, Ad Attic., v. 18 and 21; vi. 21; and the Life of Cicero, c. 36, notes.)]

[Footnote 713: Plutarch explains in a general way what is meant. The Roman word "pignus," which Plutarch translates by [Greek: enechyra], means a thing pawned and delivered as a security to the pawnee. To take pledges, "pignora capere," was to seize something that belonged to a man in order to compel the discharge of a duty. It was like a distress for a service. Instances occur in Livy (3. c. 38, 37. c. 51; Cicero, De Oratore, 3. c. 1).]

[Footnote 714: The Greek nominative would be Barcas. The name does not appear to be Roman and is probably corrupted. Bursa is a Roman name. See c. 48.]

[Footnote 715: There is no suspicion that Cato got anything for himself. He was above that. He honestly discharged his dishonest mission.]

[Footnote 716: This was a port of Corinth on the east side of the Isthmus.]

[Footnote 717: The amazement of the people at the quantity of the plunder, and the thanks of the Senate for the faithful discharge of their order to pillage, might seem regular enough if it had been booty gotten in war. But the robbery was not gilded with this false show. It was pure, simple robbery without the accessories of war.]

[Footnote 718: This means a praetorship before the age at which a man could regularly hold the office. Cato returned from Cyprus in B.C. 56. He was now thirty-eight years of age, for he died B.C. 46, when he was forty-eight.]

[Footnote 719: The order of the words in the original makes the meaning appear somewhat ambiguous. The passage might be translated, as it is by Dacier, "for the colleague of Philippus paid no less respect to Cato on account of his merit, than Philippus did on account of his relationship."]

[Footnote 720: Cicero returned from exile B.C. 57, in the month of September of the unreformed calendar.]

[Footnote 721: This was the meeting at Luca in B.C. 56. See the Life of Pompeius, c. 51; and the Life of Caesar, c. 21.]

[Footnote 722: This was the second consulship of each, and was in B.C. 55. Cato lost the praetorship, and Vatinius was elected instead of him (Dion Cassius (39, c. 32).]

[Footnote 723: As to Caius Trebonius, see the Life of Pompeius, c. 52.]

[Footnote 724: One would suppose that a less time would have been more than enough, though not for Cato. Dion Cassius (39. c. 31) says that Favonius spoke for an hour before Cato did, and took up all the time in complaining of the shortness of his allowance. It would be a fair inference that he had little to say against the measure itself.]

[Footnote 725: Dion Cassius (39. c. 35) tells us more particularly how it happened that P. Aquilius Gallus was in the senate house. Gallus was afraid that he should be excluded from the Forum the next day, and accordingly he passed the night in the senate house, both for safety's sake and to be ready on the spot in the morning. But Trebonius, who found it out, kept him shut up for that night and the greater part of the following day.]

[Footnote 726: Cato was praetor in B.C. 54. It does not appear that he ever was praetor before, and it is not therefore clear what is meant by the "extraordinary praetorship" (c. 39). In place of the word "Rostra," in the fifth line of this chapter, read "tribunal." Plutarch uses the same word ([Greek: bema]) for both, which circumstance is calculated occasionally to cause a translator to make a slip, even when he knows better. The "tribunal" was the seat of the praetor, when he was doing justice. But lower down (line 8 from the bottom) Rostra is the proper translation of Plutarch's word ([Greek: epilabesthai ton embolon] ) and it was the place from which Cato spoke, after he had got up. In c. 43, when Cato gets up to speak, Plutarch makes him mount the Bema ([Greek: bema]), by which he means the place when the orators stood at the Rostra. The Rostra were the beaks of the Antiate galleys, with which, it is said, this place was ornamented at the close of the Latin war (Livy, 8, c. 14).]

[Footnote 727: The reason according to Plutarch why people envy the man who has a high reputation for integrity, is because of the power and credit which it gives. Whatever then gives power and credit should be also an object of envy, as wealth; and so it is. The notion of envy implies a desire to see the person who is the object of it humbled and cast down. The Greeks attributed this feeling to their gods, who looked with an evil eye on great prosperity, and loved to humble it. But the feeling of envy, if that is the right term, towards him who has power and credit by reason of his high character for integrity, is not the same feeling as envy of the wealthy man. The envious of wealth desire to have the wealth both for itself and for its uses. The envious of character desire to have the opinion of the character, because of the profit that is from it, but they may not desire to have that which is the foundation of the character. If they did, their desire would be for virtue, and the envious feeling would not exist. Courage and wisdom are less objects of envy than good character or wealth, and perhaps, because most men feel that they are not capable of having the one or the other. The notion of envy implies that the person has, or thinks he has, the same capability as another who has something which he has not. A man who is not a painter does not envy a great painter; a man who is a painter may envy a great painter. The mass may admire the honest man who is of higher rank than themselves, even if they have no regard for honesty; but they do not envy; they wonder as at something which is above them. But if the honest man is of their own station in life, and has a character of integrity, they may envy him for his superiority. It appears that if there is a number of people who are generally on a footing of equality, any superiority which one may acquire over the rest, makes him an object of envy. If high character for integrity brings power and credit with it, there must be some persons with whom the power and the credit prevail, but these are the persons who are farthest removed from rivalry with him who has the credit. Those who are nearer to him are the persons who envy, who feel that the superiority of one man makes their inferiority. Plutarch assumes the existence of a class who love the just and give them credit, and of a class who envy them; but the two classes of persons are not the same.]

[Footnote 728: This name recurs in the Symposium and Phaedon of Plato. The second sentence in this chapter is very corrupt in the original, and the translation is merely a guess at the meaning. Favonius was aedile in B.C. 53 (Dion Cassius, 40. c. 45).]

[Footnote 729: Some apology is necessary for translating "pears " ([Greek: apious], in the original said to mean "pears") into "parsley." The context shows clearly enough that pears are not meant. Kaltwasser has made the "pears" into "celery," and there is just as good reason for making "parsley" of them. Plutarch may have misunderstood the Roman word "apium" or confounded it with the Greek.]

[Footnote 730: Scipio was the father-in-law of Cornelia, the last wife of Pompeius (Life of Pompeius, c. 55). As to P. Plautus Hypsaeus, see the Life of Pompeius, c. 55. Titus Annius Milo afterwards killed Clodius, and Cicero defended him on his trial (Life of Cicero, c. 35).]

[Footnote 731: Pompeius was sole consul B.C. 53, for seven months, after which he had his father-in-law Scipio as his colleague.]

[Footnote 732: T. Munatius Plancus Bursa was a tribune in B.C. 52. When Clodius was killed by Milo, the populace, who loved Clodius, took the dead body into the Curia Hostilia, at the instigation of Bursa and his colleague Rufus, and making a pile of the benches, burnt the body and the Curia with it (Dion Cassius, 40. c. 49, 55). Bursa was tried for his share in this matter and convicted, to the great joy of Cicero, who was his accuser. Cicero speaks of this affair in a letter to Marius (Ad Diversos, vii. 2).]

[Footnote 733: Servius Sulpicius Rufus, a friend of Cicero, who has recorded his great talents, and a distinguished Jurist. He was consul in B.C. 51 with M. Claudius Marcellus.]

[Footnote 734: Kaltwasser refers to the Life of Caesar, c. 22, for an explanation of the first part of this chapter; and to the Life of Caesar, c. 29, and to that of Pompeius, c. 58, for the transactions which are mentioned in the latter part of this chapter.]

[Footnote 735: Caesar took Ariminum (Rimini) in B.C. 49. See the Life of Caesar, c. 33, and the Life of Pompeius, c. 60.]

[Footnote 736: In South Italy, now Calabria Ultra. This Munatius was probably Munatius Rufus.]

[Footnote 737: In Caesar's Anticato, which has often been mentioned. It seems that Caesar raked up all that he could in Cato's life that was against him, and this affair of Marcia furnished him with plausible matter. Hortensius died B.C. 50. Drumann remarks (Porcii, p. 198), "that she lived, after the year 56, in which she reconciled Cato with Munatius Rufus, with the consent of Cato, with Hortensius, after whose death in the year 50 she returned into her former relation," that is, she became again the wife of Cato. If so, Cato must have married her again (see note, c. 25), as Plutarch says that he did. Drumann speaks as if Cato had a reversion of her, which became an estate in possession after the estate of Hortensius was determined by her death.]

[Footnote 738: The quotation is from the Hercules [Greek: Herakles mainomenos] of Euripides (v. 173), one of the extant plays.]

[Footnote 739: See Life of Caesar, c. 72.]

[Footnote 740: Another allusion to the Anticato. It is difficult to see what probable charge Caesar could make of this circumstance. The meaning of Plutarch may easily be conjectured (Drumann, Porcii, p. 192).]

[Footnote 741: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 65; and the Life of Caesar, c. 39.]

[Footnote 742: Cn. Pompeius, the elder son of Pompeius Magnus is meant. It is conjectured that the word "young" ([Greek: neon]) has fallen out of the text (compare c. 58). He had been sent by his father to get ships, and he arrived with an Egyptian fleet on the coast of Epirus shortly before the battle of Pharsalus. On the news of the defeat of Pompeius Magnus, the Egyptians left him (Dion Cassius, 42. c. 12).]

[Footnote 743: He must also have seen Cornelia, for Sextus was with her. Life of Pompeius, c. 78.]

[Footnote 744: These people are described by Herodotus (iv. 173) as having been all destroyed by the sands of the deserts, and their country, which was on the Syrtis, being occupied by the Nasamones.

Lucan (Pharsalia, ix. 891) has made the Psylli occupy a conspicuous place in the march of Cato.

"Gens unica terras Incolit a saevo serpentum innoxia morsu, Marmaridae Psylli: par lingua potentibus herbis, Ipse cruor tutus, nullumque admittere virus Vel cantu cessante potest."

Seven days is much too little for the march from Cyrene to the Carthaginian territory, and there is either an error in Plutarch's text or a great error in his geography.]

[Footnote 745: The name Libya occurs four times in this chapter. Libya was the general name for the continent, but the term did not include Egypt. In the first two instances in which the name occurs in this chapter, the word is used in the general sense. In the other two instances it means the Roman province of Africa. Kaltwasser has used the term Africa in all the four instances. It is immaterial which is used, if rightly understood in both cases.]

[Footnote 746: See the Life of Caesar, c. 53, 54, 55, and the references in the notes.]

[Footnote 747: See the Life of Antonius, c. 81.]

[Footnote 748: See the Life of Caesar, c. 52, and Dion Cassius, 42, c. 57. This Scipio was unworthy of the name and unequal to the times.]

[Footnote 749: The Greek writers represent the name in different ways. Plutarch writes [Greek: Ituke]. Dion Cassius writes it [Greek: Outike]. This old Phoenician city was on the coast near the mouth of the river Bagradas; but its supposed remains are some distance inland. (Shaw's Travels in Barbary, &c., p. 79, 4to. edition.)]

[Footnote 750: See the Life of Caesar, c. 53, and Dion Cassius, 43, c. 7. The battle was fought in B.C. 46.]

[Footnote 751: The son of Cn. Octavius, who was consul B.C. 76. Marcus was Curule AEdile B.C. 50. (Drumann, Octavii, p. 225.)]

[Footnote 752: He was the son of L. Julius Caesar, consul B.C. 64. The son was pardoned by Caesar (Bell. Afric. c. 88, 89). Dion Cassius (43, c. 12) says that Caesar first brought him to trial, but as he was unwilling to condemn him by his own authority, he privately got him put to death. The statement of Dion is deficient in precision, incredible by reason of Caesar's well-known clemency, and the insignificance of Lucius as an enemy, and not altogether reconcilable with other authorities. (Drumann, Julii, p. 125.)]

[Footnote 753: The Phaedon which contains the last conversation of Socrates, and his death. The incident of the reading of the Dialogue, and the reflections which it suggested, have been used by Addison in his frigid and bombastic tragedy of Cato.]

[Footnote 754: Kaltwasser quotes a note of Dacier who cannot conceive how Cato could read so long a Dialogue through twice in so short a time. It is equally a matter of wonder how any body could know that he read it through once. The fact that he had the book and was reading it is all that could be known. Another difficulty that is suggested by Dacier is, that the Dialogue contains the strongest arguments against suicide; but perhaps this difficulty is removed by the suggestion that in one passage it is said that a man should not kill himself till the deity has sent a kind of necessity; and Cato might conceive, as he did conceive, that the necessity had come to him.

The suicide of Cato was a peculiar case and hardly belongs to the more general cases of suicide. His position, if he had lived under the domination of Caesar, would have been intolerable to a man of his principles; for that he might have lived by Caesar's grace, if he had chosen, can hardly be doubted notwithstanding Caesar wrote his Anticatones.]

[Footnote 755: This was P. Licinius Crassus Junianus, a Junius who had been adopted by a Crassus, as the name shows.]

[Footnote 756: [Greek: ede d' ornithes edon]. The translators do not agree about these words. Dacier and others translate them literally, as I have done. Kaltwasser translated them, "and already the cocks crowed." He adds that the other translation is wrong, because it is said immediately after, that it was still night. But what follows as to the night does not prove that it was dark; it rather implies that there was not much sleeping time that remained before morning. Cocks sometimes crow in the night, it is true, but Plutarch evidently means to show by the expression that the morning was dawning, and so the birds might be singing, if there were any birds in Utica. The matter is appropriate for a dissertation, which would be as instructive as many other dissertations on matters of antiquity.]

[Footnote 757: Appian (Civil Wars, ii. 98, &c.) tells the story of his death differently. He says that the wound was sewed up, and that being left alone, he tore his bowels out. But it is improbable that, if the wound had been sewed up, he would have been left alone. The story of Dion Cassius (43, c. 11) is the same. See Florus, iv. 2, 71, who says that he killed himself "circa primam vigiliam."]

[Footnote 758: As he died in B.C. 46, he was in the forty-ninth year of his age. His chatacter requires no comment; it has been fully delineated by Plutarch. A single letter of Cato to Cicero is extant (Ad Diversos, xv. 5); and a letter of such a man is worth reading, though it be short. His speech against the conspirators, which Sallust has given, may contain the matter, but not the words of Cato.]

[Footnote 759: He had his father's property. After Caesar's death he joined M. Brutus, the husband of his sister Portia, and fell at Philippi B.C. 42. This son of Cato had a younger brother (c. 52), whose mother was Marcia, but nothing more is known of him. The death of the wife of Brutus is told in the Life of Brutus, c. 13, 53.]



END OF VOL. III.

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