Marcus Porcius Cato

(born 234, Tusculum, Latium—died 149 BC) Roman statesman and orator, the first important Latin prose writer. Born of plebeian stock, he fought in the Second Punic War. His oratorical skills paved the way for his political career. He held conservative anti-Hellenic views and opposed the pro-Hellenic Scipio family, whose power he broke. Elected censor (magistrate in charge of censuses, taxes, and the public good) in 184, he tried to restore the mos majorum (“ancestral custom”) and combat Greek influence, which he believed undermined Roman morality. He crafted laws against luxury and the financial freedom of women and never ceased to demand the destruction of Carthage. His writings include works on history, medicine, law, military science, and agriculture. His great-grandson Cato the Younger (b. 95—d. 46 BC) was a leading Optimate (see Optimates and Populares) who sought to preserve the republic against Julius Caesar.

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(born 234, Tusculum, Latium—died 149 BC) Roman statesman and orator, the first important Latin prose writer. Born of plebeian stock, he fought in the Second Punic War. His oratorical skills paved the way for his political career. He held conservative anti-Hellenic views and opposed the pro-Hellenic Scipio family, whose power he broke. Elected censor (magistrate in charge of censuses, taxes, and the public good) in 184, he tried to restore the mos majorum (“ancestral custom”) and combat Greek influence, which he believed undermined Roman morality. He crafted laws against luxury and the financial freedom of women and never ceased to demand the destruction of Carthage. His writings include works on history, medicine, law, military science, and agriculture. His great-grandson Cato the Younger (b. 95—d. 46 BC) was a leading Optimate (see Optimates and Populares) who sought to preserve the republic against Julius Caesar.

Learn more about Cato, Marcus Porcius with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cato may refer to:

Literature

• Cato's Letters, a series of libertarian essays written in the 1720s
• Distichs of Cato or simply Cato, a medieval Latin-language schoolbook & moral guide
• Cato, 18th century drama by Joseph Addison, based on the life of Cato the Younger
• Cato Neimoidia, a fictional planet in the Star Wars canon

Organizations

• Cato Institute, American libertarian think tank
• The Cato Corporation owners of the CATO women's clothing stores

People

• Romans, in the family Porcii
• Cato the Elder or "the Censor" (Marcus Porcius Cato 234BC–149BC), Roman statesman
• Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus, son of Cato the Elder by his first wife Licinia, jurist
• Marcus Porcius Cato, son of Cato Licinianus, consul 118 BC, died in Africa in the same year
• Gaius Porcius Cato, son of Cato Licinianus, consul 114 BC
• Marcus Porcius Cato Salonianus, son of Cato the Elder by his second wife Salonia, (born 154 BC, when his father had completed his eightieth year)
• Marcus Porcius Cato, son of Cato Salonianus and father of Cato the Younger
• Cato the Younger "Cato of Utica" or "Cato Minor" (Marcus Porcius Catō Uticēnsis 95BC–46BC), politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, remembered for his lengthy conflict with Gaius Julius Caesar, and moral integrity
• Marcus Porcius Cato (II), son of Cato the Younger, fell at the Battle of Philippi, 42 BC
• Lucius Porcius Cato, son of Cato Salonianus, consul 89 BC, killed during the Social War (91–88 BC)
• Suzy Cato (born 1968), New Zealand entertainer
• Kelvin Cato (born 1974), American basketball player
• John Cyril Cato (born 1889, died 1971), Australian photographer, portraitist and author, renowned historian of Australian photography, known also as Jack Cato
• Diomedes Cato (born 1560, died 1618) was a Polish composer
• Cato the anti-Federalist, pseudonym for an American author of anti-Federalist articles in the late 1780s, probably the politician George Clinton (vice president)
• Cato, the pseudonym for the authors of the 1940s polemic Guilty Men; Michael Foot, Frank Owen, Peter Howard
• Cato Fong, Inspector Clouseau's manservant in the Pink Panther movies

Places

• Cato Township, Michigan
• Cato, Wisconsin

Technology

• CATO, an acronym used in rocketry, for Catastrophe At Take Off -- the catastrophic failure of a rocket engine.
• CATO, an acronym for Catapult Assisted take off
• Corazón Artificial Total Ortotópico (Spanish for Orthotopic Total Artificial Heart) invented by Dr. Juan Giambruno
• Cato, a South Devon Railway Eagle class 4-4-0ST steam locomotive
• Cato (ship) was an English ship sunk on the Great Barrier Reef in 1803.

See also

• Catto
• Kato