- Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BCE), also known as ‘Cato the Elder’ and ‘Cato the Censor’, was a Roman Senator and Orator.
- His great grandson was Cato the Younger (95-46 BCE).
Works
- ‘De Agri Cultura’ (c.160 BCE)
- Meaning ‘On Farming’ is a Manual on agriculture.
- It has a Tract on Recipes using Plants and Herbs.
- A Tract on Religious Rituals for farmers to observe.
- And includes a Tract written by Varro: ‘Rerum Rusticarum libri III’, Of Agricultural subjects in three books’.
Quotations
- Carthago delenda est
- Carthage must be destroyed’. Cato concluded every speech in the Roman Senate with these words, to urge Rome into the Third Punic War.
- ‘Wise men learn from fools more than fools learn from wise men. Wise men avoid the mistakes of fools, but fools do not learn from the achievements of the wise.’
- From the ‘Life of Cato’ by Plutarch.
Rome