Cato the Younger

But when Cato had endured this treatment for a long time without showing fright or fear, Pompaedius put him down, saying quietly to his friends: What a piece of good fortune it is for Italy that he is a boy; for if he were a man, I do not think we could get a single vote among the people.[*](This incident must have happened, if at all, in 91 B.C. when Cato was four years old; but it need not be inferred that he had already formed an opinion on public affairs. The story is told also in Valerius Maximus, iii. 1, 2.)

At another time a relation of his who was celebrating a birthday, invited Cato and other boys to supper, and the company were diverting themselves at play in a separate part of the house, older and younger together, their play being actions at law, accusations, and the conducting of the condemned persons to prison.