Cato the Younger

But when his brother used perfume, Cato would decline it; and in his habits generally he was severe and strict. At any rate, when Caepio was admired and praised for his discretion and moderation, he would admit that he had those qualities when tested by reference to most men, But when, he would say, I compare my life with that of Cato, I seem to myself no better than Sippius,—mentioning one of those who were celebrated for luxury and effeminacy.

After Cato had been made priest of Apollo, he took a house apart, accepted his share of the patrimony, which amounted to a hundred and twenty talents, and began to live yet more simply than before. He made a close companion of Antipater the Tyrian, a Stoic philosopher, and devoted himself especially to ethical and political doctrines. He was possessed, as it were, with a kind of inspiration for the pursuit of every virtue; but, above all, that form of goodness which consists in rigid justice that will not bend to clemency or favour, was his great delight.

He practised also the kind of speaking which is effective with a multitude, deeming it right that in political philosophy, as in a great city, a certain warlike element should also be maintained. However, he did not perform his exercises in company with others, nor did any one ever hear him rehearsing a speech. Indeed, to one of his companions who said, Men find fault with thee, Cato, for thy silence, he replied: Only let them not blame my life. I will begin to speak when I am not going to say what were better left unsaid.