Just finished it.

>>3283618
Who was in the wrong and why was it Cato?

>>3283619

I won't say that Cato was wrong but he made a lot of dumb mistakes that were easily avoidable, and ultimately doomed the Republic. Cato's stoicism gave him endurance and toughness far beyond what most humans are capable of. It also made him inflexible and stubborn. It's a great example of someone's greatest strength also being his greatest weakness.

>>3283618
Why have you only read one book about Cato the Younger and are trying to pass it off like you're some sort of historian on the subject?

>>3283630

It's just a way to try and start a discussion. I've made threads like this before and other people usually carry the thread once it gets going.

>>3283630

Also, the book pretty much does contain everything that is known about him. Unfortunately, almost all of his writings have been lost to history, with the except of 1 letter that he wrote to Cicero. This unfortunately means that there is a severe scarcity of sources regarding Cato, and there really isn't much known about him beyond what is including in this book.

File: cato the younger.png (342KB, 394x394px) Image search: [Google]

342KB, 394x394px

>>3283618
pic related

>>3283664

The book makes the claim that Cato was intentionally trying to imitate Socrates when he killed himself. His children were begging him not to do it, they even hid his sword from him to try and prevent it from happening.

>>3283679
didnt socrates drink poison hemlock?

>Cincinnatus
>Cato
>Cicero
How come all of Rome's most emphatic republicans also happened to be Optimate shitheads?

>>3283688

Correct. Perhaps Cato would have gone that route if there had been an hemlock available to him in Utica.

>>3283705

Because their biggest fear was that a sufficiently popular general, such as Caesar or Pompey, would be able to declare themselves king by harnessing the power of the lower classes in a populist uprising. Thus, they tended to rely on the aristocracy for support. Throughout his entire life, Cato saw it as his holy mission to prevent any one person from getting enough clout to completely dominate Roman politics. He tended to oppose land reform, simply because land reform was so popular that he thought any politician who actually managed to pull it off would be able to declare himself king with support of the lower classes.

>>3283738
Why didn't he just implement land reform himself and simultaneously pre-empt the unscrupulous politicians and actually help out the people of his republic then?

>>3283785

Because he had a stoic worldview that didn't allow him to make compromises for political advantage. Throughout his entire career, Cato was entirely unwilling to do anything that might be construed as pandering to the lower classes. Cicero tended to call him out on this, arguing that if Cato truly felt that the Republic was in such eminent danger, then Cato should be willing to make whatever compromises are necessary to preserve it. This was sensible advice which Cato's stoicism simply didn't allow him to act upon.

Probably the most frustrating mistake he makes in the entire book is preventing Pompey from marrying his daughter. Pompey genuinely admired Cato at one point in his life, and he wanted to marry Cato's daughter as the basis for a marriage alliance. Cato's daughter was utterly thrilled with the proposal (not that she had any choice) but Cato wouldn't even consider it. Why Cato was so adamantly refused to this marriage is difficult to understand, but it was probably the biggest mistake he ever made. You see, Pompey ended up marrying Caesar's daughter instead, and this marriage alliance became the glue that held the triumvirate together. Cato had a chance to strangle the triumvirate before it even had a chance to take root, and he let it slip away. The author of the book is generally sympathetic to Cato, but this one particular decision receives deservedly harsh commentary.