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5 unusual facts about Cato the Elder


Ciutadella de Roses

After occupying the surrounding area in the early 2nd century during the Punic Wars, the Romans finally sacked the city under the command of Marcus Porcius Cato in the late 3rd century.

Diogo Ortiz de Villegas

Ortiz taught on the writings of Cato, Terence, Virgil, Sallust and some parts of the Bible, the theory of the planets and some elementary matters about astrology he heard from Tomás de Torres, an eminent doctor and astrologer of that time.

Marianne Thieme

Marianne Thieme always concludes her speeches in Parliament with the phrase "Voorts zijn wij van mening dat er een einde moet komen aan de bio-industrie." ("Furthermore we are of the opinion that factory farming has to be ended."), referring to Cato the Elder's famous conclusion of his speeches with Carthago delenda est.

Radio Paris

His catch phrase was "England, like Carthage, shall be destroyed!", echoing Cato the Elder's slogan Carthago delenda est.

Spurius Ligustinus

After the Macedonians were defeated and he had returned home as his unit was demobilized, he promptly went to Spain as a volunteer under the consulship of Marcus Porcius Cato (195 BC).


Coan wine

Two accounts of the production of Coan-style wine survive, one given by Cato the Elder in De Agri Cultura, and the other, attributed to Berytius, in the Byzantine collection Geoponica.

Congius

Cato tells us that he was wont to give each of his slaves a congius of wine at the Saturnalia and Compitalia.

Horseradish

Dioscorides listed horseradish under Thlaspi or Persicon; Cato discusses the plant in his treatises on agriculture, and a mural in Pompeii shows the plant.

Manius Curius Dentatus

Although the truth of this story is unclear — it may have been an invention of Cato — it was the inspiration for a number of paintings by Jacopo Amigoni, Govert Flinck, and others.

Opsimath

Notable opsimaths include Sir Henry Rawlinson, the fictitious character Sir Henry Rawlinson, Grandma Moses, mathematician Paul Erdős (who published papers up until his death at age 83), and Cato the Elder who learned Greek only at the age of 80.

Roman aqueduct

In the countryside, permissions to draw water from aqueducts for irrigation were particularly hard to get; the exercise and abuse of such rights were subject to various known legal disputes and judgements, and at least one political campaign; in the early 2nd century BC Cato tried to block all unlawful rural outlets, especially those owned by the landed elite - "Look how much he bought the land for, where he is channeling the water!" - during his censorship.


see also

Marcus Porcius Cato

Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus (d. circa 152 BC), son of Cato the elder by his first wife