Explanation: Cato the Younger was an ultraconservative politician of the Late Roman Republic. His primary accomplishment is being known for his personal virtue, his lack of corruption, and his adherence to the law.
… except when it came to divorcing his wife to marry her off to a rich old man so he could remarry her once he died and she inherited his wealth. Or when it came to openly admitting he wasn’t charging a guilty man with a crime, because that criminal was an in-law of his. Or his brutal looting of the new acquisition of Cyprus, leading to low returns to the Roman treasury (but curiously high returns to many of his political allies and relatives).
Or when it came to engaging on bribery on a massive scale to try to prevent reformers from coming to power. Or when it came to preventing his political allies from performing explicitly illegal acts in the provinces to enrich themselves at the expense of the provincials, to such a great degree that it shocked his fellow conservatives.
Or when it came to adherence to procedural law when it didn’t benefit himself or other conservatives in the Senate. Or when it came to consistently interpreting the law when it didn’t benefit himself or other conservatives in the Senate. Or when it came to acknowledging the Roman constitution giving power to anyone other than the Senate. Or when it came to acknowledging the Roman constitution at all. Or when it came to respecting the Senate’s own decrees. Or when it came to executing Roman citizens without a trial. Or when it came to starting a bloody and brutal civil war that would end with the Republic being entirely destabilized, because he wanted to execute his reformist political opponents.
So, you know. Standard conservative stuff.
Praise be to pugjesus and their explanations
I am but a peddler of historical minutiae! Always happy to hear that my humble wares are appreciated! 🙏
Aha! This is the Cato for whom the Cato Institute (founded by Charles Koch) is (indirectly) named.
There was a collection of 144 essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon in the early 1720s under the pseudonym “Cato”, taken from Cato the Younger. Taken together “Cato’s Letters” were the inspiration for the name of the 20th century conservative think tank.
His ancestor was also kinda shitty. Cato “we should do a genocide” the Elder.
Cato “I treated my wife and daughters so shitty even other Roman aristocrats of the time were put off” the Elder.
Cato “You should keep your slaves as close to starving as possible and sell off or abandon the sick, for financial reasons” the Elder.
Cato “I tried to ban women from wearing jewelry because those FOIDS shouldn’t be allowed to have things” the Elder.
Cato “I hate Scipio Africanus for saving the Republic while being beloved by the poors” the Elder.
Cato “I’m so proud that I slaughtered more Spaniards than I delivered to the Republic” the Elder.
… shitheaddery apparently ran in the family.
When you have to layer more than 3 levels of text onto others’ words just to pretend you have a point… maybe rethink your approach.
are you lost?
