Virtue And Empire Life Of Cato The Elder History Essay

honor And Empire Life Of Cato The Elder History EssayMarcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC) also cognize as Cato the elder was a political leader of prominent ace and determination. Often referred to as the elder to identify him from his equally renowned great-grandson, Cato the young was born in Tusculum in the Sabine mountains. Cato was also a rise up known Ro musical composition s octogenarianier, censor, national leader, public speaker, and writer. His stern morality in office as well as in his private support became proverbial. His primeval invigoration was spent on his beats farm near Reate, in the Sabine country. Here he acquired early in life those qualities of simplimetropolis, frugality, rigorous honesty, austerity, and patriotism for which he was regarded by later generations as the embodiment of the old papistical virtues the third remark of Cato the elder was not Cato at original but Priscus, he obtained the surname of Cato as a result of his great abilities sinc e the Romans call a man who is wise and prudent, catus. Catus is also a Latin word meaning clever. His native ability and shrewdness, says Plutarch, gave him the surname Cato (the shrewd) replacing the earlier name of Priscus. Love of the soil, implanted in him in his y proscribedh, remained throughout his life though not content with the agri pagan limitations of a Sabine husbandman he became in later years the owner of great plantations worked by slave laborHellenization is a term used to describe the bedspread of Ancient classic elaboration and language. The result of hellenization was that elements of Hellenic origin feature in various forms and degrees with local elements, which is known as Hellenism. In innovational whiles hellenization has been associated with adoption of modern Greek culture and the ethnic and cultural homogenization of Greece to be Hellenistic is to make or become Greek in character, language, culture, or civilization. The hellenization and the vari ous conquests in capital of Italy made a great impact on the life of Cato the elder both professionally and personally.Cato was a censor, orator, author, soldier and a statesman. He entered the military service at a tender age of 17 where he participated in the instant Punic war. As a Roman soldier, he helped his country go through whatsoever conquests such as conquests of Egypt and wars in Spain successfully. As the city grew by virtue of its exceptional military skill and boundless passion for territory, it assimilated lands and people at first immediately adjacent-the Sabines and Etrusca-and then unless and further a field, until by the cadence of birth of Christ Rome henpecked the Mediterranean, Europe as far as the Rhine, Turkey, Middle East, North Africa and more. severally act of conquest was also an act of negotiation He obtained virtues such as fluency and courage which came in handy when he retired from the force and became an orator and a statesman.As a censor, he was a solid guardian of morality. Censorship role involved condemning issues that were meant to deny some segment of the population justice in the smart set. gum olibanum Cato was a man of integrity and uprightness and adopted an anti-Hellenistic attitude arguing that though the Greek culture was attractive and necessary for progress of Rome, in the long pass by it may lead to collapse of the Roman society. Cato ceaselessly sought out those who misused public property. Pipes with which people used to illegally draw piss from the public water supply, were simply severed. Private buildings which overlapped onto public land were demolished. The deep suffered enormous taxation, and severe regulations were introduced to pr purget any luxuries Cato deemed excessiveCato was a see good orator or a public speaker. He gave many speeches whether in the senate or elsewhere that were inspirational, more specifically the memorable quotes that he came up with. He is said to have been the first to teach Rome to speak Latin and hence he is credited as the father of Latin prose. He was also a renowned author. Though even once retired from politics Cato still would not peace. He created the first Roman encyclopaedia, produced a work on medicine, wrote a history of Rome, and also, due to having gravid up on a farm, wrote a text on gardening (the oldest complete Latin prose work) Through oratory Cato was able to display his blandness gained from the military service and pass to the generations to come, wisdom through the various proses that he authored. The considerable, though fragmentary, remains of his speeches show the unmistakable influence of Greek rhetorical training, and yet are throughout concerned with moulding his Roman audiences ethically and chastely in ways consistent with Roman traditionCato was a responsible father and husband. He always considered his family more important than the rest of the responsibilities held outside home and thus he found val uable time to spend with his family. He used to say that the man who hit his married woman or child, laid violent hands on the holiest of holy things thus he considered wife battery and child abuse as crimes. In addition he treated the slaves that worked in his household well and he could train the youthful slaves into better careers in future.Cato was influenced by the Greek rhetorical training that assisted him build his charismatic abilities and consequently contributing to his eloquence during his time as the Roman senator. However he was not in support of the mass importage of the Greek culture which is manifested by his refusal to learn Greek language in early life though he lived in Athens for some time. As the result of the hellenization and the conquests, Cato had the knowledge of the practical morally corrupting consequences which Greek philosophy and culture has had on the Greek society and consequently the same consequences probably would be replicated in the Roman cultu re in the future. This would be detrimental since Greek culture by that time was supporting some immoral sexual practices such as pedophilia. Thus Cato reacted to this changes brought about by hellenization by adopting an anti-Hellenistic attitude as he keep strengthen his virtues such as patriotism and frugality acquired earlier in life.In conclusion, Cato was undoubtedly one of the most striking characters of the Roman Republic, and his name became similar with the stern old Roman morality for generations to come. In its early point of development, Roman Empire suffered from the twin problems of foreign influence and purplish expansion. Roman Empire has managed to rise against all odds and presently, Rome is at a peak of political success and has appropriated Greek learning and culture.