Cato the Younger $7 |
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sked, where he should be. Barca answered him, where hepleased ; then looking about, he said he would be near Muna-tius, and went and placed himself next to him; yet he showedhim no other mark of kindness all the time they were at tabletogether. But another time, at the entreaty of Marcia, Catowrote to Munatius that he desired to speak with him. Muna-_ tius went to his house in the morning, and was kept by Marciatill all the company was gone; then Cato came, threw both hisarms about him, and embraced him very kindly, and they werereconciled. I have the more fully related this passage, for that_I think the manners and tempers of men are more clearly dis-_ covered by things of this nature, than by great and conspicuous_ actions._ _Cato got together little less than seven thousand talents ofsilver; but apprehensive of what might happen in so long a- yoyage by sea, he provided a great many coffers that held two' talents and five hundred drachmas apiece; to each of these he_ fastened a long rope, and to the other end of the rope a piece of- cork, so that if the ship should miscarry, it might be discovered* whereabout the chests lay under water. Thus all the money,except a very little, was safely transported. But he had madetwo books, in which all the accounts of his commission were- carefully written out, and neither of these was preserved. For“his freedman Philargyrus, who had the charge of one of them,_ setting sail from Cenchree, was lost, together with the ship and“all her freight. And the other Cato himself kept safe till he“came to Corcyra, but there he set up his tent in the market-place, and the sailors, being very cold in the night, made a greatmany fires, some of which caught the tents, so that they wereburnt, and the book lost. And though he had brought withhim several of Ptolemy’s stewards, who could testify to his in--tegrity, and stop the mouths of enemies and false accusers, yetthe loss annoyed him, and he was vexed with himself about thematter, as he had designed them not so much for a proof of hisown fidelity, as for a pattern of exactness to others. The news did not fail to reach Rome that he was coming up‘the river. All the magistrates, the priests, and the whole senate,with great part of the people, went out to meet him; both thebanks of the Tiber were covered with people; so that his en- trance was in solemnity and honour not inferior to a triumph, But it was thought somewhat strange, and looked like wilful- ness and pride, that when the consuls and pretors appeared, he did not disembark, nor stay to salute them, but rowed up theIII 499 @ 58 . Plutarch’s Lives stream in a royal galley of six banks of oars, and stopped not tillhe brought his vessels to the dock. However, when the moneywas carried through the streets, the people much wondered atthe vast quantity of it, and the senate being assembled, decreedhim in honourable terms an extraordinary pretorship, and alsothe privilege of appearing at the public spectacles in a robefaced with purple. Cato declined all these honours, but declar-ing what diligence and fidelity he had found in Nicias, thesteward of Ptolemy, he requested the senate to give him hisfreedom. Philippus, the father of Marcia, was that year consul, and theauthority and power of the office rested in a manner in Cato;for the other consul paid him no less regard for his virtue’s sakethan Philippus did on account of the connection between them.And Cicero, now being returned from his banishment, intowhich he was driven by Clodius, and having again obtainedgreat credit among the people, went, in the absence of Clodius,and by force took away the records of his tribuneship, whichhad been laid up in the capitol. Hereupon the senate wasassembled and Clodius complained of Cicero, who answered,that Clodius was never legally tribune, and therefore whateverhe had done was void, and of no authority. But Cato inter-rupted him while he spoke, and at last standing up said, thatindeed he in no way justified or approved of Clodius’s proceed-ings: but if they questioned the validity of what had been donein his tribuneship, they might also question what himself haddone at Cyprus, for the expedition was unlawful, if he that senthim had no lawful authority: for himself, he thought Clodiuswas legally made tribune, who, by permission of the law, wasfrom a patrician adopted into a plebeian family; if he had doneill in his office, he ought to be called to account for it; but theauthority of the magistracy ought not to suffer for the faults ofthe magistrate. Cicero took this ill, and for a long time dis-continued his friendship with Cato; but they were afterwardsreconciled. Pompey and Crassus, by agreement with Cesar, who crossedthe Alps to see them, had formed a design, that they two shouldstand to be chosen consuls a second time, and when they shouldbe in their office, they would continue to Cesar his governmentfor five years more, and take to themselves the greatest pro-vinces, with armies and money to maintain them. This seemeda plain conspiracy to subvert the constitution and parcel outthe empire. Several men of high ‘character had intended to RO A ee Pe Re
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