ἐπανελθὼν δὲ εἰς Ῥώμην τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον κατʼ οἶκον Ἀθηνοδώρῳ συνών, ἢ κατʼ ἀγορὰν τοῖς φίλοις παριστάμενος διετέλεσεν. ἐπιβάλλουσαν δὲ αὐτῷ τὴν ταμιευτικὴν ἀρχὴν οὐ πρότερον μετῆλθεν ἢ τούς τε νόμους ἀναγνῶναι τοὺς ταμιευτικοὺς καὶ διαπυθέσθαι τῶν ἐμπείρων ἕκαστα καὶ τύπῳ τινὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τὴν δύναμιν περιλαβεῖν.
After his return to Rome, he spent most of his time at home in the company of Athenodorus, or in the forum assisting his friends. And though the office of quaestor was open to him, he would not become a candidate for it until he had read the laws relating to the quaestorship, learned all the details of the office from those who had had experience in it, and formed a general idea of its power and scope.
ὅθεν εὐθὺς εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν καταστάς μεγάλην ἐποίησε μεταβολὴν τῶν περὶ τὸ ταμιεῖον ὑπηρετῶν καὶ γραμματέων, οἳ διὰ χειρὸς ἀεὶ τὰ δημόσια γράμματα καὶ τοὺς νόμους ἔχοντες, εἶτα νέους ἄρχοντας παραλαμβάνοντες διʼ ἀπειρίαν καὶ ἄγνοιαν ἀτεχνῶς διδασκάλων ἑτέρων καὶ παιδαγωγῶν δεομένους, οὐχ ὑφίεντο τῆς ἐξουσίας ἐκείνοις , ἀλλὰ ἦσαν ἄρχοντες αὐτοί,
Therefore, as soon as he had been instated in the office, he made a great change in the assistants and clerks connected with the treasury. These were fully conversant with the public accounts and the laws relative thereto, and so, when they received as their superior officers young men whose inexperience and ignorance made it really needful that others should teach and tutor them, they would not surrender any power to such superiors, but were superiors themselves.
μέχρι οὗ Κάτων ἐπιστὰς τοῖς πράγμασι νεανικῶς, οὐκ ὄνομα καὶ τιμὴν ἔχων ἄρχοντος, ἀλλὰ καὶ νοῦν καὶ φρόνημα καὶ λόγον, ὑπηρέταις, ὅπερ ἦσαν, ἠξίου χρῆσθαι τοῖς γραμματεῦσι, τὰ μὲν· ἐξελέγχων κακουργοῦντας αὐτούς, τὰ δὲ ἁμαρτά· νοντας ἀπειρίᾳ διδάσκων, ὡς δὲ ἦσαν ἰταμοὶ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐθώπευον ὑποτρέχοντες, ἐκείνῳ δὲ ἐπολέμουν, τὸν μὲν πρῶτον αὐτῶν καταγνοὺς περὶ πίστιν ἐν κληρονομίᾳ γεγονέναι πονηρόν ἀπήλασε τοῦ ταμιείου, δευτέρῳ δέ τινὶ ῥᾳδιουργίας προὔθηκε κρίσιν.
Now, however, Cato applied himself with energy to the business, not having merely the name and honour of a superior official, but also intelligence and rational judgement. He thought it best to treat the clerks as assistants, which they really were, sometimes convicting them of their evil practices, and sometimes teaching them if they erred from inexperience. But they were bold fellows, and tried to ingratiate themselves with the other quaestors, while they waged war upon Cato. Therefore the chief among them, whom he found guilty of a breach of trust in the matter of an inheritance, was expelled from the treasury by him, and a second was brought to trial for fraud.
ᾧ Κάτλος Λουτάτιος ὁ τιμητὴς ἀνέβη βοηθήσων, ἀνὴρ μέγα τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἔχων ἀξίωμα, τὸ δὲ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔχων μέγιστον, ὡς πάντων δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ σωφροσύνῃ Ῥωμαίων διαφέρων ἦν δὲ καὶ τοῦ Κάτωνος ἐπαινέτης καὶ συνήθης διὰ τὸν βίον. ὡς οὖν ἡττώμενος τοῖς δικαίοις ἐξῃτεῖτο φανερῶς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐκ εἴα ταῦτα ποιεῖν αὐτὸν ὁ Κάτων.
This person Catulus Lutatius the censor came forward to defend, a man who had great authority from his office, but most of all from his virtue, being thought to surpass all Romans in justice and discretion; he also commended Cato’s way of living and was intimate with him. Accordingly, when Catulus had lost his case on its merits and began to beg openly for the acquittal of his client, Cato tried to stop him from doing this.
ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον προσλιπαροῦντος, αἰσχρόν, εἶπεν, ὦ Κάτλε, σὲ τὸν τιμητὴν καὶ τοὺς ἡμετέρους βίους ὀφείλοντα δοκιμάζειν ὑπὸ τῶν ἡμετέρων ὑπηρετῶν ἐκβάλλεσθαι. ταύτην τὴν φωνὴν ἀφέντος τοῦ Κάτωνος, ὁ Κάτλος προσέβλεψε μὲν αὐτὸν ὡς ἀμειψόμενος, εἶπε δὲ οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ,ʼ εἴτε ὑπʼ ὀργῆς εἴτε ὑπʼ αἰσχύνης ἀπῆλθε σιωπῇ διηπορημένος.
And when Catulus was all the more importunate, Cato said: It would be a shameful thing, Catulus, if thou, who art the censor, and shouldst scrutinize our lives, wert put out of court by our bailiffs. When Cato had uttered these words, Catulus fixed his eyes upon him as if he would make reply; he said nothing, however, but either from anger or from shame went off in silence, much perplexed.
οὐ μὴν ἥλω γε ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ μιᾷ ψήφῳ τὰς ἀφιείσας ὑπερέβαλλον αἱ καθαιροῦσαι καὶ Λόλλιος Μᾶρκος εἷς, συνάρχων τοῦ Κάτωνος, ὑπὸ ἀσθενείας ἀπελέλειπτο τῆς δίκης, πέμπει πρὸς τοῦτον ὁ Κάτλος δεόμενος βοηθῆσαι τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· κἀκεῖνος ἐν φορείῳ κομισθεὶς μετὰ τὴν δίκην ἔθετο τὴν ἀπολύουσαν. οὐ μὴν ἐχρήσατό γε τῷ γραμματεῖ ὁ Κάτων, οὐδὲ τὸν μισθὸν ἀπέδωκεν, οὐδὲ ὅλως ἐνάριθμον τοῦ Λολλίου τὴν ψῆφον ἔσχεν.
However, the man was not convicted, but when the votes for condemnation exceeded those for acquittal by a single ballot, and one Marcus Lollius, a colleague of Cato, was kept by sickness from attending the trial, Catulus sent to him and begged him to help the man. So Lollius was brought in a litter after the trial and cast the vote that acquitted. Notwithstanding this, Cato would not employ the clerk, or give him his pay, or in any way take the vote of Lollius into the reckoning.
οὕτω δὲ τοὺς γραμματεῖς ταπεινώσας καὶ ποιήσας ὑποχειρίους, καὶ τοῖς πράγμασιν ὡς αὐτὸς ἐβούλετο χρώμενος, ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ τὸ ταμιεῖον ἀπέδειξε τοῦ βουλευτηρίου σεμνότερον, ὡς καὶ λέγειν καὶ φρονεῖν ἅπαντας ὅτι Κάτων ὑπατείας ἀξίωμα τῇ ταμιείᾳ περιέθηκε.
By thus humbling the clerks and making them submissive, and by managing the business as he himself desired, in a little while he brought the quaestorship into greater respect than the senate, so that all men said and thought that Cato had invested the quaestorship with the dignity of the consulship.
πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ εὑρὼν χρέα παλαιὰ τῷ δημοσίῳ πολλοὺς ὀφείλοντας καὶ πολλοῖς τὸ δημόσιον, ἅμα τὴν πόλιν ἔπαυσεν ἀδικουμένην καὶ ἀδικοῦσαν, τοὺς μὲν εὐτόνως καὶ ἀπαραιτήτως ἀπαιτῶν, τοῖς δὲ ταχέως ἀποδιδοὺς καὶ προθύμως, ὥστε τὸν δῆμον ἥδεσθαι τοὺς μὲν οἰομένους ἀποστερήσειν ἐκτίνοντας ὁρῶντα, τοὺς δὲ ἃ μὴ προσεδόκων ἀπολαμβάνοντας.
For, in the first place, when he found that many persons were owing debts of long standing to the public treasury and the treasury to many persons, he made an end at the same time of the state being wronged and wronging others; from its debtors he rigorously and inexorably demanded payment, and to its creditors he promptly and readily made payment, so that the people were filled with respect as they saw men making payments who thought to defraud the state, and men receiving payments which they had ceased to expect.
ἔπειτα γράμματα πολλῶν οὐ προσηκόντως ἀναφερόντων, καὶ δόγματα ψευδῆ παραδέχεσθαι χάριτι καὶ δεήσει τῶν προτέρων εἰωθότων, οὐδὲν αὐτὸν ἔλαθε γινόμενον τοιοῦτον, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ ἑνός ποτε δόγματος ἐνδοιάσας εἰ κύριον γέγονε, πολλῶν μαρτυρούντων οὐκ ἐπίστευσεν, οὐδὲ κατέταξε πρότερον ἢ τοὺς ὑπάτους ἐπομόσαι παραγενομένους.
In the next place, though many used improper methods to get writings filed with the quaestors, and though previous quaestors had been accustomed to receive false decrees at the request of those whom they wished to please, nothing of this sort could be done now without Cato finding it out. Indeed, on one occasion when he was doubtful whether a certain decree had actually passed the senate, though many testified to the fact, he would not believe them, nor would he file the decree away until the consuls had come and taken oath to its validity.
ὄντων δὲ πολλῶν οἷς Σύλλας ἐκεῖνος ἀποκτείνασιν ἄνδρας ἐκ προγραφῆς γέρας ἔδωκεν ἀνὰ μυρίας δισχιλίας δραχμάς, ἅπαντες μὲν αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐναγεῖς καὶ μιαροὺς ἑμίσουν, ἀμύνασθαι δὲ οὐδεὶς ἐτόλμα, Κάτων δὲ προσκαλούμενος ἕκαστον ἔχοντα δημόσιον ἀργύριον ἀδίκως ἐξέπραττεν, ἅμα θυμῷ καὶ λόγῳ τὸ τῆς πράξεως ἀνόσιον καὶ παράνομον ἐξονειδίζων.
Again, there were many persons whom the famous Sulla had rewarded for killing men under proscription, at the rate of twelve thousand drachmas. All men hated them as accursed and polluted wretches, but no one had the courage to punish them. Cato, however, called each one of these to account for having public money in his possession by unjust means, and made him give it up, at the same time rebuking him with passionate eloquence for his illegal and unholy act.
οἱ δὲ τοῦτο παθόντες εὐθὺς ἦσαν ἔνοχοι φόνῳ, καὶ τρόπον τινὰ προηλωκότες ἀπήγοντο πρὸς τοὺς δικαστὰς καὶ δίκας ἔτινον, ἡδομένων πάντων καὶ νομιζόντων συνεξαλείφεσθαι τὴν τότε τυραννίδα καὶ Σύλλαν αὐτὸν ἐφορᾶν κολαζόμενον.
After this experience they were at once charged with murder, were brought before their judges condemned beforehand, one might say, and were punished. At this all men were delighted, and thought that with their deaths the tyranny of that former time was extinguished, and that Sulla himself was punished before men’s eyes.
ἥιρει δὲ τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ τὸ ἐνδελεχὲς αὐτοῦ τῆς ἐπιμελείας καὶ ἄτρυτον, οὔτε γὰρ πρότερός τις ἀνέβη τῶν συναρχόντων εἰς τὸ ταμιεῖον Κάτωνος οὔτε ὕστερος ἀπῆλθεν, ἐκκλησίαν δὲ καὶ βουλὴν οὐδεμίαν παρῆκε, δεδιὼς καὶ· παραφυλάττων τοὺς ἑτοίμως καὶ πρὸς χάριν ὀφλημάτων καὶ τελῶν ἀνέσεις ἢ δόσεις οἷς ἔτυχεν ἐπιψηφιζομένους.
Moreover, the multitude were captivated by his continuous and unwearied attention to his duties. For no one of his colleagues came up to the treasury earlier than Cato, and none left it later. Besides, no session of assembly or senate would he fail to attend, since he feared and kept close watch on those who were ready to gratify people by voting remissions of debts and taxes, or promiscuous gifts.
ἐπιδεικνύμενος δὲ τὸ ταμιεῖον ἄβατόν τε καὶ καθαρὸν συκοφαντῶν, πλῆρες δὲ χρημάτων, ἐδίδασκεν ὅτι τῇ πόλει πλουτεῖν ἔξεστι μὴ ἀδικούσῃ. κατʼ ἀρχὰς δὲ τῶν συναρχόντων ἐνίοις ἐπαχθὴς καὶ χαλεπὸς φανείς ὕστερον ἠγαπᾶτο, ταῖς ἐκ τοῦ μὴ χαρίζεσθαι τὰ δημόσια μηδὲ κρίνειν κακῶς ἀπεχθείαις ὑποτιθεὶς ἑαυτὸν ἀντὶ πάντων, καὶ παρέχων ἀπολογεῖσθαι πρὸς τοὺς δεομένους καὶ βιαζομένους ἐκείνους, ὡς ἀμήχανόν ἐστιν, ἄκοντος Κάτωνος.
And so by exhibiting a treasury which was inaccessible to public informers and free from their taint, but full of money, he taught men that a state can be rich without wronging its citizens. At first some of his colleagues thought him obnoxious and troublesome, but afterwards they were well pleased with him, since he took upon his own shoulders exclusively the burden of the hatreds arising from refusal to give away the public moneys or to make unjust decisions, and furnished them with a defence against people who tried to force requests upon them. They would say, namely, It is impossible; Cato will not consent.
τῶν δὲ ἡμερῶν τῇ τελευταίᾳ σχεδὸν ὑπὸ πάντων τῶν πολιτῶν προπεμφθεὶς εἰς οἶκον, ἤκουσεν ὅτι Μαρκέλλῳ πολλοὶ συνήθεις καὶ δυνατοὶ προσπεσόντες ἐν τῷ ταμιείῳ καὶ περιέχοντες ἐκβιάζονται γράψαι τινὰ δόσιν χρημάτων ὀφειλομένων, ἦν δὲ ὁ Μάρκελλος ἐκ παίδων φίλος τῷ Κάτωνι, καὶ σὺν ἐκείνῳ βέλτιστος ἄρχων, αὐτὸς δὲ καθʼ αὑτὸν ἀγώγιμος ὑπʼ αἰδοῦς τοῖς δεομένοις, καὶ κατάντης πρὸς πᾶσαν χάριν.
On the last day of his term of office, after he had been escorted to his house by almost the whole body of citizens, he heard that many friends of Marcellus and men of influence had closely beset him in the treasury, and were trying to force him to register some remission of moneys due. Now, Marcellus had been a friend of Cato from boyhood, and when associated with him had been a most excellent magistrate. When acting by himself however, he was led by a feeling of deference to be complaisant towards suppliants, and was inclined to grant every favour.
εὐθὺς οὖν ὁ Κάτων ἐπιστρέψας καὶ τὸν Μάρκελλον εὑρὼν ἐκβεβιασμένον γράψαι τὴν δόσιν, ᾔτησε τὰς δέλτους καὶ ἀπήλειψεν, αὐτοῦ παρεστῶτος σιωπῇ· καὶ τοῦτο πράξας κατήγαγεν αὑτὸν ἐκ τοῦ ταμιείου καὶ κατέστησεν εἰς οἶκον, οὔτε τότε μεμψάμενον οὔτε ὕστερον, ἀλλʼ ἐμμείναντα τῇ συνηθείᾳ καὶ φιλίᾳ μέχρι παντός.
At once, then, Cato turned back, and when he found that Marcellus had been forced to register the remission, he asked for the tablets and erased the entry, while Marcellus himself stood by and said nothing. After this had been done, Cato conducted Marcellus away from the treasury and brought him to his house, and Marcellus had no word of blame for him either then or afterwards, but continued his intimate friendship up to the end.
οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ἀπαλλαγεὶς τῆς ταμιείας ἀφῆκε τῆς φρουρᾶς ἔρημον τὸ ταμιεῖον, ἀλλʼ οἰκέται μὲν αὐτοῦ καθʼ ἡμέραν ἀπογραφόμενοι τὰς διοικήσεις παρῆσαν, αὐτὸς δὲ βιβλία λόγους περιέχοντα δημοσίων οἰκονομιῶν ἀπὸ τῶν Σύλλα χρόνων εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ταμιείαν ὠνησάμενος πέντε ταλάντων ἀεὶ διὰ χειρὸς εἶχεν.
However, not even after he had laid down the quaestorship did Cato leave the treasury destitute of his watchful care, but slaves of his were there every day copying the transactions, and he himself paid five talents for books containing accounts of the public business from the times of Sulla down to his own quaestorship, and always had them in hand.
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