τοιαύτῃ δὲ καταληφθεὶς ἀνάγκῃ Κικέρωνι μὲν ἐλαυνομένῳ παρῄνεσε μὴ στασιάσαι μηδὲ εἰς ὅπλα καὶ φόνους τὴν πόλιν ἐμβαλεῖν, ἀλλʼ ὑπεκστάντα τῷ καιρῷ πάλιν γενέσθαι σωτῆρα τῆς πατρίδος, Κανίδιον δέ τινα τῶν φίλων προπέμψας εἰς Κύπρον ἔπειθε τὸν Πτολεμαῖον ἄνευ μάχης εἴκειν, ὡς οὔτε χρημάτων οὔτε τιμῆς ἐνδεᾶ βιωσόμενον· ἱερωσύνην γὰρ αὐτῷ τῆς ἐν Πάφῳ θεοῦ δώσειν τὸν δῆμον.
Subjected to such constraint as this, Cato advised Cicero, whose enemies were trying to banish him, not to raise a faction or plunge the city into war and bloodshed, but to yield to the necessities of the times, and so to become again a saviour of his country. He also sent Canidius, one of his friends, to Cyprus in advance, and tried to persuade Ptolemy to yield his kingdom without fighting, promising that his future life should not be without wealth and honour, since the Romans would give him a priesthood of the goddess in Paphos.
αὐτὸς δὲ διέτριβεν ἐν Ῥόδῳ παρασκευαζόμενος ἅμα καὶ τὰς ἀποκρίσεις ἀναμένων. ἐν δὲ τούτῳ Πτολεμαῖος ὁ Αἰγύπτου βασιλεὺς ὑπʼ ὀργῆς τινος καὶ διαφορᾶς πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας ἀπολελοιπὼς μὲν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν, εἰς δὲ Ῥώμην πλέων, ὡς Πομπηΐου καὶ Καίσαρος αὖθις αὑτὸν μετὰ δυνάμεως καταξόντων, ἐντυχεῖν τῷ Κάτωνι βουληθεὶς προσέπεμψεν, ἐλπίζων ἐκεῖνον ὡς αὑτὸν ἥξειν.
He himself, however, tarried at Rhodes, making his preparations and awaiting his answers.
Meanwhile Ptolemy the king of Egypt, who had quarrelled with the citizens of Alexandria and forsaken the city in wrath, and was now on his way to Rome in the hope that Pompey and Caesar would restore him again with an armed force, wished to have an interview with Cato, and sent a messenger to him, expecting that Cato would come to him.
ὁ δὲ Κάτων ἐτύγχανε μὲν ὢν τότε περὶ κοιλίας κάθαρσιν, ἥκειν δὲ τὸν Πτολεμαῖον, εἰ βούλοιτο, κελεύσας πρὸς αὐτόν, ὡς δὲ ἦλθεν, οὔτε ἀπαντήσας οὔτε ὑπεξαναστάς, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἕνα τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων ἀσπασάμενος καὶ καθίσαι κελεύσας, πρῶτον αὐτοῖς τούτοις διετάραξε, θαυμάζοντα πρὸς τὸ δημοτικὸν καὶ λιτὸν αὑτοῦ τῆς κατασκευῆς τὴν ὑπεροψίαν καὶ βαρύτητα τοῦ ἤθους.
But Cato, as it chanced, was taking a course of medicine at the time, and bade Ptolemy come to him if he wished to see him. And when Ptolemy had come, Cato neither went to meet him nor rose from his seat, but greeted him as he would any ordinary visitor and bade him be seated. At first Ptolemy was confounded by the reception itself, and was amazed at the contrast between the haughtiness and severity of Cato’s manners and the plainness and simplicity of his outfit.
ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ διαλέγεσθαι περὶ τῶν καθʼ αὑτὸν ἀρξάμενος ἠκροάσατο λόγων νοῦν πολὺν ἐχόντων καὶ παρρησίαν, ἐπιτιμῶντος αὐτῷ τοῦ Κάτωνος καὶ διδάσκοντος ὅσην εὐδαιμονίαν ἀπολιπὼν ὅσαις ἑαυτὸν ὑποτίθησι λατρείαις καὶ πόνοις καὶ δωροδοκίαις καὶ πλεονεξίαις τῶν ἐν Ῥώμῃ δυνατῶν, οὓς μόλις ἐξαργυρισθεῖσαν ἐμπλήσειν Αἴγυπτον, συμβουλεύοντος δὲ πλεῖν ὀπίσω καὶ διαλλάττεσθαι τοῖς πολίταις, αὑτοῦ δὲ καὶ συμπλεῖν καὶ συνδιαλλάττειν ἑτοίμως ἔχοντος,
But after he had begun to converse with Cato about his own situation, words of great wisdom and boldness fell upon his ears. For Cato censured his course, and showed him what great happiness he had forsaken, and to how much servility and hardship he was subjecting himself in dealing with the corruption and rapacity of the chief men at Rome, whom Egypt could scarcely glut if it were all turned into money. Cato also advised him to sail back and be reconciled with his people, holding himself ready also to sail with him and help effect the reconciliation.
οἷον ἐκ μανίας τινὸς ἢ παρακοπῆς ὑπὸ τῶν λόγων ἔμφρων καθιστάμενος, καὶ κατανοῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν τοῦ ἀνδρός, ὥρμησε μὲν χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἐκείνου λογισμοῖς, ἀνατραπεὶς δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν φίλων αὖθις ἅμα τῷ πρῶτον ἐν Ῥώμῃ γενέσθαι καὶ θύραις ἑνὸς ἄρχοντος προσελθεῖν ἔστενε τὴν αὑτοῦ κακοβουλίαν, ὡς οὐκ ἀνδρὸς ἀγαθοῦ λόγων, θεοῦ δὲ μαντείας καταφρονήσας.
Then the king, as if brought to his senses by Cato’s words after a fit of madness or delirium, and recognizing the sincerity and sagacity of the speaker, determined to adopt his counsels; but he was turned back to his first purpose by his friends. However, as soon as he reached Rome and was approaching the door of a magistrate, he groaned over his own evil resolve, convinced that he had slighted, not the words of a good man, but the prophetic warning of a god.
ι δὲ ἐν Κύπρῳ Πτολεμαῖος εὐτυχίᾳ τινὶ τοῦ Κάτωνος ἑαυτὸν φαρμάκοις ἀπέκτεινε, πολλῶν δὲ χρημάτων ἀπολελεῖφθαι λεγομένων, αὐτὸς μὲν ἔγνω πλεῖν εἰς Βυζαντίους, πρὸς δὲ τὴν Κύπρον ἐξέπεμψε τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν Βροῦτον, οὐ πάνυ τι πιστεύων τῷ Κανιδίῳ. τοὺς δὲ φυγάδας διαλλάξας καὶ καταλιπὼν ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ τὸ Βυζαντίον, οὕτως εἰς Κύπρον ἔπλευσεν.
But the Ptolemy in Cyprus, fortunately for Cato, poisoned himself to death. And since the king was said to have left much treasure, Cato determined, while sailing himself to Byzantium, to send his nephew Brutus to Cyprus, since he did not altogether trust Canidius. Then, after reconciling the exiles and citizens of Byzantium and leaving the city in concord, he sailed to Cyprus.
οὔσης δὲ πολλῆς καὶ βασιλικῆς ἐν ἐκπώμασι καὶ τραπέζαις καὶ λίθοις καὶ πορφύραις κατασκευῆς, ἣν ἔδει πραθεῖσαν ἐξαργυρισθῆναι, πάντα βουλόμενος ἐξακριβοῦν καὶ πάντα κατατείνειν εἰς ἄκραν τιμὴν καὶ πᾶσιν αὐτὸς παρεῖναι καὶ προσάγειν τὸν ἔσχατον ἐκλογισμόν, οὐδὲ τοῖς ἐθάσι τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἐπίστευεν, ἀλλὰ ὑπονοῶν ὁμοῦ πάντας, ὑπηρέτας, κήρυκας, ὠνητάς, φίλους, τέλος αὐτὸς ἰδίᾳ τοῖς ὠνουμένοις διαλεγόμενος καὶ προσβιβάζων ἕκαστον, οὕτω τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν ἀγορασμάτων ἐπώλει.
Now, there were many furnishings of a princely sort, such as beakers, tables, precious stones, and purple vestments, which had to be sold and turned into money. So Cato, wishing to treat everything with the greatest exactness, and to force everything up to a high price, and to attend to everything himself, and to use the utmost calculation, would not trust even those who were accustomed to the market, but, suspecting all alike, assistants, criers, buyers, and friends, and at last talking privately himself with the purchasers and encouraging each one to bid, he thus succeeded in selling most of the merchandize.
διὸ τοῖς τε ἄλλοις φίλοις ὡς ἀπιστῶν προσέκρουσε, καὶ τὸν συνηθέστατον ἁπάντων Μουνάτιον εἰς ὀργὴν ὀλίγου δεῖν ἀνήκεστον γενομένην ἐνέβαλεν, ὥστε καὶ Καίσαρι γράφοντι λόγον κατὰ τοῦ Κάτωνος πικροτάτην τοῦτο τὸ μέρος τῆς κατηγορίας διατριβὴν παρασχεῖν.
For this reason he gave offence to most of his friends, who thought that he distrusted them, and Munatius, the most intimate of them all, he threw into a rage that was well nigh incurable. Hence Caesar also, when he wrote a discourse against Cato, dwelt most bitterly on this part of his denunciation.
ὁ μέντοι Μουνάτιος οὐκ ἀπιστίᾳ τοῦ Κάτωνος, ἀλλʼ ἐκείνου μὲν ὀλιγωρίᾳ πρὸς αὐτὸν, αὐτοῦ δέ τινι ζηλοτυπίᾳ πρὸς τὸν Κανίδιον ἱστορεῖ γενέσθαι τὴν ὀργήν. καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς σύγγραμμα περὶ τοῦ Κάτωνος ἐξέδωκεν, ᾧ μάλιστα Θρασέας ἐπηκολούθησε.
Munatius, however, states that his anger arose, not from Cato’s distrust of him, but from his inconsiderate conduct towards him, and from a certain jealousy which Munatius himself felt towards Canidius. For Munatius himself also published a treatise about Cato, which Thrasea chiefly followed.
λέγει δὲ ὕστερος μὲν εἰς Κύπρον ἀφικέσθαι καὶ λαβεῖν παρημελημένην ξενίαν, ἐλθὼν δὲ ἐπὶ θύρας ἀπωσθῆναι, σκευωρουμένου τι τοῦ Κάτωνος οἴκοι σὺν τῷ Κανιδίῳ, μεμψάμενος δὲ μετρίως οὐ μετρίας τυχεῖν ἀποκρίσεως, ὅτι κινδυνεύει τὸ λίαν φιλεῖν, ὥς φησι Θεόφραστος, αἴτιον τοῦ μισεῖν γίνεσθαι πολλάκις· ἐπεὶ καὶ σύ, φάναι, τῷ μάλιστα φιλεῖν ἧττον οἰόμενος ἢ προσήκει τιμᾶσθαι χαλεπαίνεις.
Munatius says that he came to Cyprus after the others, and found that no provision had been made for his entertainment; he says, too, that on going to Cato’s door he was repulsed, because Cato had some engagement inside with Canidius. He says, further, that his measured protest met with no measured reply, for Cato told him that excessive affection, according to Theophrastus, was likely to become a ground for hatred in many cases. And so thou too, said Cato, by reason of thine especial affection for me, art vexed to think thyself less honoured than is meet.
Κανιδίῳ δὲ καὶ διʼ ἐμπειρίαν χρῶμαι καὶ διὰ πίστιν ἑτέρων μᾶλλον, ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν ἀφιγμένῳ, καθαρῷ δὲ φαινομένῳ. ταῦτα μέντοι μόνον αὐτῷ μόνῳ διαλεχθέντα τὸν Κάτωνα πρὸς τὸν Κανίδιον ἐξενεγκεῖν. αἰσθόμενος οὖν αὐτὸς οὔτε ἐπὶ δεῖπνον ἔτι φοιτᾶν οὔτε σύμβουλος ὑπακούειν καλούμενος, ἀπειλοῦντος δὲ τοῦ Κάτωνος, ὥσπερ εἰώθασι τῶν ἀπειθούντων, ἐνέχυρα λήψεσθαι, μηδὲν φροντίσας ἐκπλεῦσαι καὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἐν ὀργῇ διατελεῖν·
Canidius I employ more than others both because I have made trial of him, and because I trust him; he came at the very first, and shows himself to be incorrupt. This private conversation, however, between himself and Cato, Munatius says was reported by Cato to Canidius, and that therefore, when he heard of it, he would no longer go to Cato’s table, or visit him, or share his counsels, when he was invited. Further, Munatius says, when Cato threatened to take security from him, as the Romans do in the case of those who refuse to obey orders, he paid no attention to the threat, but sailed away, and for a long time continued to be angry with Cato.
χρόνον ἐν ὀργῇ διατελεῖν· εἶτα τῆς Μαρκίας ἔτι γὰρ συνῷκει τῷ Κάτωνι διαλεχθείσης, τυχεῖν μὲν ὑπὸ Βάρκα κεκλημένους ἐπὶ δεῖπνον, εἰσελθόντα δὲ ὕστερον τὸν Κάτωνα, τῶν ἄλλων κατακειμένων, ἐρωτᾶν ὅπου κατακλιθείη. τοῦ δὲ Βάρκα κελεύσαντος ὅπου βούλεται, περιβλεψάμενον εἰπεῖν ὅτι παρὰ Μουνάτιον καὶ περιελθόντα πλησίον αὐτοῦ κατακλιθῆναι, πλέον δὲ μηθὲν φιλοφρονήσασθαι παρὰ τὸ δεῖπνον.
Then, Munatius says, Marcia, who was still living with Cato, spoke with her husband about the matter; and when it chanced that both men were invited to supper by Barca, Cato, who came late and after the others had taken their places, asked where he should recline; and when Barca told him to recline where he pleased, Cato looked about the room and said: I will take my place by Munatius. So he went round and reclined by his side, but made no further show of friendship during the supper.
ἀλλὰ πάλιν τῆς Μαρκίας δεομένης τὸν μὲν Κάτωνα γράψαι πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὡς ἐντυχεῖν τι βουλόμενον, αὐτὸς δὲ ἥκειν ἕωθεν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς Μαρκίας κατασχεθῆναι μέχρι πάντες ἀπηλλάγησαν, οὕτω δὲ εἰσελθόντα τὸν Κάτωνα καὶ περιβαλόντα τὰς χεῖρας ἀμφοτέρας ἀσπάσασθαι καὶ φιλοφρονεῖσθαι. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οὐχ ἧττον οἰόμενοι τῶν ὑπαίθρων καὶ μεγάλων πράξεων πρὸς ἔνδειξιν ἤθους καὶ κατανόησιν ἔχειν τινὰ σαφήνειαν ἐπὶ πλέον διήλθομεν.
Marcia, however, made a second request in the matter, Munatius says, and Cato wrote to him, saying that he wished to confer with him about something. So Munatius went to Cato’s house early in the morning, and was detained there by Marcia until all the other visitors had gone away. Then Cato came in, threw both arms about him, kissed him, and lavished kindness upon him. Such incidents, now, in my opinion, quite as much as deeds of greatness and publicity, shed considerable light upon the perception and manifestation of character, and I have therefore recounted them at greater length.
τῷ δὲ Κάτωνι συνήχθη μὲν ἀργυρίου τάλαντα μικρὸν ἑπτακισχιλίων ἀποδέοντα, δεδιὼς δὲ τοῦ πλοῦ τὸ μῆκος ἀγγεῖα πολλὰ κατασκευάσας, ὧν ἕκαστον ἐχώρει δύο τάλαντα καὶ δραχμὰς πεντακοσίας, καλώδιον ἑκάστῳ μακρὸν προσήρτησεν, οὗ τῇ ἀρχῇ προσείχετο φελλὸς εὐμεγέθης, ὅπως, εἰ ῥαγείη τὸ πλοῖον, ἔχων διὰ βυθοῦ τὸ ἄρτημα σημαίνοι τὸν τόπον.
Cato got together nearly seven thousand talents of silver, and fearing the long voyage home, he had many coffers provided, each one of which would hold two talents and five hundred drachmas, and attached to each of them a long rope, to the end of which a huge piece of cork was fastened. This, he thought, in case the vessel were wrecked, would hold to its deep mooring and indicate the place where the treasure lay.
τὰ μὲν οὖν χρήματα πλὴν ὀλίγων τινῶν ἀσφαλῶς διεκομίσθη, λόγους δὲ πάντων ὧν διῴκησε γεγραμμένους ἐπιμελῶς ἔχων ἐν δυσὶ βιβλίοις οὐδέτερον ἔσωσεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἀπελεύθερος αὐτοῦ κομίζων ὄνομα Φιλάργυρος ἐκ Κεγχρεῶν ἀναχθεὶς ἀνετράπη καὶ συναπώλεσε τοῖς φορτίοις, τὸ δὲ αὐτὸς ἄχρι Κερκύρας φυλάξας ἐν ἀγορᾷ κατεσκήνωσε·
Well, then, the money, except a very little, was safely transported; but although he had the accounts of all his administration of the estate carefully written out in two books, neither of these was preserved. One of them a freedman of his, Philargyrus by name, had in charge, but after putting to sea from Cenchreae he was capsized and lost it, together with his cargo; the other Cato himself had safely carried as far as Corcyra, where he pitched his tent in the marketplace.
τῶν δὲ ναυτῶν διὰ τὸ ῥιγοῦν πυρὰ πολλὰ καιόντων τῆς νυκτός ἥφθησαν αἱ σκηναί καὶ τὸ βιβλίον ἠφανίσθη. τοὺς μὲν οὖν ἐχθροὺς καὶ συκοφάντας ἐπιστομιεῖν ἤμελλον οἱ βασιλικοὶ διοικηταὶ παρόντες, ἄλλως δὲ τῷ Κάτωνι τὸ πρᾶγμα δηγμὸν ἤνεγκεν. οὐ γὰρ εἰς πίστιν ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ τοὺς λόγους, ἀλλὰ παράδειγμα τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀκριβείας ἐξενεγκεῖν φιλοτιμούμενος ἐνεμεσήθη.
But because it was so cold the sailors built many fires during the night, the tents caught fire, and the book disappeared. It is true that the royal stewards who were at hand were ready to stop the mouths of Cato’s enemies and traducers, but nevertheless the matter gave him annoyance. For it was not as a proof of his own integrity, but as an example to others of scrupulous exactness that he was eager to produce his accounts, and he was therefore vexed.
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