During the civil war, he joined Pompey and tried to minimise the deaths of his fellow citizens. He and his political allies advocated a policy of confrontation and brinksmanship with Caesar though it seemed that Cato never advocated for actual civil war, this policy greatly contributed to the start of civil war in January 49 BC. He supported Pompey's sole consulship in 52 BC as a practical matter and to draw Pompey from his alliance with Caesar. Leaving for Cyprus the next year, he was praised for his honest administration and after his return was elected as praetor for 54 BC. He opposed, with varying success, Caesar's legislative programme during Caesar's first consulship in 59 BC. He also frustrated Pompey's ambitions by opposing a bill brought by Pompey's allies to transfer the military command to Pompey against the Catilinarian conspirators. He passed laws during his tribunate in 62 BC to expand the grain dole and force generals to give up their armies and commands before standing in elections. During his urban quaestorship in 63 BC, he was praised for his honesty and incorruptibility in running Rome's finances. A noted orator and a follower of Stoicism, his scrupulous honesty and professed respect for tradition gave him a powerful political following which he mobilised against powerful generals (including Julius Caesar and Pompey) of his day.īefore Caesar's civil war, Cato served in a number of political offices. His conservative principles were focused on the preservation of what he saw as old Roman values in decline. Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis ("of Utica" / ˈ k eɪ t oʊ/ 95 BC – April 46 BC), also known as Cato the Younger ( Latin: Cato Minor), was an influential conservative Roman senator during the late Republic.
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