Marcus Porcius Cato

Born in 234 BCE at Tusculum, he rose from a plebeian farming family to become a soldier, senator, consul, and eventually censor in the Roman Republic. Ancient sources and standard reference works portray him as a forceful public figure who valued austerity, hard work, and Roman tradition, and who often pushed back against luxury and Greek cultural influence.

He took part in major events of his age, including the Second Punic War, and later built a reputation as a sharp speaker and relentless political operator. His career made such an impression that later generations called him Cato the Elder, to distinguish him from his descendant Cato the Younger.

He was also an author. His best-known surviving book, De Agri Cultura (On Agriculture), is the oldest complete prose work preserved in Latin and offers a vivid look at farming, household management, and practical Roman life. He died in 149 BCE, but his stern public image and blunt moral voice continued to shape how Romans and later readers imagined the ideal old-school statesman.