Scipio, indeed, gave the finishing stroke to that work; but it was undertaken chiefly by the advice, and at the instance of Cato. The occasion of the war was as follows: the Carthaginians and Massinissa king of Numidia being at war with each other, Cato was despatched into Africa to investigate the causes of the quarrel. Massinissa from the first had been a friend to the Romans; and the Carthaginians had been admitted into their alliance 53 after the signal overthrow which they received from Scipio the elder, but upon terms which deprived them of a considerable part of their dominions, and imposed a heavy tribute 54. When Cato arrived at Carthage, he found that city not in the exhausted and humble condition which the Romans imagined, but full of men fit to bear arms, abounding in money, arms, and warlike stores, and not a little elated by the thought of its being so well provided. He concluded, therefore, that it was now time for the Romans to endeavour to settle the points in dispute between the Numidians and Carthage; and if they did not soon make themselves masters of that city, which as their old enemy retained strong resentments of the usage she had lately received, and was prodigiously increased in power, they would soon be exposed to all their former dangers. For this reason he returned in all haste to Rome, where he informed the senate; "That the defeats and other misfortunes, which had happened to the Carthaginians, had not so much drained them of their forces, as cured them of their folly: and that in all probability, instead of a weaker, they had made them a more skilful enemy. That their war with the Numidians was only a prelude to future combats with the Romans; and that the late peace was a mere name, for they had considered it only as a suspension of arms, of which they were willing to avail

53 Or rather, say the late editors of Amyot's French translĺation, 'to a peace;' as they never were admitted to make with the Romans an offensive and defensive, or even a simply defensive alliance.*

54 Scipio Africanus obliged the Carthaginians, at the conclusion of the second Punic war, A. U. C. 553. to deliver up their fleet to the Romans, to cede to Massinissa part of Syphax's dominions, and to pay into the public treasury ten thousand talents.

i

themselves merely till they had a favourable opportunity of renewing the war."

At the conclusion of his speech (it is said) he shook the lap of his gown, and purposely dropped some Libyan figs; and when he found the senators admired them for their size and beauty, he told them, "That the country where they grew was but three days' sail from Rome." But what is a stronger instance of his enmity to Carthage, he never gave his opinion in the senate upon any point whatever, without adding these words, "And my opinion is, that Carthage should be destroyed55." Publius Scipio, surnamed Nasica, made it a point to maintain the contrary, and concluded all his speeches thus, " And my opinion is, that Carthage should be left standing." This illustrious man most probably, perceiving the people hurried by feelings of insolence into the most wanton excesses, so that in the pride of prosperity they could not be restrained by the senate, but by their overgrown power were able to draw the government what way they pleased, thought it best that Carthage should remain to curb and moderate their presumption. For he saw, that the Carthaginians were not strong enough to conquer the Romans, and yet were too respectable to be despised by them. On the other hand Cato deemed it dangerous, while the people were thus inebriated and giddy with power, to suffer a city which had always been great, and which was now grown sober and wise through its misfortunes, to lie watching every advantage against them. It appeared to him, therefore, the wisest course to have all outward perils removed from the commonwealth, that it might be at leisure to guard against internal corruption.

Thus Cato, we are told, occasioned the third and last war against the Carthaginians. But as soon as it began, he died, having first prophesied of the person that should put an end to it; who was then a young man, and had only a tribune's command in the army; but was giving extraordinary proofs of his conduct and valor. The news of these exploits being brought to Rome, Cato cried out,

55 Hence Delenda est Carthago passed into a species of proverb.*

He is the soul of council;

The rest like shadows glide55.

This, Scipio soon confirmed by his actions.

Cato left one son by his second wife (who, as we have already observed, was surnamed Salonius) and a grandson by the son of his first wife, who died before him. Salonius died in his prætorship, leaving a son named Marcus, who came to be consul, and who was the father57 of Cato the philosopher, the best and most illustrious man of his time.

56 This verse is by Homer applied to Tiresias. Od. X. 495., where Circe advises Ulysses to visit the shades.*

57 The pedigree stands thus:

Cato the Censor

Cato Salonius by his second marriage

Marcus Cato the consul

Cato of Utica, the philosopher.

227

ARISTIDES AND CATO

COMPARED.

HAVING thus given a detail of the most memorable actions of these eminent men, if we compare the whole life of the one with that of the other it will not be easy to discern the difference between them, the eye being attracted by so many striking resemblances. But if we distinctly examine the several parts of their lives, as we do a poem or a picture, we shall find in the first place this common to them both, that they rose to high stations and great honor in their respective commonwealths, not by the help of family connexions, but merely by their own virtue and abilities. It is true that, when Aristides raised himself, Athens was not in her grandeur, but the demagogues and chief magistrates were men of moderate and nearly equal fortunes. For estates of the highest class were then only five hundred medimni; of those of the second order, who were knights, three hundred; and of those of the third order, who were called Zéugitæ, two hundred58. But Cato from a little village and a country life launched into the Roman government, as into a boundless ocean, at a time when it was not conducted by the Curii, the Fabricii, and the Hostilii, nor received for its magistrates and orators men of narrow circumstances, who worked with their own hands from the plough and the spade; but was accustomed to regard considerations of family, opulence, distributions among the people, and servility in courting their favour: for the Romans, elated with their power and im

58 See the Life of Solon, Vol. I. p. 219.*

portance, loved to humble those, who stood candidates for the high offices of state. And it was not the same thing to be rivalled by a Themistocles, who was neither distinguished by birth nor fortune (for he is said not to have been worth more than three, or at the most five talents, when he first applied himself to public affairs) as to have to contest with a Scipio Africanus, a Servius Galba, or a Quintius Flaminius without any assistance or support, except a tongue accustomed to speak with freedom in the cause of justice59.

Besides, Aristides was only one among ten, that commanded at Marathon and Platææ; whereas Cato was chosen one of the two consuls, from a number of competitors; and one of the two censors, though opposed by seven candidates, and those some of the noblest and most illustrious, men in Rome.

It should be observed likewise, that Aristides was never principal in any action; for Miltiades had the chief honor of the victory at Marathon, Themistocles of that at Salamis, and the, palm of the important day at Platææ (as Herodotus informs us) was adjudged to Pausanias. Nay, even the second place was disputed with Aristides by Sophanes, Aminias, Callimachus, and Cynægirus, who eminently distinguished themselves upon that occasion. On the other hand, Cato not only stood first in courage and conduct during his own consulate, and in the war with Spain; but when he acted at Thermopyle only, as a tribune, under the auspices of another, he gained the glory of the victory: for it was he that unlocked the pass for the Romans to rush upon Antiochus, and that brought the war upon the back of the king, who attended only to what was before him. That victory, which was manifestly the work of Cato, drove Asia out of Greece, and subsequently opened a passage for Scipio to that continent.

Both of them were equally victorious in war, but Aristides miscarried in the administration, being banished

59 M. Ricard justly observes, that if Plutarch shows any par tiality in this passage, it certainly is not in favour of the Greek: though he has been frequently charged with that propensity, and might here, if any where, have indulged it with impunity in favour of Aristides, one of the greatest and most virtuous men of antiquity.*