The ''Distichs of Cato'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Catonis Disticha'', most famously known simply as ''Cato'') is a

collection of proverbial wisdom and morality by an unknown author from the 3rd or 4th century AD. The ''Cato'' was the most popular medieval schoolbook for teaching Latin, prized not only as a Latin textbook, but as a moral compass. ''Cato'' was in common use as a Latin teaching aid as late as the 18th century, used by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

. It was one of the best-known books in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and was translated into many languages.

Background

''Cato'' was the most popular Latin textbook during the Middle Ages, prized not only as a Latin textbook, but as a moral compass for impressionable students. It was translated into many languages, including Norse.

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

referred to ''Cato'' in ''

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse (poetry), verse, as part of a fictional storytellin ...

'', through which modern students, less versed in Latin, often first come upon it. The ''Distichs of Cato'' was most commonly referred to as simply "''Cato''". In the

it was assumed the work had been written by

Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato (, ; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor (), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, Roman Senate, senator, and Roman historiography, historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He wa ...

, or even Cato the Younger. Cato the Elder was assumed to have included tracts of the prose in his ''Carmen de Moribus'', but this was found to be a later addition. It was eventually attributed to the anonymous author Dionysius Cato (also known as Catunculus) from the 3rd or 4th century AD, based upon evidence in a manuscript discussed by

Julius Caesar Scaliger Julius Caesar Scaliger (; 23 April or August 1484 – 21 October 1558), or Giulio Cesare della Scala, was an Italian scholar and physician, who spent a major part of his career in France. He employed the techniques and discoveries of Renaissance ...

(1484–1558). This manuscript no longer exists, though Scaliger found it authoritative. In 1513

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

corrected and commented on the text in a new edition of his own.

Corderius Corderius ( Latinized form of the name Mathurin Cordier; 1479 or 1480 – 8 September 1564) was a French-born theologian, teacher, humanist, and pedagogian active in Geneva, Republic of Geneva. He taught at the School of Lausanne (now the Univers ...

made the French translation, enriching it with commentaries on classical authors. His work was aimed at children with a summary, verses and an analysis of the structure. It was actually a grammatical treatise. There were several Spanish translations of the work of Corderius. From the first one in 1490 down to 1964, there are records of 6 Spanish translations. An authority on

Michael Servetus Michael Servetus (; ; ; also known as ''Michel Servetus'', ''Miguel de Villanueva'', ''Revés'', or ''Michel de Villeneuve''; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and Renaissance ...

, González Echeverría, presented at the ISHM2000 “ Find of new editions of Bibles and of two ' lost ' grammatical works of Michael Servetus” and “ The doctor Michael Servetus was descendant of jews”, González Echeverría , Francisco Javier. Abstracts, 37th International Congress on the History of Medicine, September 10–15, 2000, Galveston, Texas, U.S.A., pp. 22-23. the thesis that Servetus was actually the author of the anonymous Spanish translation of 1543 of this work of Corderius. There were several English translations, one being that of John Kingston in 1584.

probably studied ''Cato'' when he was at

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

. He cites ''Cato'' in ''

Poor Richard's Almanack ''Poor Richard's Almanack'' (sometimes ''Almanac'') was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of "Poor Richard" or "Richard Saunders" for this purpose. The publication appeared continually from 1732 to 1758. ...

'' and believed in the moral advice with such fervor he was troubled to print James Logan's translation called ''Cato's Moral Distichs Englished in Couplets'' in 1735, the first in the

Colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

. Of its limited need in the morally

puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

colonies, Franklin says: ::"It would be thought a Piece of Hypocrisy and pharisaical Ostentation in me, if I should say, that I print these Distichs more with a view to the Good of others than my own private Advantage: And indeed I cannot say it; for I confess, I have so great Confidence in the common Virtue and Good Sense of the People of this and the neighboring Provinces, that I expect to sell a very good impression."

''Cato''

Distich In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive Line (poetry), lines that rhyme and have the same Metre (poetry), metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is en ...

" means closed couplets, a style of writing with two-liners. It is a collection of moral advice, each consisting of hexameters, in four books. ''Cato'' is not particularly Christian in character, but it is monotheistic.

Sample distichs

2.1. If you can, even remember to help people you don't know.
More precious than a kingdom it is to gain friends by kindness.

2.9. Do not disdain the powers of a small body;
He may be strong in counsel (though) nature denies him strength.

3.2. If you live rightly, do not worry about the words of bad people,
It is not our call as to what each person says.

References

Sources

Cato translation
Scanned and translated by James Marchand from Leopold Zatocil, ''Cato a Facetus, Opera Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Facultas Philosophica.'' Cislo 48 (Brno, 1952), 229–237. Reedited and marked up by Martin Irvine. This is a more modern, and perhaps understandable, translation; it is of unknown copyright status, and thus not included in Wikisource. *

at

The Latin Library The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. It is run by William L. Carey, adjunct professor of Latin and Roman Law at George Mason University. The texts have been drawn from different sources, are not intended for rese ...

(in Latin) *''Disticha Catonis''. Recensuit et apparatu critico instruxit Marcus Boas. Opus post Marci Boas mortem edendum curavit Henricus Johannes Botschuyver (Amsterdam, 1952). This is the best critical edition of the ''Disticha Catonis'' available today. {{Authority control 3rd-century books in Latin 4th-century books in Latin Prose texts in Latin Medieval literature Latin pseudepigrapha Latin textbooks Cato the Elder Cato the Younger

Background

''Cato''

Sample distichs

See also

References

Sources