Publius Valerius Cato (flourished 1st century BC) was a grammarian and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. He was a leader of the Neoteric movement, whose followers rejected national epic and drama in favor of the artificial

mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

epics and elegies of the Alexandrian school, preferring Euphorion of Chalcis to

Ennius Quintus Ennius (; ) was a writer and poet who lived during the Roman Republic. He is often considered the father of Roman poetry. He was born in the small town of Rudiae, located near modern Lecce (ancient ''Calabria'', today Salento), a town ...

. They regarded knowledge of Greek literature and myths, and strict adherence to metrical rules, as indispensable to the poet. The great influence of Cato is attested by the lines: ''Cato grammaticus, Latina Siren, Qui solus legit ac facit poetas'' ("Cato, the grammarian, the Latin siren, who alone reads aloud the works and makes the reputation of poets”). Cato was a native of

Cisalpine Gaul Cisalpine Gaul (, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the name given, especially during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, to a region of land inhabited by Celts (Gauls), corresponding to what is now most of northern Italy. Afte ...

, and lost his property during the

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

n disturbances before he came of age. During the latter part of his life he was in reduced circumstances, though at one time he had considerable wealth, and owned a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Classical Rome, Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable dist ...

which he was obliged to hand over to his creditors. In addition to grammatical treatises, Cato wrote a number of poems, the best-known of which were the ''Lydia'' and ''Diana''. In the ''Indignatio'' (perhaps a short poem) he defended himself against the accusation that he was of servile birth. It is probable that he is the Cato mentioned as a critic of Lucilius in the lines by an unknown author prefixed to the ''Satires'' of

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

. Among the minor poems attributed to

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

are two called ''Dirae'' and ''Lydia''. The ''Dirae'' consists of imprecations against the estate of which the writer has been deprived, and where he is obliged to leave his beloved Lydia; in the ''Lydia'', on the other hand, the estate is regarded with envy as the possessor of his charmer. Joseph Justus Scaliger was the first to attribute the poem to Valerius Cato.

Editions

J. Blänsdorf, ''Fragmenta Poetarum Latinorum'', ed. 3. auctam, Stutgartiae; Lipsiae: Teubner, 1995, , p. 195-196.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valerius Cato, Publius 1st-century BC Gallo-Roman people 1st-century BC Roman poets Valerii