III. All this was exemplified in the case of the younger Cato: for he
had not the art of persuasion and was unacceptable to the people, nor
did he rise to eminence by the popular favour, but Cicero[622] says
that he lost his consulship because he acted as if he were living in
the Republic of Plato, and not in the dregs of Romulus. Such men seem
to me to resemble fruits which grow out of season: for men gaze upon
them with wonder, but do not eat them: and the stern antique virtue of
Cato, displayed as it was in a corrupt and dissolute age, long after
the season for it had gone by, gained him great glory and renown, but
proved totally useless, as it was of too exalted a type to suit the
political exigencies of the day. When Cato began his career, his
country was not already ruined, as was that of Phokion. The ship of
the state was indeed labouring heavily in the storm, but Cato,
although he was not permitted to take the helm and guide the vessel,
exerted himself so manfully, and gave so much assistance to those who
were more powerful than himself, that he all but triumphed over
fortune. The constitution was, no doubt, finally overthrown; but its
ruin was due to others, and only took place after a long and severe
struggle, during which Cato very nearly succeeded in saving it. I have
chosen Phokion to compare with him, not because of the general
resemblance of their characters as good and statesmanlike men, for a
man may possess the same quality in various forms, as, for example,
the courage of Alkibiades was of a different kind to that of
Epameinondas; the ability of Themistokles was different to that of
Aristeides; and the justice of Numa Pompilius was different to that of
Agesilaus.
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