Avete, cives! Step this way down the path and form a circle in front of the door.
Welcome to the home of the renowned Marcus Porcius Cato, commonly known as Cato the Elder or Cato the Censor. This farm is the place where our former consul and censor came to manhood before beginning his career as a Roman magistrate. The house is now preserved much as it was in Cato’s time. Except for the Consular Library and its buildings, the fields around the house are worked in the same way that Cato wrote about in his agricultural manual and provide a working model of the type of farming he recommended to his fellow citizens.
Of olden times, the Porcii were farmers of the plebeian class. In 519 A.U.C. [234 B.C.] Marcus Porcius, our Cato, was born in Tusculum and given the name of both his father and grandfather before him. He had red hair and grey eyes, and is described by his contemporaries as having a ruddy complexion and a lean build.
At an early age, Cato inherited the estate of his father in the Sabine country near Reate where we are now. And it was here that the young Marcus began his lifelong devotion to agriculture. Thrust to a position of early responsibility by the death of his father, he learned the operations and seasonal routines of the farm. From hard work and regular exercise, he developed his body and health and also practiced the skills that young Romans learn to prepare for military service.
During this tour, we shall refer to Marcus Porcius by name or by his cognomen of Cato, or also Cato Maior, for this is the name common nowadays to distinguish him from his great-grandson Cato Minor or Uticensis.
Cato was not, however, the only cognomen by which Marcus Porcius was known during his lifetime. He was first called Priscus, a name he had gained during his youth. Later in life he was most frequently called by the cognomen Sapiens, which Cicero tells us was given him for his many examples of natural wisdom and practical advice. The name Cato is also a reference to the great wisdom of the man. He is also referred to as Cato Censorius, the censor, both for his strict tenure in that office – the first censor in his family – and also the moralistic tone of his public life.
Before we begin our tour of the house, let me remind you not to carve inscriptions on the walls or furniture and not to take any cuttings from the cloth hangings or curtains. Now, please follow me inside.
