Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

!

his election, B. C. 65. All that the party of Catiline could accomplish was the election of Caius Antony, one of their accomplices, as colleague of Cicero. This failure, however, did not deprive Catiline of the hope of gaining the consulship the following year. For this purpose, he redoubled the measures of terror, by which he had laid the foundation of his power. Meanwhile, he had lost some of the most important members of his conspiracy. Antony had been prevailed upon or compelled by Cicero to remain neutral. Cæsar and Crassus had resolved to do the same. Piso had been killed in Spain. Italy, however, was destitute of troops. The veterans of Sylla only waited the signal to take up arms. This signal was now given by Catiline. The centurion Manlius appeared among them, and formed a camp in Etruria. Cicero was en the watch a fortunate accident disclosed to him the counsels of the conspirators. One of them, Curius, was on intimate terms with a woman of doubtful reputation, Fulvia by name, and had acquainted her with their plans. Through this woman, Cicero learnt that two knights had undertaken to assassinate him at his house. On the day which they had fixed for the execution of their plan, they found the doors barred and guarded. Still Cicero delayed to make public the circumstances of a conspiracy, the progress and resources of which he wished first to ascertain. He contented himself with warning his fellow-citizens, in general terms, of the impending dan ger. But when the insurrection of Manlius was made known, he procured the passage of the celebrated decree, that "the consuls should take care that the republic received no detriment." It was exceedingly difficult to seize the person of one who had soldiers at his command, both in and out of Rome; still more difficult would it be to prove his guilt before those who were accomplices with him, or, at least, were willing to make use of his plans to serve their own interest. He had to choose between two evils-a revolution within the city, or a civil war: he preferred the latter. Catiline had the boldness to take his seat in the senate, known as he was to be the enemy of the Roman state. Cicero then rose and delivered that bold oration against him, which was the means of saving Rome, by driving Catiline from the city. The conspirators who remained, Lentulus Sura, Cethegus, and other infamous senators, engaged to head the insurrection in Rome

as soon as Catiline appeared at the gates According to Cicero and Sallust, it was the intention of the conspirators to set the city on fire, and massacre the inhabitants. At any rate, these horrid consequences might have easily followed from the circumstances of the case, without any previous resolution. Lentulus, Cethegus, and the other conspirators, in the meanwhile, were carrying on their criminal plots. They applied to the ambassa dors of the Allobroges to transfer the war to the frontiers of Italy itself. These, however, revealed the plot, and their disclosures led to others still more important. The correspondence of the conspirators with their leader was intercepted. The senate had now a notorious crime to punish. As the circumstances of the case did not allow of a minute observance of forms in the proceedings against the conspirators, the laws relating thereto were disregarded, as had been done in former instances of less pressing danger. Cæsar spoke against immediate execution, but Cicero and Cato prevailed. Five of the conspirators were put to death Caius Antonius was then appointed to march against Catiline, but, on the pretext of ill health, gave the command to his lieutenant Petreius. He succeeded in enclosing Catiline, who, seeing no way of escape, resolved to die sword in hand. His followers imitated his example. The battle was fought with bitter desperation. The insurgents all fell on the spot which their leader had assigned them, and Catiline at their head, at Pistoia, in Etruria, 5th Jan., B. C. 62. The history of Catiline's conspiracy has been written by Sallust.

CATINAT, Nicholas, marshal of France, born at Paris, 1637, quitted the profes sion of the law for that of arms, after losing a cause by a decision which appeared to him evidently unjust. He entered the cavalry, attracted the notice of Louis XIV, at the storming of Lille (1667), and was promoted. By a number of splendid deeds, he gained the esteem and friendship of the great Condé, particularly by his conduct at the battle of Senef. He was sent as lieutenant-general against the duke of Savoy, gained the battles of Staf fardo (Aug. 18, 1690) and of Marsaglia (Oct. 4, 1693), occupied Savoy and part of Piedmont, and was made marshal in 1693. In the conquered countries, his humanity and mildness often led him to spare the vanquished, contrary to the express commands of Louvois. In Flanders, he displayed the same activity, and took Atli, in 1697. In 1701, he received

Bithy Narvey &tavall

60-81-6

the command of the army of Italy against prince Eugene; but he was straitened by the orders of his court, and was destitute of money and provisions, while Eugene was allowed to act with full liberty. July 6th, he was defeated at Carpi. Equally unfortunate was the battle of Chiari, where Villeroi had the chief command. It was here, while rallying his troops, after an unsuccessful charge, that he replied to an officer who represented to him that death was inevitable in such an encounter, "True, death is before us, but shame behind." In spite of his representations, the French court would not believe the disasters in Savoy to be owing to the perfidy of the duke of Savoy, and Catinat was disgraced. He bore his misfortune with calmness, and died at St. Gratien, in 1712. He was a true philosopher, religious without austerity, a courtier without intrigue, disinterested and generous when in favor, and cheerful in disgrace. From his unalterable calmness and consideration, his soldiers called him le Père de la Pensée.

CATO the Censor (Marcus Porcius), surnamed Priscus, also Sapiens and Major (the Wise and the Elder), born 232 B. C., at Tusculum, inherited from his father, a plebeian, a small estate, in the territory of the Sabines, which he cultivated with his own hands. He was a youth at the time of Hannibal's invasion of Italy. He served his first campaign, at the age of 17, under Fabius Maximus, when he besieged Capua. Five years after, he fought under the same commander at the siege of Tarentum. After the capture of this city, he became acquainted with the Pythagorean Nearchus, who initiated him into the sublime doctrines of his philosophy, with which, in practice, he was already conversant. After the war was ended, Cato returned to his farm. As he was versed in the laws, and a fluent speaker, he went, at day-break, to the neighboring towns, where he acted as counsellor and advocate to those who applied to him. Valerius Flaccus, a noble and powerful Roman, who had an estate in the vicinity, observed the talents and virtues of the youth, conceived an affection for him, and persuaded him to remove to Rome, where he promised to assist him with his influence and patronage. A few rich and high-born families then stood at the head of the republic. Cato was poor and unknown, but his eloquence, which some compared to that of Demosthenes, and the integrity and strength of his character, soon drew the public attention to

him. In court, and in the popular assemblies, he answered to the fine definition which he himself gave of an orator, and which Quinctilian has preserved to us; "a virtuous man skilled in the art of speaking well.” At the age of 30, he went as military tribune to Sicily. In the following year, he was questor, at which period there commenced, between him and Scipio, a rivalry and hatred, which lasted till death. Cato, who had returned to Rome, accused Scipio of extravagance; and, though his rival was acquitted of the charge, this zeal in the cause of the public gained Cato a great influence over the people. Five years after, having been already edile, he was chosen pretor, and obtained the province of Sardinia. His strict moderation, integrity and love of justice were here still more strongly displayed than in Rome. On this island, he formed an acquaintance with the poet Ennius, of whom he learnt Greek, and whom he took with him to Rome on his return. He was finally made consul, 193 B. C., with his friend Valerius Flaccus for his colleague. He opposed, with all his power, the abolition of the Oppian law, passed in the pressing times of the second Punic war, forbidding the Roman women to wear more than half an ounce of gold, to dress in garments of various colors, or to wear other ornaments; but he was obliged to yield to the eloquence of the tribune Valerius, and the urgent importunities of the women. Soon after, he set out for Spain, which was in a state of rebellion. His first act was to send back to Rome the supplies which had been provided for the army, declaring that the war ought to support the soldiers. He gained several victories with a newlyraised army, reduced the province to submission, and returned to Italy, where the honor of a triumph was granted to him. Scarcely had he descended from his triumphal car, when he put off the toga of the consul, arrayed himself in the soldier's habit, and followed Sempronius to Thrace. He afterwards put himself under the command of the consul Manius Acilius, to fight against Antiochus, and to carry on the war in Thessaly. By a bold march, he made himself master of the Callidromus, one of the highest peaks of the mountain pass of Thermopylae, and thus decided the issue of the battle. He brought the intelligence of this victory to Rome, 189 B. C. Seven years after, he obtained, in spite of a powerful faction opposed to him, the most honorable, and at the same time the most feared, of all

138598

the magistracies of Rome, the censorship. He had not canvassed for the office, but had only expressed his willingness to fill it. In compliance with his wishes, Valerius Flaccus was chosen his colleague, as the only person qualified to assist him in correcting the public disorders, and restoring the ancient purity of morals. He fulfilled this trust with inflexible rigor; and, though his measures caused him some obloquy and opposition, they met, in the end, with the highest applause; and, when he resigned his office, it was resolved to erect a statue to him with an honorable inscription. He appears to have been quite indifferent to the honor; and when, before this, some one expressed his wonder that no statue had been erected to him, he answered, "I would rather have it asked why no image has been erected to Cato than why one has." Still he was not void of self-complacency. "Is he a Cato, then?" he was accustomed to say, when he would excuse the errors of another. Cato's political life was a continued warfare. He was continually accusing, and was himself accused with animosity, but was always acquitted. His last public commission was an embassy to Carthage, to settle the dispute between the Carthaginians a king Massinissa. It is said that this journey was the original cause of the destruction of Carthage; for Cato was so astonished at the rapid recovery of this city from its losses, that he ever after ended every speech of his with the well-known words, "Præterea censeo, Carthaginem esse delendam” (I am also of opinion that Carthage must be destroyed). He died a year after his return (147 B. C.), 85 years old. Cato, who was so frugal of the public revenues, was not indifferent to riches. He was rigorously severe towards his slaves, and considered them quite in the light of property. He made every exertion to promote and improve agriculture. In his old age, he gave himself up to the company of his friends and the pleasures of the table. To this the verses of Horace allude

Narratur et prisci Catonis
Sæpe mero caluisse virtus.

He was twice married, and had a son by each of his wives. His conduct as a hushand and a father was equally exemplary. He composed a multitude of works, of which the only one extant is that De Re Rustica. Those of which the loss is most to be regretted are his orations, which Cicero mentions in terms of the highest encomiurn, and his history of the origin

of the Roman people, which is frequently quoted by the old historians.

CATO, Marcus Porcius (called, to distinguish him from the censor, his great grandfather, Cato of Utica, the place of his death), was born 93 B. C., and, after the death of his parents, was brought up in the house of his uncle, Livius Drusus. He early discovered great maturity of judgment and firmness of character. It is related of him, that, in his 14th year, when he saw the heads of several proscribed persons in the house of Sylla, by whose orders they had been murdered, he demanded a sword of his teacher, to stab the tyrant, and free his country from servitude. With his brother by the mother's side, Cæpio, he lived in the tenderest friendship. Cato was chosen priest of Apollo. He formed an intimacy with the Stoic Antipater of Tyre, and ever remained true to the principles of the Stoic philosophy. His first appearance in public was against the tribunes of the people, who wished to pull down a basilca erected by the censor Cato, which was in their way. On this occasion, he dis played that powerful eloquence, which afterwards rendered him so formidable, and won the cause. He served his first. campaign as a volunteer in the war against Spartacus, and distinguished himself so highly, that the pretor Gellius awarded him a prize, which he refused. He was sent as military tribune to Mace donia. When the term of his office had expired, he travelled into Asia, and carried the Stoic Athenodorus with him to Rome. He was next made questor, and executed his difficult trust with the strictest integrity, while he had the spirit to prosecute the public officers for their acts of extortion and violence. His conduct gained him the admiration and love of the Romans, so that, on the last day of his questorship, he was escorted to his house by the whole assembly of the people. The fame of his virtue spread far and wide. In the games of Flora, the dancers were not allowed to lay aside their garments as long as Cato was present. The troubles of the state did not permit him to remain in seclusion. The example of Sylla, in usurping supreme power, was followed by many ambitious men, whose mutual dissensions were all that saved the tottering constitution from immediate ruin. Crassus hoped to purchase the sovereignty with his gold; Pompey expected that it would be voluntarily conferred upon him; and Cæsar, superior to both in talent, united himself to both, and

made use of the wealth of the one, and the reputation of the other, to attain his own objects. At the head of the senate, the sole prop of the republic, stood Catulus, Cicero and Cato. Lucullus, who stood very high in the favor of the army, which he had so victoriously commanded, might alone have upheld the senate, had he not been more desirous to enjoy his wealth than to devote himself to the care of the commonwealth. Cato, keeping aloof from all parties, served the commonwealth with sagacity and courage; but he often injured the cause, which he was trying to benefit, by the inflexibility of his character. He was on the way to his estate, when he met Metellus Nepos, who was travelling to Rome to canvass for the tribuneship. Knowing him to be a dangerous man, Cato returned immediately, stood candidate for the office himself, and was chosen, together with Metellus. About this time, the conspiracy of Catiline broke out. Cato supported, with all his power, the consul Cicero, first gave him publicly the name of father of his country, and urged, in a fine speech preserved by Sallust, the rigorous punishment of the traitors. He opposed the proposition of Metellus Nepos to recall Pompey from Asia, and give him the command against Catiline, and came near losing his life in a riot excited against him on this account by his colleague and Cæsar. After the return of Pompey, he frustrated many of his ambitious plans, and first predicted the consequences of his union with Crassus and Cesar. He afterwards opposed, but in vain, the division of lands in Campania. Cæsar at that time abused his power so much as to send Cato to prison, but was constrained, by the murmurs of the people, to set bim at liberty. The triumvirate, in order to remove him to a distance, had him sent to Cyprus, to depose king Ptolemy, under some frivolous pretext. He was compelled to obey, and executed his commission with so much address that he enriched the treasury with a larger sum than had ever been deposited in it by any private man. In the mean time, he continued his opposition to the triumvirate. Endeavoring to prevent the passage of the Tribonian law, which invested Crassus with an extraordinary power, he was a second time arrested; but the people followed him in a body to the prison, and his enemies were compelled to release him. Being afterwards made pretor, he carried into execution a law against bribery, that displeased all parties. After the

death of Crassus, the civil commotions increased, and Cato, as the only means of preventing greater evils, proposed that Pompey should be made sole consul, contrary to the constitution, and the proposition was adopted. The year following, Cato lost the consulship by refusing to take the steps necessary for obtaining it. At this time the civil war broke out. Cato, then propretor in Sicily, on the arrival of Curio with three of Cæsar's legions, departed for the camp of Pompey, at Dyrrachium. He had still been in hopes to prevent the war by negotiation; and when it broke out, he put on mourning in token of his grief. Pompey, having been victorious at Dyrrachium, left Cato behind to guard the military chest and magazine, while he pushed after his rival. For this reason, Cato was not present at the battle of Pharsalia, after which he sailed over with his troops to Cyrene, in Africa. Here he learned that Pompey's father-in-law, Scipio, had gone to Juba, king of Mauritania, where Varus had collected a considerable force. Cato immediately set off to join him, and, af ter undergoing hunger, thirst and every hardship, reached Utica, where the two armies effected a junction. The soldiers wished him to be general, but he gave this office to command in Utica, while Scipio and Labienus sallied out against Cæsar. Cato had advised them to protract the war, but they ventured an engagement, in which they were entirely defeated, and Africa submitted to the victor. Cato had at first determined to defend himself to the last, with the senators in the place; but he afterwards abandoned this plan, and dismissed all who wished to leave him. His resolution was taken. On the evening before the day which he had fixed upon for executing it, he took a tranquil meal, and discussed various philosophical subjects. He then retired to his chamber, and read the Phado of Plato. Anticipating his intentions, his friends had taken away his sword. On finding that it was gone, he called his slaves, and demanded it with apparent equanimity: but when they still delayed to bring it, he struck one of the slaves, who was endeavoring to pacify him. His son and his friends came with tears, and besought him to refrain from his purpose. At first he reproached his son for disobedience, then calmly advised those present to submit to Cæsar, and dismissed all but the philosophers Demetrius and Apollonius, whom he asked if they knew any way by

their and took the

which he could continue to live without being false to his principles. They were silent, and left him, weeping. He then received his sword joyfully, again read Phado, slept awhile, and, on awaking, sent to the port to inquire if his friends had departed. He heard, with a sigh, that the sea was tempestuous. He had again sunk into slumber, when word was brought him that the sea was calm, and that all was tranquil in the harbor. He appeared satisfied, and was scarcely alone when he stabbed himself with his sword. The people rushed in, and took advantage of a swoon, into which he had fallen, to bind up his wounds; but, on coming to himself, he tore off the bandages, and expired (44 B. C.). The Uticans buried him honorably, and erected a statue to him. But Cæsar, when he heard the news of his death, exclaimed, "I grudge thee thy death, since thou hast grudged me the honor of sparing thy life." The truly Roman virtue of Cato has been celebrated by Lucan, in his Pharsalia, in a truly Roman style, with the words

Victrix causa diis placuit, sed victa Catoni. CATOPTRICS (from Káтоптрov, a mirror); the science which treats of reflected light. (See Optics.)

CATS, James; born in 1577, at Brouwershaven, in Zealand; one of the fathers of the Dutch language and poetry. He studied at Leyden and Orleans. In 1627 and 1631, he was ambassador to England, and afterwards grand pensioner of Holland. His poetry is distinguished for simplicity, naïveté, richness of imagination, and winning though unpretending morality. His works consist of allegories, according to the taste of his times, poems on the different ages and situations of life, idyls, &c. He died in 1660.

CAT'S-EYE. (See Asteria and Quartz.) CATSKILL MOUNTAINS; a range of mountains in New York, much the highest in the state. They extend along to the west of the Hudson, from which their base is, at the nearest point, eight miles distant. The principal summits are in Greene county. The two most elevated peaks are Round Top and High Peak. The former, according to the measurement of captain Partridge, is 3804 feet above the level of tide water; and the latter, 3718 feet. The Catskill mountains present scenery of singular seauty and grandeur, and have become a noted resort of travellers during the summer. On a level tract of about 7 acres, called Pine Orchard, elevated 2214 feet

above the level of tide water, a large and commodious house has been erected for the accommodation of visitors. It is situated directly on the brow of the mountain, and commands an enchanting view of the country on both sides of the Hudson, embracing a tract about 100 miles in length and 50 in breadth. This place, which is 12 miles from the towr of Catskill, is approached by a good turnpike road, which winds up the side of the mountain. Two miles west of Pine Orchard are the fine cascades of the Kaaterskill, a stream which is supplied by two small lakes situated high in the mountains. The upper fall is 175 feet ir height; and a few rods below is the other of 80 feet, both perpendicular. stream passes into a deep and very pic turesque ravine, which is bordered by mountains rising abruptly 1000 or 1500 feet.

CATSUP. (See Ketchup.)

The

CATTARO; a seaport in Dalmatia, capital of a circle of the same name (formerly called Venetian Albania), at the bottom of the gulf of Cattaro (bocche di Cattaro), on the E. side of the Adriatic; 25 miles W. N. W. Scutari, 30 S. S. E. Ragusa; lon. 18° 58′ E.; lat. 42° 17′ N.; population, 2500. It is a bishop's see. It contains a cathedral, 17 Catholic churches and chapels, 1 Greek church, and an hospital. It has a remarkable harbor, one of the most secure in Europe, being defended by a castle and strong battlements, and enclosed with rocks of such height, that the sun is seen in winter only a few hours in the day. Population of the circle, 31,570, square miles, 296.

CATTEGAT; a large gulf of the North sea, between North Jutland to the W., Norway to the E., and the Danish islands of Zealand, Funen, &c. to the S.; about 120 miles from N. to S., and between 60 and 70 from E. to W. The adverse winds which often prevail_here_render the navigation dangerous. The Cattegat is noted for its herring fishery. It contains the islands Samsoe, Anholt, Lesson and Hertzholm.

CATTI; one of the most renowned and valiant German tribes. They inhabited what is now Hesse, also part of Franconia and Westphalia. They carried on bloody wars with the Hermunduri and Cherusci. In the time of Caesar, they dwelt on the Lahn, and opposed him with effect. Drusus defeated without reducing them. In the reign of Marcus Aurelius, they made incursions into Germany and Thrace, but were afterwards defeated by Didius Juli

« AnteriorContinua »