Cato’s ethos put to the test of rapprochement with Pompey
Baudry, Robinson
Cato’s ethos put to the test of rapprochement with Pompey - 2023.
88
This article examines the effects of the crisis of the Republic on the aristocratic ethos, using the example of the rapprochement between Cato of Utica and Pompey, which took place in early 52 BCE. Cato’s ethos was oriented by the intransigent defense of the aristocratic republic, which complicated his rapprochement with the person who, more than any other, symbolized the process of personalization of power. Yet he committed to this rapprochement when he supported Bibulus’ proposal to make Pompey sole consul. The preservation of his ethos required certain strategies: a speech of justification and, above all, the manifestation of his political freedom, including and perhaps especially when it ran counter to Pompey’s interests. The strategy paid off: Cato retained his ethos, judging by the testimonies of his contemporaries and later sources. The strategy nevertheless reveals the process of subordination of an aristocracy forced to rely on the power of a single person, and the limits of a strategy of ethos preservation, which took priority over the pragmatic defense of the senatorial republic.
Cato’s ethos put to the test of rapprochement with Pompey - 2023.
88
This article examines the effects of the crisis of the Republic on the aristocratic ethos, using the example of the rapprochement between Cato of Utica and Pompey, which took place in early 52 BCE. Cato’s ethos was oriented by the intransigent defense of the aristocratic republic, which complicated his rapprochement with the person who, more than any other, symbolized the process of personalization of power. Yet he committed to this rapprochement when he supported Bibulus’ proposal to make Pompey sole consul. The preservation of his ethos required certain strategies: a speech of justification and, above all, the manifestation of his political freedom, including and perhaps especially when it ran counter to Pompey’s interests. The strategy paid off: Cato retained his ethos, judging by the testimonies of his contemporaries and later sources. The strategy nevertheless reveals the process of subordination of an aristocracy forced to rely on the power of a single person, and the limits of a strategy of ethos preservation, which took priority over the pragmatic defense of the senatorial republic.
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