Marcus Porcius Cato (father of Cato the Younger)

Marcus Porcius M. f. M. n. Cato was the father of Cato the Younger. His promising political career was cut short by his sudden death, early in the first century BC.

Cato was the son of Marcus Porcius Cato Salonianus, the son of Cato the Elder by his second wife, Salonia. Cato Salonianus was born in 154 BC, and lived to obtain the praetorship, but then died in office, leaving two sons, Marcus and Lucius. When Marcus was grown, he married Livia, daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus, consul in 112 BC. They had a son, Marcus, born in 95 BC, and a daughter, Porcia.

Cato was tribune of the plebs in an uncertain year, probably early in the first decade of the first century BC.Broughton assigns his tribunate to 99 BC, in which year the tribunes Cato and Quintus Pompeius Rufus attempted to recall Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus from exile. This bill was opposed by Gaius Marius, a prominent general and rival of Numidicus, and with his support the proposal was vetoed by the tribune Publius Furius. Drumann identifies this Cato as Lucius, the brother of Marcus, but the year of his tribunate is equally uncertain.

Cicero relates an anecdote concerning a decision that Cato gave in a civil trial, relating to a vendor's duty to disclose hidden defects to a purchaser. A certain Claudius, having been ordered by the augurs to demolish his house on the Caelian Hill, because it obstructed the auspices, sold the house to the plaintiff, Calpurnius, without mentioning the demand of the augurs. When Calpurnius learned that his house was to be demolished, he brought suit against Claudius for fraud, and Cato rendered a decision in his favour, requiring Claudius to pay him damages.

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