This is a tale of two Catos, the real-life man and the legend. The difference can be helpfully illuminated through two stories. Our first opens on 5 December 63 BC in Rome at the Temple of Concord where an important meeting of the Senate has been debating the fate of the Catilinarian conspirators.1 Should they face exile or death? Decimus Junius Silanus, the consul-elect for the following year, proposes execution and many others in the Senate agree. But Gaius Julius Caesar, the praetor-elect and new pontifex maximus, steps forth and makes a stirring speech against the death penalty, arguing instead for exile. The Senate is momentarily persuaded, but then something remarkable happens: Marcus Porcius Cato, only thirty-two years old and the tribune-elect, stands up and delivers a passionate, uncompromising speech against Caesar’s motion, articulating the need for decisive action to deter future treason. His speech sways his fellow senators back to a vote for execution of the conspirators. Everyone present takes note, for a new senatorial star is on the rise.

Cicero construed his withdrawal into exile in 58 BCE as an act of self-sacrifice for the good of his community, a political martyrdom. However, he also foregrounded the pain and misery he experienced in doing so (particularly in De Domo Sua). While his display of emotion is atypical, it was consistent with his tactics as a forensic advocate. By contrast, Cato the Younger was lionized as a political martyr even in his lifetime, but especially after his death, as illustrated in Plutarch’s biography. Cato demonstrated his moral absolutism and fortitude through filibustering and obstructionism, even at personal risk. In Pro Sestio, Cicero celebrates Cato’s noble adherence to principle and defiance of political opposition but also claims to be an exemplary political martyr himself in a more humane way. In the Philippics (especially 2, 3, 4, and 12), Cicero promises again to take great personal risk or sacrifice himself for the common good, likely influenced by Cato, but fails to win the reputation Cato achieved as a martyr.