Page "Cato the Younger" Paragraph 6

Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Roman dictator, liked to talk with Cato and his brother Caepio, and often requested the child's presence even when the boy openly defied his opinions and policies in public ( Sulla's daughter Cornelia Sulla was married to their uncle Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus ).

According to Plutarch, at one point during the height of the civil strife, as respected Roman nobles were being led to execution from Sulla's villa, Cato, aged about 14, asked his tutor why no one had yet killed the dictator.

Sarpedon's answer was thus: " They fear him, my child, more than they hate him.

" Cato replied to this, " Give me a sword, that I might free my country from slavery.

" After this, Sarpedon was careful not to leave the boy unattended around the capital, seeing how firm he was in his republican beliefs.