Book Review | Rome's Last Citizen

Rome's Last Citizen - Cato - BUY NOW

ROME’S LAST CITIZEN: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar | Rob Goodman, Thomas Dune Books, (2012), 384p.

Generally unknown today, the impact of Cato throughout Western thought is immense. As a potent example of his effect upon America’s founding generation, the dramatic play - Cato: A Tragedy - written 65 years prior, was performed at the headquarters of the Continental Army during the first formal Thanksgiving by order of a passionate patron - George Washington. 

Revealing to modern readers the complexity of Roman life and the capital intrigue of its Senate is no simple task. Goodman delivers in spades, making the arcane accessible. 

Cato was the strongest, fiercest, and ultimately losing defender of the Roman Republic against the encroachment and eventual dictatorship in the form of Caesar, which transformed Rome into an imperial monarchy. His rise from the son of a farmer to the heights of the Senate is a worthy story of wise and disciplined determination and service. But his story is much more. 

We are taken into the daily rituals Cato practiced. His work habits: When in the field as a soldier, he slept and ate with his men, rarely venturing beyond moderation in food and drink and steadfast study and learning. 

Unlike politicians of his time, Cato did not shift position with the changing alliances. He affixed his beliefs to First Principles and did not move. While often at odds with the majority, he was respected as a Truth teller. His commitment to reason and rhetorical skills made him such an accomplished orator that he could best even Cicero. 

Cato the Younger is a life that embodied the spirit of a Republic - freedom and virtue. He defended them to his last breadth. Ultimately, when given a gracious chance to recognize the supremacy of Caesar and retain his life, Cato committed ritual suicide. Irony being a solid thread in history, his son-in-law, Brutus - a man of virtue in his own right - provided a temporal but loudly heard shive to authoritarianism. 

Rome’s Last Citizen is an engaging biography of a well-lived life that still sets an example two thousand years after his death.

Rome's Last Citizen - Cato - BUY NOW