become more eager to gain distinction by fluent speaking than by warlike exploits.  However, when the fame of the philosophers increased, and a distinguished man, Caius Acilius, at the general request, translated their first lectures to the Senate, Cato decided that the philosophers must at once be conducted with all due honours out of the city.  He came to the Senate and made a speech, in which he blamed them for having allowed an embassy to remain so long at Rome without accomplishing its purpose, although nothing was easier than for it to gain its point.  He called upon them therefore, to decide as soon as possible and come to a vote upon the matter about which this embassy was come, in order that these philosophers might return to their schools and instruct the young men of Greece, while those of Rome might, as before, give their attention to the laws and the magistrates.

XXIII.  Cato acted thus, not as some writers imagine, from any private quarrel with Karneades, but because he disliked the philosophy altogether, and from a feeling of patriotism, regarded all Greek literature and methods of education with hatred and contempt.  He used to say that Sokrates was a wordy and dangerous man, who endeavoured in his own way to make himself supreme in Athens, by destroying the best of the national customs and teaching the citizens to hold opinions at variance with the laws.  He ridiculed Isokrates as a teacher of rhetoric, saying that his disciples stayed with him so long learning their profession, that they were only able to practice what they had learned in the court where Minos sat as judge in the next world.  In his endeavours to dissuade his son from the study of Greek literature, he abused the privileges of old age so far as to utter a prophecy that the Romans would ruin their empire by too intimate an acquaintance with the arts of Greece.  Time, however, has proved this to be a mere empty slander, seeing that since then Rome has risen to a wonderful height of power and glory, and yet is thoroughly familiar with Greek writings and studies.  Cato not only disliked the Greek philosophers, but also looked with suspicion on the Greek physicians who then practised at Rome.  He had heard some story about Hippokrates, who, when the king of Persia offered him a large sum of money if he would come to Persia, answered that he never would give his services to barbarians who were the enemies of Greece.  Cato used to say that all Greek physicians had sworn an oath to act like Hippokrates, and warned his son never to have any dealings with any of them.  He himself had a book full of recipes, according to which he used to physick and regulate the diet of any who fell sick in his house, being careful never to allow the patient to fast, but making him eat salad, with ducks, pigeons, and hares, which he said were light food, and suitable for sick persons, except that it often happened that those who ate of them suffered from nightmares.  He used to declare that by following this regimen, he kept both himself and all his household in perfect health.