III.  All this was exemplified in the case of the younger Cato:  for he had not the art of persuasion and was unacceptable to the people, nor did he rise to eminence by the popular favour, but Cicero[622] says that he lost his consulship because he acted as if he were living in the Republic of Plato, and not in the dregs of Romulus.  Such men seem to me to resemble fruits which grow out of season:  for men gaze upon them with wonder, but do not eat them:  and the stern antique virtue of Cato, displayed as it was in a corrupt and dissolute age, long after the season for it had gone by, gained him great glory and renown, but proved totally useless, as it was of too exalted a type to suit the political exigencies of the day.  When Cato began his career, his country was not already ruined, as was that of Phokion.  The ship of the state was indeed labouring heavily in the storm, but Cato, although he was not permitted to take the helm and guide the vessel, exerted himself so manfully, and gave so much assistance to those who were more powerful than himself, that he all but triumphed over fortune.  The constitution was, no doubt, finally overthrown; but its ruin was due to others, and only took place after a long and severe struggle, during which Cato very nearly succeeded in saving it.  I have chosen Phokion to compare with him, not because of the general resemblance of their characters as good and statesmanlike men, for a man may possess the same quality in various forms, as, for example, the courage of Alkibiades was of a different kind to that of Epameinondas; the ability of Themistokles was different to that of Aristeides; and the justice of Numa Pompilius was different to that of Agesilaus.  But in the case of Phokion and Cato, their virtues bore the same stamp, form, and ethical complexion down to the most minute particulars.  Both alike possessed the same mixture of kindness and severity, of caution and daring:  both alike cared for the safety of others and neglected their own:  both alike shrank from baseness, and were zealous for the right; so that one would have to use a very nice discrimination to discover the points of difference between their respective dispositions.

IV.  Cato is admitted by all writers to have been a man of noble descent, as will be explained in his life:  and I imagine that the family of Phokion was not altogether mean and contemptible.  If his father had really been a pestle maker, as we are told by Idomeneus, who may be sure that Glaukippus, the son of Hypereides, who collected and flung at him such a mass of abuse, would not have omitted to mention his low birth, nor would he have been so well brought up as to have been a scholar of Plato while a lad, and afterwards to have studied under Xenokrates in the Academy; while from his youth up he always took an interest in liberal branches of learning.  We are told by the historian Douris that scarcely any Athenian ever saw Phokion laughing or weeping, or bathing in the public baths, or with his hand outside of his cloak, when he wore one.  Indeed when he was in the country or on a campaign he always went barefooted and wore only his tunic, unless the cold was excessively severe; so that the soldiers used to say in jest that it was a sign of wintry weather to see Phokion wearing his cloak.