Cato, Po'rcius
5. C.
Porcius Cato, younger son of Cato Licinianus [No. 2], is mentioned by Cicero as a middling orator. (
Brut. 28.) Ill his youth he was a follower of Tib. Gracchus. In B. C. 114, he was consul with Acilius Balbus, and in the same year obtained Macedonia as his province. In Thrace, he fought unsuccessfully against the Scordisci. His army was cut off in the mountains, and he himself escaped with difficulty, though Ammianus Marcellinus erroneously states that he was slain. (27.4.4.) Disappointed of booty in war, he endeavoured to indemnify himself by extortions in Macedonia. For this he was accused and sentenced to pay a fine.
Afterwards, he appears to have served as a legate in the war with Jugurtha in Africa, where he was won over by the king.
In order to escape condemnation on this charge, in B. C. 110, he went to Tarraco in Spain, and became a citizen of that town. (Cic.
pro Balb. 11.)
He has been sometimes confounded with his elder brother. (
Vell. 2.8;
Eutrop. 4.24; Cic.
in Verr. 3.80, 4.10.)
