54 Their birth, age,
and eloquence, were nearly on an equality; their greatness of mind similar, as
was also their reputation, though attained by different means. Caesar grew
eminent by generosity and munificence; Cato by the integrity of his life.
Caesar was esteemed for his humanity and benevolence; austereness had given
dignity to Cato. Caesar acquired renown by giving, relieving, and pardoning;
Cato by bestowing nothing. In Caesar, there was a refuge for the unfortunate;
in Cato, destruction for the bad. In Caesar, his easiness of temper was
admired; in Cato, his firmness. Caesar, in fine, had applied himself to a life
of energy and activity; intent upon the interests of his friends, he was
neglectful of his own; he refused nothing to others that was worthy of
acceptance, while for himself he desired great power, the command of an army,
and a new war in which his talents might be displayed. But Cato’s ambition was
that of temperance, discretion, and, above all, of austerity; he did not
contend in splendor with the rich, or in faction with the seditious, but with
the brave in fortitude, with the modest in simplicity, with the temperate in
abstinence, he was more desirous to be, than to appear, virtuous; and thus, the
less he courted popularity, the more it pursued him.
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