Cato's Wit
Cato was consulted by Scipio, at the request of Polybius,
on behalf of the Achaeans; and when the debate in the
Senate, between the party who wished to grant it and the
party that opposed it, was protracted to a considerable length,
Cato stood up and said: "As though we had
nothing else to do, we sit here the whole day
debating whether some old Greek dotards should
be buried by Italian or Achaean undertakers!" Their restoration being voted, Polybius and his friends, after a few days'
interval, were for appearing before the Senate again, with a
petition that the exiles should enjoy the same honours in
Achaia as they had before.
Restoration of the Achaean detenus, B. C. 151. |
Cato, however, remarked with a
smile that Polybius, like another Odysseus, wanted to go a
second time into the cave of the Cyclops, because he had
forgotten his cap and belt. . . .
