CATO, PUBLIUS VALERIUS

flourished 1st century BC Roman poet and grammarian, the leader of the new school of poetry (poetae novi, as Cicero called them). Its followers rejected the national epic and drama in favour of the short mythological epics (epyllia), elegies, and lyrics of the Alexandrian school. The compliments paid to Cato's verse by contemporary poets bear witness to his preeminence. According to the biographer and antiquarian Suetonius, Cato was a native of Cisalpine Gaul who lost his property during a period of civil disturbances. He lived to a great age and at the end of his life was very poor. Nothing is known of his grammatical treatises. Of his poems, two titles survive: the Lydia and the Diana.