Author: CATO
Biography:
CATO (3rd century?: OCD)
Not the Roman Marcus Portius Cato—neither “the Elder” nor “the Younger”—“Cato” or “Dionysius Cato” was the author’s name long attached to an anonymous Latin set of maxims and proverbial wisdom of the 3rd or 4th century. The attribution is now considered a Renaissance fabrication. A popular school textbook for centuries, it was also known as Catonia Distycha (Cato’s Distychs) or Dicta Catonis (Sayings of Cato). The English translator James Elphinston has his own headnote. MR reviewed the translation respectfully but reserved judgment on Elphinston’s project of spelling reform. (OCD 7 May 2025; MR 1795, 106-7) HJ
Books written (1):
London: Printed by Galabin, 1794