Household Management in Plutarch’s Lives of Aristides and Marcus Cato.

• In Event: Intersecting Themes in Classical Political Thought

Abstract

The question of household management is a critical one in the Ancient world. How do new men with no great inheritance get the equipment they need for life and public service? How much do they actually need and what is the proper philosophical disposition towards wealth and poverty? Given these ethical concerns about property for individuals, how do they apply in politics and law for Ancient Greece and Rome? This essay turns to Plutarch’s Lives of Aristides and Marcus Cato (Cato the Elder) to examine these questions. It argues that Plutarch ranked Aristides’ voluntary commitment to poverty higher than Marcus Cato’s thrift. There is something divine like in Aristides achieving a level of temperance so high that he almost didn’t need anything. Whereas Marcus Cato used self-restraint to build an estate from nothing. True temperance for Plutarch is a loss of desire for personal wealth, rather than a long-term perspective on investment.

Author

• Rodolfo K Hernandez, University of Missouri