Portrait of Joseph Addison

In Joseph Addison’s play Cato, Cato is asked what it would take for him to be Caesar’s “friend” - his answer is that Caesar would have to first “disband his legions” and then “restore the commonwealth to liberty” (1713)

Found in: Cato: A Tragedy and Selected Essays

In Act II Scene II of Joseph Addison’s play, Decius, the Ambassador from Caesar, asks Cato what it would take for Cato to be Caesar’s “friend” as Caesar began using his military successes to pave the way to his political conquest of Rome:

Literature & Music

Bid him disband his legions, Restore the commonwealth to liberty, Submit his actions to the public censure, And stand the judgment of a Roman senate: Bid him do this, and Cato is his friend.