Explanation: Cato the Elder was an ultraconservative of the mid-Republic era, and he was extremely disdainful and paranoid about anything new or foreign - like Greeks. Of especial concern was Greek thought and medicine, which horrified the traditionalist Cato - who believed that most ailments could be cured by eating cabbage. As seen by the quote here - an actual quote from Cato - he believed that Greek doctors were conspiring to kill outsiders, like the good, honest, Roman people, who didn’t need none of that fancy book-learnin’ medicine!

Like many other ultraconservative outbursts he had in his life, Cato the Elder was largely ignored on the issue, and Greek medicine formed the foundation for later Roman medical practice.

Poor guy. His only illness was the mere existence of Carthage. And he repeatedly asked for a very simple cure 😞