"The man who takes away from the state the rearing of children, takes away the state itself...for the state is made of households."

Cato the Elder was the busiest man in Rome. He was a Consul, a Censor, a General, and a leading orator. He was essentially running the Roman Republic. He had every excuse to be an absentee father. He could have easily hired the best Greek tutors to raise his son while he focused on "important" state business.

But Cato refused. He believed that raising his son was more important than any meeting in the Senate. According to Plutarch, when his son was an infant, Cato would leave the Forum and rush home just to be present while his wife bathed the baby. As the boy grew, Cato took over his education entirely. He taught his son to read, to throw a javelin, to box, and to swim the Tiber River. He even hand-wrote a history of Rome in large letters so his son could learn about his ancestors.

When friends asked why he spent so much time on this menial task, Cato explained that a schoolmaster might scold or pinch the boy, and he, "did not wish to have his son reprimanded by a slave." More importantly, he believed that molding a future citizen was the highest duty of a current citizen.

Cato demonstrated the point that Musonius Rufus would later make. You cannot have a strong Rome without strong Romans. If the fathers of Rome were too busy "governing" to raise their sons, there would soon be no one left capable of governing.

Musonius argues that the state isn't a collection of buildings or laws; it is a collection of households. If the household is weak with parents outsourcing their job to the state, to schools, or (in our times) to screens, then the foundation of the city rots.

To neglect your children in the name of your career is not just a personal failing; it's damage to your community. You're depriving the future state of a functional citizen.

Errors & Corrections

• Don't mistake "providing" for "rearing". Paying for food and shelter is the bare minimum. "Rearing" means shaping the soul. You can't outsource the transmission of values.
• Don't think your career is more important than your home. Your career ends when you retire. Your contribution to the future (your children) lasts for generations. If you save the company but lose the kid, you have failed.
• Don't view parenting as a "break" from real work. Parenting is the real work. It is the manufacturing of the next generation of humanity.

Applications to Modern Life

Parenting

We live in an age of "outsourced childhood". We give kids iPads to keep them quiet. We send them to tutors and coaches for everything. Take a lesson from Cato. Teach them yourself. Read to them. Throw the ball with them. The time you spend is the curriculum.

Work

"Work-Life Balance" is often framed as "me time" vs. "boss time". Frame it as "State Duty" vs. "Corporate Duty". Leaving work at 5:00 PM to have dinner with your kids isn't slacking off; it's performing your essential duty to the social fabric.

Politics

We argue about education policy constantly. But the most effective education policy is a stable home. A Stoic citizen supports policies that make it easier for families to be together (parental leave, living wages), recognizing that the health of the household is the health of the nation.

Leadership

If you are a leader, do not praise employees for working late hours in the office. Praise them for going home. A culture that destroys the families of its employees is eating its own tail. It is destroying the very society it relies on for customers and talent.

Maxims

• The home is the first city.
• Build the citizen, save the state.
• Don't outsource your legacy.
• The most important desk is the dinner table.

In-depth Concepts

Oikonomia (Management of the Household)

The word "Economy" comes from Oikos (house) + Nomos (law/management). For the Greeks and Romans, economics wasn't just about money; it was about the moral and practical management of the family unit. A good Oikonomos (manager) ensures that the household produces virtue, not just income.

Paideia (Education/Upbringing)

This was the Greek concept of rearing a child into an ideal member of the polis. It wasn't just learning math; it was learning how to be. Musonius is arguing that if the parents abdicate the Paideia, the Polis collapses.