Cato the Younger
As senator, Cato was scrupulous and determined. He never missed a session of the Senate and publicly criticized those who did so. From the beginning, he aligned himself with the Optimates, the conservative faction of the Senate. Many of the Optimates at this time had been Sulla's personal friends, whom Cato had despised since his youth, yet Cato attempted to make his name by returning his faction to its pure republican roots.