That passage refers to Cato the Younger, a Stoic who had died about forty years before Seneca was born. Cato was a famously scrupulous statesman and an opponent of Julius Cæsar. When Cæsar prevailed over Pompey and his forces in the Roman civil war, Cato used a sword to take his own life rather than surrender and submit. He became part of the Stoic roster of heroes, and was sometimes cited as an example of the ideal wise man.
