Publius Valerius Cato was a grammarian and poet of the Roman Republic. He was a leader of the Neoteric movement, whose followers rejected national epic and drama in favor of the artificial mythological epics and elegies of the Alexandrian school, preferring Euphorion of Chalcis to Ennius. They regarded knowledge of Greek literature and myths, and strict adherence to metrical rules, as indispensable to the poet. The great influence of Cato is attested by the lines: Cato grammaticus, Latina Siren, Qui solus legit ac facit poetas.
