Which Roman statesman guards the approach to Mount Purgatory? Cato guards the approach to Mount Purgatory.
Dante introduces Cato of Utica at the opening of Purgatorio, where he stands on the shore of the island containing the mountain. He challenges Dante and Virgil, demanding to know how they reached the realm of the dead and why they are there.
Cato was a Roman statesman and a famous defender of the Republic during its conflict with Julius Caesar. After the Republican forces were defeated, he killed himself at Utica in 46 BCE rather than submit to Caesar. Dante transforms this historical figure into a stern guardian associated with liberty, moral seriousness, and the discipline required for purification.
The choice is striking because Cato was a pagan and died by suicide, yet Dante places him outside Purgatory proper rather than among the damned. He is not a penitent soul climbing the mountain; instead, he supervises its threshold and orders the travelers to prepare for the ascent. Cicero, Scipio, and Brutus are important Roman figures, but they do not serve this role.