CATO, DIONYSIUS, the supposed author of the Dionysii Catonis Disticha de Moribus ad Filium. In the middle ages the author of the Disticha was supposed to be Cato the elder, who wrote a Carmen de Moribus, but extracts from this in Aulus Gellius show that it was in prose. Nothing is really known of the author or date of the Disticha; it can only be assigned to the 3rd or 4th century A.D. It is a small collection of moral apophthegms, monotheistic in character, not specially Christian. The book had a great reputation in the middle ages, and was translated into many languages; it is frequently referred to by Chaucer, and in 1483 a translation was issued from Caxton's press at West minster.