The original Greek passage you are referring to comes from Plutarch’s Life of Pompey, Chapter 60, Section 7. [1]

Plutarch wrote his biographies in Greek, meaning there is no surviving, original classical Latin text written by Plutarch for this quote. To fulfill your request, the original ancient Greek is provided below, alongside a custom, reconstructed classical Latin translation formatted in the style of Roman historians like Cicero or Suetonius.

🏛️ Original Ancient Greek (Plutarch, Pompey 60.7)

Φαβώνιος δέ, ἀνὴρ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα χρηστός, οἰόμενος δὲ τῷ θρασύνεσθαι καὶ ὑλακτεῖν ἀπομιμεῖσθαι τὴν Κάτωνος παρρησίαν...

• Grammatical Breakdown of Key Terms:
  • θρασύνεσθαι (thrasynesthai): to be petulant, rash, blunt, or aggressively bold.
  • ὑλακτεῖν (hylaktein): literally "to bark" or "to talk abusively" (a common metaphor for the behavior of Cynic philosophers).
  • ἀπομιμεῖσθαι (apomimeisthai): to copy, mimic, or counterfeit.
  • παρρησίαν (parrhēsian): frankness, directness, or freedom of speech.

✒️ Reconstructed Classical Latin

Because Plutarch composed this text in Greek, Roman authors contemporary to the events described this dynamic using their own vocabulary (for example, Cicero often referred to Favonius as Cato's ape, or simia Catonis).

The reconstructed Latin translation below captures the exact semantic weight of Plutarch's description:

Favonius autem, homo alioqui probus, qui ferociam et oblatrationem suam Catonis libertatis exemplar esse arbitrabatur...

• Grammatical Breakdown of Reconstructed Latin:
  • homo alioqui probus: a man otherwise honest/of fair character.
  • ferociam (toughness/bluntness/petulance) and oblatrationem (abusive talking/barking): directly corresponding to Plutarch's θρασύνεσθαι καὶ ὑλακτεῖν.
  • exemplar esse arbitrabatur: supposed/imagined it to be a copy or model (οἰόμενος ἀπομιμεῖσθαι).
  • libertatis: frankness or direct freedom of speech (παρρησίαν).

📖 Context of the Passage

This moment occurs just as the Roman Civil War is about to erupt. Pompey boasts to the Senate that he has multiple legions ready and needs only to "stamp his foot upon the ground" to raise an army. Favonius, attempting to copy Cato the Younger's famously uncompromising, blunt style of plain-speaking, mockingly yells at Pompey to go ahead and stamp his foot. Plutarch uses this moment to show that while Cato's frankness came from deep-seated virtue, Favonius's imitation often crossed the line into mere abrasive petulance. [1, 2]

If you are tracking down further descriptions of Favonius, I can also pull the Greek text from the Life of Brutus, where Plutarch elaborates on his aggressive philosophical outbursts. Would you like to explore that parallel passage? [1]