Distichs of Cato

The beginning of a 1475 edition of the Distichs of Cato (Incipit liber Cathonis in vulgares)

The Distichs of Cato (Latin: Catonis Disticha, most famously known simply as Cato) is a Latin collection of proverbial wisdom and morality by an unknown author from the 3rd or 4th century AD. The Cato was the most popular medieval schoolbook for teaching Latin, prized not only as a Latin textbook, but as a moral compass. Cato was in common use as a Latin teaching aid as late as the 18th century, used by Benjamin Franklin. It was one of the best-known books in the Middle Ages and was translated into many languages.