 Barrington Moore introduced Catonism in his book "Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy" as the "advocacy of the sterner virtues, militarism, contempt for 'decadent' foreigners and anti-intellectualism".Moore coined the word "Catonism" with a nod towards Cato the Elder (234-149 BCE).He characterized the Catonist attitude as the reaction from rural aristocracy towards rapid political and economic changes.