he conditions of legal action; but Scipio,
without doing any harm to any one, gained a popular reputation for
courage, matching words with deeds. Therefore he soon excelled his
contemporaries more than any Roman of whom we have record, though
he followed a path to fame which, in view of Roman character and
prejudice, was the very opposite of that chosen by his rivals.

Polybius, xxxvi. 15. 5-12.

From Carthage came another friend of Scipio's--the poet Terence. Born in
that city about the time of Hannibal's death, the lad had come to Rome
as a slave. His rare parts attracted the notice of his owner, who
finally set him free. Terence was introduced to Scipio by another friend
of his. This was Caecilius, the playwriter. His plays are unfortunately
all lost, so that we have no means of judging what they were like. One
day when Caecilius was at supper he was told that the managers of the
games had sent a young man to read him a play which he had submitted to
them, and of which they thought well. Caecilius called him in and bade
him sit down on a stool on the other side of the table from that at
which he and his friends were reclining on sofas, and begin to read to
him. The young man had only read a few lines when the elder poet stopped
him. The work was so good, he said, that he ought to sit at the author's
feet, not he at his; he called Terence up to the table. Afterwards
Caecilius took the young man to see Scipio Aemilianus; and he soon
became one of the intimate circle which Scipio had gathered round him.
Scipio and Caecilius helped him with advice, and they all worked
together at Scipio's favourite task of improving and purifying the Latin
language. A line in one of Terence's plays expresses the point of view
which Scipio Aemilianus and his friends tried to take. 'I am human:
nothing human is alien to me.' These plays are among the earliest works
of pure literature in Latin, and they show in every line the influence
of Greece. The Greek spirit was one of questioning; and its influence on
Roman thought was profound.

[Illustration: TRAGIC AND COMIC MASKS]

Scipio Aemilianus questioned but looked on. He saw much in the present
state of Rome to disturb and displease him; he dreaded what might come
in the future, as the few grew richer and the many poorer; but he did
not take any action. His was the mind of the philosopher; like his
friends Polybius and Terence he wanted to understand. He did not believe