to repay their debt, whereas we ought to spur them on, saying,
"Noble youths, give your attention to this! You are invited to contend
in an honourable strife between parents and children, as to which party
has received more than it has given. Your fathers have not necessarily
won the day because they are first in the field: only take courage, as
befits you, and do not give up the contest; you will conquer if you wish
to do so. In this honourable warfare you will have no lack of leaders
who will encourage you to perform deeds like their own, and bid you
follow in their footsteps upon a path by which victory has often before
now been won over parents."

XXXVII. AEneas conquered his father in well doing, for he himself had
been but a light and a safe burden for him when he was a child, yet he
bore his father, when heavy with age, through the midst of the enemy's
lines and the crash of the city which was falling around him, albeit the
devout old man, who bore the sacred images and the household gods in
his hands, pressed him with more than his own weight; nevertheless
(what cannot filial piety accomplish!) AEneas bore him safe through the
blazing city, and placed him in safety, to be worshipped as one of the
founders of the Roman Empire. Those Sicilian youths outdid their parents
whom they bore away safe, when Aetna, roused to unusual fury, poured
fire over cities and fields throughout a great part of the island. It
is believed that the fires parted, and that the flames retired on either
side, so as to leave a passage for these youths to pass through, who
certainly deserved to perform their daring task in safety. Antigonus
outdid his father when, after having conquered the enemy in a great
battle, he transferred the fruits of it to him, and handed over to him
the empire of Cyprus. This is true kingship, to choose not to be a king
when you might. Manlius conquered his father, imperious [Footnote:
There is an allusion to the surname of both the father and the son,
"Imperiosus" given them on account of their severity.] though he was,
when, in spite of his having previously been banished for a time by his
father on, account of his dulness and stupidity as a boy, he came to an
interview which he had demanded with the tribune of the people, who
had filed an action against his father. The tribune had granted him the
interview, hoping that he would betray his hated father, and believed
that he had earned the gratitude of the youth,