come, their wealth seized, and they
themselves became assimilated to their neighbors. This war is noticeable
chiefly for the reason that Manlius undertook it _without the authority
of the Senate_, the first instance of its kind, and a precedent which
was too frequently followed in later times. On his return to Rome he was
allowed a triumph, which stamped his act as legal.

These wars in the East brought to Rome immense riches, which laid
the foundation of its Oriental extravagance and luxury, and finally
undermined the strength of the state. From Greece were introduced
learning and refinement, from Asia immorality and effeminacy. The vigor
and tone of Roman society are nowhere more forcibly shown than in the
length of time it took for its subjugation by these ruinous exotics.

Meanwhile, at Rome the political enemies of the Scipios were in the
ascendency. Asiaticus was accused of misappropriating funds obtained
during his campaign in the East. As he was about to produce his
account-books before the Senate, his brother, Africanus, seized them,
tore them to pieces, and threw the remnants on the floor. Asiaticus,
however, was sentenced to pay a fine. When it was afterwards intimated
that his brother too was implicated, he proudly reminded his enemies
that their insinuations were ill-timed, for it was the anniversary of
Zama. This remark changed the tide of feeling, and no more charges were
made.

Two years later (183), Africanus died in voluntary exile at Liternum,
on the coast of Campania. He had lived little more than fifty years. His
wife, Aemilia, was the daughter of Paullus, who fell at Cannae, and
the sister of him who afterwards conquered Perseus of Macedonia. His
daughter, CORNELIA, afterwards became the mother of the famous GRACCHI.
Next to Caesar, Scipio was Rome's greatest general. During the
campaign in the East, he met Hannibal at the court of Antiochus. In
the conversation Hannibal is reported to have said that he considered
Alexander the greatest general, Pyrrhus next, and, had he himself
conquered Scipio, he would have placed himself before either.

Scipio lived to see Rome grow from an Italian power to be practically
the mistress of the world. He was of marked intellectual culture, and
as conversant with Greek as with his mother tongue. He possessed a charm
which made him popular at a time when the culture and arts of Greece
were not so courted at Rome as in later days.

Hannibal, after the defeat of