Appian relates,[918] that Julius Cæsar, after the death of Pompey, having crossed into Africa, saw, in a dream, an army composed of a prodigious number of soldiers, who, with tears in their eyes, called him; and that, struck with the vision, he writ down in his pocket-book the design which he formed on this occasion, of rebuilding Carthage and Corinth: but that having been murdered soon after by the conspirators, Augustus Cæsar, his adopted son, who found this memorandum among his papers, rebuilt Carthage near the spot where it stood formerly, in order that the imprecations which had been vented, at the time of its destruction, against those who should presume to rebuild it, might not fall upon him.
I know not what foundation Appian has for this story; but we read in Strabo,[919] that Carthage and Corinth were rebuilt at the same time by Cæsar, to whom he gives the name of god, by which title, a little before, he had plainly intended Julius Cæsar;[920] and Plutarch,[921] in the life of that emperor, ascribes expressly to him the establishment of these two colonies; and observes, that one remarkable circumstance in these two cities is, that as both had been taken and destroyed at the same time, they likewise were at the same time rebuilt and repeopled. However this be, Strabo affirms, that in his time Carthage was as populous as any city in Africa; and it rose to be the capital of Africa, under the succeeding emperors. It existed for about seven hundred years after, in splendour, but at last was so completely destroyed by the Saracens, in the beginning of the seventh century, that neither its name, nor the least footsteps of it, are known at this time in the country.
A Digression on the Manners and Character of the second Scipio Africanus.—Scipio, the destroyer of Carthage, was son to the famous Paulus Æmilius, who conquered Perseus, the last king of Macedon; and consequently grandson to that Paulus Æmilius who lost his life in the battle of Cannæ. He was adopted by the son of the great Scipio Africanus, and called Scipio Æmilianus; the names of the two families being so united, pursuant to the law of adoptions. He supported, with equal lustre, the dignity of both houses, by all the qualities that can confer honour on the sword and gown.[922] The whole tenour of his life, says an historian, whether with regard to his actions, his thoughts, or words, was deserving of the highest praise. He distinguished himself particularly (an eulogium that, at present, can seldom be applied to persons of the military profession) by his exquisite taste for polite literature, and all the sciences, as well as by the uncommon regard he showed to learned men. It is universally known, that he was reported to be the author of Terence's comedies, the most polite and elegant writings which the Romans could boast. We [pg 294] are told of Scipio,[923] that no man could blend more happily repose and action, nor employ his leisure hours with greater delicacy and taste: thus was he divided between arms and books, between the military labours of the camp, and the peaceful employment of the cabinet; in which he either exercised his body in toils of war, or his mind in the study of the sciences. By this he showed, that nothing does greater honour to a person of distinction, of what quality or profession soever he be, than the adorning his mind with knowledge. Cicero, speaking of Scipio, says,[924] that he always had Xenophon's works in his hands, which are so famous for the solid and excellent instructions they contain, both in regard to war and policy.
He owed this exquisite taste for polite learning and the sciences, to the excellent education which Paulus Æmilius bestowed on his children.[925] He had put them under the ablest masters in every art; and did not spare any expense on that occasion, though his circumstances were very narrow: P. Æmilius himself was present at all their lessons, as often as the affairs of the state would permit; becoming, by this means, their chief preceptor.
The intimate union between Polybius and Scipio put the finishing stroke to the exalted qualities which, by the superiority of his genius and disposition, and the excellency of his education, were already the subject of admiration.[926] Polybius, with a great number of Achæans, whose fidelity the Romans suspected during the war with Perseus, was detained in Rome, where his merit soon caused his company to be coveted by all persons of the highest quality in that city. Scipio, when scarce eighteen, devoted himself entirely to Polybius: and considered as the greatest felicity of his life, the opportunity he had of being instructed by so great a master, whose society he preferred to all the vain and idle amusements which are generally so alluring to young persons.
Polybius's first care was to inspire Scipio with an aversion [pg 295] for those equally dangerous and ignominious pleasures, to which the Roman youth were so strongly addicted; the greatest part of them being already depraved and corrupted by the luxury and licentiousness which riches and new conquests had introduced in Rome. Scipio, during the first five years that he continued in so excellent a school, made the greatest improvement in it; and, despising the ridicule, as well as the pernicious examples, of persons of the same age with himself, he was looked upon, even at that time, as a model of discretion and wisdom.
From hence, the transition was easy and natural to generosity, to a noble disregard of riches, and to a laudable use of them; all virtues so requisite in persons of illustrious birth, and which Scipio carried to the most exalted pitch, as appears from some instances of this kind related by Polybius, which are highly worthy our admiration.
Æmilia,[927] wife of the first Scipio Africanus, and mother of him who had adopted the Scipio mentioned here by Polybius, had bequeathed, at her death, a great estate to the latter. This lady, besides the diamonds and jewels which are worn by women of her high rank, possessed a great number of gold and silver vessels used in sacrifices, together with several splendid equipages, and a considerable number of slaves of both sexes; the whole suited to the opulence of the august house into which she had married. At her death, Scipio made over all those rich possessions to Papiria his mother, who, having been divorced a considerable time before by Paulus Æmilius, and not being in circumstances to support the dignity of her birth, lived in great obscurity, and never appeared in the assemblies or public ceremonies. But when she again frequented them with a magnificent train, this noble generosity of Scipio did him great honour, especially in the minds of the ladies, who expatiated on it in all their conversations, and in a city whose inhabitants, says Polybius, were not easily prevailed upon to part with their money.
Scipio was no less admired on another occasion. He was bound, in consequence of the estate that had fallen to him by the death of his grandmother, to pay, at three different times, to the two daughters of Scipio, his grandfather by adoption, [pg 296] half their portions, which amounted to 50,000 French crowns.[928] The time for the payment of the first sum being expired, Scipio put the whole money into the hands of a banker. Tiberius Gracchus, and Scipio Nasica, who had married the two sisters, imagining that Scipio had made a mistake, went to him, and observed, that the laws allowed him three years to pay this sum in, and at three different times. Young Scipio answered, that he knew very well what the laws directed on this occasion; that they might indeed be executed in their greatest rigour towards strangers, but that friends and relations ought to treat one another with a more generous simplicity; and therefore desired them to receive the whole sum. They were struck with such admiration at the generosity of their kinsman, that in their return home, they reproached[929] themselves for their narrow way of thinking, at a time when they made the greatest figure, and had the highest regard paid to them, of any family in Rome. This generous action, says Polybius, was the more admired, because no person in Rome, so far from consenting to pay 50,000 crowns before they were due, would pay even a thousand before the time for payment was elapsed.
It was from the same noble spirit that, two years after, Paulus Æmilius his father being dead, he made over to his brother Fabius, who was not so wealthy as himself, the part of their father's estate, which was his (Scipio's) due, (amounting to above threescore thousand crowns,[930]) in order that there might not be so great a disparity between his fortune and that of his brother.