[Sidenote: B.C. 149 (_a.u._ 605)] ¶ Scipio Africanus excelled in planning out at leisure the requisite course, but excelled also in discovering at a moment's notice what needed to be done, and knew how to employ either method on the proper occasion. The duties that lay before him he reviewed boldly but accomplished their fulfillment as if with timidity. Therefore by his fearless detailed investigation he obtained accurate knowledge of the fitting action in every emergency, and by his good judgment in doubtful cases met these emergencies safely. Consequently, if he was ever brought face to face with some need that admitted of no deliberation,--as is wont to happen in the contradictions of warfare and the turns of fortune--not even then did he miss the proper course. Through accustoming himself to regard no happening as unreasonable he was not unprepared for the assault of sudden events, but through his incessant activity was able to meet the unexpected as if he had forseen it long before. As a result he showed himself daring in matters where he felt he was right, and ready to run risks where he felt bold. In bodily frame he was strong as the best of the soldiers. This led to one of his most remarkable characteristics: he would devise movements that looked advantageous as if he were merely going to command others, and at the time of action would execute them as if they had been ordered by others. Besides not swerving from the ordinary paths of rectitude, he kept faith scrupulously not only with the citizens and his acquaintances, but with foreign and most hostile nations. This, too, brought many individuals as well as many cities to his standard. He never spoke or acted without due consideration or through anger or fear, but as a result of the certainty of his calculations he was ready for all chances: he had thought out practically all human possibilities; he never did anything unexpected, but deliberated every matter beforehand, according to its nature. Thus he perceived very easily the right course to follow even before there was any necessity, and pursued it with firmness. These are the reasons, or chiefly these--I should mention also his moderation and amiability--that he alone of men escaped the envy of his peers, or of any one else. He chose to make himself like to his inferiors, not better than his equals, weaker than greater men, and so passed beyond the power of jealousy, which harasses only the noblest men. (Valesius, p. 613. Zonaras, 9, 27.) [Frag. LXX] [Sidenote: B.C. 148 (_a.u._ 606)] Dio in Book 21: "Phameas, despairing of the Carthaginian cause" [lacuna] (Bekker, Anecd. p. 124, 9a. Zonaras, 9, 27.) [Frag. LXXI]