Scipio autem Africanus superior, quem di immortales nasci voluerunt ut esset in quo virtus se per omnes numeros hominibus efficaciter ostenderet, solutioris vitae primos adulescentiae annos egisse fertur, remotos quidem a luxuriae crimine, sed tamen Punicis tropaeis, devictae Carthaginis cervicibus imposito iugo teneriores.
Scipio Africanus the elder, whom the immortal gods wished born so that there might be a man in whom virtue could effectively show herself to mankind in all her aspects, is said to have led a rather loose life in his first years as a young man; they were well removed to be sure from the reproach of dissipation but still not quite tough enough for the Punic trophies and the yoke planted on the neck of vanquished Carthage.
final_alignments\Valerius_Memorable_Book6.json