e.

This remarkable man was, as we have already said, the son of L. AEmilius
Paullus, the conqueror of Macedonia. He was adopted by P. Scipio, the
son of the great Africanus, and is therefore called Scipio Africanus
Minor, to distinguish him from his grandfather by adoption. To these
names that of AEmilianus is sometimes added to mark the family of his
birth, so that his full designation was P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus
AEmilianus. His intimacy with the historian Polybius has been already
mentioned. He appears from his earliest years to have devoted himself
with ardor to the study of literature; and he eagerly availed himself of
the superior knowledge of Polybius to direct him in his literary
pursuits. He was accompanied by the Greek historian in almost all his
campaigns, and, in the midst of his most active military duties, lost no
opportunity of enlarging his knowledge of Greek literature and
philosophy by constant intercourse with his friend. Nor did he neglect
the literature of his own country, for Terence was admitted to his
intimacy, and he is even said to have assisted him in the composition of
his comedies. His friendship with Laelius, whose tastes and pursuits were
so congenial to his own, has been immortalized by Cicero's celebrated
treatise "On Friendship."

[Illustration: Plan of Carthage.

A. Inner Port. B. Outer Port. C. Outlet to Sea. D. Scipio's Mole. E. New
Outlet to Sea, cut by the Carthaginians.]

Scipio landed in Africa in B.C. 147. His first step was to restore
discipline to the army. He next took by storm Megara, a suburb of
Carthage, and then proceeded to construct a work across the entrance of
the harbor to cut off the city from all supplies by sea. But the
Carthaginians defended themselves with a courage and an energy rarely
paralleled in history. While Scipio was engaged in this laborious task,
they built a fleet of fifty ships in their inner port, and cut a new
channel communicating with the sea. Hence, when Scipio at length
succeeded in blocking up the entrance of the harbor, he found all his
labor useless, as the Carthaginians sailed out to sea by the new outlet.
But this fleet was destroyed after an obstinate engagement which lasted
three days. At length, in the following year (B.C. 146), Scipio had made
all his preparations for the final assault. The Carthaginians defended
themselves with the courage of despair. They fought from street to
street, and from house to house, and the work