the greater benefit upon his son, or was that greater which Agrippa
conferred upon his father when he gained the glory, unique in the
annals of war, of a naval crown, and when he raised so many vast
buildings in Rome, which not only surpassed all former grandeur,
but have been surpassed by none since? Did Octavius confer a
greater benefit upon his son, or the Emperor Augustus upon his
father, obscured as he was by the intervention of an adoptive
father? What joy would he have experienced, if, after the putting
down of the civil war, he had seen his son ruling the state in
peace and security? He would not have recognized the good which he
had himself bestowed, and would hardly have believed, when he
looked back upon himself, that so great a man could have been born
in his house. Why should I go on to speak of others who would now
be forgotten, if the glory of their sons had not raised them from
obscurity, and kept them in the light until this day? In the next
place, as we are not considering what son may have given back to
his father greater benefits than he received from him, but whether
a son can give back greater benefits, even if the examples which I
have quoted are not sufficient, and such benefits do not outweigh
the benefits bestowed by the parents, if no age has produced. an
actual example, still it is not in the nature of things impossible.
Though no solitary act can outweigh the deserts of a parent, yet
many such acts combined by one son may do so.

XXXIII. Scipio, while under seventeen years of age, rode among the
enemy in battle, and saved his father's life. Was it not enough,
that in order to reach his father he despised so many dangers when
they were pressing hardest upon the greatest generals, that he, a
novice in his first battle, made his way through so many obstacles,
over the bodies of so many veteran soldiers, and showed strength