praise for the virtues that enriched and adorned it; and its memory was
so fresh after the lapse of more than two centuries, that Seneca, who
well knew the better way which he had not always strength to tread,
advises his young friend Lucilius to "live with Laelius;" [_Vire cum
Laelio._] that is, to take his life as a model.

The friendship of Laelius and the younger Scipio Africanus well deserves
the commemoration which it has in this dialogue of Cicero. It began in
their boyhood, and continued without interruption till Scipio's death.
Laelius served in Africa, mainly that he might not be separated from his
friend. To each other's home was as his own. They were of one mind as to
public men and measures, and in all probability the more pliant nature
of Laelius yielded in great measure to the stern and uncompromising
adherence of Scipio to the cause of the aristocracy. While they were
united in grave pursuits and weighty interests, we have the most
charming pictures of their rural and seaside life together, even of
their gathering shells on the shore, and of fireside frolics in which
they forgot the cares of the republic, ceased to be stately old Romans,
and played like children in vacation-time.

FANNIUS.

Caius Fannius Strabo in early life served with high reputation in
Africa, under the younger Africanus, and afterward in Spain, in the war
with Viriathus. Like his father-in-law, he was versed in the philosophy
of the Stoic school, under the tuition of Panaetius. He was an orator,
as were almost all the Romans who aimed at distinction; but we have no
reason to suppose that he in this respect rose above mediocrity. He
wrote a history, of which Cicero speaks well, and which Sallust commends
for its accuracy; but it is entirely lost, and we have no direct