§31.28.1μετὰ δʼ ἔτη δύο μεταλλάξαντος τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν πατρὸς αὐτοῦ Λευκίου καὶ καταλιπόντος κληρονόμους τῆς οὐσίας αὐτόν τε καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν Φάβιον, καλόν τι καὶ μνήμης ἄξιον ἐποίησεν.
Two years later, when his natural father Lucius died, leaving him and his brother Fabius as heirs to his estate, he performed a noble deed, worthy of remembrance.
§31.28.2ὁ γὰρ Λεύκιος ὑπάρχων ἄτεκνος διὰ τὸ τοὺς μὲν εἰς ἑτέρας οἰκίας ἐκδεδόσθαι, τοὺς δʼ ἄλλους υἱούς, οὓς ἔτρεφε διαδόχους [καὶ] τοῦ γένους, πάντας μετηλλαχέναι, τούτοις ἀπέλιπε τὴν οὐσίαν.
For Lucius, being childless because some of his sons had been given in adoption to other families, and the other sons whom he was rearing to be successors of his house had all passed away, left his estate to these two.
§31.28.3ὁ δὲ Σκιπίων θεωρῶν αὑτοῦ τὸν ἀδελφὸν καταδεέστερον ὄντα τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν ἐξεχώρησε πάντων τῶν ὑπαρχόντων, οὔσης τῆς ὅλης τιμήσεως ὑπὲρ ἑξήκοντα τάλαντα, διὰ τὸ μέλλειν οὕτως ἴσον ὑπάρχειν αὐτῷ κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν τὸν Φάβιον.
But Scipio, seeing that his brother was less well off in his existing means, ceded to him the whole of the inheritance—the valuation of the entire property being over sixty talents—in order that Fabius might thus become equal to him in wealth.
§31.28.4γενομένου δὲ τούτου περιβοήτου, προσέθηκεν ἕτερον τούτῳ δεῖγμα τῆς αὑτοῦ προαιρέσεως ἐμφανέστερον·
When this became a matter of common talk, he added to it another even more conspicuous proof of his character.
§31.28.5βουλομένου γὰρ τἀδελφοῦ μονομαχίας ἐπὶ τῷ πατρὶ ποιεῖν, οὐ δυναμένου δὲ δέξασθαι τὴν δαπάνην διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀναλισκομένων χρημάτων, καὶ ταύτης τὴν ἡμίσειαν εἰσήνεγκεν ὁ Σκιπίων ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας οὐσίας.
For when his brother wished to exhibit gladiatorial games in honor of their father, but was unable to bear the expense because of the large amount of money required, Scipio contributed half of this also from his own fortune.
§31.28.6ἔστι δʼ οὐκ ἐλάττων ἡ σύμπασα τριάκοντα ταλάντων, ἐάν τις μεγαλομερῶς ποιῇ.
And the total expense is not less than thirty talents, if one does it on a grand scale.
§31.28.7φήμης περὶ αὐτοῦ διαδιδομένης, μετήλλαξεν ἡ μήτηρ.
While his fame was spreading, his mother passed away.
§31.28.8ὁ δὲ τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχε τοῦ κομίσασθαί τι ὧν πρότερον ἐδωρήσατο, περὶ ὧν ἀρτίως εἶπον, ὥστε καὶ ταῦτα καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν οὐσίαν τὴν τῆς μητρὸς ἅπασαν ἀπέδωκε ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς, ἧς οὐδὲν αὐταῖς προσῆκε κατὰ τοὺς νόμους.
But he was so far from reclaiming any of the things he had previously given her, of which I have just spoken, that he gave both these and all the rest of his mother's estate to his sisters, though none of it belonged to them by law.
§31.28.9διὸ πάλιν τῶν ἀδελφῶν παραλαβουσῶν τὸν ἐν ταῖς ἐξόδοις κόσμον καὶ τὴν περίστασιν τὴν τῆς Αἰμιλίας, πάλιν ἐκαινοποιήθη τὸ μεγαλόψυχον καὶ φιλοίκειον τῆς τοῦ Σκιπίωνος προαιρέσεως.
Therefore, when his sisters again took possession of the finery used in public processions and the retinue of Aemilia, the generosity and family affection of Scipio's character were celebrated anew.
§31.28.10ταῦτα μὲν οὖν προκατεσκευασμένος ἐκ τῆς πρώτης ἡλικίας Πόπλιος Σκιπίων προῆλθε πρὸς τὸ φιλοδοξεῖν σωφροσύνῃ καὶ καλοκἀγαθίᾳ.
Having thus prepared himself from his earliest youth, Publius Scipio proceeded to seek a reputation for temperance and nobility of character.
§31.28.11εἰς ἣν ἴσως ἑξήκοντα τάλαντα δαπανήσας, τοσαῦτα γὰρ ἦν προειμένος τῶν ἰδίων, ὁμολογουμένην ἔσχε τὴν ἐπὶ καλοκἀγαθίᾳ φήμην, οὐχ οὕτω τῷ πλήθει τῶν χρημάτων τὸ προκείμενον κατεργασάμενος ὡς τῷ καιρῷ τῆς δόσεως καὶ τῷ χειρισμῷ τῆς χάριτος.
Having spent perhaps sixty talents on this—for so much he had surrendered from his own property—he won an undisputed reputation for goodness, having achieved his object not so much by the quantity of the money as by the timing of the gift and the manner of his generosity.
§31.28.12τὴν δὲ σωφροσύνην περιεποιήσατο δαπανήσας μὲν οὐδέν, πολλῶν δὲ καὶ ποικίλων ἡδονῶν ἀποσχόμενος προσεκέρδανε τὴν σωματικὴν ὑγίειαν καὶ τὴν εὐεξίαν, §31.28.13ἥτις αὐτῷ παρʼ ὅλον τὸν βίον παρεπομένη πολλὰς ἡδονὰς καὶ καλὰς ἀμοιβὰς ἀπέδωκεν ἀνθʼ ὧν πρότερον ἀπέσχετο τῶν προχείρων ἡδονῶν.
And he acquired temperance without spending anything, but by abstaining from many and varied pleasures, he gained in addition physical health and vigor, which, accompanying him throughout his whole life, returned many pleasures and beautiful rewards to him in exchange for those immediate pleasures from which he had previously abstained.