§41.20.1Romano more, sella eburnea posita, ius dicebat disceptabatque controversias minimarum rerum.
In the Roman manner, having placed an ivory chair, he used to administer justice and settle disputes of the most trifling matters.
§41.20.2adeoque nulli fortunae adhaerebat animus per omnia genera vitae errans, uti nec sibi nec aliis, quinam homo esset, satis constaret.
And so little did his mind adhere to any one condition of life, wandering through all classes of living, that it was not clear either to himself or to others what kind of man he was.
§41.20.3non adloqui amicos, vix notis familiariter arridere, munificentia inaequali sese aliosque ludificari; quibusdam honoratis magnoque aestimantibus se puerilia, ut escae aut lusus, munera dare, alios nihil expectantes ditare.
He would not speak to his friends, and scarcely smile familiarly upon his acquaintances, playing the fool with himself and others with unequal generosity; to some who were in honor and held him in high esteem he gave childish gifts, such as sweetmeats or toys, while others who expected nothing he enriched.
§41.20.4itaque nescire, quid sibi vellet, quibusdam videri; quidam ludere eum simpliciter, quidam haud dubie insanire aiebant.
And so, to some he seemed not to know what he wanted; some said that he was simply playing, others that he was undoubtedly mad.
§41.20.5in duabus tamen magnis honestisque rebus vere regius erat animus, in urbium donis et deorum cultu.
In two great and honorable things, however, his mind was truly royal: in gifts to cities and in the worship of the gods.
§41.20.6Megalopolitanis in Arcadia murum se circumdaturum urbi est pollicitus maioremque partem pecuniae dedit; Tegeae theatrum magnificum e marmore facere instituit; §41.20.7Cyzici in prytaneo — id est penetrale urbis, ubi publice, quibus is honos datus est, vescuntur — vasa aurea mensae unius posuit.
To the Megalopolitans in Arcadia he promised that he would surround their city with a wall, and gave the greater part of the money; at Tegea he began to build a magnificent theater of marble; at Cyzicus, in the prytaneum—that is, the inner sanctuary of the city, where those to whom this honor has been given dine publicly—he placed gold vessels for one table.
Rhodiis, ut nihil unum insigne, ita omnis generis, ut quaeque usus eorum postulaverunt, dona dedit.
To the Rhodians he gave gifts of every kind, as their needs required, though there was no single outstanding one.
§41.20.8magnificentiae vero in deos vel Iovis Olympii templum Athenis, unum in terris incohatum pro magnitudine dei, potest testis esse; §41.20.9sed et Delum aris insignibus statuarumque copia exornavit, et Antiochiae Iovis Capitolini magnificum templum, non laqueatum auro tantum, sed parietibus totis lammina inauratum, et alia multa in aliis locis pollicitus, quia perbreve tempus regni eius fuit, non perfecit.
Indeed, as to his generosity toward the gods, the temple of Olympian Jupiter at Athens, the only one in the world begun on a scale corresponding to the greatness of the god, can be a witness; but he also adorned Delos with remarkable altars and an abundance of statues, and at Antioch a magnificent temple of Capitoline Jupiter, not only with a gilded ceiling, but gilded with leaf-gold over all the walls, and having promised many other things in other places, because the time of his reign was very short, he did not finish them.
§41.20.10spectaculorum quoque omnis generis magnificentia superiores reges vicit, reliquorum sui moris et copia Graecorum artificum; §41.20.11gladiatorum munus, Romanae consuetudinis, primo maiore cum terrore hominum, insuetorum ad tale spectaculum, quam voluptate dedit; §41.20.12deinde saepius dando et modo volneribus tenus, modo sine missione, etiam familiare oculis gratumque id spectaculum fecit, et armorum studium plerisque iuvenum accendit.
In the magnificence of spectacles of all kinds also he surpassed the former kings, the rest being of his own custom and from the abundance of Greek artists; the show of gladiators, after the Roman custom, he gave at first with greater terror to the people, who were unaccustomed to such a spectacle, than pleasure; then, by giving it more frequently, sometimes only as far as wounds, sometimes without discharge, he made that spectacle familiar to their eyes and pleasing, and kindled a zeal for arms in most of the young men.
§41.20.13itaque qui primo ab Roma magnis pretiis paratos gladiatores accersere solitus erat, iam suo Scipio inter peregrinos.
And so, he who at first had been accustomed to summon gladiators prepared from Rome at great prices, now from his own Scipio among foreigners.