When the time for some religious
ceremony at which he had to be present approached, and he also
considered himself sufficiently strong, he returned to Rome. He
performed the sacrifice, with the other priests, the people surrounding
him with congratulations. On the next day he again officiated, offering
a thank-offering to the gods for his recovery. When this sacrifice was
finished, he went home and lay down, and before any one noticed how
changed he was, he fell into a delirious trance, and died in three days,
having in his life wanted none of those things which are thought to
render men happy. Even his funeral procession was admirable and
enviable, and a noble tribute to his valour and goodness. I do not mean
gold, ivory, and other expensive and vain-glorious apparatus, but love,
honour, and respect, not only shown by his own countrymen, but also by
foreigners. For of the Iberians, Ligurians, and Macedonians who happened
to be in Rome, the strongest carried the bier, while the elder men
followed after, praising Aemilius as the saviour and benefactor of their
countries. For he not only during his period of conquest had treated
them mildly and humanely, but throughout the rest of his life was always
bestowing benefits upon them as persons peculiarly connected with
himself. His estate, they say, scarcely amounted to three hundred and
seventy thousand sesterces,[A] which he left to be shared between his
two sons; but Scipio, the younger, consented to give up his share to his
brother, as he was a member of a rich family, that of Africanus.
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