who beheld it formed therefrom some suspicion and conjecture of what had happened to it." In another book Plutarch wrote "no cause of such an unexpected death could be assigned, only some marks of blows upon his body seemed to intimate that he had suffered violence." The heaviest suspicions fell on Fulvius Flaccus who "that very day had reflected upon Scipio in a public address to the people". Gaius Gracchus also came under suspicion. However, "this great outrage, committed too upon the person of the greatest and most considerable man in Rome, was never either punished or inquired into thoroughly, for the populace opposed and hindered any judicial investigation, for fear that Gaius should be implicated in the charge if proceedings were carried on". Gaius Papirius Carbo also came under accusation. During a trial Lucius Licinius Crassus accused Carbo of being a party to the murder of Scipio. Ian Worthington rejects all these speculations and argues that Scipio Aemilianus died of natural causes. Personal character Velleius Paterculus wrote that Scipio was "a cultivated patron and admirer of liberal studies and of every form of learning, and kept constantly with him, at home and in the field, two men of eminent genius, Polybius and Panaetius. No one ever relieved the duties of an active life by a more refined use of his intervals of leisure than Scipio, or was more constant in his devotion to the arts either of war or peace. Ever engaged in the pursuit of arms or his studies, he was either training his body by exposing it to dangers or his mind by learning." Polybius mentioned going to Africa with Scipio to explore the continent. Gellius wrote that Scipio "used the purest diction of all men of his time". Cicero cited him among the orators who were "a little more emphatic than the ordinary, [but] never strained their lungs or shouted …" It seems that he had a good sense of humour and Cicero cited a number of anecdotes about his puns. He is also a central character in Book VI of Cicero's De re publica, a passage known as the Somnium Scipionis or "Dream of Scipio". Culturally, Scipio Aemilianus was both philhellenic and conservative. He was the patron of the so-called Scipionic circle, a group of 15 to 27 philosophers, poets, and politicians. Besides Roman satirists and comedy writers such as Lucilius and Terence, there were