appear I am in danger of being rivalled by every obscure person, but not by himself, because, as he enjoys an eminence above every body else, an eminence to which I do not dissemble that I also aspire, he is unwilling that I should be placed upon a level with him.  He has represented himself as an old man, and as one who has gone through every gradation of honour, and me as below the age even of his son; as if he supposed that the desire of glory did not exceed the limits of human life, and as if its chief part had not respect to memory and future ages.  I am confident, that it is usual with all the most exalted minds, to compare themselves, not only with the illustrious men of the present, but of every age.  For my own part, I do not dissemble that I am desirous, not only to attain to the share of glory which you possess, Quintus Fabius, but, (and in saying it I mean no offence,) if I can, even to exceed it.  Let not such a feeling exist in your mind towards me, nor in mine towards those who are my juniors, as that we should be unwilling that any of our countrymen should attain to the same celebrity with ourselves; for that would be a detriment, not to those only who may be the objects of our envy, but to the state, and almost to the whole human race.  He mentioned what a great degree of danger I should incur, should I cross over into Africa, so that he appeared solicitous on my account, and not only for the state and the army.  But whence has this concern for me so suddenly sprung?  When my father and uncle were slain; when their two armies were cut up almost to a man; when Spain was lost; when four armies of the Carthaginians and four generals kept possession of every thing by terror and by arms; when a general was sought for to take the command of that war, and no one came forward besides myself, no one had the courage to declare himself a candidate; when the Roman people had conferred the command upon me, though only twenty-four years of age; why was it that no one at that time made any mention of my age, of the strength of the enemy, of the difficulty of the war, and of the recent destruction of my father and uncle?  Has some greater disaster been suffered in Africa now than had at that time befallen us in Spain?  Are there now larger armies in Africa, more and better generals, than were then in Spain?  Was my age then more mature for conducting a war than now?  Can a war with a Carthaginian enemy be carried on with greater convenience in Spain than in Africa?  After having routed and put to flight four Carthaginian armies; after having captured by force, or reduced to submission by fear, so many cities; after having entirely subdued every thing as far as the ocean, so many petty princes, so many savage nations; after having regained possession of the whole of Spain, so that no trace of war remains, it is an easy matter to make light of my services; just as easy as it would be, should I return victorious from Africa, to make light of those very circumstances which are now magnified