2.1
The first chapter has been transposed to serve as Introduction to both the Timoleon and theAemilius Paulus. That the Aemilii were one of the ancient and patrician houses at Rome, most writers agree.
2.2
And that the first of them, and the one who gave his surname to the family, was Mamercus, a son of Pythagoras the philosopher, who received the surname of Aemilius for the gracePlutarch suggests the identity of the Latin Aemilius with the Greek αἱμύλιος (winning). Cf. Odyssey, i. 56. and charm of his discourse, is the statement of some of those writers who hold that Pythagoras was the educator of Numa the king.See the Numa, i. 2 f.
2.3
Now, most of this family who rose to distinction by their cultivation of virtue, were blessed with good fortune; and in the case of Lucius Paulus, his misfortune at Cannae gave testimony alike to his wisdom and valour.
2.4
For when he could not dissuade his colleague from giving battle, he took part with him in the struggle, though reluctantly, but would not be a partner in his flight; nay, though the one who had brought on the peril left him in the lurch, he himself kept his post and died fighting the enemy.See the Fabius Maximus, chapters xiv. and xvi.
2.5
This Paulus had a daughter, Aemilia, who was the wife of Scipio the Great, and a son, Aemilius Paulus, whose Life I now write. He came of age at a time which abounded in men of the greatest reputation and most illustrious virtue, and yet he was a conspicuous figure, although he did not pursue the same studies as the young nobles of the time, nor set out on his career by the same path.
