It’s time for another random classical fact:
Gaius Laelius served in Spain (209-206 BCE) and then in Africa (205-202 BCE) under the great Roman general P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, whose close friend and protege he became. With Scipio’s help Laelius became questor (202 BCE), plebeian aedile (197 BCE), praetor (196 BCE) and consul (190 BCE). He later served on embassies to King Perseus (174-173 BCE) and to Transalpine Gaul (170 BCE). He met the author Polybius in Rome during his later years and gave him much first hand information about Scipio Africanus.
(Hornblower et al, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd Edition, Oxford, 2003; 811)
