Scipio's unconventional behavior and charisma made conservative Roman senators uncomfortable.

“Everything about him just seems wrong, doesn't it? It just seems un Roman. It's not just that he's been held king, but that he is incredibly popular both with his troops and with the mass of the Roman people.”

Scipio was the greatest military hero in Roman history at the time of the invasion of Africa.

“And the man who is speaking these words, he's only 30, but he has already established himself as the greatest military hero in Rome's history. And this is the young, long-haired, smoothly shaved Publius Cornelius Scipio.”