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 Greek intellectuals, such as the scholar and historian Polybius and the Stoic philosopher Panaetius. Hence, Scipio had a philhellenic disposition (love and admiration for Greek culture). Such disposition was criticised by Roman traditionalists who disliked the growing Hellenisation of Rome—which, they thought, was corrupting Roman culture and life through alien influences—and advocated adherence to old Roman traditions and ancestral virtues and mores. Yet, Scipio was also a supporter of such traditions and mores. Gellius wrote that when he was censor, Scipio made a speech "urging the people to follow the customs of their forefathers". He criticised several things which "were done contrary to the usage of our forefathers," and found fault with adoptive sons being of profit to their adoptive father in gaining the rewards of paternity, and said: "A father votes in one tribe, the son in another, an adopted son is of as much advantage as if one had a son of his own; orders are given to take the census of absentees, and hence it is not necessary for anyone to appear in person at the census."