Definition: Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus (185/4-129) gathered together a group of writers and thinkers, including Terence (Fabula Palliata comedy), Polybius (Greek, historian), Panaetius (Stoic, from Rhodes) and Lucilius (responsible for the Roman genre of satire), which is known as the Scipionic Circle.
Some doubt the existence of the Scipionic Circle. The primary source on the subject is Cicero -- De amicitia and De republica.
Reference: "Cicero and the Scipionic Circle," by J. E. G. Zetzel; Harvard Studies in Classical Philology © 1972.
Examples:
Political members of the Scipionic Circle suggested by Cicero include the elder Cato, Scipio, Laelius, Philus, Crassus, Antonius, Sulpicius, Scaevola, Catulus, Caesar Strabo, and Cotta. [Source: J. E. G. Zetzel]
