Scipio
Could not find Scipionum in Logeion dictionaries.
Scipionum Proper-name noun: masculine genitive plural of Scipio
- the name of a celebrated family in the gens Cornelia, the most famous members of which were the two conquerors of the Carthaginians, P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus major, in the second, and P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus minor, in the third Punic war. —In hexameter verse scanned nom. Scīpĭŏ, Luc. 4, 658; Sil. 8, 548; 10, 427; 13, 386; 13, 449 al.; cf., in the foll., 3. init.—Hence,
- 1 Scīpĭōnĕus, a, um, adj., of the Scipios (late Lat.), Fab. Cl. Gord. Fulg. Act. Mundi, 11, p. 141.—
- 2 Scīpĭŏnārĭus, a, um, adj.: a Scipione quidam male dicunt Scipioninos: nam est Scipionarios, Varr. L. L. 9, § 71 Müll.—
- 3 Scīpĭădes or -as, ae, m. (cf. Prisc. p. 582 P), one of the Scipio family, a Scipio (poet. for Scipio, the oblique cases of which could not stand in hexameter verse): Scipiadas, belli fulmen, Carthaginis horror, Lucr. 3, 1034; v. Lachm. ad h. 1.; Lucil. ap. Fest. s. v. scurrae, p. 294 Müll.; nom. Scipiades, Claud. III. Cons. Stil. praef. 1; gen., dat. Scipiadae, Prop. 3, 11, 59 (4, 10, 67); Hor. S. 2, 1, 72; Claud. B. Get. 141; acc. Scipiadem, Hor. S. 2, 1, 17; v. Heind. and Duntz. ad h.l.; plur. nom. Scipiadae, Manil. 2, 790; Claud. Laud. Stil. 1, 381; gen. Scipiadum, id. Laud. Seren. 42; acc. Scipiadas, Verg. G. 2, 170; Claud. ap. Prop. et Olybr. 149.
- 1. P. Cornelius ~, consul in 218 v. Chr., werd door Hannibal bij de rivier de Ticinus overwonnen, maar overwon in 216 Hasdrubal bij de rivier de Ebro; in 212 (of 211) sneuvelde hij in de strijd tegen Hasdrubal in Spanje;
- 2. P. Cornelius ~ Africanus maior (ca. 235—183 v. Chr.), zoon v.
- 1. , overwinnaar in de slag bij Zama (in 202 v. Chr.);
- 3. P. Cornelius ~ Aemilianus Africanus minor Numantinus (ca. 185—129 v. Chr.), zoon v. Aemilius Paullus, geadopteerd door de zoon v.
- 2. , veroveraar v. Carthago in 146 en v. Numantia in 133 v. Chr.;
- 4. P. Cornelius ~ Nasica Corculum, belangrijk redenaar en jurist, consul in 162 en 155 v. Chr., uitgesproken voorstander v.h. behoud v. Carthago; / patron. Scīpiadēs en -dās, ae m lid v.d. familie v.d. Scipionen.
(Σκιπίων) the name of an illustrious patrician family of the Cornelia gens. This name, which signifies a stick or staff, is said to have been originally given to a Cornelius, because he served as a staff in directing his blind father (patrem pro baculo regebat), and to have been handed down by him as a family name to his descendants (Macr. 1.6). This family produced some of the greatest men in Rome, and to them she was more indebted than to any others for the empire of the world. The Scipios, like many other Roman families, possessed a burial-place in which all the members of the family were interred (Cic. Tusc. 1.7). This family-tomb, which was near the Porta Capena, was discovered in 1780, and is one of the most interesting remains of the republican period. It was discovered on the left of the Appia Via, about 400 paces within the modern Porta S Sebastiano.
The inscriptions and other curiosities are deposited in the Museo Pio-Clementino, at Rome. A full account of this tomb is given by Visconti, Monumenti degli Scipioni, Roma, 1785, fol. The inscriptions are also given by Orelli, Inscript. Nos. 550-559. (See also Becker, Handbuch der Römischen Allerthümer, vol. i. p. 518.)
1. P. Cornelius Scipio, magister equitum, in B. C. 396, to the dictator M. Furius Camillus. The Capitoline Fasti, however, make P. Cornelius Maluginensis the magister equitum in this year. Scipio was consular tribune in B. C. 395, and again in 394. He was also twice interrex, once in B. C. 391, and again in 389. (Liv. 5.19, 24, 26, 31, 6.1.)
2. P. Cornelius Scipio, probably son of the preceding, was one of the first curule aediles, who were appointed in B. C. 366, when one place in the consulship was thrown open to the plebeians. He is apparently the same as the L. Scipio who was magister equitum to the dictator Camillus, in B. C. 350. (Liv. 7.1, 24.)
3. L. Cornelius Scipio, was interrex in B. C. 352, and consul in 350, with M. Popillius Laenas. (Liv. 7.21, 23.)
4. P. Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, was consul B. C. 328, with C. Plautius, according to the Fasti. Livy (8.22), however, calls him P. Cornelius Scapula. In B. C. 306 he was appointed dictator, for the purpose of holding the consular comitia, and in the following year he is spoken of as the pontifex maximus. (Liv. 9.44, 46.)
5. L. Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, the son of Cnaeus, as we learn from his epitaph. He was consul B. C. 298, with Cn. Fulvius Maximus Centumalus, carried on war against the Etruscans, and defeated them near Volaterrae. In the following year, B. C. 297, he served as legate under the consul Q. Fabius Maximus, against the Samnites (comp. Frontin. 2.4.2). In B. C. 295 he again served under the consuls Fabius Maximus and Decius Mus, with the title of propraetor, in the great campaign of that year against the Gauls, Etruscans, and Samnites. In B. C. 293 he again fought, under L. Papirius Cursor, in the campaign which brought the Samnite war to a close (Liv. 10.11, 12,14, 25, 26, 40, 41). This is the narrative of Livy, but we have a very different account of his exploits in the epitaph on his tomb, which says nothing of his victory in Etruria, but speaks of his conquests in Samnium and Apulia. * The epitaph on the tomb of this Scipio is the first contemporary record of a Roman which has reached our times. We subjoin a copy of it taken from Orelli (Inscr. No. 550):
CORNELIVS LVCIVS SCIPIO BARBATVS GNAIVOD PATRE || PROGNATVS FORTIS VIR SAPIENSQVE QVOIVS FORMA VIRTVTEI PARISVMA || FVIT CONSOL CENSOR AIDILIS QVEI FVIT APVD VOS TAVRASIA CISAVNA || SAMNIO CEPIT SVBIGIT OMNE LOVCANA OPSIDESQVE ABDOVCIT.
In more modern Latin this inscription might thus be written : -- " Cornelius Lucius Scipio Barbatus, Cnaeo patre prognatus, fortis vir sapiensque, cujus forma virtuti parissuma fuit, Consul, Censor, Aedilis, qui flit apud vos, Taurasiam, Cisaunam (in) Samnio cepit, subigit omnem Lucaniam, obsidesque abducit." Niebuhr supposes that his conquests in Samnium and Apulia were made in B. C. 297, when he was the legate of Fabius Maximus (Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, vol. iii. pp. 363-366, 378). This Scipio was the great-grand-father of the conqueror of Hannibal. The genealogy of the family can be traced with more certainty from this time.
6. Cn. Cornelius Scipio Asina, the son of No. 5. The reason of his cognomen Asina is related by Macrobius (Macr. 1.6). He was consul in B. C. 260, with C. Duillius, in the fifth year of the first Punic war, and received the command of the fleet which the Romans had recently built. In an attempt upon the Liparaean islands, he was taken prisoner with seventeen ships; but the details of his capture are related somewhat differently (Plb. 1.21, 22; Liv. Ep. 17; Oros. 4.7 ; Eutrop. 2.20; Flor. 2.2; Zonar. 8.10; V. Max. 6.6.2; Polyaen. 6.16.5). He probably recovered his liberty when Regulus invaded Africa; for he was consul a second time in B. C. 254, with A. Atilius Calatinus. In this year he was more successful. He and his colleague crossed over into Sicily, and took the important town of Panormus. The services of Scipio were rewarded by a triumph. (Plb. 1.38; Zonar. 8.14 ; V. Max. 6.9.11; Fasti Capit.)
7. L. Cornelius Scipio, also son of No. 5, was consul in B. C. 2.59, with C. Aquillius Florus. He drove the Carthaginians out of Sardinia and Corsica, defeating Hanno, the Carthaginian commander, and obtained a triumph in consequence. The epitaph on his tomb records that " he took Corsica and the city of Aleria." In the Fasti he appears as censor in B. C. 258, with C. Duilius, and his epitaph calls him " Consul, Censor, Aedilis." (Liv. Ep. 17; Oros. 4.7; Eutrop. 2.20; Flor. 2.2; Zonar. 8.11; V. Max. 5.1.2; Orelli, Inscr. No. 552.)
8. P. Cornelius Scipio Asina, son of No. 6, was consul B. C. 221, with M. Minucius Rufus, and carried on war, with his colleague, against the Istri, who annoyed the Romans by their piracy. The Istri were completely subdued, and Scipio obtained the honour of a triumph. In B. C. 217 he was appointed interrex, for the purpose of holding the consular elections. He is mentioned again in B. C. 211, when he showed so little of the spirit of a Scipio as to recommend that the senate should recall all the generals and armies from Italy for the defence of the capital, because Hannibal was marching upon the city. (Eutrop. 3.7; Oros. 4.13; Zonar. 8.20; Liv. 22.34, 26.8.)
9. P. Cornelius Scipio, the son of No. 7, was consul, with Ti. Sempronius Longus, in the first year of the Punic War, B. C. 218. Scipio, having received Spain as his province, set sail with his army from Pisae to Massilia. On his arrival at the latter place, he found that Hannibal had already crossed the Pyrenees, and was advancing towards the Rhone; but as his men had suffered much from sea-sickness, he allowed them a few days' rest, thinking that he had abundance of time to prevent Hannibal's crossing the Rhone. But the rapidity of Hannibal's movements were greater than the consul had anticipated. The Carthaginian army crossed the Rhone in safety, while the Romans were at the mouth of the river; and when Scipio marched up the left bank of the river, he found that Hannibal had advanced into the interior of Gaul, and had already got the start of him by a three days' march. Despairing, therefore, of overtaking him, he resolved to sail back to Italy, and await his arrival in Cisalpine Gaul. But as the Romans had an army of 25,000 men in Cisalpine Gaul, under the command of the two praetors, Scipio resolved to send into Spain the army which he had brought with him, under the command of his brother and legate, Cn. Scipio, and to take back with him only a small portion of his forces to Italy. This wise resolution of Scipio probably saved Rome; for if the Carthaginians had maintained the undisputed command of Spain, they would have been able to have concentrated all their efforts to support Hannibal in Italy. and might have sent him such strong reinforcements after the battle of Cannae as would have compelled Rome to submit.
After Scipio had landed at Pisae, he took the command of the praetor's army, and forthwith hastened to meet Hannibal, before he might be able to collect reinforcements among the Cisalpine Gauls. He crossed the Po at Placentia, and then advanced along the left bank of the river in search of Hannibal. Soon after crossing the Ticinus, over which he had thrown a bridge, his cavalry and light-armed troops, which he was leading in person in advance of the rest of his forces, fell in with the cavalry of the Carthaginians, also commanded by Hannibal himself. An engagement took place, in which the Romans were defeated. The consul himself received a severe wound, and was only saved from death by the courage of his young son, Publius, the future conqueror of Hannibal; though, according to other accounts, he owed his life to a Ligurian slave (Liv. xxi 46; Plb. 10.3). Scipio now retreated across the Ticinus, breaking the bridge behind him. He then crossed the Po also, and took up his quarters at Placentia. Here Hannibal, who had likewise crossed the Po, offered him battle, which was declined by Scipio, whose wound prevented him from taking the command of his army, and who had moreover determined to wait the arrival of his colleague, Sempronius Longus, who had been summoned from Sicily to join him. Upon the arrival of Sempronius, Scipio was encamped upon the banks of the Trebia, having abandoned his former position at Placentia. As Scipio still continued disabled by his wound, the command of the army devolved upon Sempronius. The latter, who was anxious to obtain the glory of conquering Hannibal, resolved upon a battle, in opposition to the advice of his colleague. The result was the complete defeat of the Roman army, Which was obliged to take refuge within the walls of Placentia. [Hannibal, p. 335b.]
In the following year, B. C. 217, Scipio, whose imperium had been prolonged, crossed over into Spain with a fleet of twenty ships and eight thousand foot-soldiers. Scipio and his brother Cneius continued in Spain till their death in B. C. 211 ; but the history of their campaigns, though important in their results, is full of such confusions and contradictions, that a brief description of them is quite sufficient. Livy found great discrepancies in his authorities, which are in themselves not worthy of much confidence. It is even impossible to state with certainty the years in which most of the events occurred (Niebuhr, Lectures on Roman History vol. i. pp. 206, 207). Upon the arrival of Publius in Spain, he found that his brother Cneius had already obtained a firm footing in the country. Soon after Cneius had landed at Emporium in the preceding year, B. C. 218, most of the chiefs on the sea-coast joined him, attracted by his affability and kindness, which formed a striking contrast with the severity and harshness of the Carthaginian commanders. In the course of the same year he gained a victory near the town of Scissis or Cissa, in which Hanno, the Carthaginian general, was taken prisoner, and which made him master of nearly the whole of northern Spain from the Pyrenees to the Iberus. Hasdrubal advanced by rapid marches from the north of Spain to retrieve the Carthaginian cause in the north, but arrived too late in the year to accomplish any thing of importance, and accordingly recrossed the Iberus, after burning part of the Roman fleet. Scipio wintered at Tarraco. In the following year, B. C. 217, he defeated the Carthaginian fleet at the mouth of the Iberus, and thus obtained for the Romans the command of the sea. Publius arrived shortly afterwards in the middle of the summer, and the two brothers now advanced against Saguntum, where Hannibal had deposited the hostages, whom he had obtained from the various Spanish tribes. The treachery of a Spaniard of the name of Abelux or Abilyx surrendered them to the Scipios, who restored them to their own people, and thus gained the support of a large number of the Spanish tribes.
In the course of the next two or three years Livy gives a description of several brilliant victories gained by the Scipios, but as these were evidently followed by no results, there is clearly great exaggeration in his account. Thus, they are said to have defeated Hasdrubal in B. C. 216 with such loss, near the passage of the Iberus, that he escaped from the field with only a few followers. This victory was gained after the battle of Cannae, when Hasdrubal was attempting to march into Italy to support his victorious brother Hannibal. In the following year, B. C. 215, Hasdrubal, having received reinforcements from Carthage, under the command of his brother Mago, laid siege to the town of Illiturgi; but their united forces were defeated by the two Scipios, who are also said to have gained another decisive victory over them in the course of the same year near Intibili. Next year, B. C. 214, another Carthaginian army arrived under Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco. The Roman accounts again speak of two successive victories gained by Cn. Scipio, but followed as usual by no results. About this time Hasdrubal, Hannibal's brother, was recalled to Africa to oppose Syphax, one of the Numidian kings, who was carrying on war against Carthage. The Scipios availed themselves of his absence to strengthen their power; they gained over new tribes to the Roman cause, took 20,000 Celtiberians into their pay, and felt themselves so strong by the beginning of B. C. 212 or 211, that they resolved to cross the Iberus, and to make a vigorous effort to drive the Carthaginians out of Spain. They accordingly divided their forces. P. Scipio was to attack Mago and Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco, who were supported by Masinissa and the Spanish chief Indibilis, while his brother Cneius was to attack Hasdrubal the son of Barca, who had already returned from Africa, after bringing the war against Syphax to a successful termination. But the result was fatal. Publius was destroyed, with the greater part of his forces, and Mago and Hasdrubal, son of Gisco, now joined Hasdrubal, son of Barca, to crush Cneius. Meantime Cneius had been at once paralysed by the defection of the 20,000 Celtiberians, who had been gained over by the Carthaginian general; and being now surrounded by the united forces of the three generals, his camp was taken, and he himself fell, twenty-nine days after the death of his brother. The remains of his army were collected by L. Marcius Septimus, a Roman eques. [Hasdrubal, No. 6.] The year in which the Scipios perished is rather doubtful. Livy says (25.36) that it was in the eighth year after Cn. Scipio had come into Spain ; but Becker (Vorarbeiten zu einer Geschichte des zweiten Punisches Krieges in Dahlman's Forschungen, vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 113) brings forward several reasons, which make it probable that they did not fall till the spring of B. C. 211. (Liv. libb. xxi.-xxv. ; Polyb. lib. iii.; Appian, Annib. 5-8, Hisp. 14-16.)
10. Cn. Cornelius Scipio Calvus, son of No. 7, and brother of No. 9, was consul B. C. 222 with M. Claudius Marcellus. In conjunction with his colleague he carried on war against the Insubrians. The details of this war are given under Marcellus. [Vol. II. pp. 927, 928.] (Plb. 2.34; Plut. Marcel. 6, 7; and the other authorities quoted in the life of Marcellus). In B. C. 218 Cneius served as legate of his brother Publius, under whom he carried on war for eight years in Spain, as has been related above.
11. L. Cornelius Scipio, son of No. 7, and brother of the two Scipios who fell in Spain, is only known as the father of No. 27.
12. P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major, the son of P. Scipio, who fell in Spain [No. 9], was the greatest man of his age, and perhaps the greatest man of Rome, with the exception of Julius Caesar. He appears to have been born in B. C. 234, since he was twenty-four years of age when he was appointed to the command in Spain in B. C. 210 (Liv. 26.18; V. Max. 3.7.1; Oros. 4.18). Polybius, it is true, says (10.6) that he was then twenty-seven, which would place his birth in B. C. 237; and his authority would outweigh that of Livy, and the writers who follow him, if he had not stated elsewhere (10.3) that Scipio was seventeen at the battle of the Ticinus (B. C. 218), which would make him twenty-four when he went to Spain, according to the statement of Livy. In his early years Scipio acquired, to an extraordinary extent, the confidence and admiration of his countrymen. His enthusiastic mind had led him to believe that he was a special favourite of the gods ; and from the time he had put on the toga virilis, he had never engaged in any public or private business without first going to the Capitol, where he sat some time alone, enjoying communication from the gods. For all he proposed or executed he alleged the divine approval; and the Roman people, who had not yet lost all faith in the powers of an unseen world, gave credit to his assertions, and regarded him as a being almost superior to the common race of men (Liv. 26.19). Polybius, who did not possess a particle of enthusiasm in his nature, and who was moreover a decided rationalist, denies (10.2, 5) that Scipio had or believed that he had any communication with gods, and that his pretences to such intercourse were only a wise and politic means for obtaining a mastery over the minds of the vulgar. But such a supposition is quite at variance with all that is recorded of Scipio's character. He was, like Mohammed and Cromwell, a hero, and not an impostor; he believed himself in the divine revelations, which he asserted to have been vouchsafed to him, and the extraordinary success which attended all his enterprises must have deepened this belief, while such a belief, on the other hand, imparted to him a confidence in his own powers which made him irresistible.
P. Scipio is first mentioned in B. C. 218 at the battle of the Ticinus, where he is reported to have saved the life of his father, though he was then only seventeen years of age. He fought at Cannae two years afterward (B. C. 216), when he was already a tribune of the soldiers, and was one of the few Roman officers who survived that fatal day. He was chosen along with Appius Claudius to command the remains of the army, which had taken refuge at Canusium; and it was owing to his youthful heroism and presence of mind, that the Roman nobles, who had thought of leaving Italy in despair, were prevented from carrying their rash project into effect (Liv. 22.53; V. Max. 5.6.7). He had already gained the favour of the people to such an extent, that he was unanimously elected aedile in B. C. 212. On this occasion he gave indications of the proud spirit, and of the disregard of all the forms of the law, which distinguished him throughout life; for when the tribunes objected to the election, because he was not of the legal age, he haughtily replied, " If all the Quirites wish to make me aedile, I am old enough." In the spring of B. C. 211, his father and uncle fell in Spain, and C. Nero was sent out as propraetor to supply their place; but in the following year (B. C. 210), the Romans resolved to increase their army in Spain, and to place it under the command of a proconsul. But when the people assembled to elect a proconsul, none of the generals of experience ventured to sue for so dangerous a command. At length Scipio, who was then barely twenty-four, offered himself as a candidate, to the surprise of the whole people. The confidence he felt in himself he communicated to the people, and he was accordingly chosen with enthusiasm to take the command. Livy places his election in B. C. 211, but it could not have been earlier than B. C. 210.
Upon his arrival in Spain in the summer of B. C. 210 Scipio found the whole country south of the Iberus in the power of the enemy. The three Carthaginian generals, Hasdrubal son of Barca, Hasdrubal son of Gisco, and Mago, were not, however, on good terms with one another, and were at the time engaged in separate enterprises in distant parts of the peninsula, leaving the Carthaginian province almost without defence. Instead of attacking any one of them in detail, Scipio formed the project of striking a deadly blow at the Carthaginian power by a sudden and unexpected attack upon New Carthage. He gave the command of the fleet to his intimate friend Laelius, to whom alone he entrusted the secret of the expedition, while he himself led the land-forces by inconceivably rapid marches against the town. The project was crowned with complete success; the Carthaginian garrison did not amount to more than a thousand men, and before any succour could arrive the town was taken by' assault. The hostages, who had been given by the various Spanish tribes to the Carthaginians, had been placed for security in this town, and these now fell into the hands of Scipio, who treated them with generosity and kindness; and the hostages of those people, who declared themselves in favour of the Romans, were restored without ransom. Scipio also found in New Carthage magazines of arms, corn, and other necessaries, for the Carthaginians had deposited in this city their principal stores. The inactivity of the Carthaginian generals, meantime, is not explained by any of the ancient authorities. Scipio was allowed to return to Tarraco without molestation, where he remained quietly during the remainder of the year, as his forces were not sufficiently numerous to face the enemy in the field, and he was anxious to strengthen himself by alliances with the Spanish chiefs. In this he was more successful than he could have anticipated. The capture of Carthage, as well as his personal popularity, caused many of the Spanish tribes to desert the Carthaginian cause; and when he took the field in the following year, B. C. 209, Mandonius and Indibilis, two of the most powerful and hitherto the most faithful supporters of Carthage, quitted the camp of Hasdrubal, and awaited the arrival of Scipio. Hasdrubal was encamped in a strong position near the town of Baecula, in the upper valley of the Guadalquiver, where he was engaged in collecting money from the silver mines in the neighbourhood. As he had now fully resolved to march to the assistance of his brother in Italy, he did not wish to risk the lives of his soldiers, and therefore avoided a battle; but Scipio attacked his camp, and gained a brilliant victory over him, taking, it is said, 22,000 prisoners, and killing 8000 of his men. The victory, however, cannot have been so complete as the Roman writers represent, since Hasdrubal was able to take with him his treasures and elephants in safety, and to retire unmolested into northern Spain. Here he collected fresh troops, with which he eventually crossed the Pyrenees, and marched into Italy to the assistance of his brother Hannibal; while the other Carthaginian generals, Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco, and Mago, advanced against Scipio, and prevented him from pursuing their colleague. Scipio therefore remained in southern Spain during the remainder of that year. In the following year, B. C. 208, the propraetor Silanus defeated Mago in Celtiberia [Mago, p. 903], whereupon the latter marched into the south of the country and joined Hasdrubal, son of Gisco, in Baetica. Scipio advanced against them; but as the Carthaginian generals would not risk a battle, and distributed their army in the fortified towns, he was unable to accomplish anything of importance, and was obliged to content himself with the capture of the town of Oringis, which was taken by his brother Lucius. Next year, B. C. 207, Scipio gained possession of nearly the whole of Spain, by a decisive victory near a place variously called Silpia, Elinga, or Carmo, but the position of which is quite uncertain. Hasdrubal, son of Gisco, and Mago took refuge within the walls of Gades, which was almost the only place that still belonged to the Carthaginians; and all the native chiefs now hastened to acknowledge the supremacy of Rome. But the victories of Scipio had had only a small share in winning Spain. His personal influence had won far more people than his arms had conquered; he had gained such an ascendancy over the Spaniards by his humanity and courage, his courtesy and energy, that they were ready to lay down their lives for him, and wished to make him their king.
The subjugation of Spain was regarded by Scipio as only a means to an end. He seems for some time past to have formed in his own mind the project of transferring the war to Africa, and thus compelling the Carthaginians to recall Hannibal from Italy. He therefore resolved, before returning to Rome, to cross over into Africa, and secure, if possible, the friendship and co-operation of some of the native princes. His personal influence had already secured the attachment of Masinissa, who was serving in the Carthaginian army in Spain, but whose defection from his ancient allies was for the present to remain a secret; and he trusted that the same personal ascendancy might gain the still more powerful support of Syphax, the king of the Massaesylian tribe of Numidians. With only two quinqueremes he ventured to leave his province, and repair to the court of Syphax. There he met his old adversary, Hasdrubal, son of Gisco, who had crossed over from Gades for the same purpose ; and the two generals spent several days together in friendly intercourse. Laelius, who accompanied his friend, related to Polybius that Scipio made a great impression upon Syphax, and that the latter even concluded a treaty of alliance with the Roman proconsul; but the truth seems to be that the Carthaginian general was more successful than the Roman; a success, however, which was in great part owing to the charms of his daughter Sophonisba, whom he gave in marriage to the Numidian king. Scipio did not remain long in Africa, and on his return to Spain was surprised to find that a formidable insurrection against the Roman power had broken out among many of the Spanish people. The causes are not mentioned; but it is probable that as soon as Scipio's personal influence had been withdrawal, Mago, who was still at Gades, had not found it difficult to instigate the revolt. The insurrection, however, was soon put down; and terrible vengeance was inflicted upon the town of Illiturgi, which had taken the principal share in the revolt. Scarcely had this danger passed away, when Scipio was seized with a dangerous illness. Eight thousand of the Roman soldiers, discontented at not having received their usual pay, and at being prevented from plundering the people, availed themselves of this opportunity to break out into open mutiny; but Scipio recovered in time to put it down; and in this difficult and delicate transaction, which is related at length by Livy, he showed his usual prudence and presence of mind. He now crushed the last remains of the insurrection in Spain; and to crown his other successes, Gades at last deserted the Carthaginians, and went over to the Romans. Mago had quitted Spain and crossed over into Liguria to effect a diversion in favour of his brother Hannibal, and there was therefore now no longer any enemy left in Spain. Scipio accordingly surrendered the Roman army, in B. C. 206, to the proconsuls L. Lentulus and L. Manlius Acidinus, who had been appointed as his successors, and returned to Rome in the same year.
Scipio now became a candidate for the consulship. and was elected for the following year (B. C. 205) by the unanimous votes of all the centuries, although he had not yet filled the office of praetor, and was only thirty years of age. His colleague was P. Licinius Crassus, who was pontifex maximus, and could not, therefore, leave Italy. Consequently if the war was to be carried on abroad, the conduct of it must of necessity devolve upon Scipio. The latter was anxious to cross over at once to Africa, and bring the contest to an end at the gates of Carthage; but the oldest members of the senate, and among them Q. Fabius Maximus, opposed his project, partly through timidity and partly through jealousy of the youthful conqueror. All that Scipio could obtain was the province of Sicily, with permission to cross over to Africa, if he should think it for the advantage of the republic; but the senate resolutely refused him an army, thus making the permission reluctantly granted of no practical use. But the allies had a truer view of the interests of Italy than the Roman senate: what the latter, blinded by their fears and their jealousy, refused, the Italian allies generously granted; and from all the towns of Italy volunteers flocked to join the standard of the youthful hero, and to enable him to subdue Carthage without the aid of the Roman government. The senate could not refuse to allow him to enlist volunteers; and such was the enthusiasm in his favour, that he was able to cross over to Sicily with an army and a fleet contrary to the expectations and even the wishes of the senate. While busy with his preparations in Sicily he sent over Laelius to Africa with a small fleet to concert a plan of co-operation with Masinissa, and to convince his opponents that the invasion of Africa was not such a mad and impracticable project as they supposed. But meanwhile his enemies at Rome had nearly succeeded in depriving him of his command. Although he had no command in Lower Italy, he had assisted in the reduction of Locri, and after the conquest of the town had left his legate, Q. Pleminius, in command of the place. The latter had been guilty of such acts of excesses against the inhabitants, that they sent an embassy to the Roman senate to complain of his conduct. In the course of the investigation it was alleged that Scipio had allowed Pleminius to continue in the command after he had been fully informed of the misconduct of his lieutenant; and thereupon Q. Fabius Maximus and his other enemies eagerly availed themselves of the opportunity to inveigh in general against the conduct of Scipio, and to press for his immediate recall. Scipio's magnificent style of living, and his love for Greek literature and art, were denounced as dangerous innovations upon old Roman manners and frugality; and they asserted that the time which ought to be given to the exercise and the training of his troops was wasted in the Greek gymnasia or in literary pursuits. Though the senate lent a willing ear to these attacks, they did not venture upon his immediate recall, but sent a commission into Sicily to inquire into the state of the army; and if the charges against him were well founded, to order him to return to Rome. The commissioners arrived in Sicily at the beginning of B. C. 204. During the winter Scipio had been busy in completing his preparations ; and by this time he had collected all his stores, and brought his army and navy into the most efficient state. The commissioners were astonished at what they saw. Instead of ordering him to return to Rome, they bade him cross over to Africa as soon as possible.
Accordingly in B. C. 204, Scipio, who was now proconsul, sailed from Lilybaeum and landed in Africa, not far from Utica. The force which he brought with him is stated so differently that it is impossible to determine what its numbers were, some accounts making it as low as 12,200, others as high as 35,000 men. As soon as Scipio landed he was joined by Masinissa, who rendered him the most important services in the war. With his assistance he obtained some advantages over the enemy [see Hanno, No. 23], but was unable to obtain possession of Utica, where he was anxious to establish his quarters for the winter. He was therefore obliged to pass the winter on a projecting headland, which he fortified. Meantime the Carthaginians had collected a powerful army which they placed under the command of Hasdrubal, son of Gisco, Scipio's old opponent in Spain, and Syphax came to their assistance with a great force. Towards the close of the winter, in the early part of B. C. 203, Hasdrubal and Syphax meditated a general attack upon the land and sea forces of Scipio; but the latter, who was informed of their plan by some Numidians, anticipated them by an attack upon their two encampments in the night. With the assistance of Masinissa, his enterprise was crowned with success; the two camps were burnt to the ground, and only a few of the enemy escaped the fire and the sword. Among these, however, were both Hasdrubal and Syphax; the former fled to Carthage, where he persuaded the senate to raise another army, and the latter retreated to his native dominions, where he likewise collected fresh troops. But their united forces were again defeated by Scipio. Hasdrubal did not venture to make his appearance again in Carthage; and Syphax once more fled into Numidia. Scipio, however, did not give the Numidian prince any repose ; he was pursued by Laelius and Masinissa, and finally taken prisoner. Among the captives who fell into their hands was Sophonisba, the wife of Syphax, whom Masinissa had long loved, and had expected to marry when she was given to his rival. He now hastened to marry her; but the well-known story of the tragical termination of these nuptials is related elsewhere. [Sophonisba.]
These repeated disasters so alarmed the Carthaginians that they resolved to recall Hannibal and Mago from Italy. At the same time they opened negotiations with Scipio for a peace. The terms which Scipio offered were not objected to by the Carthaginians, and a suspension of arms for forty-five days was agreed to, while a Carthaginian embassy went to Rome. It would appear, however, that the great mass of the Carthaginian people were not in reality anxious for peace, and only wanted to gain time till Hannibal's arrival in Africa. Before the time had expired, a Carthaginian mob plundered some ships which were bringing provisions for Scipio's army, and then insulted the ambassadors whom he had sent to demand restitution. As soon as Hannibal arrived, hostilities were re-commenced against the Romans. The Carthaginian army was numerically superior to the Romans, but inferior in discipline and skill. Still the presence of Hannibal gave the nation confidence, and they looked forward to a favourable termination of the war. Hannibal, however, formed a truer estimate of the real state of affairs; he saw that the loss of a battle would be the ruin of Carthage, and was therefore anxious to conclude a peace before it was too late. Scipio, who was anxious to have the glory of bringing the war to a close, and who feared lest his enemies in the senate might appoint him a successor, was equally desirous of a peace. The terms, however, which the Roman general proposed seemed intolerable to the Carthaginians ; and as Hannibal at a personal interview with Scipio could not obtain any abatement of the hard conditions, he was forced, against his will, to continue the war. Into the details of the campaign, which are related very differently, our limits will not permit us to enter. The decisive battle was at length fought on the 19th of October, B. C. 202, at a place called Naragra on the Bagradas, not far from the city of Zama. Scipio's victory was complete; the greater part of the Carthaginian army was cut to pieces; and Hannibal, upon his arrival at Carthage, was the first to admit the magnitude of the disaster, and to point out the impossibility of a further prosecution of the war. The terms, however, now imposed by Scipio were much severer than before. Carthage had no alternative but submission; but the negotiations were continued for some time, and the final treaty was not concluded till the following year, B. C. 201.
Scipio returned to Italy in B. C. 201, and entered Rome in triumph. He was received with universal enthusiasm; the surname of Africanus was conferred upon him, and the people in their gratitude were anxious to bestow upon him the most extraordinary marks of honour. It is related that they wished to make him consul and dictator for life, and to erect his statue in the comitia, the rostra, the curia, and even in the Capitol; but that he prudently declined all these invidious distinctions (Liv. 38.56; V. Max. 4.1.6). As he did not choose to usurp the supreme power, which it seems he might have done with ease, and as he was an object of suspicion and dislike to the majority of the senate, he took no prominent part in public affairs during the next few years. He was censor in B. C. 199 with P. Aelius Paetus, and consul a second time in 194 with Ti. Sempronius Longus. At the same time the censors conferred upon him the title of princeps senatus, a distinction which he had received from the former censors, and which was again bestowed upon him in B. C. 190. In B. C. 193, he was one of the three commissioners who were sent to Africa to mediate between Masinissa and the Carthaginians; and in the same year, according to a story related by Q. Claudius Quadrigarius, he was one of the ambassadors sent to Antiochus at Ephesus, at whose court Hannibal was then residing. The tale runs that he there had an interview with the great Carthaginian, who declared him the greatest general that ever lived. The compliment was paid in a manner the most flattering to Scipio. The latter had asked, " Who was the greatest general?" " Alexander the Great," was Hannibal's reply. " Who was the second ?" " Pyrrhus." " Who the third ?" " Myself," replied the Carthaginian. " What would you have said, then, if you had conquered me?" asked Scipio, in astonishment. " I should then have placed myself before Alexander, before Pyrrhus, and before all other generals." (Liv. 35.14.) Whether the story be true or not, there can be no doubt that Scipio towered above all the Romans as a general, and was only second to Hannibal himself. Each of these great men possessing true nobility of soul, could appreciate the other's merits; and Scipio was the only member of the senate who opposed the unworthy persecution which the Romans chose to employ against their once formidable opponent. (Liv. 33.47.)
In B. C. 190 L. Scipio, the brother of Africanus, and C. Laelius were consuls. Each of the consuls was anxious to obtain from the senate the province of Greece, in order to have the honour of carrying on the war against Antiochus. In order to secure it for his brother Lucius, Africanus offered to serve under him as legatus; and the senate thereupon granted Lucius the province which he desired. In the war against Antiochus, the young son of Africanus, who accompanied his father, fell into the hands of the Syrian king. The latter offered to restore his captive without ransom, if Africanus would obtain for him a favourable peace; but although the father rejected his proposal, Antiochus sent him back his son while he was absent from the army in consequence of illness. Africanus out of gratitude advised Antiochus not to fight till he himself had rejoined the army. The object which he had in giving this advice it is impossible to say; it is quite inconceivable that Scipio meditated any treachery towards his own country; it is more probable that he hoped to induce Antiochus to consent to a peace before a defeat should expose him to harder and more humiliating terms. Antiochus, however, did not listen to his advice; and the decisive battle was shortly afterwards fought near Mount Sipylus, in which the Syrian king was totally defeated. Antiochus now applied again to Africanus, who used his influence in the king's favour with his brother Lucius and his council of war. The terms of peace were severe, but they did not appear sufficiently severe to the Roman senate, who imposed much harder conditions upon the conquered monarch in the treaty which was finally made.
Africanus returned to Rome with his brother Lucius after the completion of the war in B. C. 189, but his remaining years were embittered by the attacks of his old enemies. Shortly after his return, he and his brother Lucius were accused of having received bribes from Antiochus to let the monarch off too leniently, and of having appropriated to their own use part of the money which had been paid by Antiochus to the Roman state. The glory of his African victory had already grown dim; and his enemies availed themselves of the opportunity to crush their proud antagonist. The accusation was set on foot by M. Porcius Cato, but the details of it are related with such discrepancies by the ancient authorities, that it is impossible to determine with certainty the true history of the affair, or the year in which it occurred. It appears, however, that there were two distinct prosecutions, and the following is perhaps the most probable history of the transaction. In B. C. 187, two tribunes of the people of the name of Petillii, instigated by Cato and the other enemies of the Scipios, required L. Scipio to render an account of all the sums of money which he had received from Antiochus. L. Scipio accordingly prepared his accounts, but as he was in the act of delivering them up, the proud conqueror of Hannibal indignantly snatched them out of his hands, and tore them up in pieces before the senate. But this haughty conduct appears to have produced an unfavourable impression, and his brother, when brought to trial in the course of the same year, was declared guilty, and sentenced to pay a heavy fine. The tribune C. Minucius Augurinus ordered him to be dragged to prison and there detained till the money was paid; whereupon Africanus, still more enraged at this fresh insult to his family, and setting himself above the laws, rescued his brother from the hands of the tribune's officer. The contest would probably have been attended with fatal results had not Tib. Gracchus, the father of the celebrated tribune, and then tribune himself, had the prudence, although he disapproved of the violent conduct of Africanus, to release his brother Lucius from the sentence of imprisonment. The property however, of Lucius was confiscated; and, as it was not sufficient to pay the fine, his clients and friends generously contributed not only a sufficient amount to supply the deficiency, but so large a sum that he would have been richer even than before; but he would only receive sufficient to defray his most pressing wants. The successful issue of the prosecution of Lucius, emboldened his enemies to bring the great Africanus himself before the people. His accuser was M. Naevius, the tribune of the people, and if the date of his tribunate is correctly stated by Livy (39.52) the accusation was not brought till the end of B. C. 185. When the trial came on, Scipio did not condescend to say a single word in refutation of the charges that had been brought against him, but descanted long and eloquently upon the signal services he had rendered to the commonwealth. Having spoken till night-fall, the trial was adjourned till the following day. Early next morning, when the tribunes had taken their seats on the rostra, and Africanus was summoned, he proudly reminded the people that this was the anniversary of the day on which he had defeated Hannibal at Zama, and called upon them to neglect all disputes and law-suits, and follow him to the Capitol, and there return thanks to the immortal gods, and pray that they would grant the Roman state other citizens like himself. Scipio struck a chord which vibrated on every heart; their veneration of the hero returned again; aud he was followed with such crowds to the Capitol, that the tribunes were left alone in the rostra. Having thus set all the laws at defiance, Scipio immediately quitted Rome, and retired to his country seat at Liternum. The tribunes wished to renew the prosecution, but Gracchus wisely persuaded them to let it drop. (Liv. 38.50_60; Gel. 4.18, 7.19; V. Max. 3.7.1; Meyer, Orat. Roman. Fragm. pp. 6-8, 2d ed.) Scipio never returned to Rome. He would neither submit to the laws nor aspire to the sovereignty of the state; and he therefore resolved to expatriate himself for ever. He passed his remaining days in the cultivation of his estate at Liternum (Senec. Ep. 86); and at his death is said to have requested that his body might be buried there, and not in his ungrateful country. His request was complied with, and his tomb existed at Liternum in the time of Livy. This appears to have been the more general account; but others related that he died at Rome, and was buried in the family sepulchre outside of the porta Capena, where a statue of him was erected alongside of the statues of his brother Lucius and the poet Ennius (Liv. 38.56). The year of his death is equally uncertain. Polybius and Rutilias related that he died in the same year as Hannibal and Philopoemen, that is, in B. C. 183. Livy and Cicero placed his death in B. C. 185, and Valerius of Antium as early as B. C. 187 (Liv. 39.52; Cic. Cat. maj. 6). The date of Polybius is most probably the correct one.
Scipio married Aemilia, the daughter of L. Aemilius Paulus, who fell at the battle of Cannae [Aemilia, No. 2], and by her he had four children, two sons [Nos. 14 and 15], and two daughters, the elder of whom married P. Scipio Nasica Corculum [No. 23], and the younger Tib. Gracchus, and thus became the mother of the two celebrated tribunes [Cornelia, Nos. 4, 5]. (It is unnecessary to cite the numerous passages in Polybius and Livy relating to Scipio; those in Cicero in which he is mentioned are given by Orelli, in his Onomast. Tull. vol. ii. p. 186; there are some interesting remarks on his character and the state of parties in Rome at his time, by Gerlach, in his treatise entitled P. Cornelius Scipio und M. Porcius Cato, in the Schweizer. Museum for 1837.)
13. L. Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, also called Asiagenes or Asiagenus, was the son of No. 9, and the brother of the great Africanus [No. 12]. He served under his brother in Spain, where he took the town of Oringis in B. C. 208 ; and on the completion of the war was sent by his brother to Rome, with the joyful news. He was praetor in B. C. 193, when he obtained the province of Sicily, and consul in B. C. 190, with C. Laelius. The senate had not much confidence in his abilities (Cic. Phil. 11.7), and it was only through the offer of his brother Africanus to accompany him as a legate that he obtained the province of Greece and the conduct of the war against Antiochus (Liv. 28.3, 4, 17, 34.54, 55, 36.45, 37.1). He defeated Antiochus at Mount Sipylus, in B. C. 190, entered Rome in triumph in the following year, and assumed the surname of Asiaticus. The history of his accusation and condemnation, and of the confiscation of his property, has been already related in the life of his brother. But notwithstanding the poverty to which he is said to have been reduced (Liv. 38.60), he celebrated with great splendour, in B. C. 185, the games which he had vowed in his war with Antiochus. Valerius of Antium related that he obtained the necessary money during an embassy on which he was sent after his condemnation, to settle the disputes between the kings Antiochus and Eumenes. He was a candidate for the censorship in B. C. 184, but was defeated by the old enemy of his family, M. Porcius Cato, who gave another proof of his hatred to the family by depriving Asiaticus of his horse at the review of the equites (Liv. 39.22, 40, 44). It appears, therefore, that even as late as this time an eques did not forfeit his horse by becoming a senator.
The name of Scipio Asiaticus occurs on coins, and he is the only one of the family of whom coins are extant. On the obverse is a head crowned with laurel, and on the reverse Jupiter driving a quadriga, with L. SCIP. ASIAG. i. e. Asiagenes or Asiagenus. Though Livy usually calls him Asiaticus, he gives Asiagenes as his surname in one passage (39.44): in the epitaph on his tomb he is called Asiagenus.
14. P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the elder son of the great Africanus [No. 12], was prevented by his weak health from taking any part in public affairs. Cicero praises his oratiunculae and his Greek history, and remarks that, with the greatness of his father's mind he possessed a larger amount of learning. He had no son of his own, but adopted the son of L. Aemilius Paulus [see below, No. 21]. (Cic. Brut. 19, Cat. Maj. 11, de Off. 1.33; Vell. 1.10). He was elected augur in B. C. 180 (Liv. 40.42), and was also Flamen Dialis, as we see from the inscription on his tomb. This inscription runs as follows : -- " Quei apicem, insigne Dialis flaminis, gessistei, mors perfecit tua, ut essent omnia brevia, honos fama virtusque, gloria atque ingenium. Quibus sei in longa licuisset tibe utier vita, facile superas(s)es gloriam majorem. Quare lubens te in gremiu(m), Scipio, recipit terra, Publi, prognatum Publio, Corneli." (Orelli, Inscript. No. 558).
15. L. or CN. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the younger son of the great Africanus [No. 12]. He accompanied his father into Asia in B. C. 190, and was taken prisoner by Antiochus, as has already been related in the life of his father. Appian, in relating this circumstance (Syr. 29), confounds him with the celebrated Africanus minor. This Scipio was a degenerate son of so illustrious a sire, and only obtained the praetorship, in B. C. 174, through Cicereius, who had been a scriba of his father, giving way to him. In the same year he was expelled from the senate by the censors. (Liv. 41.27; V. Max. 3.5.1, 4.5.3.)
16. Cornelia, the elder daughter of the great Africanus [No. 12], married P. Scipio Nasica Corculum, No. 23. [Cornelia, No. 4.]
17. Cornelia, the younger daughter of the great Africanus [No. 12], married Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, and became by him the mother of the two celebrated tribunes. [Cornelia, No. 5.]
18. L. Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, the son of the conqueror of Antiochus [No. 13]. The following is the inscription on his tomb: "L. Corneli L. F. P. N. Scipio quaist. tr. mil. annos gnatus XXXIII. mortuos. Pater regem Antioco(m) subegit" (Orelli, Inscr. No. 556). As he is here called quaestor, he is probably the same as the L. Cornelius Scipio, the quaestor, who was sent to meet Prusias and conduct him to Rome, when this monarch visited Italy in B. C. 167 (Liv. 45.44).
19. L. Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, is only known from the Fasti Capitolini, as the son of No. 18, and father of No. 20.
20. L. Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, is first mentioned in B. C. 100, when he took up arms with the other members of the senate against Saturninus (Cic. pro Rabir. Perd. 7). In the Social War he was stationed with L. Acilius in the town of Aesernia, from which they escaped on the approach of Vettius Scato in the dress of slaves (Appian, App. BC 1.41). He belonged to the Marian party in the civil wars, and was appointed consul in B. C. 83 with C. Norbanus. In this year Sulla returned to Italy, and advanced against the consuls. He defeated Norbanus in Italy, but seduced the troops of Scipio to desert their general, who was taken prisoner in his camp along with his son Lucius, but was dismissed by Sulla uninjured. He was, however, included in the proscription in the following year, B. C. 82, whereupon he fled to Massilia, and passed there the remainder of his life. His daughter was married to P. Sestius (Appian, App. BC 1.82, 85, 86; Plut. Sull. 28, Sertor. 6 ; Liv. Epit. 85 ; Flor. 3.21 ; Oros. 5.21; Cic. Phil. 12.11, 13.1; Cic. pro Sest. 3 ; Schol. Bob. in Sest. p. 293, ed. Orelli). Cicero speaks favourably of the oratorical powers of this Scipio (dicebat non imperite, Cic. Brut. 47).
21. P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus AFRICANUS MINOR, was the younger son of L. Aemilius Paulus, the conqueror of Macedonia, and was adopted by P. Scipio, the son of the conqueror of Hannibal [No. 14], whose mother was a sister of L. Aemilius Paulus. He was born about B. C. 185. In his seventeenth year he accompanied his father Paulus to Greece, and fought under him at the battle of Pydna, in B. C. 168 (Liv. 44.44 ; Plut. Aemil. Paul. 22). While in Greece he probably became acquainted with the historian Polybius ; and when the latter was sent to Rome, along with the other Achaean exiles, in the following year, B. C. 167, Scipio afforded him the patronage and protection of his powerful family, and formed with him that close and intimate friendship which continued unbroken throughout his life. Scipio appears from his earliest years to have devoted himself with ardour to the study of literature ; and he eagerly availed himself of the superior knowledge of Polybius to direct him in his literary pursuits. He was accompanied by the Greek historian in almost all his campaigns, and in the midst of his most active military duties, lost no opportunity of enlarging his knowledge of Greek literature and philosophy, by constant intercourse with his friend. At a later period he also cultivated the acquaintance of the philosopher Panaetius ; nor did he neglect the literature of his own country, for the poets Lucilius and Terence were, as is well known, admitted to his intimacy. His friendship with Laelins, whose tastes and pursuits were so congenial to his own, was as remarkable as that of the elder Africanus with the elder Laelius, and has been immortalised by Cicero's celebrated treatise entitled " Laelius sive de Amicitia." In his younger years it was feared by Scipio's friends that he would not uphold the honour of his house, an apprehension probably only founded on his literary habits and pursuits; but in him the love of Greek refinement and Greek literature did not emasculate his mind, or incapacitate him for taking a distinguished part in public affairs. On the contrary he is said to have cultivated the virtues which distinguished the older Romans, and to have made Cato the model of his conduct. If we may believe his panegyrists, Polybius and Cicero, he possessed all the simple virtues of an old Roman, mellowed by the refining influences of Greek civilisation.
Scipio first attracted public notice in B. C. 151. The repeated disasters which the Roman arms had sustained in Spain had inspired such dread of that war, that when the consuls attempted to levy troops in B. C. 151, no one was willing to enlist as a soldier, or to take the offices of tribune or legate. Scipio inspired confidence by coming forward, and offering to serve in Spain in any capacity in which the consuls might choose to employ him. He was appointed military tribune, and accompanied the consul L. Lucullus to Spain. Here he distinguished himself by his personal courage. On one occasion he slew, in single combat, a gigantic Spanish chieftain; and at another time he was the first to mount the walls at the storming of the city of Intercatia. Such daring deeds gained for him the admiration of the barbarians, while his integrity and other virtues conciliated their regard and esteem. He quit threw into the shade . his avaricious and cruel commander, and revived among the Spaniards the recollection of his grandfather, the elder Africanus. In the following year, B. C. 150, he was sent by Lucullus to Africa to obtain from Masinissa a supply of elephants. His name secured him a most honourable reception from the aged Numidian monarch. He arrived in the midst of the war between Masinissa and the Carthaginians, and was requested by the latter to act as mediator between them; but he was unable to accomplish any thing, and returned to Spain with the elephants.
On the breaking out of the third Punic war in B. C. 149, Scipio again went to Africa, but still only with the rank of military tribune. Here Scipio gained still more renown. By his personal bravery and military skill he repaired, to a great extent, the mistakes, and made up for the incapacity of the consul Manilius, whose army on one occasion he saved from destruction. His abilities gained him the complete confidence of Masinissa and the Roman troops, while his integrity and fidelity to his word were so highly prized by the enemy, that to his promise only would they trust. Accordingly, the commissioners, who had been sent by the senate to inspect the state of affairs in the Roman camp, made the most favourable report of his abilities and conduct. When L. Calpurnius Piso took the command of the army in the following year, B. C. 148, Scipio left Africa, and returned to Rome, accompanied by the wishes of the soldiers that he would soon return to be their commander. Many of them wrote to their friends at Rome, saying that Scipio alone could conquer Carthage, and the opinion became general at Rome that the conduct of the war ought to be entrusted to him. Even the aged Cato, who was always more ready to blame than to praise, praised Scipio in the Homeric words (Od. 10.495), " He alone has wisdom, the rest are empty shadows" (Plut. Cat. Maj. 27). The prepossession in favour of Scipio was still further increased by the want of success which attended the operations of Piso ; and, accordingly, when he became a candidate for the aedileship for B. C. 147 he was elected consul, although he was only thirty-seven, and had not therefore attained the legal age. The senate, of course, assigned to him Africa as his province, to which he forthwith sailed, accompanied by his friends Polybius and Laelius. The details of the war, which ended in the capture of Carthage, are given by Appian (Pun. 113-131) and would take up too much space to be repeated here. The Carthaginians defended themselves with the courage of despair. They were able to maintain possession of their city till the spring of the following lowing year, B. C. 146, when the Roman legions at length forced their way into the devoted town. The inhabitants fought from street to street, and from house to house, and the work of destruction and butchery went on for days. The fate of this once magnificent city moved Scipio to tears, and anticipating that a similar catastrophe might one day befall Rome, he is said to have repeated the lines of the Iliad (6.448) over the flames of Carthage, ἔσσεται ἦμαρ, ὅτʼ ἄν ποτʼ ὀλώλῃ Ἴλιος ʽιρή, καὶ Πρίαμος καὶ λαὸς ἐϋμμελίω Πριάμοιο.
After completing the arrangements for reducing Africa to the form of a Roman province, he returned to Rome in the same year, and celebrated a splendid triumph on account of his victory. The surname of Africanus, which he had inherited by adoption from the conqueror of Hannibal, had been now acquired by him by his own exploits.
In B. C. 142 Scipio was censor with L. Mummius. Scipio, in the administration of the duties of his office, followed in the footsteps of Cato, and attempted by severity to repress the growing luxury and immorality of his contemporaries. He exhorted the people to uphold and maintain the customs of their ancestors in a speech which was preserved in later times. His efforts, however, to preserve the old Roman habits were thwarted by his colleague Mummius, who had himself acquired a love for Greek and Asiatic luxuries, and was disposed to be more indulgent to the people (Gel. 4.20, 5.19; V. Max. 6.4.2). In the solemn prayer offered at the conclusion of the lustrum, Scipio changed the supplication for the extension of the commonwealth into one for the preservation of its actual possessions (V. Max. 4.1.10 * Valerius Maximus, however, appears to be mistaken in stating that Scipio held the lustrum, since Cicero says (de Orat. 2.66, that it was held by his colleague Mummius.). He vainly wished to check the appetite for foreign conquests, which had been still further excited by the capture of Carthage.
In B. C. 139 Scipio was brought to trial before the people by Ti. Claudius Asellus, the tribune of the plebs. He seems to have been accused of majestas; but Asellus attacked him out of private animosity, because he had been deprived of his horse, and reduced to the condition of an aerarian by Scipio in his censorship. Scipio was acquitted, and the speeches which he delivered on the occasion obtained great celebrity, and were held in high esteem in a later age (Gel. 2.20, 3.4, 7.11; Cic. de Orat. 2.64, 66; for further particulars see Vol. I. p. 385a.). It appears to have been after this event that Scipio was sent on an embassy to Egypt and Asia to attend to the Roman interests in those countries (Cic. de Rep. 6.11). To show his contempt of the pomp and luxury in which his contemporaries indulged, he took with him only five slaves on this mission. (Athen. 6.273.)
The long continuance of the war in Spain, and the repeated disasters which the Roman arms experienced in that country, again called Scipio to the consulship. He was appointed consul in is absence, along with C. Fulvius Flaccus, and had the province of Spain assigned to him, B. C. 134. His first efforts were directed to the restoration of discipline in the army, which had become almost disorganised by sensual indulgences. After bringing the troops into an efficient condition by his severe and energetic measures, he laid siege to Numantia, which wa s defended by its inhabitants with the same courage and perseverance which has pre-eminently distinguished the Spaniards in all ages in defence of their walled towns. It was not till they had suffered the most dreadful extremities of famine that they surrendered the place in the following year, B. C. 133. Fifty of the principal inhabitants were selected to adorn Scipio's triumph, the rest were sold as slaves, and the town was levelled to the ground. He now received the surname of Numantinus in addition to that of Africanus. While Scipio was employed in the reduction of Numantia, Rome was convulsed by the disturbances consequent upon the measures proposed by Tib. Gracchus in his tribunate, and which ended in the murder of the latter. Although Scipio was married to Sempronia, the sister of the fallen tribune, he had no sympathy with his reforms, and no sorrow for his fate; and upon receiving intelligence of his death at Numantia, he is said to have exclaimed in the verse of Homer. (Od. 1.47) : --
" So perish all who do the like again."
Upon his return to Rome in B. C. 132, he did not disguise his sentiments, and when asked in the assembly of the tribes by C. Papirius Carbo, the tribune, who entered upon his office at the end of this year, what he thought of the death of Tib. Gracchus, he boldly replied that he was justly slain (jure eaesum) The people, who had probably expected a different answer from their favourite general and from the brother-in-law of their martyred defender, loudly expressed their disapprobation; whereupon Scipio, with true aristocratic contempt for the mob, exclaimed " Taceant quibus Italia noverca est." (V. Max. 6.2.3 ; Aurel. Vict. de Vir. Ill. 58 ; Plut. Tib. Gracch. 21 ; Cic. Lael. 25.) The people did not forget this insult, and from this time Scipio lost much of his influence over them. Still there was a prestige attaching to his name which the people could not divest themselves of, and it was mainly owing to his influence and authority that the aristocratical party were able to defeat the bill of the tribune Carbo, by which the same persons were to be allowed to be elected tribunes as often as the people pleased (Liv. Epit. 59 ; Cic. Lad. 25). Scipio was now regarded as the acknowledged leader of the aristocracy, and the latter resolved to avail themselves of his powerful aid to prevent the agrarian law of Tib. Gracchus from being carried into effect. The socii had become already alarmed at the prospect of losing some of their lands, and Scipio skilfully availed himself of the circumstance to propose in the senate, in B. C. 129, that all disputes respecting the lands of the allies should be taken out of the hands of the commissioners, who were appointed under the agrarian law of Tib. Gracchus, and that the decision respecting them should be committed to other persons. This would have been, in effect, equivalent to an abrogation of the law; and accordingly Fulvius Flaccus, Papirius Carbo and C. Gracchus, the three commissioners, offered the most vehement opposition to his proposal. In the forum he was accused by Carbo with the bitterest invectives as the enemy of the people, and upon his again expressing his approval of the death of Tib. Gracchus, the people shouted out " Down with the tyrant." In the evening he went home accompanied by the senate and a great number of the allies, and then retired quietly to his sleeping-room with the intention of composing a speech for the following day. In the following morning Rome was thrown into consternation by the news that Scipio was found dead in his room. The most contradictory rumours were circulated respecting his death, but it was the general opinion that he was murdered. Some thought that he died a natural death, and others that he put an end to his own life, despairing of being able to carry his proposal through the assembly on the following day; but the fact, which is admitted by all writers, that there was no inquiry into the cause of his death, corroborates the popular opinion that he was murdered. Suspicion fell upon various persons; his wife Sempronia and her mother Cornelia were suspected by some; Carbo, Fulvius, and C. Gracchus by others (Appian, App. BC 1.19, 20; Vell. 2.4 Plut. C. Gracch. 10 ; Schol. Bob. in Mil. p. 283, ed. Orelli). Of all these Papirius Carbo was most generally believed to have been guilty, and is expressly mentioned as the murderer by Cicero. (Cic. de Or. 2.40, ad Fam. 9.21.3, ad Q. Fr. 2.3.3.)
The character of Scipio is thus described by Niebuhr: -- " Scipio is one of those characters who have a great reputation in history, which, however, in my opinion, is not altogether well deserved. He was, it is true, a very eminent general, and a great man; he did many a just and praise-worthy thing; but he made a show of his great qualities, and Polybius, his friend and instructor in military matters, who in other respects loves him very much, shows in his narrative quite clearly that the virtues of Scipio were ostentatious. Things which every other good and honest man does quietly, Scipio boasts of, because they are not common among his own countrymen. What distinguishes him is an unflinching political character : he belonged to those who wished by all means to maintain the state of things such as it actually was. Every thing which existed had in his eyes an indisputable right to exist, and he never asked whether it was right or wrong in its origin, or how detrimental its injustice was to the republic itself." (Lectures on Roman History, vol. i. p. 293, ed. Schmitz.) Some deductions, however, should be made from this estimate of his political character. It is true that after his return from Numantia, he opposed with the utmost energy the measures of the popular party; but previous to that time he had recognised the necessity of some concessions to the popular feeling, and had incurred the serious displeasure of his own party by supporting in B. C. 139 the Lex Tabellaria of the tribune L. Cassius Longinus (Cic. Brut. 25, de Leg. 3.16). Some even went so far as to class him among the men of the people (Cic. Ac. 2.5). Works Literary Attainments
With respect to the literary attainments of Scipio, there was but one opinion in antiquity. He was better acquainted with Greek literature and philosophy than any of his contemporaries, unless it were his friend Laelius. He spoke his own language with purity and elegance (omnium aetatis suae purissime locutum, Gel. 2.20), of which we have a striking confirmation in the report, whether true or false, of his having assisted Terence in the composition of his comedies. Orations
He was one of the most distinguished orators of his day (Cic. Brtt. 21, de Orat. 1.49; Vell. 2.9; Quint. Inst. 12.10.10); and his speeches were admired, as we have seen above, down to a late period. Editions
The few fragments of them, which have been preserved by A. Gellius and others, are given by Meyer (Orat. Roman. Fragm. pp. 176-193, 2d ed). Assessment
The general opinion entertained by the Romans of a subsequent age respecting Scipio is given in the most pleasing colours by Cicero in his work on the Republic, in which Scipio is introduced as the principal speaker. Further Information
The life and character of Scipio are delineated with ability by Nitzsch, in his treatise Polybius Kiel, 1842, and also in his work Die Gracchen und ihre nächsten Vorgänger, Berlin, 1847; on the death of Scipio, see Scheu, De Morte Africani minoris ejusque auctoribus, in Beier's edition of Cicero's Laelius, Leipzig, 1828 ; Gerlach, Der Tod des P. Cornelius Scipio Aemiilianus, in his Historische Studien, p. 254, &c., Hamburgh, 1841; Zimmermann, Zeitschrft für die Altertkumswissenschaft, 1841, No. 52.
22. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica, that is, " Scipio with the pointed nose," was the son of Cn. Scipio Calvus, who fell in Spain in B. C. 211. [No. 10.] He is first mentioned by Livy in B. C. 204 as a young man who was not yet of sufficient age to obtain the quaestorship, but was nevertheless judged by the senate to be the best citizen in the state, and was therefore sent to Ostia along with the Roman matrons to receive the statue of the Idaean Mother, which had been brought from Pessinus. In B. C. 200 he was one of the triumvirs, for the purpose of settling new colonists at Venusia; he was curule aedile in B. C. 196, praetor in 194, and in this year as well as in the following fought with great success in Further Spain, which was assigned to him as his province. But, notwithstanding these victories, and the powerful support of his cousin, the great Africanus, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the consulship for B. C. 192, and did not obtain it till the following year, when he was elected with M'. Acilius Glabrio. In his consulship, B. C. 191, he fought against the Boii, defeated them in battle, and triumphed over them on his return to Rome. He defended his cousin, L. Scipio Asiaticus, when he was accused in B. C. 187, after his conquest of Antiochus. He was one of the many distinguished men, who sued for the censorship in B. C. 184, but was defeated by M. Porcius Cato. Hence Pliny speaks of him (H. N. 7.34), as bis repulsa notatus a populo. In B. C. 183 and 182 he was engaged as one of the triumviri in settling a Latin colony at Aquileia. The last time he is mentioned is in B. C. 171, when he was one of the advocates appointed by the Spanish deputies to bring to trial the Roman governors who had oppressed them. Scipio Nasica is mentioned both by Cicero and Pomponius as a celebrated jurist, aud the latter writer adds, that a house was given to him by the s ate in the Via Sacra, in order that he might be more easily consulted (Liv. 29.14, 31.49, xxxiii, 25, 34.42, 43, 35.1, 10, 24, 36.1, 2, 37, &c., 38.58, 39.40, 55, 40.34, 43.2; Diod. Excerpta, p. 605, ed. Wess.; V. Max. 7.5.2; Cic. de Fin. 5.22, de Harusp. Resp. 13, de Orat. 2.68, 3.33; Pomponius, de Origine Juris in Dig. 1. tit. 2. s. 2.37, where he is erroneously called Caius; Zimmern, Geschichte des Römischen Privatrechts, vol. i. p. 273.)
23. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum, the son of No. 22, was twice consul, censor and pontifex maximus. He inherited from his father a love for jurisprudence, and became so celebrated for his discernment and for his knowledge of the pontifical and civil law, that he received the surname of Corculum (corculum a corde dicebant antiqui solertem et acutum, Festus, s. v.). He married a daughter of Scipio Africanus the elder. He is first mentioned in B. C. 168, when he served with distinction under L. Aemilius Paulus in Macedonia. He was consul for the first time in B. C. 162 with C. Marcius Figulus, but abdicated, together with his colleague, almost immediately after they had entered upon their office, on account of some fault in the auspices. He was censor B. C. 159 with M. Popillius Laenas, when he enacted, together with his colleague, that no statues of public men should be allowed to be erected in the forum without the express sanction of the senate or the people. In his censorship the clepsydra was for the first time introduced at Rome. He was consul a second time in B. C. 155 with M. Claudius Marcellus, and subdued the Dalmatians. He was a firm upholder of the old Roman habits and manners, and a strong opponent of all innovations, of which he gave a striking instance in his second consulship, by inducing the senate to order the demolition of a theatre, which was near completion, as injurious to public morals. When Cato repeatedly expressed his desire for the destruction of Carthage, Scipio, on the other hand, declared that he wished for its preservation, since the existence of such a rival would prove a useful check upon the licentiousness of the multitude. He was elected pontifex maximus in B. C. 150. The reputation of Scipio Corculum as a jurist has been already alluded to; his oratory is likewise praised by Cicero; and he is described by Aurelius Victor as a man " eloquentia primus, juris scientia consultissimus, ingenio sapientissimus." (Aurel. Vict. de Vir. Ill. 44, who confounds him with his father; Liv. 44.35, 36, 46, Epit. 47-49 ; Plb. 29.6; Plin. Nat. 34.14; Cic. de Nat. Deor. 2.4, de Div. 2.35, Brut. 20, 58, Cat. 14, Tusc. 1.9; Plut. Cat. Maj. 27 ; Appian, App. Pun. 69, B. C. 1.28, but there is an anachronism in the last cited passage of Appian.)
24. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio, the son of No. 23, was a fierce and stiff-necked aristocrat, and is chiefly known by the repeated mention of him in Cicero's writings, as the leader of the senate in the murder of Tib. Gracchus. He is first mentioned in B. C. 149, when he was sent along with Cn. Scipio Hispallus [No. 28], to demand from the Carthaginians the surrender of their arms (Appian, Pun. 80). He was unsuccessful in his application for the aedileship, but was consul in B. C. 138, with D. Junius Brutus. In consequence of the severity with which he and his colleague conducted the levy of troops, they were thrown into prison by C. Curiatius, the tribune of the plebs. It was this Curiatius who gave Nasica the nick-name of Serapio, from his resemblance to a dealer in sacrificial animals, or some other person of low rank, who was called by this name; but though given him in derision, it afterwards became his distinguishing surname (Liv. Epit. 55 ; V. Max. 9.14.3; Plin. Nat. 7.10). In B. C. 133, when the tribes met to re-elect Tib. Gracchus to the tribunate, and the utmost confusion prevailed in the forum, Nasica called upon the consuls to save the republic; but as they refused to have recourse to violence, he exclaimed, " As the consul betrays the state, do you who wish to obey the laws follow me," and so saying rushed forth from the temple of Fides, where the senate was sitting, followed by the greater number of the senators. The people gave way before them, and Gracchus was assassinated as he attempted to escape (Appian, App. BC 1.16; Plut. Tib. Gracch. 19 ; for further particulars see Vol. II. p. 293). In consequence of his conduct on this occasion Nasica became an object of such detestation to the people, that the senate found it advisable to send him on a pretended mission to Asia, although he was pontifex maximus, and ought not, therefore, to have quitted Italy. He did not venture to return to Rome, and after wandering about from place to place, died soon afterwards at Pergamum. (Plut. Tib. Gracch. 21 ; Cic. pro Flacc. 21 ; and the other passages of Cicero in Orelli's Onomast. Tull. vol. ii. p. 191.)
25. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica, son of No. 24, was consul B. C. 111, with L. Calpurnius Bestia, and remained in Italy, while his colleague had the conduct of the war against Jugurtha. He died during his consulship. He is described by Diodorus as a man who was inaccessible to bribery throughout his life, though he lived in an age of general corruption. Cicero speaks with praise of the affability of his address, in which his father was deficient; and although he spoke neither much nor often in public, he was equal to any of his contemporaries in the purity of his Latin, and surpassed them in wit and humour. (Sall. Jug. 27 ; Diod. Excerpt. p. 606, ed. Wess. ; Cic. de Off. 1.30, Brut. 34, pro Planc. 34, and Schol. Bob. p. 259, ed. Orelli.)
26. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica, son of No. 25, praetor B. C. 94, is mentioned by Cicero as one of the advocates of Sex. Roscius of Ameria. He married Licinia, the second daughter of L. Crassus, the orator. (Cic. pro Sex. Rosc. 28, Brut. 58.) He had two sons, both of whom were adopted, one by his maternal grandfather L. Crassus in his testament, and is therefore called L. Licinius Crassus Scipio [Crassus, No. 26]; and the other by Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, consul B. C. 80, and is therefore called Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio. This Scipio became the father-in-law of Cn. Pompey the triumvir, and fell in Africa in B. C. 46. His life is given elsewhere. [Metellus, No. 22.]
27. Cn. Cornelius Scipio Hispallus, a son of L. Scipio [No. 11], who was a brother of the two Scipios who fell in Spain. Hispallus was praetor B. C. 179, and consul B. C. 171, with Q. Petillius Spurinus. He was struck with paralysis during his consulship, and died at Cumae in the course of the year. (Liv. 40.44, 41.14, 16.)
28. Cn. Cornelius Scipio Hispallus, son of No. 27, was sent along with Scipio Nasica Serapio [No. 24], in B. C. 149, to demand from the Carthaginians the surrender of their arms (Appian, Pun. 80). He was praetor, B. C. 139, when he published an edict that all Chaldaeans (i. e. astrologers) should leave Rome and Italy within ten days (V. Max. 1.3.2). Valerius Maximus (l.c.) calls him Caius; whence Pighius makes him the brother of the Hispallus mentioned by Appian, but it is far more probable that there should be a mistake in Valerius Maximus of C. for Cn. than that he should have borne a praenomen which does not occur elsewhere in the family of the Scipios.
29. Cn. Cornelius Scipio Hispallus, the son of No. 28, is mentioned only by Valerius Maximus, who relates (6.3.3), that he had obtained the province of Spain by lot, but was prevented by the senate from going thither on account of the disgraceful life he had previously led.
30. Cornelius Scipio Salutio, an obscure person, whom Caesar is said to have carried with him in his African campaign, B. C. 46, and to have placed in front of the army, because it was believed that a Scipio would always conquer in Africa, and he had to fight against Metellus Scipio, the general of the Pompeian troops. Others, however, thought that he did it as a kind of joke, to show his contempt of Metellus Scipio. Pliny relates that he was called Salutio from his resemblance to a mimus of this name. Dio Cassius calls him Salatton. (Suet. Caes. 59 ; Plut. Caes. 52 ; D. C. 42.58; Plin. Nat. 7.12, 30.2.)
31. P. Cornelius Scipio, married Scribonia, who was afterwards the wife of Augustus, and by whom he had two children [Nos. 32 and 33]. His descent is uncertain, and we have no particulars of his life. Suetonius says (Octav. 62) that both the husbands of Scribonia, before she was married to Augustus, were men of consular rank; but this statement makes the matter still more uncertain, since the last Scipio who obtained the consulship was L. Scipio Asiaticus in B. C. 83. [No. 20.]
32. P. Cornelius Scipio, son of No. 31 and Scribonia, afterwards the wife of Augustus, was consul B. C. 16 with L. Domitius Ahenobarbus. (D. C. 54.19; Propert. 4.11. 67.)
33. Cornelia, daughter of No. 31 and Scribonia, married Paulus Aemilius Lepidus, censor B. C. 22. [Lepidus, No. 19.]
34. Cornelius Scipio, legatus of Junius Blaesus, proconsul of Africa, under whom he served in the campaign against Tacfarinus in A. D. 22 (Tac. Ann. 3.74). He may, perhaps, have been the son of No. 32.
35. Cornelia, who married L. Volusius Saturninus, consul suffectus A. D. 3, and who was the mother of Q. Volusius Saturninus, consul A. D. 56 (Plin. Nat. 7.12. s. 14), may have been the sister of No. 34. [Saturninus, Volusius, Nos. 2 and 3.]
36. P. Cornelius Scipio, perhaps the son of 34, was the husband of Poppaea Sabina, who was put to death by Messalina, the wife of the emperor Claudius. He did not venture to express any disapprobation of the deed, and showed his subserviency at a later period by proposing in the senate that thanks should be returned to Pallas, the freedman of Claudius, because he allowed himself to be regarded as one of the servants of the emperor, although he was descended from the kings of Arcadia. He was consul under Nero in A. D. 56, with L. Volusius Saturninus, who was probably his first cousin. (Tac. Ann. 11.2, 4, 12.53, 13.25; Plin. Nat. 7.12. s. 14.)
The lives of the Scipios are given with accuracy by Haakh in the Real-Encyclopädie der classichen Alterthumswissenschaft, to which we have been much indebted in drawing up the previous account.
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…in te conferri pestem quam tu in nos omnis iam diu machinaris. an vero vir amplissimus, P. Scipio, pontifex maximus, Ti. Gracchum mediocriter labefactantem statum rei publicae privatus interfecit Catilinam orbem terrae caede atque incendiis…
Cicero, in Catilinam
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…adductum castra movere vasisque militari more conclamatis progressus milia passuum iii loco idoneo et occulto omnem exercitum equitatumque collocavit. Scipio ad sequendum paratus equitatus magnam partem ad explorandum iter Domiti et cognoscendum praemisit. qui cum essent progressi primaeque turmae…
Julius Caesar, Civil War
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…, sustinere. non enim neque tu possis, quamvis excellas, omnis tuos ad honores amplissimos perducere, ut Scipio P. Rupilium potuit consulem efficere, fratrem eius Lucium non potuit. quod si etiam possis quidvis deferre ad…
M. Tullius Cicero, De Amicitia
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…plerisque senibus sic odiosa est, ut onus se Aetna gravius dicant sustinere. CATO. Rem haud sane, Scipio et Laeli, difficilem admirari videmini. quibus enim nihil est in ipsis opis ad bene beateque vivendum, eis…
M. Tullius Cicero, De Senectute
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…, nec magis necesse mori Scipioni quam illo modo mori, nec magis inmutabile ex vero in falsum Necatus est Scipio quam Necabitur Scipio ; nec, cum haec ita sint, est causa, cur Epicurus fatum extimescat et ab…
M. Tullius Cicero, De Fato
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…necesse mori Scipioni quam illo modo mori, nec magis inmutabile ex vero in falsum Necatus est Scipio quam Necabitur Scipio ; nec, cum haec ita sint, est causa, cur Epicurus fatum extimescat et ab atomis petat praesidium…
M. Tullius Cicero, De Fato
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…falsum potuisset esse, si esset sescentis saeculis ante dictum Et si tum non esset vera haec enuntiatio Capiet Numantiam Scipio, ne illa quidem eversa vera est haec enuntiatio Cepit Numantiam Scipio. Potest igitur quicquam factum esse, quod…
M. Tullius Cicero, De Fato
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…, ut instituisti ; prospicere enim iam videor te reliquos reges persequente quasi perfectam rem publicam. Ergo, inquit Scipio, cum ille Romuli senatus, qui constabat ex optimatibus, quibus ipse rex tantum tribuisset, ut eos patres…
M. Tullius Cicero, De Republica
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…audire quid sentias. Dixerat hoc ille, cum puer nuntiavit venire ad eum Laelium domoque iam exisse. Tum Scipio calceis et vestimentis sumptis e cubiculo est egressus, et cum paululum inambulavisset in porticu, Laelium advenientem salutavit et…
M. Tullius Cicero, De Republica
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…inviolateque servabitis. Cyrus quidem haec moriens ; nos, si placet, nostra videamus. nemo umquam mihi, Scipio, persuadebit aut patrem tuum Paulum, aut duos avos Paulum et Africanum, aut Africani patrem aut patruum ,…
M. Tullius Cicero, De Senectute
The name of an illustrious patrician family of the Cornelian gens. This name, which signifies a stick or staff, is said to have been given to the founder of the family, because he served as a staff in directing his blind father. This family produced some of the greatest men in Rome, and to them she was more indebted than to any others for the empire of the world. The family tomb of the Scipios was discovered in 1780, on the left of the Appia Via, about four hundred paces within the modern Porta S. Sebastiano. The inscriptions and other curiosities are now deposited in the Museo Pio-Clementino at Rome.
(1) P. Cornelius Scipio, magister equitum B.C. 396, and consular tribune 395 and 394.
(2) L. Cornelius Scipio, consul 350.
(3) P. Cornelius Scipio Barbātus, consul 328, and dictator 306. He was also Pontifex Maximus.
(4) L. Cornelius Scipio Barbātus, consul 298, when he carried on war against the Etruscans, and defeated them near Volaterrae. He also served under the consuls in 297, 295, and 293 against the Samnites. This Scipio was the great-grandfather of the conqueror of Hannibal. The genealogy of the family can be traced with more certainty from this time.
(5) Cn. Cornelius Scipio Asĭna, son of No. 4, was consul 260, in the First Punic War. In an attempt upon the Liparaean Islands, he was taken prisoner with seventeen ships. He probably recovered his liberty when Regulus invaded Africa, for he was consul a second time in 254. In this year he and his colleague, A. Atilius Calatinus, crossed over into Sicily and took the town of Panormus.
(6) L. Cornelius Scipio, also son of No. 4, was consul 259. He drove the Carthaginians out of Sardinia and Corsica, defeating Hanno , the Carthaginian commander. He was censor in 258.
(7) P. Cornelius Scipio Asĭna, son of No. 5, was consul 221, and carried on war, with his colleague M. Minucius Rufus, against the Istri, who were subdued by the consuls. He is mentioned again in 211, when he recommended that the Senate should recall all the generals and armies from Italy for the defence of the capital, because Hannibal was marching upon the city.
(8) P. Cornelius Scipio, son of No. 6, was consul, with Ti. Sempronius Longus , in 218, the first year of the Second Punic War. He sailed with an army to Gaul, in order to encounter Hannibal before crossing the Alps; but, finding that Hannibal had crossed the Rhône, and had got the start of him by a three days' march, he resolved to sail back to Italy and await Hannibal's arrival in Cisalpine Gaul. But as the Romans had an army of twenty-five thousand men in Cisalpine Gaul, under the command of two praetors, Scipio sent into Spain the army which he had brought with him, under the command of his brother, Cn. Scipio. On his return to Italy, Scipio took the command of the army in Cisalpine Gaul, and hastened to meet Hannibal. An engagement took place between the cavalry and light-armed troops of the two armies. The Romans were defeated; the consul himself received a severe wound, and was only saved from death by the courage of his young son Publius, the future conqueror of Hannibal. Scipio now retreated across the Ticinus, crossed the Po also, first took up his quarters at Placentia, and subsequently withdrew to the hills on the left bank of the Trebia, where he was joined by the other consul, Sempronius Longus. The latter resolved upon a battle, in opposition to the advice of his colleague. The result was the complete defeat of the Roman army, which was obliged to take refuge within the walls of Placentia. In the following year (217), Scipio, whose imperium had been prolonged, crossed over into Spain. He and his brother Gneius continued in Spain until their death in 211, and did the most important service for their country by preventing reinforcements being sent to Hannibal from Spain. In 215 they transferred the war from the Ebro to the Guadalquivir and won two great victories at Illiturgis and Intibilis. They fortified an important harbour at Tarraco and regained Saguntum, and by adroit policy induced Syphax to turn against the Carthaginians in Africa; but in 212, having to confront three armies under Hasdrubal Barca, Hasdrubal Gisgo, and Mago, they enlisted 20,000 Celtiberians and divided their armies. This was a fatal step. The Spaniards were untrustworthy, and the armies of the Scipios were defeated separately and both the brothers were slain by the Carthaginians (Polyb. iii.; Livy, xii.-xxv.; App. Annib. 5-8; Hisp. 14-16).
(9) Cn. Cornelius Scipio Calvus, son of No. 6, and brother of No. 8, was consul 222, with M. Claudius Marcellus. In conjunction with his colleague he carried on war against the Insubrians. In 218 he carried on war as the legate of his brother Publius for eight years in Spain, as has been related above (Polyb. ii. 34; Plut. Marcell. 6, 7).
(10) P. Cornelius Scipio Africānus Maior, son of No. 8, was born in B.C. 237. (According to Livy, xxvi. 18, and Val. Max. iii. 7, 1, he was born in 234, but the authority of Polybius should be followed, who says that he was twenty-seven when he went to Spain.) He was unquestionably one of the greatest men of Rome, and he acquired at an early age the confidence and admiration of his countrymen. His enthusiastic mind led him to believe that he was a special favourite of the gods; and he never engaged in any public or private business without first going to the Capitol, where he sat some time alone, enjoying communication with the gods. For all he proposed or executed he alleged the divine approval; and the Roman people gave credit to his assertions and regarded him as a being almost superior to the common race of men (Livy, xxvi. 19). There can be no doubt that Scipio himself believed in the divine revelations which he asserted to have been vouchsafed to him; and the extraordinary success which attended all his enterprises must have deepened this belief. He is first mentioned in 218 at the battle of the Ticinus, when he saved the life of his father as has been already related. He fought at Cannae two years afterwards (216), when he was already a tribune of the soldiers, and was one of the few Roman officers who survived that fatal day. He was chosen along with Appius Claudius to command the remains of the army, which had taken refuge at Canusium; and it was owing to his youthful heroism and presence of mind that the Roman nobles, who had thought of leaving Italy in despair, were prevented from carrying their rash project into effect. He had already gained the favour of the people to such an extent that he was elected aedile in 212, although he had not yet reached the legal age. In 210, after the death of his father and uncle in Spain, the Romans resolved to increase their army in that country, and to place it under the command of a proconsul. But when the people assembled to elect a proconsul, none of the generals of experience ventured to sue for so dangerous a command. At length Scipio, who was then barely twenty-four, offered himself as a candidate, and was chosen with enthusiasm to take the command. His success in Spain was striking and rapid. In the first campaign (210) he took the important city of Carthago Nova, and in the course of the next three years he drove the Carthaginians entirely out of Spain, and became master of that country. He returned to Rome in 206, and was elected consul for the following year (205), although he had not yet filled the office of praetor, and was only thirty years of age. He was anxious to cross over at once to Africa, and bring the contest to an end at the gates of Carthage; but the oldest members of the Senate, and among them Q. Fabius Maximus, opposed his project, partly through timidity and partly through jealousy of the youthful conqueror. All that Scipio could obtain was the province of Sicily, with permission to cross over to Africa; but the Senate refused him an army, thus making the permission of no practical use. But the allies had a truer view of the interests of Italy than the Roman Senate, and from all the towns of Italy volunteers flocked to join the standard of the youthful hero. The Senate could not refuse to allow him to enlist volunteers; and such was the enthusiasm in his favour that he was able to cross over to Sicily with an army and a fleet contrary to the expectations and even the wishes of the Senate. After spending the winter in Sicily, and completing all his preparations for the invasion of Africa, he crossed over to the latter country in the course of the following year. Success again attended his arms. The Carthaginians and their ally Syphax were defeated with great slaughter, and the former were compelled to recall Hannibal from Italy as the only hope of saving their country. The long struggle between the two peoples was at length brought to a close by the battle fought near the city of Zama on the 19th of October, 202, in which Scipio gained a decisive and brilliant victory over Hannibal. Carthage had no alternative but submission, but the final treaty was not concluded till the following year (201). Scipio returned to Italy in 201, and entered Rome in triumph. He was received with universal enthusiasm, and the surname of Africanus was conferred upon him. The people wished to make him consul and dictator for life, and to erect his statue in the Comitia, the Rostra, the Curia, and even in the Capitol, but he prudently declined all these invidious distinctions. As he did not choose to usurp the supreme power, and as he was an object of suspicion and dislike to the majority of the Senate, he took no prominent part in public affairs during the next few years. He was censor in 199 with P. Aelius Paetus, and consul a second time in 194 with Ti. Sempronius Longus. In 193 he was one of the three commissioners who were sent to Africa to mediate between Masinissa and the Carthaginians; and in the same year he was one of the ambassadors sent to Antiochus at Ephesus, at whose court Hannibal was then residing. The tale runs that he had there an interview with the great Carthaginian, who declared him the greatest general that ever lived. The compliment was paid in a manner the most flattering to Scipio. The latter had asked, “Who was the greatest general?” “Alexander the Great,” was Hannibal's reply. “Who was the second?” “Pyrrhus.” “Who the third?” “Myself,” replied the Carthaginian. “What would you have said, then, if you had conquered me?” asked Scipio, in astonishment. “I should then have placed myself before Alexander, before Pyrrhus, and before all other generals.” In 190 Africanus served as legate under his brother Lucius in the war against Antiochus the Great. Shortly after his return, he and his brother Lucius were accused of having received bribes from Antiochus to let the monarch off too leniently, and of having appropriated to their own use part of the money which had been paid by Antiochus to the Roman State. The details of the accusation are related with such discrepancies by the ancient authorities that it is impossible to determine with certainty the true history of the affair, or the year in which it occurred. It appears, however, that there were two distinct prosecutions, and the following is perhaps the most probable history of the transaction. In 187, two tribunes of the people of the name of Petillii, instigated by Cato and the other enemies of the Scipios, required L. Scipio to render an account of all the sums of money which he had received from Antiochus. L. Scipio accordingly prepared his accounts, but as he was in the act of delivering them up, the proud conqueror of Hannibal indignantly snatched them out of his hands, and tore them into pieces before the Senate. But this haughty conduct appears to have produced an unfavourable impression, and his brother, when brought to trial in the course of the same year, was declared guilty, and sentenced to pay a heavy fine. The tribune C. Minucius Augurinus ordered him to be dragged to prison and there detained till the money was paid; whereupon Africanus rescued his brother from the hands of the tribune's officer. The contest would probably have been attended with fatal results had not Tiberius Gracchus, the father of the celebrated tribune, and then tribune himself, had the prudence to release Lucius from the sentence of imprisonment. The successful issue of the prosecution of Lucius emboldened his enemies to bring the great Africanus himself before the people. His accuser was M. Naevius, the tribune of the people, and the accusation was brought in 185. When the trial came on, and Africanus was summoned, he proudly reminded the people that this was the anniversary of the day on which he had defeated Hannibal at Zama, and called upon them to follow him to the Capitol, in order there to return thanks to the immortal gods, and to pray that they would grant the Roman State other citizens like himself. Scipio struck a chord which vibrated in every heart, and he was immediately followed by crowds to the Capitol. Having thus set all the laws at defiance, Scipio immediately quitted Rome, and retired to his country seat at Liternum. The tribunes wished to renew the prosecution, but Gracchus wisely persuaded them to let it drop. Scipio never returned to Rome. He passed his remaining days in the cultivation of his estate at Liternum; and at his death is said to have requested that his body might be buried there, and not in his ungrateful country. The year of his death is equally uncertain; but he probably died in 183. Scipio married Aemilia, the daughter of L. Aemilius Paulus, who fell at the battle of Cannae, and by her he had four children, two sons (Nos. 12, 13), and two daughters, the elder of whom married P. Scipio Nasica Corculum (No. 17), and the younger Tiberius Gracchus, and thus became the mother of the two celebrated tribunes. (See Cornelia.)
(11) L. Cornelius Scipio Asiatĭcus, also called Asiagĕnes or Asiagĕnus, was the son of No. 8, and the brother of the great Africanus. He served under his brother in Spain; was praetor in B.C. 193, when he obtained the province of Sicily; and consul in 190, with C. Laelius. The Senate had not much confidence in his abilities, and it was only through the offer of his brother Africanus to accompany him as a legate that he obtained the province of Greece and the conduct of the war against Antiochus. He defeated Antiochus at Mount Sipylus, in 190, entered Rome in triumph in the following year, and assumed the surname of Asiaticus. The history of his accusation and condemnation has been already related in the life of his brother. He was a candidate for the censorship in 184, but was defeated by the old enemy of his family, M. Porcius Cato, who deprived Asiaticus of his horse at the review of the equites. It appears, therefore, that even as late as this time an eques did not forfeit his horse by becoming a senator.
(12) P. Cornelius Scipio Africānus, elder son of the great Africanus, was prevented by his weak health from taking any part in public affairs. Cicero praises his oratiunculae and his Greek history, and remarks that, with the greatness of his father's mind he possessed a larger amount of learning. He had no son of his own, but adopted the son of L. Aemilius Paulus (see below, No. 15).
(13) L. or Cn. Cornelius Scipio Africānus, younger son of the great Africanus. He accompanied his father into Asia in B.C. 190, and was taken prisoner by Antiochus. This Scipio was a degenerate son of an illustrious father, and only obtained the praetorship, in B.C. 174, through Cicereius, who had been a secretary of his father, giving way to him. In the same year he was expelled from the Senate by the censors.
(14) L. Cornelius Scipio Asiatĭcus, a descendant of No. 11, belonged to the Marian party, and was consul B.C. 83 with C. Norbanus. In this year Sulla returned to Italy: Scipio was deserted by his troops, and taken prisoner in his camp along with his son Lucius, but was dismissed by Sulla uninjured. He was, however, included in the proscription in the following year (82), whereupon he fled to Massilia, and passed there the remainder of his life. His daughter was married to P. Sestius.
(15) P. Cornelius Scipio Aemiliānus Africānus Minor, was the younger son of L. Aemilius Paulus, the conqueror of Macedonia, and was adopted by P. Scipio (No. 12), the son of the conqueror of Hannibal. He was born about B.C. 185. In his seventeenth year he accompanied his father Paulus to Greece, and fought under him at the battle of Pydna, 168. Scipio devoted himself with ardour to the study of literature, and formed an intimate friendship with Polybius, when the latter came to Rome along with the other Achaean exiles in 167. (See Polybius.) At a later period he also cultivated the acquaintance of the philosopher Panaetius, and he likewise admitted the poets Lucilius and Terence to his intimacy, and is said to have assisted the latter in the composition of his comedies. (See Terentius.) His friendship with Laelius, whose tastes and pursuits were so congenial to his own, has been immortalized by Cicero's celebrated treatise entitled Laelius sive de Amicitia. Although thus devoted to the study of polite literature, Scipio is said to have cultivated the virtues which distinguished the older Romans, and to have made Cato the model of his conduct. If we may believe his panegyrists, he possessed all the simple virtues of an old Roman, mellowed by the refining influences of Greek civilization. Scipio first served in Spain with great distinction as military tribune under the consul L. Lucullus in 151. On the breaking out of the Third Punic War in 149 he accompanied the Roman army to Africa, again with the rank of military tribune. Here he gained still more renown. By his personal bravery and military skill he repaired, to a great extent, the mistakes of the consul Manilius, whose army on one occasion he saved from destruction. He returned to Rome in 148, and had already gained such popularity that when he became a candidate for the aedileship for the following year (147) he was elected consul, although he was only thirty-seven, and had not therefore attained the legal age. The Senate assigned to him Africa as his province, to which he forthwith sailed, accompanicd by his friends Polybius and Laelius. He prosecuted the siege of Carthage with the utmost vigour. The Carthaginians defended themselves with the courage of despair, and the Romans were unable to force their way into the city till the spring of the following year (146). The inhabitants fought from street to street, and from house to house, and the work of destruction and butchery went on for days. The fate of this once magnificent city moved Scipio to tears, and anticipating that a similar catastrophe might one day befall Rome, he repeated the lines of the Iliad (vi. 448), in which Hector bewails the approaching fall of Troy. After reducing Africa to the form of a Roman province, Scipio returned to Rome in the same year, and celebrated a splendid triumph on account of his victory. The surname of Africanus, which he had inherited by adoption from the conqueror of Hannibal, had been now acquired by him by his own exploits. In 142 Scipio was censor, and in the administration of the duties of his office he attempted to repress the growing luxury and immorality of his contemporaries. His efforts, however, were thwarted by his colleague Mummius, who had himself acquired a love for Greek and Asiatic luxuries. In 139 Scipio was accused by Ti. Claudius Asellus of maiestas. Asellus attacked him out of private animosity, because he had been deprived of his horse, and reduced to the condition of an aerarius by Scipio in his censorship. Scipio was acquitted, and the speeches which he delivered on the occasion obtained great celebrity. It appears to have been after this event that Scipio was sent on an embassy to Egypt and Asia to attend to the Roman interests in those countries. The long continuance of the war in Spain again called Scipio to the consulship. He was appointed consul in his absence, and had the province of Spain assigned to him in 134. His operations were attended with success; and in 133 he brought the war to a conclusion by the capture of the city of Numantia after a long siege. He now received the surname of Numantīnus in addition to that of Africanus. During his absence in Spain Tiberius Gracchus had been put to death. Scipio was married to Sempronia, the sister of the fallen tribune, but he had no sympathy with his reforms, and no sorrow for his fate. Upon his return to Rome in 132, he did not disguise his sentiments, and when asked in the assembly of the tribes by C. Papirius Carbo, the tribune, what he thought of the death of Tiberius Gracchus, he boldly replied that he was justly slain (iure caesum). The people loudly expressed their disapprobation; whereupon Scipio proudly bade them to be silent. He now took the lead in opposing the popular party, and endeavoured to prevent the agrarian law of Tiberius Graechus from being carried into effect. In order to accomplish this object, he proposed in the Senate (129) that all disputes respecting the lands of the allies should be taken out of the hands of the commissioners appointed under the law of Tiberius Gracchus, and should be committed to other persons. This would have been equivalent to an abrogation of the law; and accordingly Fulvius Flaccus, Papirius Carbo, and C. Gracchus, the three commissioners, offered the most vehement opposition to his proposal. In the Forum he was accused by Carbo with the bitterest invectives as the enemy of the people, and upon his again expressing his approval of the death of Tiberius Gracchus, the people shouted out, “Down with the tyrant!” In the evening he went home with the intention of composing a speech for the following day; but next day he was found dead in his room. The most contradictory rumours were circulated respecting his death, but it was generally believed that he was murdered. Suspicion fell upon various persons; his wife Sempronia and her mother Cornelia were suspected by some; Carbo , Fulvius, and C. Gracchus by others. Of all these, Carbo was most generally believed to have been guilty, and is expressly mentioned as the murderer by Cicero. The general opinion entertained by the Romans of a subsequent age respecting Scipio is given by Cicero in his work on the Republic, in which Scipio is introduced as the principal speaker.
(16) P. Cornelius Scipio Nasīca, that is, “Scipio with the pointed nose,” was the son of Cn. Scipio Calvus, who fell in Spain in B.C. 211. He is first mentioned in 204 as a young man who was judged by the Senate to be the best citizen in the State, and was therefore sent to Ostia along with the Roman matrons to receive the statue of the Idaean Mother, which had been brought from Pessinus. He was curule aedile in 196; praetor in 194, when he fought with success in Further Spain; and consul 191, when he defeated the Boii, and triumphed over them on his return to Rome. Scipio Nasica was a celebrated jurist, and a house was given him by the state in the Via Sacra, in order that he might be more easily consulted.
(17) P. Cornelius Scipio Nasīca Corcŭlum, son of No. 16, inherited from his father a love of jurisprudence, and became so celebrated for his discernment and for his knowledge of the pontifical and civil law, that he received his surname of Corculum. He married a daughter of Scipio Africanus the elder. He was consul for the first time in 162, but abdicated, together with his colleague, almost immediately after they had entered upon their office, on account of some fault in the auspices. He was censor in 159 with M. Popilius Laenas, and was consul a second time in 155, when he subdued the Dalmatians. He was a firm upholder of the old Roman habits and manners, and in his second consulship he induced the Senate to order the demolition of a theatre, which was near completion, as injurious to public morals. When Cato repeatedly expressed his desire for the destruction of Carthage, Scipio, on the other hand, declared that he wished for its preservation, since the existence of such a rival would prove a useful check upon the licentiousness of the multitude. He was elected Pontifex Maximus in 150.
(18) P. Cornelius Scipio Nasīca Serapio , son of No. 17, is chiefly known as the leader of the Senate in the murder of Tiberius Gracchus. He was consul in 138, and in consequence of the severity with which he and his colleague conducted the levy of troops, they were thrown into prison by C. Curiatius, the tribune of the plebs. It was this Curiatius who gave Nasica the nickname of Serapio , from his resemblance to a person of low rank of this name; but, though given him in derision, it afterward became his distinguishing surname. In 133, when the tribes met to re-elect Tiberius Gracchus to the tribunate, and the utmost confusion prevailed in the Forum, Nasica called upon the consuls to save the Republic; but as they refused to have recourse to violence, he exclaimed, “As the consul betrays the State, do you who wish to obey the laws follow me;” and, so saying, he rushed forth from the temple of Fides, where the Senate was sitting, followed by the greater number of the senators. The people gave way before them, and Gracchus was assassinated as he attempted to escape. In consequence of his conduct on this occasion, Nasica became an object of such detestation to the people, that the Senate found it advisable to send him on a pretended mission to Asia, although he was Pontifex Maximus, and ought not, therefore, to have quitted Italy. He did not venture to return to Rome, and after wandering about from place to place, died soon afterwards at Pergamum.
(19) P. Cornelius Scipio Nasīca, son of No. 18, was consul 111, and died during his consulship. (20) P. Cornelius Scipio Nasīca, son of No. 19, praetor in 94, is mentioned by Cicero as one of the advocates of Sextus Roscius of Ameria. He married Licinia, the second daughter of L. Crassus, the orator. He had two sons, both of whom were adopted, one by his maternal grandfather, L. Crassus, in his testament, and is therefore called L. Licinius Crassus Scipio, and the other by Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, consul 80, and is therefore called Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio. This Scipio became the father-inlaw of Cn. Pompey the triumvir, and fell in Africa in 46. His life is given under Metellus, No. 15. (21) Cn. Cornelius Scipio Hispallus, son of L. Scipio, who is only known as a brother of the two Scipios who fell in Spain. Hispallus was praetor 179, and consul 171. (22) Cn. Cornelius Scipio Hispallus, son of No. 21, was praetor 139, when he published an edict that all Chaldaeans (i. e. astrologers) should leave Rome and Italy within ten days.
See Capellmann, De Scipionibus (1841).
- destroys Carthage: Paus. 8.30.8