Scipio Africanus

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Publius Cornelius Scipio
Escipión africano.JPG
dated mid 1st century BC[1]
Excavated from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum by Karl Jakob Weber, 1750-65.[2]
Consul of the Roman Republic
In office
205–202 BC, – [?] BC
Preceded by Quintus Caecilius Metellus and Lucius Veturius Philo
Succeeded by Marcus Cornelius Cethegus and Publius Sempronius Tuditanus
Personal details
Born 236 BC
Rome, Roman Republic
Died 183 BC (aged 53)
Liternum, Roman Republic
Spouse(s) Aemilia Paulla
Children Publius Cornelius Scipio, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, Cornelia Africana Major, Cornelia Africana Minor
Military service
Allegiance Roman Military banner.svg Roman Republic
Rank General
Battles/wars Second Punic War
Battle of Ticinus
Battle of the Trebia
Battle of Cannae
Battle of Cartagena
Battle of Baecula
Battle of Ilipa
Battle of Utica
Battle of the Great Plains
Battle of Zama
Roman-Syrian War
Battle of Magnesia

Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (/ˈskɪpi/; 236–183 BC), also known as Scipio the African, Scipio Africanus-Major, Scipio Africanus the Elder and Scipio the Great,[3] was a Roman general and later consul who is often regarded as one of the greatest generals and military strategists of all time. His main achievements were during the Second Punic War where he is best known for defeating Hannibal at the final battle at Zama in 202 BC, one of the feats that earned him the agnomen Africanus. Prior to this battle (near modern Zama, Tunisia) Scipio also conquered Carthage's holdings in the Iberian peninsula, culminating in the Battle of Ilipa (near Alcalá del Río, Spain) in 206 BC against Hannibal's brother Mago Barca.

Although considered a hero by the general Roman populace, primarily for his contributions in the struggle against the Carthaginians, Scipio was reviled by other patricians of his day. In his later years, he was tried for bribery and treason, unfounded charges that were only meant to discredit him before the public. Disillusioned by the ingratitude of his peers, Scipio left Rome and withdrew from public life.[4]


Early years

Publius Cornelius Scipio was born by Caesarian section[5] into the Scipio branch of the Cornelia gens. His birth year is calculated from statements made by ancient historians (mainly Livy and Polybius) of how old he was when certain events in his life occurred and must have been 235/236 B.C, usually stated as circa 236 BC.[6]

The Cornelii were one of six major patrician families, along with the Manlii, the Fabii, the Aemilii, the Claudii, and the Valerii, with a record of successful public service in the highest offices extending back at least to the early Roman Republic.

Scipio's great-grandfather, Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus and grandfather Lucius Cornelius Scipio, had both been consuls and censors. He was the eldest son of the consul Publius Cornelius Scipio by his wife Pomponi, daughter of plebeian consul Manius Pomponius Matho.

Early military service

Scipio joined the Roman struggle against Carthage in the first year of Second Punic War when his father was consul. During the skirmish at Ticinus, he saved his father's life by "charging the encircling force alone with reckless daring."[7]

He survived the disaster at Cannae, where his would-be father-in-law, the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus, was killed. After the battle, with the other consul surviving elsewhere, Scipio and Appius Claudius Pulcher, as military tribunes, took charge of some 10,000 survivors. On hearing that Lucius Caecilius Metellus and other young nobles were planning to go overseas to serve some king, Scipio stormed into the meeting, and at sword-point, forced all present to swear that they would not abandon Rome.[8]

Scipio offered himself as a candidate for curule aedile in 213 BC, alongside his cousin Marcus Cornelius Cethegus.[9] The Tribunes of the Plebs objected to his candidacy, saying that he could not be allowed to stand because he had not yet reached the legal age. Scipio, already known for his bravery and patriotism, was elected unanimously and the Tribunes abandoned their opposition. His cousin also won the election.[10]

Campaign in Hispania

Nicholas Poussin's painting of the Continence of Scipio, depicting his return of a captured young woman to her fiancé, having refused to accept her from his troops as a prize of war.
A Carthaginian coin depicting Hasdrubal Barca (245–207 BC), one of Hannibal's younger brothers, wearing a diadem

In 211 BC, both Scipio's father, Publius Scipio, and uncle, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, were killed at the Battle of the Upper Baetis in Spain against Hannibal's brother, Hasdrubal Barca. At the election of a new proconsul for the command of the new army which the Romans resolved to send to Hispania, Scipio was the only man brave enough to ask for this position, no other candidates wanting the responsibility, considering it a death sentence.[11] In spite of his youth (25 years), his noble demeanour and enthusiastic language had made so great an impression that he was unanimously elected. In the year of Scipio's arrival (211 BC),[12] all of Hispania south of the Ebro river was under Carthaginian control. Hannibal's brothers Hasdrubal and Mago, and Hasdrubal Gisco were the generals of the Carthaginian forces in Hispania, and Rome was aided by the inability of these three figures to act in concert. The Carthaginians were also preoccupied with revolts in Africa.

Scipio landed at the mouth of the Ebro and was able to surprise and capture Carthago Nova (New Carthage), the headquarters of the Carthaginian power in Hispania. He obtained a rich cache of war stores and supplies and an excellent harbour and base of operations. Scipio's humanitarian conduct toward prisoners and hostages in Hispania helped in portraying the Romans as liberators as opposed to conquerors. Livy tells the story of his troops capturing a beautiful woman, whom they offered to Scipio as a prize of war. Scipio was astonished by her beauty but discovered that the woman was betrothed to a Celtiberian chieftain named Allucius. He returned the woman to her fiancé, along with the money that had been offered by her parents to ransom her. This humanitarian act encouraged local chieftains to both supply and reinforce Scipio's small army. The woman's fiancé, who soon married her, responded by bringing over his tribe to support the Roman armies.[13]

In 209 BC, Scipio fought his first set piece battle, driving back Hasdrubal Barca from his position at Baecula on the upper Guadalquivir. Scipio feared that the armies of Mago and Gisco would enter the field and surround his small army. Scipio's objective was, therefore, to quickly eliminate one of the armies to give him the luxury of dealing with the other two piecemeal. The battle was decided by a determined Roman infantry charge up the centre of the Carthaginian position. Roman losses are uncertain but may have been considerable in light of an effort by the infantry to scale an elevation defended by Carthaginian light infantry. Scipio then orchestrated a frontal attack by the rest of his infantry to draw out the remainder of the Carthaginian forces.

Hasdrubal had not noticed Scipio's hidden reserves of cavalry moving behind enemy lines, and a Roman cavalry charge created a double envelopment on either flank led by cavalry commander Gaius Laelius and Scipio himself. This broke the back of Hasdrubal's army and routed his forces—an impressive feat for the young Roman versus the veteran Carthaginian general. Despite a Roman victory, Scipio was unable to hinder the Carthaginian march to Italy. Much historical criticism has been levelled at his inability to effectively pursue Hasdrubal, who would eventually cross the Alps only to be defeated by Gaius Claudius Nero at the Battle of the Metaurus.

One popular theory for Scipio's failure to pursue Hasdrubal is that Scipio merely wanted the glory of securing Hispania, and an extended mountain campaign would have endangered that. Others cite the Roman soldiers' appetite for plunder as preventing him from rallying in pursuit. The most probable explanation from a strategic standpoint is Scipio's unwillingness to risk being trapped between Hasdrubal's army on one side and one or both of Gisgo's and Mago's armies, both of superior numerical strength. Mere days after Hasdrubal's defeat, Mago and Gisgo were able to converge in front of the Roman positions, bringing into question what would have happened had Scipio pursued Hasdrubal.

After winning over a number of Hispanian chiefs (namely Indibilis and Mandonius), Scipio achieved a decisive victory in 206 BC over the full Carthaginian levy at Ilipa (now the city of Alcalá del Río, near Hispalis, now called Seville), which resulted in the evacuation of Hispania by the Punic commanders.

After his rapid success in conquering Hispania, and with the idea of striking a blow at Carthage in Africa, Scipio paid a short visit to the Numidian princes Syphax and Massinissa. Numidia was of vital importance to Carthage, supplying both mercenaries and allied forces. In addition to supplying the Numidian cavalry (on which see the Battle of Cannae), Numidia operated as a buffer for vulnerable Carthage. Scipio managed to receive support from both Syphax and Massinissa. Syphax later changed his mind, married the beautiful Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba, daughter of Hasdrubal the son of Gisco, and fought alongside his Carthaginian in-laws against Massinissa and Scipio in Africa.

On his return to Hispania, Scipio had to quell a mutiny at Sucro which had broken out among his troops. Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal had meanwhile marched for Italy, and in 206 BC Scipio himself, having secured the Roman occupation of Hispania by the capture of Gades, gave up his command and returned to Rome.

African campaign


In 205 BC, Scipio was unanimously elected to consulship at the age of 31. Scipio intended to go to Africa, but due to the envy of others in the Senate, he was not given any additional troops beyond the Sicilian garrison. Despite this resistance, Scipio gathered resources from clients and supporters in Rome and among the Italian communities; this allowed him to muster a volunteer force of 30 warships and 7000 men.[14]

The forces stationed in Sicily at this time included a variety of forces. Interestingly, the Romans had for a long time used service in Sicily as a punishment, with the result that the garrison in Sicily contained survivors from many of the greatest Roman military fiascos in the war, such as the Battle of Cannae. Having served with these men at Cannae, Scipio was well aware that their disgrace was through no fault of their own. In addition, the Sicilian garrison also contained many of the troops who had participated in the Sicilian campaigns of Marcus Claudius Marcellus. From these men, Scipio was able to muster a highly motivated and very experienced force for his African invasion.[15] Scipio turned Sicily into a camp for training his army.

Scipio realized that the Carthaginian forces—especially the superior Numidian cavalry—would prove decisive against the largely infantry forces of the Roman legions. In addition, a large portion of Rome's cavalry were allies of questionable loyalty, or noble equites exempting themselves from being lowly foot soldiers. One anecdote tells of how Scipio pressed into service several hundred Sicilian nobles to create a cavalry force. The Sicilians were quite opposed to this servitude to a foreign occupier (Sicily being under Roman control only since the First Punic War), and protested vigorously. Scipio assented to their exemption from service providing they pay for a horse, equipment, and a replacement rider for the Roman army. In this way, Scipio created a trained nucleus of cavalry for his African campaign.

The Roman Senate sent a commission of inquiry to Sicily and found Scipio at the head of a well-equipped and trained fleet and army. Scipio pressed the Senate for permission to cross into Africa. Some of the Roman Senate, championed by Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator ("the Delayer"), opposed the mission. Fabius still feared Hannibal's power, and viewed any mission to Africa as dangerous and wasteful to the war effort.[16] Scipio was also harmed by some senators' disdain of his ideals, beliefs, and interests in unconventional areas such as Hellenophile tastes in art, luxuries, and philosophies. All Scipio could obtain was permission to cross over from Sicily to Africa if it appeared to be in the interests of Rome, but not financial or military support.

With the permission from the commissioners, Scipio sailed in 204 BC and landed near Utica. Carthage, meanwhile, had secured the friendship of the Numidian Syphax, whose advance compelled Scipio to abandon the siege of Utica and dig in on the shore between there and Carthage. In 203 BC, he destroyed the combined armies of the Carthaginians and Numidians by approaching by stealth and setting fire to their camp, where the combined army became panicked and fled, when they were mostly killed by Scipio's army. Though not a "battle," both Polybius and Livy estimate that the death toll in this single attack exceeded 40,000 Carthaginian and Numidian dead, and more captured.

In this painting by Tiepolo, Scipio Africanus is shown releasing the nephew of the Prince of Nubia after he was captured by Roman soldiers.[17] The Walters Art Museum.

Historians are roughly equal in their praise and condemnation for this act. Polybius said, "of all the brilliant exploits performed by Scipio this seems to me the most brilliant and more adventurous." On the other hand, one of Hannibal's principal biographers, Theodore Ayrault Dodge, goes so far as to suggest that this attack was out of cowardice and spares no more than a page upon the event in total, despite the fact that it secured the siege of Utica and effectively put Syphax out of the war. The irony of Dodge's accusations of Scipio's cowardice is that the attack showed traces of Hannibal's penchant for ambush.

Scipio quickly dispatched his two lieutenants, Laelius and Masinissa, to pursue Syphax. They ultimately dethroned Syphax, and ensured Prince Masinissa's coronation as King of the Numidians. Carthage, and especially Hannibal himself, had long relied upon these superb natural horsemen, who would now fight for Rome against Carthage.

War with Hannibal, the Battle of Zama

Publius Cornelius Scipio's military campaign in Africa (204 - 203 B.C.)

Now deserted by its allies and surrounded by a veteran and undefeated Roman army, Carthage began opening diplomatic channels for negotiation. At the same time, Hannibal Barca and his army were recalled to Carthage, and despite the moderate terms offered to Carthage by Scipio, Carthage suddenly suspended negotiations and again prepared for war. The army that Hannibal returned with is a subject of much debate. Advocates for Hannibal often claim that his army was mostly Italians pressed into service from southern Italy and that most of his elite veterans (and certainly cavalry) were spent. Scipio's advocates tend to be far more suspicious and believe the number of veteran forces to remain significant.

Hannibal did have a trained pool of soldiers who had fought in Italy, as well as eighty war elephants. Hannibal could boast a strength of around forty thousand: 36,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry, compared to Scipio's 29,000 infantry and 6,100 cavalry.[18] The two generals met on a plain between Carthage and Utica on October 19, 202 BC, at the Battle of Zama. Despite mutual admiration, negotiations floundered due largely to Roman distrust of the Carthaginians as a result of the Carthaginian attack on Saguntum, the breach of protocols which ended the First Punic War (known as Punic Faith), and a perceived breach in contemporary military etiquette due to Hannibal's numerous ambushes.

Hannibal arranged his infantry in three phalangial lines designed to overlap the Roman lines. His strategy, so oft reliant upon subtle stratagems, was simple: a massive forward attack by the war elephants would create gaps in the Roman lines, which would be exploited by the infantry, supported by the cavalry.

Meeting of Hannibal and Scipio at Zama.

Rather than arranging his forces in the traditional manipular lines, which put the hastati, principes, and triarii in succeeding lines parallel to the enemy's line, Scipio instead put the maniples in lines perpendicular to the enemy, a stratagem designed to counter the war elephants. When the Carthaginian elephants charged, they found well laid traps before the Roman position and were greeted by Roman trumpeters, which drove many back out of confusion and fear. In addition, many elephants were goaded harmlessly through the loose ranks by the velites and other skirmishers. Roman javelins were used to good effect, and the sharp traps caused further disorder among the elephants. Many of them were so distraught that they charged back into their own lines. The Roman infantry was greatly rattled by the elephants, but Massinissa's Numidian and Laelius' Roman cavalry began to drive the opposing cavalry off the field. Both cavalry commanders pursued their routing Carthaginian counterparts, leaving the Carthaginian and Roman infantries to engage one another. The resulting infantry clash was fierce and bloody, with neither side achieving local superiority. The Roman infantry had driven off the two front lines of the Carthaginian army, and in the respite took an opportunity to drink water. The Roman army was then drawn up in one long line (as opposed to the traditional three lines) in order to match the length of Hannibal's line. Scipio's army then marched towards Hannibal's veterans, who had not yet taken part in the battle. The final struggle was bitter and won only when the allied cavalry rallied and returned to the battle field. Charging the rear of Hannibal's army, they caused what many historians have called the "Roman Cannae".

Many Roman aristocrats, especially Cato, expected Scipio to raze that city to the ground after his victory. However, Scipio dictated extremely moderate terms in contrast to an immoderate Roman Senate. While the security of Rome was guaranteed by demands such as the surrender of the fleet, and a lasting tribute was to be paid, the strictures were sufficiently light for Carthage to regain its full prosperity.[19] With Scipio's consent, Hannibal was allowed to become the civic leader of Carthage, which the Cato family did not forget.

Return to Rome

Scipio was welcomed back to Rome in triumph with the agnomen of Africanus. He refused the many further honours which the people would have thrust upon him such as Consul for life and Dictator. In the year 199 BC, Scipio was elected Censor and for some years afterwards he lived quietly and took no part in politics.

In 193 BC, Scipio was one of the commissioners sent to Africa to settle a dispute between Massinissa and the Carthaginians, which the commission did not achieve. This may have been because Hannibal, in the service of Antiochus III of Syria, might have come to Carthage to gather support for a new attack on Italy. In 190 BC, when the Romans declared war against Antiochus III, Publius offered to join his brother Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus if the Senate entrusted the chief command to him. The two brothers brought the war to a conclusion by a decisive victory at Magnesia in the same year.


Scipio's political enemies, led by Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder, gained ground. When the Scipiones returned to Rome, two tribunes prosecuted (187 BC) Lucius on the grounds of misappropriation of money received from Antiochus.[citation needed] As Lucius was in the act of producing his account-books, his brother wrested them from his hands, tore them in pieces, and flung them on the floor of the Senate house. Scipio then allegedly asked the courts why they were concerned about how 3,000 talents had been spent and apparently unconcerned about how 15,000 talents were entering the state coffers (the tribute that Antiochus was paying Rome after his defeat by Lucius).[citation needed] This high-handed act shamed the prosecution, and it appears that the case against Lucius was dismissed, though Lucius would again be prosecuted, and this time convicted, after the death of Scipio.[citation needed]

Scipio himself was subsequently (185 BC) accused of having been bribed by Antiochus.[20] By reminding the people that it was the anniversary of his victory at Zama, he caused an outburst of enthusiasm in his favour. The people crowded round him and followed him to the Capitol, where they offered thanks to the gods and begged them to give Rome more citizens like Scipio Africanus. Despite the popular support that Scipio commanded, there were renewed attempts to bring him to trial, but these appear to have been deflected by his future son-in-law, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, the Elder.[21] It is supposedly in gratitude for this act that Scipio betrothed his youngest daughter Cornelia Africana Minor (then aged about 5) to Gracchus, several decades her senior (however, no contemporaneous references to this event exist; what is known is that Gracchus did marry Cornelia, aged about 18, in 172 BC).

Scipio retired to his country seat at Liternum on the coast of Campania.[20] He lived there for the rest of his life, revealing his great magnanimity[citation needed] by attempting to prevent the ruin of the exiled Hannibal by Rome. He died probably in 183 BC (the actual year and date of his death is unknown) aged about 53. His death is said to have taken place under suspicious circumstances, and it is possible that he either died of the lingering effects of the fever contracted while on campaign in 190 BC, or that he took his own life for causes unknown. He is said to have demanded that his body be buried away from his ungrateful city, and the Emperor Augustus is said to have visited his tomb in Liternum more than 150 years later. However, it is not certain that he was actually buried at Liternum, and no contemporary accounts of his death or funeral exist. It is said that he ordered an inscription on his tomb: "Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem habebis"—ungrateful fatherland, you will not even have my bones.

Coincidentally, his great rival Hannibal died in Bithynia in the same year or shortly thereafter, also an exile (albeit far from his native city and not by his own decision), pursued and harassed to the end by Romans such as Titus Quinctius Flamininus.

Marriage and issue

With his wife Aemilia Paulla (also called Aemilia Tertia), daughter of the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus who fell at Cannae and sister of another consul Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, he had a happy and fruitful marriage. Aemilia Paulla had unusual freedom and wealth for a patrician married woman, and she was an important role model for many younger Roman women,[citation needed] just as her youngest daughter Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, would be an important role model for many Late Republican Roman noblewomen, including allegedly the mother of Julius Caesar.

Scipio Africanus had two sons. The elder Publius Cornelius Scipio was appointed an augur in 180 BC;[22] he never ran for office due to poor health.[23] The younger Lucius Cornelius Scipio became praetor in 174 BC,[24] and was expelled from the Senate by the censors.[25] The elder son Publius adopted his first cousin, his uncle Lucius Aemilius Paullus' second son, who received the name Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus.

Scipio and Aemilia Paulla also had two surviving daughters. The elder, Cornelia Africana Major, married her second cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum (son of the consul of 191 BC who was himself son of Scipio's elder paternal uncle Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus). This son-in-law was a distinguished Roman in his own right. He became consul (abdicating or resigning in 162 BC for religious reasons, then being re-elected in 155 BC), censor in 159 BC, Princeps Senatus, and died as Pontifex Maximus in 141 BC. Scipio Nasica rose to many of the dignities enjoyed by his late father-in-law, and was noted for his staunch (if ultimately futile) opposition to Cato the Censor over the fate of Carthage from about 157 to 149 BC. They had at least one surviving son (of whom more below).

The younger daughter was more famous in history; Cornelia Africana Minor, the young wife of the elderly Tiberius Gracchus Major or Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, tribune of the plebs, praetor, then consul 177 (then censor and consul again), became the mother of 12 children, the only surviving sons being the famous Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus. All three surviving children of this union were ill-fated; the brothers Gracchi died relatively young, murdered or forced to commit suicide by more conservative relatives. The eldest child and only surviving daughter, Sempronia, was married to her mother's first cousin (and her own cousin by adoption) Scipio Aemilianus Africanus. The couple had no children, and Sempronia grew to hate her husband after he condoned the murder of her brother Tiberius in 132 BC. Scipio's mysterious death in 129 BC, at the age of 56, was blamed by some on his wife, and by others on his political rivals.[citation needed]

Scipio's only descendants living through the late Republican period were the descendants of his two daughters, his sons having died without legitimate surviving issue. His younger daughter's last surviving child Sempronia, wife and then widow of Scipio Aemilianus, was alive as late as 102 BC.

His other known grandson Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio was far more conservative than his Gracchi cousins. He and his descendants all became increasingly conservative, in stark contrast to the father and grandfathers. Scipio Africanus's eldest grandson Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio became consul in 138, murdered his own cousin Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (163–132 BC) in 132. Scipio Nasica Serapio, although Pontifex Maximus was sent to Asia Minor by the Senate to escape the wrath of the Gracchi supporters, and died mysteriously there in Pergamum, and is believed to have been poisoned by an agent of the Gracchi.

Serapio's son, the fourth Scipio Nasica, was even more conservative, and rose to be consul in 111 BC. This Scipio Nasica's sons became praetors only shortly before the Marsic or Social War (starting 91 BC). However, a grandson (adopted into the plebeian-noble Caecilii Metelli) became the Metellus Scipio who allied himself with Pompey the Great and Cato the Younger, and who opposed Julius Caesar. Metellus Scipio was the last Scipio to distinguish himself militarily or politically.

None of Scipio's descendants, apart from Scipio Aemilianus—his wife's nephew who became his adoptive grandson—came close to matching his political career or his military successes.


With Aemilia Paulla (Aemilia Tertia)

  1. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus - elder son, adoptive father of Scipio Aemilianus, no natural issue
  2. Lucius Cornelius Scipio - younger son, no legitimate surviving issue
  3. Cornelia Africana Major - elder daughter, married Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum
    1. Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio, married Caecilia Metella
      1. Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio - son
        1. Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica - son, married Licinia Crassa Prima, daughter of Lucius Licinius Crassus
          1. Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica - elder son, born Publius Cornelius Scipio, adopted by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, married Aemilia Lepida, daughter of Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus
            1. A son - died young
            2. Another son - died around 70
            3. Possibly an adopted son
            4. Cornelia Metella - only daughter, married first to P. Licinius Crassus and second to Cn. Pompeius, no issue
          2. Lucius Licinius Crassus Scipio - younger son, adopted by his grandfather Lucius Licinius Crassus
        2. Cornelia Scipionis - daughter, married Publius Cornelius M. f. Lentulus
          1. Gnaeus Cornelius P. f. M. n. Lentulus
  4. Cornelia Africana Minor - younger daughter, married Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus
    1. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus - elder son of three surviving children, married Claudia Pulchra, daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher
      1. 3 sons, died young
    2. Gaius Sempronius Gracchus - younger son of three surviving children, married Licinia, daughter of Publius Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus
      1. Sempronia - daughter
    3. Sempronia - only daughter of three surviving children, married Scipio Aemilianus, no issue
    4. 9 other children, died in childhood

Resting place of Scipio Africanus

Archaeology has not yet determined the resting place of Scipio Africanus. The Tomb of the Scipios has been discovered and is open to the public, but it is not believed that Scipio Africanus was interred there. The possibility exists that he was returned to Rome and laid to rest there in a still undiscovered crypt. Livy says in his "History of Rome" that statues of Scipio Africanus, Lucius Scipio and the Roman poet Ennius (a friend of the family) were present at the Tomb of the Scipios when he visited it. However, Seneca (Epistle 86.1), having moved into the villa at Liternum that used to belong to Scipio Africanus, tells us that he has done 'reverence to his [Africanus'] spirit and to an altar which I am inclined to think is the tomb of that great warrior'. This suggests that it was known that Africanus was not buried inside Rome, and it is possible that his sarcophagus did indeed resemble an altar (although there is no direct evidence for this), given that that of the "founder" of the Scipiones, Scipio Barbatus, which can be found in pride of place in the family tomb, is altar-like in style.

Lost sources

Scipio is said to have written his memoirs in Greek, but those are lost (perhaps destroyed) along with the history written by his elder son and namesake (adoptive father of Scipio Aemilianus) and his Life by Plutarch. As a result, contemporary accounts of his life, particularly his childhood and youth, are virtually non-existent. Even Plutarch's account of Scipio's life, written much later, has been lost. What remains are accounts of his doings in Polybius, Livy's Histories (which say little about his private life), supplemented with the surviving histories of Appian and Cassius Dio, and the odd anecdote in Valerius Maximus. Of these, Polybius was the closest to Scipio Africanus in age and in connections, but his narrative may be biased by his friendship with Scipio's close relatives and that the primary source of his information about Africanus came from one of his best friends, Gaius Laelius.

Roman opinions of Scipio

Scipio was a man of great intellect and culture who could speak and read Greek, wrote his own memoirs in Greek and became also noted for his introduction of the clean shaven face fashion among the Romans according to the example of Alexander the Great. This men's fashion lasted until the time of emperor Hadrian and then was revived again by Constantine the Great.[26] He also enjoyed the reputation of being a graceful orator, the secret of his sway being his deep self-confidence and radiant sense of fairness.[19]

To his political opponents, he was often harsh and arrogant, but towards others singularly gracious and sympathetic. According to Gellmus, his life was written by Oppius and Hyginus, and also, it was said, by Plutarch.

His Graecophile lifestyle, and his unconventional way of wearing the Roman toga, raised much opposition among some Senators of Rome, led by Cato the Elder who felt that Greek influence was destroying Roman culture. Cato, as a loyalist of Fabius Maximus, had been sent out as quaestor to Scipio in Sicily circa 204 BC to investigate charges of military indiscipline, corruption, and other offence against Scipio; none of those charges was found true by the tribunes of the plebs accompanying Cato (it may or may not be significant that years later, as censor, Cato degraded Scipio's brother Scipio Asiaticus from the Senate. It is certainly true that some Romans of the day viewed Cato as a representative of the old Romans, and Scipio and his like as Graecophiles).[19]

He often visited the temple of Jupiter and made offerings there. There was a belief that he was a special favourite of heaven and actually communicated with the gods. It is quite possible that he himself honestly shared this belief. However, the strength of this belief is evident, even a generation later when his adopted grandson, Publius Aemilianus Scipio, was elected to the consulship from the office of tribune. His rise was spectacular and letters survive from soldiers under his command in Hispania show that they believed that he possessed the same abilities as his grandfather. The elder Scipio was a spiritual man as well as a soldier and statesman, and was a priest of Mars. The ability which he is supposed to have possessed is called by the old name, "second sight", and he is supposed to have had prescient dreams in which he saw the future. Livy describes this belief as it was perceived then, without offering his opinion as to its veracity. Polybius made a case that Scipio's successes resulted from good planning, rational thinking and intelligence, which he said was a higher sign of the gods' favour than prophetic dreams. Polybius suggested that people had only said that Scipio had supernatural powers because they had not appreciated the natural mental gifts which facilitated Scipio's achievements.[19]

Scipio's promiscuity as related by Roman historians

Continence of Scipio, Nicolas-Guy Brenet

The Roman historian Valerius Maximus, writing in the first century AD, alleged that Scipio Africanus had a weakness for beautiful women,[27] and knowing this, some of his soldiers presented him with a beautiful young woman captured in New Carthage. The woman turned out to be the fiancée of an important Iberian chieftain[28] and Scipio chose to act as a general and not an ordinary soldier in restoring her, virtue and ransom intact, to her fiancé.[29]

According to Valerius Maximus, Scipio had a relationship from circa 191 BC with one of his own serving girls, which his wife magnanimously overlooked.[30] The affair, if it lasted from circa 191 BC to Scipio's death 183 BC, might have resulted in issue (not mentioned); what is mentioned is that the girl was freed by Aemilia Paulla after Scipio's death and married to one of his freedmen. This account is only found in Valerius Maximus (Memorable Deeds and Sayings 6.7.1–3. L) writing in the 1st century AD, some decades after Livy. It should be noted however that Valerius Maximus is hostile to Scipio Africanus in other matters such as his frequent visits to the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which Maximus saw as "fake religion."[31]

Scipio's legacy


Scipio is considered by many to be one of Rome's greatest generals; he never lost a battle. Skillful alike in strategy and in tactics, he had also the faculty of inspiring his soldiers with confidence. According to story, Hannibal, who regarded Alexander the Great as the first and Pyrrhus as the second among military commanders, confessed that had he beaten Scipio he should have put himself before either of them—though this particular story was probably fabricated by Livy at a later date.[citation needed]

Metellus Scipio, a descendant of Scipio, commanded legions against Julius Caesar in Africa until his defeat at the Battle of Thapsus in 49 BC. Popular superstition was that only a Scipio could win a battle in Africa, so Julius Caesar assigned a distant relative of Metellus to his staff in order to say that he too had a Scipio fighting for him.[citation needed]


Scipio was the first Roman general to expand Roman territories outside Italy and islands around the Italian mainland. He conquered the Carthaginian territory of Iberia for Rome, although the two Iberian provinces were not fully pacified for a couple of centuries. His defeat of Hannibal at Zama paved the way for Carthage's eventual destruction in 146 BC. His interest in a Graecophile lifestyle had tremendous influence on the Roman elite; more than a century later, even the conservative Cato Uticensis (great-grandson of the elder Cato) espoused Greek philosophy. Scipio did not introduce Greek ideas or art to the Romans, but his ardent support for the Greek way of life coupled with his own charisma had its inevitable impact. Less beneficially, the Scipios may have led the way in the inevitable chasm that grew up between the Roman elite and the Roman masses, in terms of the way the elite was educated and lived and in the amount of wealth they possessed.

Scipio supported land distribution for his veterans in a tradition harking back to the earliest days of the Republic, yet his actions were seen as somewhat radical by conservatives. In being a successful general who demanded lands for his soldiers, Scipio may have led the way for later generals such as Gaius Marius and Julius Caesar. Unlike Marius or Caesar, however, he did not seek to use his charisma and reputation to weaken the Republic. The true measure of Scipio's character in this regard can perhaps be seen by his behaviour shortly after returning in triumph from Africa to a grateful Rome. Scipio refused to accept demands for him to become perpetual consul and dictator. For his self-restraint in putting the good of the republic ahead of his own gain, Scipio was praised by Livy for showing uncommon greatness of mind—an example conspicuously not emulated by Marius, Sulla or Caesar.[19]

The relatives of Scipio continued to dominate the republic for a couple of generations. This domination came to an end in the tumults between the Gracchi brothers, who were his grandsons, and their other relatives in the period from 133 to 122 BC. The Gracchi brothers championed land redistribution in order to boost the ranks of potential Roman soldiers, as Roman soldiers needed to own land to be enfranchised for service in the legions and the number of Roman land owners was withering. They were lynched by their relatives who disapproved of their methods and perhaps had economic reasons to fear the land redistribution. After the fall of the Gracchi, the house of Caecilius became more prominent; however, the Scipiones maintained their aristocratic lustre, providing the consular general who unsuccessfully prevented Sulla's second march on Rome and Metellus Scipio whose daughter was the last wife of Pompey the Great, and who took over command in the civil war against Julius Caesar after the death of Pompey. The granddaughter of Gaius Gracchus, Fulvia, was also unusually prominent for a Roman woman in the affairs of the late republic, marrying Publius Clodius, Gaius Curio and Mark Antony in turn. At a later date, some Roman emperors claimed descent from Scipio Africanus.

Classical literature

Scipio appears or is mentioned in passing in Cicero's De Republica and De Amicitia, and in Silius Italicus' Punica (Cicero was mentored by prominent Romans whose ancestors had been associated with Scipio). As a Roman hero, Scipio appears in Book VI of the Aeneid where he is shown to Aeneas in a vision in the underworld. Scipio figures prominently in Livy's "Ab urbe condita libri" and is named as an example of a warrior at the end of Book III of Lucretius' De rerum natura.

Medieval literature

Scipio is mentioned four times in Dante's Divine Comedy: in "Inferno"—Canto XXXI, in "Purgatorio"—Canto XXIX, and in "Paradiso"—Cantos VI and XXVII.

Renaissance literature and art

Scipio is the hero of Petrarch's Latin epic Africa. 'The Continence [i.e. moderation] of Scipio' was a stock motif in exemplary literature and art,[32] as was the 'Dream of Scipio', portraying his allegorical choice between Virtue and Luxury.[33] The Continence of Scipio, depicting his clemency and sexual restraint after the fall of Carthago Nova, was an even more popular subject. Versions of the subject were painted by many artists from the Renaissance through to the 19th century, including Andrea Mantegna and Nicholas Poussin. Scipio is also mentioned in Machiavelli's work The Prince (Chapter XVII "Concerning Cruelty And Clemency, And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared"). Milton mentions Scipio in Book 9 of Paradise Lost and in Book 3 of Paradise Regained. Raphael's painting Vision of a Knight is thought to be a depiction of Scipio.


Publius Cornelius Scipio was the title character of a number of Italian operas composed during the baroque period of music, including settings by George Frideric Handel, Leonardo Vinci, and Carlo Francesco Pollarolo. The march from Handel's setting, entitled Scipione, remains the regimental slow march of the British Grenadier Guards. Scipio is also referenced in the Italian national anthem.

Film and television

Shortly before Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, Benito Mussolini commissioned an epic film depicting the exploits of Scipio. Scipione l'africano, written by Carmine Gallone, won the Mussolini Cup for the greatest Italian film at the 1937 Venice Film Festival.

In 1971 Luigi Magni scripted and directed the movie Scipione, detto anche l'Africano (Scipio, aka "the African"), starring Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Silvana Mangano and Woody Strode, in which the historical events are portrayed in a light and satirical mode, with some intentional references to the political events of the time in which the movie was made.

In the 1983 BBC mini-series The Cleopatras, Scipio is portrayed by Geoffrey Whitehead. [34]

In the 2000 film Gladiator, the first battle in the Colosseum is meant to re-enact Scipio Africanus's battle of Zama against Hannibal's barbarian horde. In the film, Maximus ruins the re-enactment by leading the gladiators, who are meant to represent Hannibal's forces, to victory over Scipio's legionaries.

In the 2006 television film Hannibal – Rome's Worst Nightmare, he is portrayed by British actor Shaun Dingwall, notably at the battles of Cannae and Zama.

See also


  1. ^ "THE DATABASE OF ANCIENT ART." Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus." Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  3. ^ Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, The Life of Aemilius II.V
  4. ^ "Scipio Africanus Biography". Retrieved April 7, 2016. 
  5. ^ Pliny. "Book VII Chapter 47 (or 9)". Natural History. 
  6. ^ Scullard, Howard Hayes (1930). Scipio Africanus in the Second Punic War. Cambridge: University Press. pp. 37–38. 
  7. ^ Polybius, The Histories 10.3.5.
  8. ^ Livy, History of Rome 25.53.
  9. ^ Livy 25.2.6. "The story that Scipio won election both for himself and his brother is intrinsically improbable, and despite the authority of Polybius (10.4-5), has been generally rejected." See Broughton, vol. 1, p. 267.
  10. ^ Livy 25.2.6-7.
  11. ^ Livy, Book XXVI, Chapter 18 "...declaring himself a candidate, took his station on an eminence from which he could be seen by all."
  12. ^ Livy 26, 19, 11
  13. ^ Livy, Ab urbe condita libri xxvi. 50
  14. ^ Livy, Ab urbe condita libri xxviii.45–46.
  15. ^ Livy, Ab urbe condita libri xxix.1, xxix.25.
  16. ^ Plutarch, Fabius, 25, 26.
  17. ^ "Scipio Africanus Freeing Massiva". The Walters Art Museum. 
  18. ^ Lazenby, Hannibal's War, pp.220–221
  19. ^ a b c d e Liddell Hart, Basil (1992) [1926]. Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon. pp. 2–10, 24, 25, 200–207. ISBN 1-85367-132-0. 
  20. ^ a b "Scipio Africanus the Elder". Encarta. Microsoft Corporation. 2008. 
  21. ^ Livy, History of Rome, XXXVIII, 53
  22. ^ Livy, History of Rome 20.24.
  23. ^ Cicero, Brutus, a History of Famous Orators 77.
  24. ^ Broughton, vol. 1, p. 404.
  25. ^ Livy, History of Rome 41.27.
  26. ^ "Barba – NumisWiki, The Collaborative Numismatics Project". Retrieved October 19, 2012. 
  27. ^ Scipio Africanus : Final Act (187–184 BC) History of the Hellenistic and Roman World
  28. ^ Allucius (Livy, History of Rome XXVI.50), cf. Indibilis (Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds and Sayings 4.3.1)
  29. ^ Livy, Roman History, XXVI, 50 (extract)
  30. ^ Womanly virtue. 1st cent. A.D., Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds and Sayings 6.7.1–3. L Women's Life in Greece & Rome
  31. ^ Cicero – Encyclopedia of Religion
  32. ^ "Giulio Licinio | The Continence of Scipio | NG643.2 | The National Gallery, London". Retrieved October 19, 2012. 
  33. ^ "Raphael | An Allegory ('Vision of a Knight') | NG213 | The National Gallery, London". Retrieved October 19, 2012. 
  34. ^


Primary sources

Secondary sources

External links

  • Media related to Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major at Wikimedia Commons
  • Quotations related to Scipio Africanus at Wikiquote
  • Wikisource logo Works written by or about Scipio Africanus at Wikisource
  • Akinde, Michael (2006). "Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus". Michael Akinde. Retrieved 28 February 2009. 
  • Sloan, John. "Scipio Africanus, Publius Cornelius, (The Elder) (237–183 BC), son of Publius Cornelius Scipio". Xenophon Group International. Retrieved 28 February 2009. 
Political offices
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Quintus Caecilius Metellus and Lucius Veturius Philo
Consul of the Roman Republic
with Publius Licinius Crassus Dives
205 BC
Succeeded by
Marcus Cornelius Cethegus and Publius Sempronius Tuditanus
Preceded by
Marcus Porcius Cato and Lucius Valerius Flaccus
Consul of the Roman Republic
with Tiberius Sempronius Longus
194 BC
Succeeded by
Lucius Cornelius Merula and Quintus Minucius Thermus
Preceded by
Gaius Claudius Nero
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Censor of the Roman Republic
with Publius Aelius Paetus
199 BC
Succeeded by
Gaius Cornelius Cethegus
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