Most importantly though, he did not abuse his power. [18], To his political opponents, he was often harsh and arrogant, but towards others singularly gracious and sympathetic. He was elected consul for a second time in 194 B.C. Scipio's objective was, therefore, to quickly eliminate one of the armies to give him the luxury of dealing with the other two piecemeal. Scipio was astonished by her beauty but discovered that the woman was betrothed to a Celtiberian chieftain named Allucius. Livy 25.2.6. Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) is best known as the Roman general who was a lover of Cleopatra. An assassination ended his reign on the Ides of March. Scipio himself was subsequently (185 BC) accused of having been bribed by Antiochus. 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. https://www.biography.com/military-figure/scipio-africanus. Scipio's political enemies, led by Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder, gained ground. 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.[13]. Skillful alike in strategy and in tactics, he had also the faculty of inspiring his soldiers with confidence. 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. 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. Livy reports that, as a Roman commissioner to Ephesus following the defeat of Antiochus III, on meeting the exiled Hannibal, Scipio took the opportunity to ask Hannibal's opinion of the "greatest commander," to which Hannibal named Alexander the Great as the first and Pyrrhus as the second. Bust tentatively identified as Scipio Africanus, formerly attributed to. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus learned the art of war in the hardest and bloodiest of all forums—on the battlefield against Hannibal. Also know, what does Scipio Africanus mean? Also, Scipio died seemingly at the same time as Hannibal potentially at his own hands (which seems kind of Romeo & Juliet -esk). Scipio Africanus Major (236–183 bc) (Publius Cornelius Scipio) Roman general in the second of the Punic Wars.He defeated the Carthaginian forces in Spain in 209 bc. [20] It is supposedly in gratitude for this act that Scipio betrothed his youngest daughter Cornelia (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 Africanus' grave, damaged, at St Mary's Church in Henbury. Historians are roughly equal in their praise and condemnation for this act. © 2021 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. The Carthaginians were also preoccupied with revolts in Africa. 'The Continence [i.e. 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. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (/ˈskɪpioʊ/, /ˈsɪ-/, Latin: [ˈskiːpioː]; 236/235–183 BC) was a Roman general and later consul who is often regarded as one of the best military commanders and strategists of all time. Despite his triumphs, Scipio had many powerful political enemies in Rome, including Marcus Cato. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus is a character who first appeared in Nerd³ Completes... WWE 2K16 as Dan's career wrestler. Then, when did Scipio Africanus live? Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus died the following year, and, bitter about his treatment at the hands of the powers that be in Rome, he refused to be buried there, saying “Patria ingrata, ne … This broke the back of Hasdrubal's army and routed his forces—an impressive feat for the young Roman versus the veteran Carthaginian general. Hannibal was recalled from Italy in order to defend Carthage. 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"). Scipio survived the battle, and regrouped at Canusium with 4,000 other survivors. For the first time in decades, Hannibal was without a military command, and never again did he lead Carthaginians into battle. In 202 B.C., Scipio defeated Hannibal in the Battle of Zama and ended the Second Punic War. He also appears in the Haemimont Games video game Imperivm III: The Great Battles of Rome, Centurion: Defender of Rome,[32] and in the Hannibal at the Gates campaign in Total War: Rome II. Pubius Cornelius Scipio Africanus landed in Emporiae with three legions. Scipio's political enemies, led by Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder, gained ground. Versions of the subject were painted by many artists from the Renaissance through to the 19th century, including Andrea Mantegna and Nicolas Poussin. He is said to have ordered his burial at Liternum and not in the ungrateful city of Rome, where his family tomb lay outside, on the Appian Way. 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. Besides, Scipio's tactics at Zama were not especially brilliant, he did a few creative things, but the battle was mainly a slug fest that the veteran Roman army was better designed for. 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. 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"). Publius Cornelius Scipiowas born in the year 236 B.C. 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. Leo Africanus left Rome and spent the next three or four years traveling in Italy. His Napoleonic Code remains a model for governments worldwide. Read another story from us: How Scipio Defeated Hannibal And His Elephants and Earned the Name Africanus. 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. When the Scipiones returned to Rome, two tribunes prosecuted (187 BC) Lucius on the grounds of misappropriation of money received from Antiochus. 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. 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. Asked by Wiki User. Others cite the Roman soldiers' appetite for plunder as preventing him from rallying in pursuit. In 1766, aged just three, George John Scipio Africanus was taken from what is now Sierra Leone and forced into slavery. Metellus Scipio was the last Scipio to distinguish himself militarily or politically. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus learned the art of war in the hardest and bloodiest of all forums—on the battlefield against Hannibal. Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military general who crowned himself the first emperor of France. As Emperor of Rome from 161-180, Marcus Aurelius kept the empire safe from the Parthians and Germans but is best known for his intellectual pursuits. 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. This gave Scipio access to a new cache of weapons and supplies. 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. He fought in the War of 1812 and died at the Alamo in the Texas Revolution. ... Their eldest son, also named George, died aged 14 and is also buried at St Mary's. Due to his triumphs in Africa, he was awarded the title "Africanus." He is best known for defeating Hannibal at the final Battle of Zama (near modern Zama, Tunisia) in 202 BC. 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 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. Scipio and Aemilia Paulla also had two surviving daughters. 1 Early career 2 The … Two years later, he took the city of Carthago Nova (New Carthage), the center of Carthaginian power in Spain. The Roman infantry had driven off the two front lines of the Carthaginian army, and in the respite took an opportunity to drink water. [citation needed]. 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. 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). Scipio, already known for his bravery and patriotism, was elected unanimously and the Tribunes abandoned their opposition. Davy Crockett was a frontiersman, legendary folk hero and three-time Congressman. Livy describes this belief as it was perceived then, without offering his opinion as to its veracity. [7], Scipio offered himself as a candidate for aedilis curulis in 213 BC alongside his cousin Marcus Cornelius Cethegus. Disillusioned by the ingratitude of his peers, Scipio left Rome and retired from public life at his villa in Liternum. In 205 BC, Scipio was unanimously elected to consulship at the age of 31. Scipio smiled and asked, 'What would you say if you had vanquished me?' (p257) Learn how and when to remove this template message, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica, "Barba – NumisWiki, The Collaborative Numismatics Project". 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. Scipio's conquest of Carthaginian Iberia culminated in the Battle of Ilipa (near Alcalá del Río, Spain) in 206 BC against Hannibal's brother Mago Barca. 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. He now spends his days on twitter and can be found @scipioafricWWE Scipio was born in Rome 236 BC, and died in Liternum, 183 BC at an age of 53. Scipio features as a playable character, represented by a cataphract, in the Battle of Zama in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. But by the time he died, almost 70 … He later committed suicide. Serapio's son, the fourth Scipio Nasica, was even more conservative, and rose to be consul in 111 BC. When the Scipiones returned to Rome, two tribunes prosecuted (187 BC) Lucius on the grounds of misappropriation of money received from Antiochus. 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. The resulting infantry clash was fierce and bloody, with neither side achieving local superiority. Scipio retired to his country seat at Liternum on the coast of Campania. 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. "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." Scipio Africanus, also called Scipio Africanus the Elder, Latin Scipio Africanus Major, in full Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, (born 236 bce —died 183 bce, Liternum, Campania [now Patria, Italy]), Roman general noted for his victory over the Carthaginian leader Hannibal in the great Battle of Zama (202 bce ), ending the Second Punic War. Named Scipio Africanus by his owners after the great Roman general who conquered Africa in 202 BC, the young black slave was born in 1702 and died aged 18 in 1720. 1, p. 267. In the year of Scipio's arrival (211 BC),[11] all of Hispania south of the Ebro river was under Carthaginian control. Livy tells the story of his troops capturing a beautiful woman, whom they offered to Scipio as a prize of war. The two committed suicide after their defeat by Octavian. ), both of whom died before the war ended. The victory was one of the feats that earned him the agnomen he is best known for: Africanus. And yet Scipio's dead body lay exposed for all to see, and all who beheld it formed … They were lynched by their relatives who disapproved of their methods and perhaps had economic reasons to fear the land redistribution. 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. The two brothers brought the war to a conclusion by a decisive victory at Magnesia in the same year. He was barely an adult when Hannibal invaded Italy. 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. 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. 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