Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SCIPIO1 (" staff ")

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 407 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

SCIPIO1 (" See also:staff ") , the name of a patrician See also:branch of the Cornelian gens, of which the following are the See also:principal See also:historical representatives: I. PUBLIUS See also:CORNELIUS SCIPIO, See also:father of the See also:elder See also:Africanus. He was See also:consul in 218 B.c., the first See also:year of the Second Punic See also:War, and sailed with an See also:army from See also:Pisa to Massilia, with the view of arresting See also:Hannibal's advance on See also:Italy. Failing, however, to meet his enemy, he hastened to return by See also:sea to Cisalpine See also:Gaul, having sent back his army to See also:Spain under the command of his See also:brother Gnaeus, with instructiohs to hold the Carthaginian forces there in check. On his return to Italy he at once advanced to meet Hannibal. In a See also:sharp See also:cavalry engagement in the upper valley of the Po, on the Ticinus, he was defeated and severely wounded. Again, in See also:December of the same year, he witnessed the See also:complete defeat of the See also:Roman army on the See also:Trebia, his colleague T. Sempronius See also:Longus having insisted on fighting contrary to his See also:advice. But he still retained the confidence of the Roman See also:people; his See also:term of command was extended, and we find him with his brother in Spain in the following year, winning victories over the Carthaginians and strengthening See also:Rome's hold on that See also:country, till 212 (or 211). The details of these See also:campaigns are not accurately known, but it would seem that the ultimate defeat and See also:death of the Scipios were due to the See also:desertion of the Celtiberi,bribed byHasdrubal,Hannibal's brother. See See also:Polybius iii. ,'4o; See also:Livy xxi.-See also:xxv.; See also:Appian, Hannib.

5-8, Hisp. 14-16. 2. PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO AFRICANUS, the elder (2372--183 B.C.), son of the above. He was See also:

present at the disastrous battles of the Ticinus (where, according to one tradition, he saved his father's See also:life), the Trebia and See also:Cannae. Even after the last of these he resolutely protested against several Roman nobles who advocated giving up the struggle and quitting Italy in despair (see See also:METELLUS, 2). The year after his father's death, he offered himself for the command of the new army which the See also:Romans resolved to send to Spain. In spite of his youth, his See also:noble demeanour and enthusiastic See also:language had made so See also:great an impression that he was unanimously elected. All Spain See also:south of the See also:Ebro in the year of his arrival (210 or 209) was under Carthaginian See also:control, but fortunately for him the three Carthaginian generals, See also:Hasdrubal and See also:Mago (Hannibal's See also:brothers), and Hasdrubal the son of Gisgo, were not disposed to See also:act in See also:concert and were preoccupied with revolts in See also:Africa. Scipio, on landing at the mouth of the Ebro, was thus enabled to surprise and See also:capture New See also:Carthage, the headquarters of the Carthaginian See also:power in Spain. He thus obtained a See also:rich See also:booty of war stores and supplies, and an excellent See also:harbour. His kindly treatment of the See also:Spanish hostages and prisoners brought many over to his See also:side.

In 209 he drove back Hasdrubal, from his position at Baecula, on the upper See also:

Guadalquivir, but was unable to hinder his See also:march to Italy. After winning over a number of Spanish chiefs he achieved in 206 a decisive victory over the full Carthaginian See also:levy at Ilipa (near Corduba), which resulted in the evacuation of Spain by the Punic commanders. With the See also:idea of striking a See also:blow at Carthage in Africa, he paid a See also:short visit to the Numidian princes, Syphax and See also:Massinissa, but at the See also:court of Syphax he was foiled by the presence of Hasdrubal, the son of Gisgo, whose daughter Sophonisba was married to the Numidian See also:chief. On his return to Spain Scipio had to quell a See also:mutiny which had broken out among his troops. Hannibal's brother Mago had meanwhile sailed for Italy, and in 206 Scipio himself, having secured the Roman occupation of Spain by the capture of Gades, gave up his command and returtt9d to Rome. In the following year he was unanimously The first i is See also:long—Scipio. So Polybius: 235 according to Livy. elected to the consulship, the See also:province of See also:Sicily being assigned to him. By this See also:time Hannibal's movements were restricted to the south-western extremity of Italy, and the war was now to be transferred to Africa. Scipio was himself See also:intent on this, and his great name See also:drew to him a number of See also:volunteers from all parts of Italy, but the old-fashioned See also:aristocracy of Rome, who disliked his luxurious tastes and his See also:Greek culture, and still entertained a wholesome dread of Hannibal, opposed the idea; all Scipio could obtain was permission to See also:cross over from Sicily to Africa, if it appeared to be in the interests of Rome. The introduction (2o5) of the Phrygian See also:worship of See also:Cybele and the transference of the See also:image of the goddess herself from See also:Pessinus to Rome (see GREAT See also:MOTHER OF THE GODS) to bless the expedition no doubt had its effect on public See also:opinion. A See also:commission of inquiry was sent over to Sicily, and it found that Scipio was at the See also:head of a well-equipped See also:fleet and army.

At the commissioners' bidding he sailed in 204 and landed near See also:

Utica. Carthage meanwhile had secured the friendship of the Numidian Syphax, whose advance compelled Scipio to raise the See also:siege of Utica and to entrench_ himself on the See also:shore between that See also:place and Carthage. Next year he destroyed two combined armies of the Carthaginians and Numidians. After the failure of See also:peace negotiations in which Scipio displayed great moderation, he defeated Hannibal in a decisive See also:battle near Zama (Oct. 19, 202; see PuNIc See also:WARS). In the subsequent See also:settlement with Carthage he upheld with success his comparatively lenient terms against the immoderate demands of many Roman aristocrats. Scipio was welcomed back to Rome with the surname of Africanus, and had the See also:good sense to refuse the many honours which the people would have thrust upon him. For some years he lived quietly and took no See also:part in politics. In 193 he was one of the commissioners sent to Africa to See also:settle a dispute between Massinissa and the Carthaginians. In 190, when the Romans declared war against See also:Antiochus III. of See also:Syria, Publius was attached as See also:legate to his brother See also:Lucius, to whom the chief command had been entrusted. The two brothers brought the war to a conclusion by a decisive victory at See also:Magnesia in the same year. Meanwhile Scipio's See also:political enemies had gained ground, and on their return to Rome a See also:prosecution was started (187) by two tribunes against Lucius on the ground of misappropriation of moneys received from Antiochus.

As Lucius was in the act of producing his See also:

account-books his brother wrested them from his hands, tore them in pieces, and flung them on the See also:floor of the See also:senate-See also:house. This created a See also:bad impression; Lucius was brought to trial, condemned and heavily fined. Africanus himself was subsequently (185) accused of having been bribed by Antiochus, but by reminding the people that it was the anniversary of his victory at Zama he caused an. outburst of See also:enthusiasm in his favour. The people crowded See also:round him and followed him to the Capitol to offer thanks to the gods and beg them to give Rome more citizens like himself. He then retired to his native country seat at See also:Liternum on the See also:coast of See also:Campania, where he died. By his wife Aemilia, daughter of the See also:Aemilius Paullus who See also:fell at Cannae, he had a daughter See also:Cornelia, who became the mother of the two famous Gracchi. Scipio was one of Rome's greatest generals. Skilful alike in See also:strategy and in See also:tactics, he had also the,See also:faculty of inspiring his soldiers with confidence. According to the See also:story, Hannibal, who regarded See also:Alexander as the first and See also:Pyrrhus as the second among military commanders, confessed that had he beaten Scipio he should have put himself before either of them. He was a See also:man of great intellectual culture and could speak and write Greek perfectly. He wrote his own See also:memoirs in Greek. He also enjoyed the reputation of being a graceful orator.

There was a belief that he was a See also:

special favourite of See also:heaven and held actual communication with the gods. It is quite possible that he himself honestly shared this belief; to his political opponents he was often harsh and arrogant, but towards others singularly gracious and sympathetic. According to See also:Gellius, his life was written by See also:Oppius and See also:Hyginus, and also, it was said, by See also:Plutarch. See Livy xxi.-xxxviii. and Polybius; Aulus Gellius iv. 18;Val. Max. iii. 7; See also:biography by F. D. Gerlach (1868); E. See also:Berwick (1817), with notes and illustrations; also PUNIC WARS. 3. PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO AEMILIANUS AFRICANUS, the younger (185–129 B.C.), was the younger son of L.

Aemilius Paullus, the conqueror of See also:

Macedonia. He fought when a youth of seventeen by his father's side at the battle of Pydna (168), which decided the See also:fate of Macedonia and made See also:northern See also:Greece subject to Rome. He was adopted by P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the eldest son of Scipio Africanus the elder, and from him took the name Scipio with the surname Africanus. In 151, a time of defeat and disaster for the Romans in Spain, he voluntarily offered his services in that country and obtained an See also:influence over the native tribes similar to that which the elder Scipio, his grandfather by See also:adoption, had acquired nearly sixty years before. In the next year an See also:appeal was made to him by the Carthaginians to act as-arbiter between them and the Numidian See also:prince Massinissa, who, backed up by a party at Rome, was incessantly encroaching on Carthaginian territory. In 149 war was declared by Rome, and a force sent to besiege Carthage. In the See also:early operations of the war, which went altogether against the Romans, Scipio, though a subordinate officer, distinguished himself repeatedly, and in 147 he was elected consul, while yet under the legal See also:age, in See also:order that he might hold the supreme command. After a year of desperate fighting and splendid heroism on the part of the defenders he carried the fortress, and at the senate's bidding levelled it to the ground. On his return to Rome he celebrated a splendid See also:triumph, having also established a See also:personal claim to his adoptive surname of Africanus. In 142, during his censorship, he endeavoured to check the growing luxury and immorality of the See also:period. In 139 he was unsuccessfully accused of high See also:treason by Tiberius See also:Claudius Asellus, whom he had degraded when See also:censor.

The speeches delivered by him on that occasion (now lost) were considered brilliant. In 134 he was again consul, with the province of Spain, where a demoralized Roman army was vainly attempting the See also:

conquest of See also:Numantia on the Durius (See also:Douro). After devoting several months to restoring the discipline of his troops, he reduced the See also:city by See also:blockade. The fall of Numantia in 133 established the Roman dominion in the province of Hither Spain. For his services Scipio received the additional surname of Numan,tinus. Scipio himself, though not in sympathy with the extreme conservative party, was decidedly opposed to the schemes of the Gracchi (whose See also:sister Sempronia was his wife). When he heard of the death of Tiberius See also:Gracchus, he is said to have quoted the See also:line from the Odyssey (i. 47), " So perish all who do the like again "; after his return to Rome he was publicly asked by the See also:tribune C. Papirius See also:Carbo what he thought of the fate of Gracchus, and replied that he was justly slain. This gave dire offence to the popular party, which was now led by his bitterest foes. Soon afterwards, in 129, on the See also:morning of the See also:day on which he had intended to make a speech in reference to the agrarian proposals of the Gracchi, he was found dead in See also:bed. The See also:mystery of his death was never cleared up, and there were political reasons for letting the See also:matter drop, but there is little doubt that he was 'assassinated by one of the supporters of the Gracchi, probably Carbo, whose See also:guilt is expressly stated by See also:Cicero (see GRACCHUS).

The younger Scipio, great See also:

general and great man as he was, is for ever associated with the destruction of Carthage. The horror he expressed at its fate was a tardy repentance. Yet he was a man of culture and refinement; he gathered round him such men as the Greek historian Polybius, the philosopher See also:Panaetius, and the poets See also:Lucilius and See also:Terence. At the same time he had all the virtues of an old-fashioned Roman, according to Polybius and Cicero, the latter of whom gives an appreciation of him in his De republics, in which Scipio is the chief See also:speaker. As a speaker he seems to have been no less distinguished than as a soldier. He spoke remarkably good and pure Latin, and he particularly enjoyed serious and intellectual conversation. After the capture of Carthage he gave back to the Greek cities of Sicily the See also:works of See also:art of which Carthage had robbed them. He did not avail himself of the many opportunities he must have had of amassing a See also:fortune. Though politically opposed to the Gracchi, he cannot be said to have been a foe to the interests of the people. He was, in fact, a moderate man, in favour of conciliation, and he was See also:felt by the best men to be a safe political adviser, while he unfortunately contrived to offend both parties. See Polybius See also:xxxv. 4, xxxix.; Vell.

Pat. i. i2; See also:

Florus ii. 15, 17, 18; Appian, Punica, 72, 98, 113-131, Hisp. 48-95, See also:Bell. Civ. i. 19 ; Plutarch, Aemilius Paullus, 22, Tib. Gracchus, 21, C. Gracchus, 10; Gellius iv. 20, v. 19; Cicero, De oral. ii. 4o; exhaustive life by E. See also:Person (See also:Paris, 1877) ; monograph by Lincke (See also:Dresden, 1898). 4.

PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO NASICA SERAPIO, consul 138 B.C., took a prominent part in the See also:

murder of Tiberius Gracchus. To See also:save him from the vengeance of the people, he was sent by the senate on a pretended See also:mission to See also:Asia, where he died. The See also:nickname Serapio was given him by the tribune C. Curiatius from his likeness to one Serapio, a dealer in sacrificial victims. See Appian, Punica, 8o B.c., i. 16; Val. Max. ix. 14; Plutarch, Tib. Gracchus, 21.

End of Article: SCIPIO1 (" staff ")

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SCION 		[next]
SCIRE FACIAS

Site © 2006 - Net Industries