Scipio the African

Scipio Africanus or Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (Latin, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus; Rome, June 20, 236 BC-Liternum, Campania, December 3, 183 BC) was a Roman general and politician, appointed consul in the years 205 BC. C. and 194 a. C. He began his military career at the beginning of the Second Punic War in 218 BC. c.; according to some sources, he was one of the commanders who managed to survive the battle of Cannae in 216 BC. c.

After the death of his father and uncle in battle with the Carthaginians in Hispania, Scipio became the commander in this region —in the capacity of imperator—, with the authority of the proconsul of 211 B.C. C. until 206 a. c.; he took Carthago Nova in 209 BC. C., defeated Asdrúbal Barca in 208 a. C., destroyed the armies of Magón Barca and Hasdrúbal, son of Gisgon in the Battle of Ilipa at the end of 206 a. C. As a result, the Romans controlled all the Carthaginian possessions in Hispania, which had a decisive influence on the outcome of the war.

By returning to Rome, Scipio secured his election as consul and obtained permission to land in Africa. In 203 B.C. C., he destroyed the army of Hasdrubal Gisco and the king of Numidia Sifax, and then again defeated Hasdrubal in the great Plains and put all Numidia under his control by placing his ally Masinissa as king. All of this forced Carthage to summon his best general—Hannibal Barca—who left Italy and marched back to defend his homeland. However Hannibal would be defeated by Scipio in the decisive battle of Zama, after which he concluded a peace in which Carthage ceded Hispania to Rome, lost his fleet and the right to pursue an independent foreign policy. For this last campaign, Scipio received the agnomen of "the African".

In the years that followed, Scipio became the most influential man in the Roman Republic. He was appointed Censor and princeps senatus in 199 BC. C., his relatives and followers would regularly hold managerial positions. When a new war against Syria began, he became a legacy of his brother Lucius of him, in 190 BC. In the battle of Magnesia, he would help his brother defeat King Antiochus III of Syria completely, forcing him to sue for peace with Rome. Upon returning from the east, Publio Cornelio and his brother were prosecuted by their political opponents led by the Censor Marco Porcio Cato, who accused him of corruption and theft of 500 talents. Scipio refused to defend himself against the charges of treason and embezzlement and went into voluntary exile. A year later, in 183 a. C., he died in his villa in Campania.

Fonts

The oldest extant sources that speak of Scipio the African, are located in a Universal History of Polybius. Said author belonged to the entourage of his hero's grandson, Scipio Aemilianus, and was therefore familiar with Scipio Africanus's widow, his daughters, his son-in-law, his brother-in-law, and his friend. closest to him, Gaius Lelio. Therefore, he was able to inform himself in a concrete way with all these people while the main source for the Achaean historian became the stories of Lelio. Polybius describes the life of Scipio from the beginning of his military career in 218 BC. C., until his processing in 180 a. C. But most of the Universal History books that speak of Publius Cornelius are not completely preserved.

Publius Cornelius Scipio occupied an important place in the "History of Rome from the foundation of the city" by Titus Livy who was under the notable influence of Polybius, but also used the lost works of Roman analysts. The main stages of Scipio's life are described in books XXI - XXXIX. Plutarch dedicated one of his "Parallel Lives" to Scipio the African, his being paired with Epaminondas's biography and written perhaps before all the others. Both compositions have been lost, but important information about Scipio is contained in the biographies of the Censor Marco Porcio Cato, Quinto Fabio Máximo, and Tito Quincio Flaminino.

Appian, another Greek historian of the II century d. C., spoke about the wars of Scipio the African in several books of his "Roman history", compiled on a geographical basis. These are the books «Ibero-Roman Wars», «Punic Wars» and «Syrian Affairs». A description of various military campaigns and individual battles often turns Appian into a set of small connected episodes, but at the same time the writer often offers alternative versions of events, and this says that he is relying on the pre-Polybius tradition.

Separate episodes of Scipio's biography are described in more or less detail in Latin collections of historical accounts created by Valerius Maximus and Pseudo-Aurelio Victor and in various general reviews of Roman history written by both pagans (Veleius Paterculus Lucius Aneus Floro and Eutropio) and Christians (Paulo Orosio).

In historiography, Scipio Africanus inevitably appears in all general reviews of the history of the Roman Republic (for example, in the works of T. Mommzen and S. Kovalev). By virtue of his role, he is one of the main figures in all works on the history of the Punic Wars (for example, I. Shifman, S. Lancel, E. Rodionov), as well as in various monographs and articles.. On the history of ancient Spain, the internal political struggle in Rome, which coincided with the late stage of the life of Publius Cornelius, is the subject of several scientific works, mainly studying the biography of Scipio's main opponent, Cato the Elder.. In the monograph of the Soviet historian N. Trukhina, Scipio the African was one of the main characters along with Scipio Emilianus.

The books of the Russian researcher T. Bobrovnikova, the British BG Liddel Garth and H. Skallard, the American Heywood, are mainly devoted to the biography of Scipio.

Early military career

Born into the patrician family of the Scipios, a branch of the Cornelia gens, Publius began his military career under the auspices of his father, of the same name (consul of 218 BC, who would fall in Hispania in 211 BC), and the help of his uncle Gnaeus.

When he was still young, he was surprised by the invasion of Italy by the Carthaginian armies of Hannibal Barca and had his first encounter with him at the Battle of Ticino. He was then accompanying his father, then consul, and had been assigned command of a turma (cavalry squadron) in the rear, away from danger. During the fight his father was wounded and Publius, who was 18 years old at the time, ordered his men to follow him to rescue him. Seeing them falter, he charged by himself, embarrassing the soldiers, who had no choice but to follow him. Finally a group of horsemen surrounded the consul, managing to rescue him.

Later, the father wanted to reward him with the civic crown (to which he was entitled, for having saved a citizen), but he refused, arguing that the action itself was already a reward. There are versions that indicate that he was actually a Ligurian slave who rescued Scipio's father. However, the reaction of turning down the award fits the personality of the future general.

He also participated in the Battle of Cannae, the greatest Roman military defeat until the Battle of Arausio. He rose to prominence after the defeat, when some Roman patricians, totally discouraged and seeing a bleak future for Rome, wanted to defect and offer their services abroad. They agreed to hold a meeting to discuss the matter. Upon finding out, Scipio interrupted the meeting and urged them to use that energy for the good of Rome. He forced them to swear allegiance to their country on pain of killing anyone who did not. They all did it, one by one, fearful and ashamed of their actions (even Quinto Fabio Máximo, son of Fabio Máximo, the greatest political enemy of the Scipio family).

Due to these actions, Scipio had already won the favor of the people to such an extent that he was unanimously appointed curul edile in the year 212 BC. C., although he was not yet of the mandatory age. On this occasion, he already gave signs of the pride that characterized him throughout his life, since when the tribunes of the plebs opposed the councilor he requested, he haughtily responded: "If all the quirites they want to make me mayor, I am old enough".

After Cannae, the situation reached its critical point when the Roman armies sent by the Senate to Hispania, with the aim of destroying the Carthaginian bases in the region, were annihilated by Hasdrubal Barca, Hannibal's brother, dying in Said combats Publius and Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio, father and uncle respectively of Scipio the African, because of the betrayal of the Celtiberian mercenaries.

Gaius Claudius Nero was sent as propraetor to replace them. The following year (210 BC) the Romans decided to reinforce their army in Hispania, and place it under the command of a proconsul. But when the people met to elect a proconsul, none of the experienced generals dared demand such a dangerous command.

It was then that the young Scipio seized the opportunity. Despite the fact that, at 24 years of age, he was not old enough to occupy the position, he was unanimously elected, being an exception to the rule, tolerated by the precarious situation of Rome. After the vote, many people wondered if he had voted correctly, since the boy had no military experience and was still in mourning. But a speech was enough for Publius to calm things down.

Thus, in the year 211 B.C. C. self-proposed for proconsul, but the Senate ended up refusing, headed by Quinto Fabio Máximo, and he was sent to Hispania with only the rank of general, with an imperium over the legions in Hispania, without having any title due to his little experience and his youth, and with a new army made up of two legions, and a prestigious military advisory council.

The campaign of Hispania

Genealogy of the Scipiones

Upon reaching Hispania, the Romans once again controlled only the north-eastern coast, from the Pyrenees to the Iberus. In addition, the army was demoralized by the defeats and clearly outnumbered by the army of Hasdrubal Barca and his Celtiberian allies.

Although he had orders to remain on the defensive, he disobeyed them and prepared the invasion of Carthaginian Iberia. He ordered the Roman fleet to load up with equipment and supplies, while his soldiers advanced rapidly up the coast. It is said that he toured with the entire army, in a week, the territory between his bases on the northeast coast and the Carthaginian capital in Hispania, Carthago Nova (in Punic Qart Hadast), present-day Cartagena.

The Carthaginian army, which was unaware of Scipio's march towards its capital and was in bases far away, was unable to arrive in time to avoid the siege. Carthago Nova fell in 209 BC. C. after a very brief episode. Scipio's troops attacked from three points: the isthmus that connected the city with land, by sea, and by the lagoon to the north of the city, which was uncovered by defenders. Scipio, showing magnanimity and moderation unbecoming of his time, forbade the looting of the city and respected the lives of its citizens; also respecting the life of Magón, commander of the Cartago Nova garrison.

Many historians regard the fall of Carthago Nova as the turning point of the Second Punic War. Not in vain Carthage had not only lost its capital in Hispania, its main naval base, but also its silver mines, a large amount of food and stored weapons and even the prisoners and hostages with which they ensured the loyalty of the subject peoples..

Scipio returned unmolested to Tarraco, where he remained for the rest of the year, since his forces were not large enough to meet the enemy on the battlefield, and he was anxious to strengthen alliances with the Spanish chiefs.

In this he was more successful than could have been anticipated. The capture of Carthago Nova, as well as his personal popularity, led to many of the Hispanic tribes deserting the Carthaginian cause, and when he resumed action in the following year, 209 BC. C., Indíbil and Mandonio, two of the most powerful and until now most faithful supporters of Carthage, left Hasdrubal's camp and waited for the arrival of Scipio.

Reinforced with their new allies, the Roman army was advancing rapidly to the south. In the year 208 B.C. C. faced in Hispania Asdrúbal and Scipio in the battle of Baecula, which ended with the victory of the Romans. However, the Carthaginian managed to escape with part of his troops and marched through the Plateau, managing to cross the Pyrenees towards Italy to meet his brother Hannibal, although before achieving it he was defeated by the two consular armies, after an ambush, in battle. del Metauro (207 BC), where he was killed.

The following year, the propretor Marco Silano defeated Magón in Celtiberia, with which the latter marched to the south of the country and joined Hasdrúbal, the son of Gisco, in Baetica.

Scipio took the opportunity to conquer the Guadalquivir valley, called Baetis in Roman times. In 206 B.C. C. the last great battle took place on Spanish soil, facing Carthaginians and Romans in the battle of Ilipa, near Hispalis. Scipio triumphed again, and the Carthaginian army was definitively destroyed. The last Carthage bases in Hispania were falling rapidly. The last Punic city in Hispania, Gadir (now Cádiz), surrendered that same year. During the campaign, Scipio settled his wounded and veterans in a pre-existing Turdetan city, which he called Itálica, below and next to the current Santiponce, a few kilometers north of Hispalis, modern Seville.

After these feats Publius Cornelius Scipio returned to Italy.

Scipio's plans

The subjugation of Hispania was considered by Scipio, only as a means to an end. It seems that for some time the idea of the project to transfer the war to Africa had been formed, and thus force the Carthaginians to recall Hannibal from Italy.

Therefore, he resolves, before returning to Rome, to cross into Africa, and to secure, if possible, the friendship and cooperation of some of its indigenous princes. His personal influence had already secured the adherence of Masinisa, who was serving in the Carthaginian army in Spain, but whose desertion by his former allies was for the moment a secret, and he is confident that his very personal ascendancy will serve to win the support of the still most powerful Sifax, the king of the Numidian Massesilos tribe.

With only two quinqueremes he ventured out of his province, and reached the court of Sifax. There he met his old adversary, Asdrúbal, the son of Gisco, who had passed from Gades for the same purpose.

Lelio, who accompanied his friend, told Polybius that Scipio made a great impression on Sifax, 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 largely due to the charms of his daughter Sophonisba, whom he gave in marriage to the king of the Numidians.

Scipio, on his return to Hispania, was surprised by a formidable insurrection against Roman power that had broken out among many of the Hispanics. Mago, who was still in Gades, had had no difficulty in instigating the revolt. The insurrection, however, soon ended; and a terrible vengeance was inflicted on the city of Illiturgi, which had taken a leading part in the revolt.

As soon as this danger disappeared, Scipio fell prey to a serious illness. Eight thousand of the Roman soldiers, unhappy at not having received their usual wages, and prevented from sacking the towns, took advantage of this opportunity to start a mutiny, but Scipio recovered in time to put it down.

Later, he crushed the last remnants of the insurrection in Hispania. Magón had abandoned Hispania and crossed to Liguria to try to help his brother Hannibal, so there were no more enemies in Hispania. Escipión consequently, delivered the Roman army, in the year 206 a. C., to the proconsuls L. Lentulo and L. Manlio Acidino, who had been appointed as his successors, and returned to Rome in the same year.

Scipio in Italy

The situation in the Roman Republic had changed profoundly during his absence. Hannibal not only had not defeated the legions again, but had lost almost all his support: the main rebel bases (Capua, Tarento, Syracuse, etc.) had fallen and their inhabitants reduced to slavery. Hasdrubal, whose army had crossed the Alps and was preparing to meet Hannibal, was defeated by the Romans at the Battle of the Metaurus in 207 BC. c.

Back in Rome, Scipio became a candidate for the consulship, and was elected for the following year (205 BC) by a unanimous vote of all the centuries, even though he had not yet held office. praetor, and he was only thirty years old. His colleague was Publio Licinio Craso Dives, who was Pontifex Maximus, and therefore could not leave Italy.

Consequently, if the war was to continue abroad, it must necessarily fall to Scipio to carry it out. His objective was to prepare an army with which to land in Africa, threatening Carthage in its own territory and thus forcing the departure of Hannibal from Italy, but the oldest members of the Senate, and among them Quintus Fabius Maximus, opposed this project., partly because he considered it risky and partly out of jealousy of the young consul.

All Scipio could get was the province of Sicily, with permission to cross into Africa, if it was for the benefit of the Republic, but the Senate resolutely refused to give him an army, making the grudgingly granted authorization void. of practical utility. But the allies had a more real vision of the interests of Italy than the Roman Senate: what the latter, blinded by its fears and jealousy, denied it, the Italian allies generously granted it, and in all the cities of Italy they met volunteers to join the young hero, and to be able to subdue Carthage without the help of the Roman government.

The Senate could not refuse to allow him to enlist volunteers, and such was the enthusiasm on his behalf, that he was able to cross into Sicily with an army and fleet against the expectations and even the wishes of the Senate.

Although he had no command in Bruttii, he assisted in the reduction of Locri, and after the conquest of the city, he left his legate, Q. Pleminius, in command of the place. The latter was guilty of such 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 command after being fully informed of his lieutenant's misconduct, and then Quintus Fabius Maximus and his other enemies took the opportunity to inveigh against Pleminius's conduct. Scipio, and press for his immediate removal.

Although the Senate listened to these attacks, it did not dare immediate revocation, but sent a commission to Sicily to investigate the state of the army and, if the charges against it were founded, to order it to return to Rome. The commissioners arrived in Sicily at the beginning of the year 204 a. C. During the winter Scipio had been busy carrying out his preparations, and at that time his army and navy were in the most efficient state. The commissioners were amazed at what they saw. Instead of ordering his return to Rome, they asked him to cross into Africa as soon as possible.

Among the legates who accompanied him on the African expedition was Marco Marcio Rala, urban praetor that year.

Roman invasion of North Africa

North African Roman Invasion of Publio Cornelio Escipion (204-203 BC)

Consequently, in the year 204 a. C. Scipio, who was now proconsul, sailed from Lilibeo and landed in Africa, not far from Utica, unopposed by the Carthaginian fleet. Once the Romans arrived, they were joined by an ally who would prove decisive in the end: Masinissa, nominal king of Eastern Numidia, deprived of his throne by his rival, Sifax, king of Western Numidia and an ally of Carthage. Scipio laid siege to Utica, a city located on the Mediterranean coast of Africa, but the arrival of the united armies of Sifax and Carthage forced him to withdraw to spend the winter on a protruding promontory (called Gens Cornelia by Scipio's troops, after to their leader), which he fortified. Scipio decided to enter into peace negotiations, but with the secret purpose of finding out everything necessary to attack his enemies by surprise.

In the spring of 203 B.C. C., Asdrúbal Gisco, and Sifax meditated a general attack by land and by sea against the forces of Scipio, but the latter, who was informed of his plan by some Numidians, anticipated and attacked his two camps at night, causing huge losses to the Carthaginians and Numidians, which allowed the city of Útica to be laid siege. The Carthaginians and Numidians gathered their last reserves (including Spanish mercenaries) to face Scipio. The ensuing Battle of the Great Fields culminated in complete Roman victory, ousting Sifax from the Numidian throne and forcing Carthage into peace negotiations. Hannibal was called to return from Italy.

Carthage and Rome agreed that peace would be restored by Carthage's loss of any non-African possessions, surrender of the entire war fleet except a few ships, and payment of tribute, as well as recognition of Masinissa as independent king of Numidia. However, when the Carthaginian troops of Hannibal and Magon arrived in Africa, it was decided to break the agreement by attacking some Roman ships that sought refuge from a storm near Tunis. The war started again, but the situation was now very different.

Scipio resumed the campaign in Africa and contacted Masinissa, who provided him with 4,000 horsemen and 6,000 infantry. Hannibal, informed of his arrival, mobilized his army, but before going into battle he tried to negotiate with Scipio. Not having reached agreements, they prepared to fight.

On October 19, 202 B.C. C. there was a confrontation between the armies of Hannibal and Scipio in the battle of Zama. After almost a whole day of battle and in numerical inferiority, Scipio's ingenuity against the eighty elephants and approximately forty thousand Carthaginians gave a great victory to the Romans and their allies. In honor of this victory, Publius Cornelius Scipio would take the name with which he has become famous: Africanus.

Hannibal himself decided to carry out peace negotiations with Rome, as he understood that it was useless to continue resisting. The harsh conditions imposed by Rome were: loss of all Carthage possessions outside the African continent; prohibition of declaring new wars without the permission of the Roman people; obligation to hand over the entire military fleet; recognition of Masinissa as king of Numidia and acceptance of the borders between Numidia and Carthage that he determined; payment of 10,000 talents of silver (approximately 260,000 kg) in 50 years; maintenance of the Roman occupation troops in Africa for three months; delivery of 100 hostages chosen by Scipio, as a guarantee of compliance with the treaty.

Hannibal agreed to the terms, so that the Romans would leave him alone while he helped Carthage rebuild its power. The treaty was ratified by both senates, the Carthaginian and the Roman, in the year 201 BC. c.

Scipio; Princeps Senatus

After returning to the capital and celebrating his triumphs over Carthage, Scipio took up a position in the Senate of Rome. He was then 35 years old. In 199 B.C. C., Scipio was elected censor with P. Elio Peto and was elected consul for the second time in 194 BC. C. with Tiberio Sempronio Longo. At the same time, the censors conferred on him the title of princeps senatus in the year 199 a. c.

Scipio witnessed in the Senate the escalation of external conflicts that threatened the republic.

Rome had to confront, under pressure from the Greeks, the King of Macedonia Philip V, a former ally of Hannibal. This king, who according to some historians had sent reinforcements to Carthage during the battle of Zama, had joined forces with Antiochus III, the king of Syria.

Meanwhile, in Hispania there were constant uprisings against Rome, mainly due to the greed and cruelty of the Roman governors.

In Carthage itself, conflicts intensified. Hannibal, elected suffete, faced the Punic oligarchy. They accused him of preparing a new war against Rome and tried to hand him over to the Roman Senate for execution. However, Hannibal escaped from Carthage and took refuge in the court of Antiochus III of Syria, offering him as a military adviser.

In 193 B.C. C., along with Gaius Cornelius Cetego and Marco Minucio Rufo, was one of the commissioners sent to Africa to mediate between Masinisa and the Carthaginians, and in the same year, according to a story related by Quinto Claudio Cuadrigario, he was one of the ambassadors sent to Antiochus at Ephesus, at whose court Hannibal resided.

Decline of Scipio Africanus

While Cato the Censor suppressed the uprisings in Hispania, Rome defeated Philip V at the battle of Cynoscephalus.

In 190 B.C. C. Lucio Cornelio Scipio, the brother of Scipio the African and Gaius Lelio were elected consuls. Lucio, was appointed general of the army that had to disembark in Asia Minor (Turkey) and confront Antiochus III. Publius marched with him as his legacy, although many historians consider that he was the one who actually led the army.

In the war against Antiochus, the young son of Africanus who had accompanied his father fell into the hands of the king of Syria. He offered to release the captives without ransom if Africanus would obtain a favorable peace for him, but although the proposal was rejected Antiochus sent his son back while he was absent from the army due to illness.^{[ citation required]}

Roman armies and their Pergamum allies clashed with Syrian troops at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 B.C. C. Antiochus III did not listen to Hannibal's advice about how he should place the troops, despising him for being a foreign general, and listened to his advisers who proposed a plan that would lead them to absolute defeat and a great victory for Rome.^{[citation required]}

Antiochus III had to cede land to Rome's allies and pay heavy tribute. Hannibal fled when he learned that he was going to be handed over to the Romans, taking refuge in the court of the king of Bithynia. There he spent a few years as the king's military adviser until the Roman Senate sent soldiers to arrest him, for which, upon finding out about him, he committed suicide in 183 BC. c.

Lucio Cornelio Escipión received the nickname of "the Asiatic" for the success of this campaign.

The Africanus returned to Rome with his brother Lucius after the end of the war in 189 BC. C., but his last years were embittered by the continuous attacks of his enemies. Shortly after his return, he and his brother Lucius were accused of having received bribes from Antiochus for treating the monarch lightly, and of having appropriated part of the money that Antiochus had paid to the Roman state. The accusation was sustained by M. Porcio Cato.

In 187 B.C. C., two tribunes of the common people in the name of Petillii , instigated by Cato and the other enemies of the Scipios, require Lucius Scipio to account for all the sums of money he had received from Antiochus. Lucio therefore drew up his accounts, but when he was in the act of surrender, the proud African indignantly tore them out of his hands and tore them to pieces before the Senate. This haughty conduct seems to have produced an unfavorable impression, and his brother was brought to trial in the course of the same year, found guilty, and sentenced to pay a heavy fine.

Tribune C. Minucio Augurino ordered him to be taken to jail and there he was detained until the money was paid; whereupon the Africano, further enraged at this new insult to his family, rescued his brother from the hands of the magistrate's officers. Lucio's properties, however, were confiscated, and although they were not enough to pay the fine, his clients and friends contributed generously to pay it off.

The success of the pursuit of Lucius emboldened the enemies of Africanus himself. The accuser of him was M. Nevio, tribune of the town, and the accusation was not made until the end of 185 a. C. When the trial began, Scipio did not deign to say a single word to refute the charges that had been made against him.

Scipio subsequently left Rome, and retired to his country house at Liternum. The tribunes wished to renew the prosecution, but Gracchus wisely persuaded them to drop the prosecution.

His death

Scipio never returned to Rome. He would never submit to the laws of the State, and therefore decided to expatriate forever. He spent his last days on the farm of Liternum , where he wrote his memoirs of him, and when he died he is said to have requested that his body be buried there, and not in his ungrateful country. His request was met, and his tomb still existed at Liternum in the time of Livy.

The year of his death is uncertain. Polibio and Rutilio relate that he died in the same year that Hannibal and Filopemen die, that is, in 183 BC. C. Tito Livio and Cicero put his death in 185 a. C., and Valerio de Ancio before 187 a. C. Polybius's date is most likely the correct one.

Marriage and offspring

Scipio married Emilia Tercia, the daughter of Lucio Emilio Paulo, who fell in the battle of Cannae and sister of another consul Lucio Emilio Paulo Macedónico. They had a happy and fruitful marriage. Aemilia had unusual freedom and wealth for a married patrician woman, and was an important role model for many young Roman women,^{[citation needed]} as was her youngest daughter, Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, would be an important model for many Roman aristocrats of the late Republic, including supposedly the mother of Julius Caesar.

Scipio Africanus had two sons. The greater Publio Cornelio Escipión was named augur in the year 180 a. C., he never presented any charge due to his poor health. The minor Lucius Cornelius Scipio became praetor in the year 174 a. C., and was expelled from the Senate by the censors.The eldest son, Publius, adopted his cousin by blood, the second son of his uncle Lucio Emilio Paulo, who received the name of Publius Cornelius Scipio Emiliano.

Scipio and Emilia also had two daughters. The eldest, Cornelia the Elder, married her second cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Córculo, son of the consul in 191 BC. C. who was himself the son of Scipio the Greater's paternal uncle, Cneo Cornelius Scipio Calvo. This son-in-law was a distinguished Roman in his own right. He became consul, abdicating or resigning in 162 BC. C. for religious reasons, being later reelected in 155 a. C., censor in 159 a. C., princeps senatus, and died as pontiff maximum in 141 a. Scipio Nassica held many of the dignities of 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. C. They had at least one surviving child (see more on this below).

The younger daughter was more famous in history; Cornelia, the young wife of Tiberius Gracchus the Elder, an elderly man, or Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, court of the plebs, praetor, then consul in 177, then censor and consul again; she became the mother of twelve children, the only ones who survived were the famous tribunes of the common people Tiberius and Gaius. The three surviving children of this union were doomed; the Graco brothers died relatively young, murdered or forced to commit suicide by more conservative relatives. The eldest of her descendants, and her only surviving daughter, Sempronia, married her mother's first cousin by blood, and her only cousin by adoption, Scipio Emilianus Africanus. The couple had no children, and Sempronia came to hate her husband after he pardoned the murder of his brother Tiberius in 132 BC. C. The mysterious death of Scipio in 129 a. C., at 56 years of age, was attributed by some to his wife, and by others to rival politicians. ^{[citation needed ]}

The only living descendants of Scipio throughout the late republican period were the descendants of his two daughters, his sons having died without legitimate issue. The last surviving son of his younger sister Sempronia, wife and later widow of Scipio Aemilian, was still alive in 102 BC. c.

His other known grandson Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapion was much more conservative than his Gracchus cousins. He and his descendants all became increasingly conservative, in stark contrast to his father and grandparents. Scipio the African's eldest grandson Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapion became consul in 138, killed his own cousin Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (163–132 BC) in 132. Scipio Nasica Serapion though pontiff maximus was sent to Asia Minor by the Senate to escape the wrath of the defenders of the Gracchi, and died mysteriously there, in Pergamum, believed to have been poisoned by an agent of the Gracchus.

Serapion's son, the fourth Nassic Scipio, was even more conservative, being elevated to consulship in 111 BC. C. The children of this Escipión Násica became praetors only shortly before the Social War or the Marsos, which began in the year 91 BC. C. However, a grandson, adopted by the commoner noble family of the Caecilians Metelos, became Metellus Scipio who allied with Pompey the Great and Cato the Younger, and opposed Julius Caesar. Metelo Scipio was the last Scipio to distinguish himself politically or militarily.

None of Scipio's descendants, except Scipio Aemilianus, his wife's nephew who became his adoptive grandson, approached him on the level achieved by his political career and military successes.

Descendants

With Emilia Tercia

1. Publio Cornelius African Scipion – eldest son, adoptive father of Emiliano Scipion, had no natural descent
2. Lucio Cornelius Scipion – minor son, without legitimate offspring
3. Cornelia – eldest daughter, married Publio Cornelio Escipión Nasica Corculo
   1. Publio Cornelio Escipion Nasica Serapion, married Cecilia Metela
      1. Publio Cornelio Nsic Scipion Serapion – son
         1. Publio Cornelio Escipión Nasica – son, married Licinia, daughter of Lucio Licinio Craso
            1. Fifth Cecilio Metelo Escipion – eldest son, was born with the name of Publio Cornelio Escipión Nasica, adopted by Quinto Cecilio Metelo Pio, married Emilia, daughter of Mamerco Emilio Lépido Liviano
               1. A son – died young
               2. Another son – died around 70
               3. Possibly an adopted child
               4. Cornelia – the only daughter, first married to Publio Licinio Craso and then with Pompeyo, without descendants.
            2. Lucio Licinio Craso Scipion – minor son, adopted by his grandfather Lucio Licinio Craso
         2. Cornelia – daughter, married Publio Cornelio Léntulo
            1. Cneo Cornelio Léntulo
4. Cornelia – younger daughter, married Tibero Sempronio Graco
   1. Tiberius Graco – the eldest son of the three surviving sons, married Claudia, daughter of Apio Claudio Pulcro
      1. 3 children, young dead
   2. Cayo Graco – a minor son of the three surviving sons, married Licinia, daughter of Publio Licinio Craso Dives Muciano
   3. Sempronia – the only daughter of the three surviving sons, married Emiliano Scipion, without descendants
   4. 9 other children, killed in childhood

Burial place

Archaeology has yet to determine the burial site 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 buried there. There is a possibility that he returned to Rome and rested there in an as yet undiscovered crypt. Livy says in his History of Rome that statues of Scipio Africanus, Lucius Scipio, and the poet Ennius, a family friend, were in the Scipios' tomb when he visited it. However, Seneca, having moved into the villa at Liternum that belonged to Scipio Africanus, says that he had "revered his [Africanus's] spirit and an altar which I believe to be the tomb of that great warrior. This suggests that Africanus was not known to be buried within Rome, and it is possible that his sarcophagus did indeed resemble an altar, although there is no direct evidence for this, considering that that of the "founder" of the Scipios, Lucio Cornelio Scipio Barbato, who can be found in a place of honor in the family tomb, has a style similar to that of an altar.

Publius Cornelius Scipio in literature, painting and music

The clemency of Scipio. Picture of Sebastiano Ricci in the Royal Art Colection London.

• The legendary take of the city of Cartago Nova by General Escipión was first narrated by the historian Polibio in a text of the second century BC. It was subsequently expanded, enriched and glorified by Titus Livio in his "Ab urbe condita" (narration of the history of Rome from its origins).
• In The Dream of Escipionincluding in book VI 9-29 of About the RepublicMarco Tulio Cicerón tells how the African Scipion appears to his adopted grandson, Emiliano Scipion, to reveal to him the true place of glory, describing the heavenly worlds and the beautiful music they interpret, inaudible for human ears. It is the pythagorean theme of the harmony of spheres from the point of view of the glory that pervades in the eternal and not in the earthly, in virtue and not in the search for recognition. Subsequently, Macrobio will develop a Comment to the Dream of Escipion of CiceroCommentarii in Somnium Scipionis), forming a prolific study of the famous dream.
• The taking of the city of Cartago Nova became a myth and passed to literature, art and music under the title of The clemency of Escipion, and became one of the preferred historical themes of poetry, painting, sculpture and opera from the 15th to the 18th centuries.
• Scipion is also mentioned in the Italian national anthem

Fratelli d'Italia,
l'Italy s'è desta,
dell'elmo di Scipio
s'è tape la testa.

Goffredo Mameli

• Rafael Sanzio reproduces the dream of Escipion in his painting The dream of the gentleman.
• Francisco de Quevedo begins one of his sonnets in this way:

Failed Scipion Rome opulent,
but to Rome Scipion failed;
be Blashon of his envy that my shield,
that of the world triumphed, yields to his affront.

Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas

• The Spanish writer, philologist and linguist Santiago Posteguillo wrote a trilogy of historical novels about the figure of Ecipion the African, with Africanus: the son of the Consul (2006) and continuing with The Bloody Legions (2008) and The Treason of Rome (2009).

Manga

• Like a Drifter on the sleeve, and later adaptation of anime, by Drifters (written and illustrated by Kōta Hirano), where he is transferred to a parallel world where he will meet with Aníbal and other historical characters, to fight the Dark King and his Ends.