Misplaced Pages

#270729

147-502: The town is mainly famous as the residence of the elder Scipio Africanus , who withdrew from Rome and died there. His tomb and villa are described by Seneca the Younger in his Moral Letters to Lucilius . In letter LXXXVI, Seneca describes the villa as being built with squared stone blocks with towers on both sides. In Ovid 's Metamorphoses Liternum is mentioned for its mastic trees : lentisciferum... Liternum . Augustus Caesar

294-444: A Greek sent to Rome in 167   BC as a hostage. He is best known for The Histories , written sometime after 146   BC. Polybius's work is considered broadly objective and largely neutral between Carthaginian and Roman points of view. Polybius was an analytical historian and wherever possible interviewed participants, from both sides, in the events he wrote about. Modern historians consider Polybius to have treated

441-690: A Carthaginian army in New Carthage (modern Cartagena ) and led it northwards along the Iberian coast in May or June. It entered Gaul and took an inland route, to avoid the Roman allies to the south. At the battle of Rhone Crossing , Hannibal defeated a force of local Gauls which sought to bar his way. A Roman fleet carrying the Iberian-bound army landed at Rome's ally Massalia (modern Marseille ) at

588-559: A basilica and a small theater) dating from the beginning of the Roman Empire. Outside the city walls, the remains of the amphitheater and the necropolis have been identified. 40°55′16″N 14°01′48″E  /  40.921094°N 14.030128°E  / 40.921094; 14.030128 Scipio Africanus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus ( / ˈ s k ɪ p . i . oʊ / , / ˈ s ɪ p -/ , Latin: [ˈskiːpioː] ; 236/235– c.  183 BC )

735-571: A bribe to secure favourable peace terms, which Africanus rejected. At the battle itself, he claimed illness, but was selected to present the Roman peace terms regardless. The credit for the victory accrued to his brother and commander, Lucius. The peace terms presented at Sardis were largely the Roman demands prior to the battle: Antiochus would cede all territory outside the Taurus line (eventually determined to be from Cape Sarpedon in Cilicia through to

882-404: 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. The Roman historian Valerius Maximus , writing in

1029-537: A conqueror of Africa . Scipio's conquest of Carthaginian Iberia culminated in the Battle of Ilipa in 206 BC against Hannibal's brother Mago Barca . Although considered a hero by the Roman people, primarily for his victories against Carthage, Scipio had many opponents, especially Cato the Elder , who hated him deeply. In 187 BC, he was tried in a show trial alongside his brother for bribes they supposedly received from

1176-474: A distance and avoided close combat. The latter cavalry were usually Numidians . The close-order Libyan infantry and the citizen-militia would fight in a tightly packed formation known as a phalanx . On occasion some of the infantry would wear captured Roman armour, especially among Hannibal 's troops. Both Iberia and Gaul provided large numbers of experienced infantry and cavalry. These infantry were unarmoured troops who would charge ferociously, but had

1323-434: A distance, a short sword and a 90-centimetre (3 ft) shield. The rest were equipped as heavy infantry , with body armour , a large shield and short thrusting swords . They were divided into three ranks: the front rank also carried two javelins, while the second and third ranks were equipped with a thrusting spear instead. Legionary sub-units and individual legionaries both fought in relatively open order . It

1470-619: A fleet of 60 quinqueremes ; and established supply depots at Ariminum and Arretium in preparation for marching north later in the year. Two armies of four legions each, two Roman and two allied but with stronger than usual cavalry contingents, were formed. One was stationed at Arretium and one on the Adriatic coast; they would be able to block Hannibal's possible advance into central Italy and were positioned to move north to operate in Cisalpine Gaul. In early spring 217   BC

1617-621: A force of 18,000. Despite these losses, the Romans besieged Capua , the Carthaginians' key ally in Italy. Hannibal offered battle to the Romans; Livy's account of the subsequent fighting is unclear, but the Romans seem to have suffered heavy casualties while the Carthaginians were unable to lift the siege. Hannibal then assaulted the Romans' siege works, but was again unable to relieve the city. In 211   BC Hannibal again offered battle to

SECTION 10

#1732787375271

1764-531: A force of Numidian cavalry to Sicily, which was led by the skilled Liby-Phoenician officer Mottones, who inflicted heavy losses on the Roman army through hit-and-run attacks. A fresh Roman army attacked the main Carthaginian stronghold on the island, Agrigentum , in 210   BC and the city was betrayed to the Romans by a discontented Carthaginian officer. The remaining Carthaginian-controlled towns then surrendered or were taken through force or treachery and

1911-473: A peaceful and largely open interstate system in the aftermath of the Roman proclamation of Greek freedom. It did not help that the cities that he did take had to be taken by force. The consul of 191 BC, Manius Acilius Glabrio , arrived in the spring and promptly defeated Antiochus at the Battle of Thermopylae – Antiochus lost the battle and was forced back across the Aegean to Ephesus within six months of

2058-456: A quickly-suppressed revolt by Spanish tribes when false rumours of Scipio's death from illness spread, he crossed into Africa to solicit the support of Syphax and thence into western Hispania to meet Massinissa for the same purpose. Syphax pledged loyalty but eventually joined with the Carthaginians; Massinissa, however, joined with the Romans with a small contingent when Syphax expelled him the kingdom of Massylii . Meanwhile, Gades surrendered to

2205-568: A reputation for breaking off if a combat was protracted. The Gallic cavalry, and possibly some of the Iberians, wore armour and fought as close-order troops; most or all of the mounted Iberians were light cavalry. Slingers were frequently recruited from the Balearic Islands. The Carthaginians also employed war elephants ; North Africa had indigenous African forest elephants at the time. Garrison duty and land blockades were

2352-458: A result, the main source for much of the war is the account written by the Roman historian Livy . This is commonly used by modern historians where Polybius's account is not extant. Livy relied heavily on Polybius, but wrote in a more structured way, with more details about Roman politics; he was also openly pro-Roman. His accounts of military encounters are often demonstrably inaccurate; the classicist Adrian Goldsworthy says Livy's "reliability

2499-644: A rousing oration detailing his services to the republic and noting that the day is the anniversary of the Battle of Zama. At this notice, he then leads an impromptu procession to sacrifice at the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus amid thunderous applause, leaving the prosecutors embarrassed. This story, however, "generates little confidence". The legal troubles proved little trouble for the Scipiones, as evidence by Asiagenes' lavish games in 186 and vigorous campaign for

2646-510: 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

2793-486: A vast booty of gold, silver and siege artillery . He released the captured population and liberated the Iberian hostages held there by the Carthaginians, in an attempt to ensure the loyalty of their tribes. In the spring of 208   BC Hasdrubal moved to engage Scipio at the battle of Baecula . The Carthaginians were defeated, but Hasdrubal was able to withdraw the majority of his army and prevent any Roman pursuit; most of his losses were among his Iberian allies. Scipio

2940-837: Is often suspect", and the historian Phillip Sabin refers to Livy's "military ignorance". Other, later, ancient histories of the war exist, although often in fragmentary or summary form. Modern historians usually take into account the writings of Diodorus Siculus and Cassius Dio , two Greek authors writing during the Roman era ; they are described by John Lazenby as "clearly far inferior" to Livy, but some fragments of Polybius can be recovered from their texts. The Greek moralist Plutarch wrote several biographies of Roman commanders in his Parallel Lives . Other sources include coins, inscriptions, archaeological evidence and empirical evidence from reconstructions. Most male Roman citizens were liable for military service and would serve as infantry ,

3087-520: Is said to have conducted a colony of veterans to Liternum. The construction of the Via Domitiana through Liternum made it a posting station, but the town later had a malaria outbreak and went into decline. In 455, the town was pillaged and destroyed by Genseric , king of the Vandals . Excavations between 1930 and 1936 brought to light some elements of the city center ( forum with a temple,

SECTION 20

#1732787375271

3234-644: 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

3381-500: 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 first century AD, some decades after Livy. 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". Scipio

3528-473: Is the best surviving source for this part of the war. Several of the city states in southern Italy allied with Hannibal, or were captured when pro-Carthaginian factions betrayed their defences. These included the large city of Capua and the major port city of Tarentum (modern Taranto). Two of the major Samnite tribes also joined the Carthaginian cause. By 214   BC the bulk of southern Italy had turned against Rome, although there were many exceptions and

3675-647: The Oxford Classical Dictionary , prefer 183 BC. It is not clear where Scipio Africanus was buried. There are three main possibilities. The first is the Tomb of the Scipios in Rome. Nothing survives in the literary record documenting his burial there, however. The second is his villa at Liternum: it was later owned by Seneca the Younger , who in a letter expressed his belief that an altar there

3822-499: The Aetolian League , a coalition of Greek city states which was already at war with Macedonia. In 205   BC this war ended with a negotiated peace. A rebellion in support of the Carthaginians broke out on Sardinia in 213   BC, but it was quickly put down by the Romans. Prior to 215 BC Sicily remained firmly in Roman hands, blocking the ready seaborne reinforcement and resupply of Hannibal from Carthage. Hiero II ,

3969-547: The First Punic War was the issue of control of the independent Sicilian city state of Messana (modern Messina ). In 264   BC Carthage and Rome went to war. The war was fought primarily on Sicily and its surrounding waters; the Romans also unsuccessfully invaded North Africa in 256   BC. It was the longest continuous conflict and the greatest naval war of antiquity, with immense materiel and human losses on both sides. In 241   BC, after 23 years of war,

4116-458: The First Punic War , which saw the Carthaginians' war efforts renewed. The senate, regardless, assigned Scipio no additional soldiers, leading him to recruit an army of volunteers; Livy reports that from his clients and supporters in Italy, he mustered some 30 warships and 7,000 men. He spent most of his consulship preparing his troops in Sicily for the invasion of Africa. He captured Locri on

4263-522: The Gracchi brothers , Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus . None of his sons had legitimate issue. However, his son Publius adopted the son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, who became known as Scipio Aemilianus . Scipio's only descendants living through the late Republican period were the descendants of his two daughters. His younger daughter's last surviving child Sempronia , wife and then widow of Scipio Aemilianus – his adoptive grandson –

4410-480: The battle of Insubria in 203   BC. After a Roman army invaded the Carthaginian homeland in 204   BC, defeating the Carthaginians in two major battles and winning the allegiance of the Numidian kingdoms of North Africa, Hannibal and the remnants of his army were recalled. They sailed from Croton and landed at Carthage with 15,000–20,000 experienced veterans. Mago was also recalled; he died of wounds on

4557-677: The river Baetis , near Baecula. While Scipio was victorious, the battle was indecisive and Hasdrubal escaped north with most of his army across the Pyrenees for Italy; Hasdrubal and his army reached Italy in 207, where they were eventually defeated in the Battle of the Metaurus with the army destroyed and Hasdrubal slain. The following year, Hasdrubal was replaced by a certain Hanno, who was captured by Junius Silanus in Celtiberia . Following

Liternum - Misplaced Pages Continue

4704-463: The river Tanais ), pay a war indemnity of 15,000 talents to Rome with a separate 400 talents to Eumenes, all exiles and enemies of Rome would be handed over (including Hannibal) along with twenty hostages (including Antiochus' youngest son). The 190s BC saw a re-emergence of attempts by the aristocratic elite to put limits on individual ambitions. The return of the Scipiones to Rome saw claims over Lucius Scipio's triumph disputed: critics thought

4851-578: The 37 with which he left Iberia  – some time in November; the Romans had already gone into their winter quarters. Hannibal's surprise entry into the Italian peninsula led to the cancellation of Rome's planned campaign for the year: an invasion of Africa. Shortly after arriving in Italy the Carthaginians captured the chief city of the hostile Taurini (in the area of modern Turin ) and seized its food stocks. In late November 218   BC

4998-581: The Adriatic coast, then turned south into Apulia , hoping to win over some of the ethnic Greek and Italic cities of southern Italy. News of the defeat again caused a panic in Rome. The head of the embassy that was sent to Carthage right before the war broke out in 218 BC, Quintus Fabius Maximus, was elected dictator by the Roman Assembly and adopted the " Fabian strategy " of avoiding pitched battles, relying instead on low-level harassment to wear

5145-577: The Capitoline triad that they would never abandon Rome. This story is probably a late invention, as it does not appear in Polybius. The next year, in 213 BC, he was elected curule aedile and served with his cousin Marcus Cornelius Cethegus . His candidacy was opposed by one of the plebeian tribunes on the grounds that he had not yet reached the minimum age, but the voters expressed such enthusiastic support for Scipio that

5292-473: The Carthaginian cavalry routed the cavalry and light infantry of the Romans at the battle of Ticinus . As a result, most of the Gallic tribes declared for the Carthaginian cause and Hannibal's army grew to more than 40,000 men. The Senate ordered the army in Sicily north to join the force already facing Hannibal, thus abandoning the plan to invade Africa. The combined Roman force under the command of Sempronius

5439-553: The Carthaginian forces in Iberia were divided into three armies which were deployed apart from each other, the Romans split their forces. This strategy resulted in two separate battles in 211, usually referred to jointly as the battle of the Upper Baetis . Both battles ended in complete defeat for the Romans, as Hasdrubal had bribed the Romans' mercenaries to desert. The Roman survivors retreated to their coastal stronghold north of

5586-477: The Carthaginian side after Cannae, the conflict spread. Between 215 and 210 BC the Carthaginians attempted to capture Roman-held Sicily and Sardinia, but were unsuccessful. The Romans took drastic steps to raise new legions: enrolling slaves, criminals and those who did not meet the usual property qualification; this vastly increased the number of men they had under arms. For the next decade the war in southern Italy continued, with Roman armies slowly recapturing most of

5733-475: The Carthaginians caught a Roman army off guard outside Herdonia, heavily defeating it after its commander accepted battle . Livy then has Hannibal fighting the inconclusive battle of Numistro , although modern historians doubt his account. The Romans stayed on Hannibal's heels, fighting another pitched battle at Canusium in 209 BC and again suffering heavy losses. This battle enabled another Roman army to approach Tarentum and capture it by treachery . In

5880-544: The Carthaginians crossed the Apennines unopposed, taking a difficult but unguarded route. Hannibal attempted to draw the main Roman army under Gaius Flaminius into a pitched battle by devastating the area they had been sent to protect provoking Flaminius into a hasty pursuit. Hannibal set an ambush and in the battle of Lake Trasimene completely defeated the Roman army, killing 15,000 Romans, including Flaminius, and taking 10,000 prisoners . A cavalry force of 4,000 from

6027-559: The Carthaginians were defeated. Under the Roman-dictated Treaty of Lutatius Carthage ceded its Sicilian possessions to Rome. Rome exploited Carthage's distraction during the Truceless War against rebellious mercenaries and Libyan subjects to break the peace treaty and annex Carthaginian Sardinia and Corsica in 238 BC. Under the leadership of Hamilcar Barca , Carthage defeated the rebels in 237 BC. With

Liternum - Misplaced Pages Continue

6174-451: The Ebro, from which the Carthaginians again failed to expel them. Claudius Nero brought over reinforcements in 210   BC and stabilised the situation. In 210 BC Publius Cornelius Scipio , arrived in Iberia with further Roman reinforcements. In a carefully planned assault in 209   BC he captured the lightly defended centre of Carthaginian power in Iberia, New Carthage, seizing

6321-485: The Greek cities of southern Italy ( Magna Graecia ) submitted. During this period of Roman expansion, Carthage, with its capital in what is now Tunisia , had come to dominate southern Iberia , much of the coastal regions of North Africa, the Balearic Islands , Corsica , Sardinia and the western half of Sicily. By 264   BC Carthage was the dominant external power on Sicily, and Carthage and Rome were

6468-402: The Iberian tribes was too fragile and the Roman forces in the area too strong for him to execute the planned movement. In 215 Hasdrubal eventually acted, besieging a pro-Roman town and offering battle at Dertosa , where he attempted to use his cavalry superiority to clear the flanks of the Roman army while enveloping their centre on both sides with his infantry. However, the Romans broke through

6615-404: The Italian cities that had joined Carthage. The Romans established a lodgement in north-east Iberia in 218 BC; the Carthaginians repeatedly attempted and failed to reduce it. In 211 the Romans took the offensive in Iberia and were badly defeated but maintained their hold on the north-east. In 209 BC the new Roman commander Publius Scipio captured Carthago Nova , the main Carthaginian base in

6762-672: The Macedonian king, Philip V , pledged his support to Hannibal, initiating the First Macedonian War against Rome in 215   BC. The Romans were concerned that the Macedonians would attempt to cross the Strait of Otranto and land in Italy. They strongly reinforced their navy in the area and despatched a legion to stand guard, and the threat petered out. In 211   BC Rome contained the Macedonians by allying with

6909-621: The Mediterranean and beyond, limit her rights to expand in Africa, recognize Massinissa's kingdom, give up all but twenty of her ships, and pay a war indemnity. However, during the negotiations, the Carthaginians – suffering from starvation – attacked a Roman food convoy, leading to protests to be sent and envoys exchanged. Amid further attempts to remove him from command – one of the consuls of 203 BC, Gnaeus Servilius Caepio , attempted to substitute himself for Scipio to claim credit for

7056-628: The Po and appropriating large areas of the best land. Most of the Gauls resented this intrusion. During 218   BC there was some naval skirmishing in the waters around Sicily; the Romans repulsed a Carthaginian attack and captured the island of Malta . In Cisalpine Gaul (modern northern Italy), the major Gallic tribes attacked the Roman colonies there, causing the settlers to flee to their previously established colony of Mutina (modern Modena ), where they were besieged. A Roman relief force broke through

7203-508: The Roman elite; more than a century later, even the conservative Cato Uticensis (great-grandson of the elder Cato) espoused Greek philosophy. Second Punic war The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome , the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Italy and Iberia , but also on

7350-413: The Roman legions repeatedly, with occasional subsidiary campaigns in Sicily, Sardinia and Greece; Iberia, where Hasdrubal , a younger brother of Hannibal, defended the Carthaginian colonial cities with mixed success before moving into Italy; and Africa, where Rome finally won the war. The First Punic War had ended in a Roman victory in 241   BC after 23 years and enormous losses on both sides. After

7497-406: 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

SECTION 50

#1732787375271

7644-483: The Romans at the battles of Trebia (218) and Lake Trasimene (217). Moving to southern Italy in 216 Hannibal defeated the Romans again at the battle of Cannae , where he annihilated the largest army the Romans had ever assembled. After the death or capture of more than 120,000 Roman troops in less than three years, many of Rome's Italian allies , notably Capua , defected to Carthage, giving Hannibal control over much of southern Italy. As Syracuse and Macedonia joined

7791-412: The Romans could still field multiple armies, which in total greatly outnumbered his own forces. The greatest gain was the second largest city of Italy, Capua, when Hannibal's army marched into Campania in 216 BC. The inhabitants of Capua held limited Roman citizenship and the aristocracy was linked to the Romans via marriage and friendship, but the possibility of becoming the supreme city of Italy after

7938-426: The Romans stormed Syracuse in a surprise night assault and captured several districts of the city. Meanwhile, the Carthaginian army was crippled by plague . After the Carthaginians failed to resupply the city, the rest of Syracuse fell in the autumn of 212   BC; Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier. Carthage sent more reinforcements to Sicily in 211   BC and went on the offensive. In 211 BC Hannibal sent

8085-464: The Romans. Some time c.  206 BC , Scipio also founded the town of Italica (located about 9 km northwest of Seville), which later became the birthplace of the emperors, Trajan , Hadrian , and Theodosius I . With a general victory across the peninsula, Scipio then returned to Rome to stand for the consulship of 205 BC, leaving Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus in command. He returned to Rome late in

8232-568: The Scipiones had been fighting a weak enemy and that the war had actually truly been won a year earlier at Thermopylae. His triumph, however, was approved regardless. Lucius' attempt to secure from the senate a prorogation to oversee the settlement of Asia also was rejected; no exception would be made to the general post-Hannibalic war rule against promagistrates. Lucius Scipio adopted the cognomen Asiagenes and at his triumph brought some 137,420 pounds of silver, 224,000 tetradrachms , 140,000 gold coins, 234 gold crowns, 1231 ivory tusks, and more into

8379-461: The Scipiones' legal troubles are recorded in the ancient sources. Scipio Asiagenes was in fact indicted. He was not alone, his successor in Asia – Gnaeus Manlius Vulso – also was brought up on charges. Regardless, the trial forced a full accounting of cash paid by Antiochus to Manlius and Asiagenes. After Asiagenes was fined – either by a special court or by tribunician legislation – he refused to pay

8526-404: The Scipios arrived, the Romans had an army in Asia minor. Antiochus offered terms – a war indemnity to cover half the cost of the war and abandonment of his claims to Smyrna, Lapsacus, Alexandria Troas, and other towns – but the Scipiones rejected the offer based on the Roman war aim of reshaping to their benefit the Aegean balance of power. They responded by demanding Antiochus cede all territory to

8673-874: The Seleucid king Antiochus III during the Roman–Seleucid War . Disillusioned by the ingratitude of his peers, Scipio left Rome and retired from public life at his villa in Liternum . Scipio Africanus was born as Publius Cornelius Scipio in 236 BC to his then-homonymous father and Pomponia into the family of the Cornelii Scipiones . His family was one of the major still-extant patrician families and had held multiple consulships within living memory: his great-grandfather Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus and grandfather Lucius Cornelius Scipio had both been consuls and censors . His father had held

8820-602: The Sicilian grain supply to Rome and its armies was resumed. For 11 years after Cannae the war surged around southern Italy as cities went over to the Carthaginians or were taken by subterfuge and the Romans recaptured them by siege or by suborning factions within to give them entry. Hannibal repeatedly defeated Roman armies, but wherever his main army was not active the Romans threatened Carthaginian-supporting towns or sought battle with Carthaginian or Carthaginian-allied detachments; frequently with success. By 208   BC many of

8967-421: The Taurus mountains and pay an indemnity covering the entire cost of the war; the demands were so extreme he immediately broke off negotiations. Late in the year, around mid-December, Antiochus' forces engaged the Romans at Magnesia ; even though they outnumbered the Romans and allies by at least two to one, Antiochus' army of some 60,000 men was routed. Shortly before Magnesia, Antiochus offered Scipio Africanus

SECTION 60

#1732787375271

9114-489: The account-books from his brother, he waved them before the senators and then tore them up, asking the rhetorical question as to how the senate could be concerned with a mere 3,000 talents when he had brought 15,000 into the treasury by conquering Spain, Africa, and Asia. One story, given by Valerius Antias , indicates that one of the tribunes at the urging of Cato the Elder brought charges against Scipio Africanus alleging bribery and theft. Antias then has Scipio respond with

9261-482: The alleged embassy, Scipio is apocryphally said to have discussed the best generals with Hannibal at Ephesus. In 192 BC, Rome declared war on Antiochus, who – after a cold war with the Romans starting from the close of the Second Macedonian War through to 193 BC – had invaded Greece. Antiochus' initial push into Greece was met with little enthusiasm by the locals, who were well-treated in

9408-480: The armies in the battle of Cannae . The Roman legions forced their way through Hannibal's deliberately weak centre, but Libyan heavy infantry on the wings swung around their advance, menacing their flanks. Hasdrubal Gisco led the Carthaginian cavalry on the left wing and routed the Roman cavalry opposite, then swept around the rear of the Romans to attack their cavalry on the other wing. The heavily outnumbered Carthaginian infantry held out until Hasdrubal charged into

9555-603: The army under Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, which retreated to Gades (modern Cádiz ), Scipio's brother took Orongis (modern Jaén ) before a decisive victory in 206 BC at the Battle of Ilipa , north of modern Seville , forced the Carthaginians to withdraw from the peninsula. In mopping-up operations, Scipio captured Ilourgeia and Castulo, inflicting severe punishment on the former for having killed refugees from his army. Other Roman commanders captured other towns in Spain, including Astapa, whose inhabitants committed mass suicide. After

9702-492: The assembly elected Scipio to take command. Modern scholars dismiss the Livian narrative of senatorial indecision and have instead suggested that the senate chose Scipio but forced a popular vote to legitimise an irregular command. Giving Scipio command was an extraordinary act, as he at this point had never held a praetorship or consulship, but was regardless granted imperium pro consule , taking command on his arrival to Spain in

9849-434: The besieging Roman forces, this time they declined to leave their fortifications. In desperation Hannibal again assaulted them and again failed to break through. He next marched his army towards Rome, hoping to compel the Romans to abandon the siege to defend it; however, the besieging force stayed in place and Capua fell soon afterwards. The city was stripped of its political autonomy and placed under Roman appointees. In 210

9996-520: The brink of collapse. Within a few weeks of Cannae a Roman army of 25,000 was ambushed by Boii Gauls in Cisalpine Gaul at the battle of Silva Litana and annihilated. Fabius became consul in 215 BC and was re-elected in 214 BC. Little has survived of Polybius's account of Hannibal's army in Italy after Cannae. Livy gives a fuller record, but according to Goldsworthy "his reliability is often suspect", especially with regard to his descriptions of battles; many modern historians agree, but nevertheless his

10143-408: The brothers divided their forces to attack three separate Carthaginian armies were defeated in detail . The brothers fell in separate battles against the Carthaginians, who were led by Hasdrubal Barca , Mago Barca , and Hasdrubal Gisco ; the two Barcas were Hannibal's brothers. Initially, Gaius Claudius Nero – who was praetor in 212 BC – was sent to contain the situation. But in 210 BC,

10290-459: The censorship of 184 (he was unsuccessful). Friends of the Scipiones continued to win consular elections. Scipio himself retired to Liternum; "the idea that he retired in semi-exile or ignominy is pure romance". Scipio retired to his country seat at Liternum on the coast of Campania , where he died. There are multiple dates reported for his death. Polybius and Rutilius , who both lived shortly after his death, report that he died in 183 BC;

10437-421: The centre of the Carthaginian line and then defeated each wing separately, inflicting severe losses. It was no longer possible for Hasdrubal to reinforce Hannibal in Italy. The Carthaginians suffered a wave of defections of local Celtiberian tribes to Rome. The Roman commanders captured Saguntum in 212   BC and in 211   BC hired 20,000 Celtiberian mercenaries to reinforce their army. Observing that

10584-468: The citadel and rapidly switched his tune, sparing the remaining citizens and only enslaving the town's non-citizens. He then took the three hundred Spanish hostages into his custody, giving them gifts, guaranteeing their safety and that of their families, and promising them freedom if their respective communities would ally with Rome. After the battle, several Spanish tribes defected to the Romans. The next year, 208 BC, Scipio fought Hasdrubal north of

10731-530: The cities and territories which had joined the Carthaginian cause had returned to their Roman allegiance. Fabius captured the Carthaginian-allied town Arpi in 213 BC. In 212 BC Hannibal destroyed the Roman army of Centenius Penula at the battle of the Silarus in northwest Lucania. Later the same year, Hannibal defeated another Roman army at the battle of Herdonia , with 16,000 men lost from

10878-468: The city rapidly and with little ability to tell combatants and civilians apart, Scipio ordered his men to massacre all they encountered and pillage any structures; Polybius viewed the massacre as intended to terrorise the Spanish population into rapidly surrendering and included an anecdote of Romans being so thorough as to cut even the dogs and other animals in half. He then forced the surrender of Mago in

11025-449: The city. His soldiers were granted bonuses of 25 denarii each, with more to officers and cavalry. These enormous amounts of plunder triggered moral panic at Rome about the possible diversion of those funds to extravagant private use. These troubles related to the broader matter of charting the boundaries of power that magistrates could exercise abroad, especially in relation of monies obtained in war. A confusing mess of stories related to

11172-637: The consul Claudius Nero . They reinforced the Romans under the second consul, Marcus Salinator , who were already facing Hasdrubal. This combined Roman force attacked at the battle of the Metaurus and destroyed the Carthaginian army, killing Hasdrubal. This battle confirmed Roman dominance in Italy and marked the end of their Fabian strategy. Without the expected reinforcement Hannibal's forces were compelled to evacuate allied towns and withdraw to Bruttium . In 205   BC Mago Barca, another of Hannibal's younger brothers, landed in Genua in north-west Italy with

11319-542: The consulship of 194 BC. During his second consulship, he wanted to succeed Titus Quinctius Flamininus in Greece and advocated for a stronger Roman presence in the Aegean to guard against Antiochus III , but was unsuccessful. He instead fought the Boii and Ligurians in northern Italy, against whom the Romans had been continuously campaigning since 201 BC. Scipio let his co-consul, Tiberius Sempronius Longus , take

11466-420: The consulship of 218 BC, his uncle was consul in 222 BC, and his mother's brothers – Manius Pomponius Matho and Marcus Pomponius Matho – were both consuls in 233 and 231, respectively. The Second Punic war started in the spring of 218 BC when the Roman ultimatum to Carthage demanding that Hannibal withdraw from Saguntum in Spain was rejected. Scipio's father was consul that year and

11613-437: The disastrous Battle of Cannae – his father-in-law, the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus , was there slain – and, after the battle, rallied survivors at Canusium . According to Livy, when he heard that Lucius Caecilius Metellus and other young nobles were discussing a plan to abandon the republic and go overseas to serve as mercenaries, Scipio stormed into the meeting and forced all of them at sword-point to swear to Jupiter and

11760-487: The early autumn. He was the first person to have been given proconsular imperium without having held consular office. He went to Spain with some 10,000 reinforcements and was joined by another commander, Marcus Junius Silanus , who was dispatched pro praetore and soon assumed command of Nero's army. Seeking to defeat the three Carthaginian armies in detail, the next year, 209 BC, saw Scipio's first major campaign: he besieged Carthago Nova (modern Cartagena), which

11907-462: The evident Roman disasters proved too strong a temptation. The treaty between them and Hannibal can be described as an agreement of friendship, since the Capuans had no obligations. When the port city of Locri defected to Carthage in the summer of 215   BC it was immediately used to reinforce the Carthaginian forces in Italy with soldiers, supplies and war elephants. It was the only time during

12054-479: The faculty of inspiring his soldiers with confidence. 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. Livy continues, "On Scipio's again asking him whom he regarded as

12201-512: The final blow against Carthage; the consuls of 202 BC coveted the African command for the same reason – Scipio refused peace terms at a parley with Hannibal in 202 BC. With the support of Masinissa's Numidian cavalry, the Battle of Zama was fought shortly after; the Romans won and Carthage then again sued for peace. In the new year, 201 BC, Scipio remained in Africa to conclude negotiations, which saw Carthage's territory kept to

12348-497: The fine, claiming poverty, and was only saved from prison when one of the plebeian tribunes, usually identified as Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus , interceded. Africanus was around the same time challenged in the senate. A senator demanded that he produce his account-books for the Antiochene campaign and account for the monies allotted to pay his troops. He responded with indignation and declared that he owed no reckoning. Securing

12495-407: The first century AD, alleged that Scipio Africanus had a weakness for beautiful women, 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 and Scipio chose to act as a general and not an ordinary soldier in restoring her, virtue and ransom intact, to her fiancé. This episode

12642-406: The full complement of the legions deployed would have been in excess of 100,000 men, plus, as always, a similar number of allied troops. The majority were deployed in southern Italy in field armies of approximately 20,000 men each. This was insufficient to challenge Hannibal's army in open battle, but sufficient to force him to concentrate his forces and to hamper his movements. During 215   BC

12789-399: The invader down, until Rome could rebuild its military strength. Hannibal was left largely free to ravage Apulia for the next year. Fabius was unpopular at this period with parts of the Roman army, public and the senate, for avoiding battle while Italy was being devastated by the enemy: there was awareness that his tactics would not lead to a quick end to the war. Hannibal marched through

12936-483: The islands of Sicily and Sardinia and, towards the end of the war, in North Africa. After immense materiel and human losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were once again defeated. Macedonia , Syracuse and several Numidian kingdoms were drawn into the fighting, and Iberian and Gallic forces fought on both sides. There were three main military theatres during the war: Italy, where Hannibal defeated

13083-431: The kingdom. The Carthaginians reacted to the defeat by recalling their generals Hannibal and Mago from Italy and launching their fleet against Scipio's to cut off their supply lines. Scipio was forced into a naval battle near Utica, but was able to avert disaster, losing only some sixty transport ships. Another set of peace negotiations occurred, with the Carthaginians eventually agreeing to abandon all territorial claims in

13230-494: The later historian Valerius Antias reported that he died in 187 BC. Livy , arguing against both dates in his history, believed Scipio died c.  185 BC , rejecting both dates with the argument that if Scipio lived to 183 he would be noted as princeps senatus and that Scipio had to have lived to 185 BC to have been prosecuted by the Naevius who was tribune in that year. However, most modern sources, such as

13377-454: The leading role in the fighting and returned to Rome to hold the consular elections. In 193 BC, Scipio is said to have taken part in two embassies. The first was to Africa, where he was one of three sent to arbitrate a boundary dispute between Carthage and Masinissa: the commission left the matter undecided, possibly on purpose. The second embassy is said to have been to Asia and, on the basis of travel time, could not have happened. During

13524-495: The legions from behind. As a result, the Roman infantry was surrounded with no means of escape. At least 67,500 Romans were killed or captured. Miles describes Cannae as "Rome's greatest military disaster". Toni Ñaco del Hoyo describes the Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae as the three "great military calamities" suffered by the Romans in the first three years of the war. Brian Carey writes that these three defeats brought Rome to

13671-674: The majority of Rome's allies in central Italy remained loyal. All except the smallest towns were too well fortified for Hannibal to take by assault, and blockade could be a long-drawn-out affair, or if the target was a port, impossible. Carthage's new allies felt little sense of community with Carthage, or even with each other. They increased the number of places which Hannibal's army was expected to defend from Roman retribution, but provided relatively few fresh troops to assist him in doing so. Such Italian forces as were raised resisted operating away from their home cities and performed poorly when they did. An important part of Hannibal's campaign in Italy

13818-461: The matter to the popular assemblies if it refused to do so. Despite fierce opposition from the princeps senatus, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus , the senate bowed to his pressure and he received Sicily with permission to cross into Africa if he wished. Fabius' opposition may have been related to jealousy of Scipio's popularity, but also was likely informed by the failed African campaign c.  255 BC under Marcus Atilius Regulus during

13965-400: The most common operations. When armies were campaigning, surprise attacks, ambushes and stratagems were common. More formal battles were usually preceded by the two armies camping 2–12 kilometres (1–7 mi) apart for days or weeks; sometimes forming up in battle order each day. If either commander felt at a disadvantage, they might march off without engaging. In such circumstances it

14112-528: The mouth of the Rhone, but Hannibal evaded the Romans and continued to Italy. The Carthaginians reached the foot of the Alps by late autumn and crossed them in 15 days, surmounting the difficulties of climate, terrain and the guerrilla warfare tactics of the native Ligurians. Hannibal arrived in Cisalpine Gaul with 20,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and an unknown number of elephants – the survivors of

14259-519: The northern boundary of the Carthaginian sphere of influence . At some time during the next six years Rome made a separate agreement with the city of Saguntum , which was situated well south of the Ebro. In 219   BC a Carthaginian army under Hannibal besieged Saguntum , and after eight months captured and sacked it. Rome complained to the Carthaginian government, sending an embassy headed by Quintus Fabius Maximus to its senate with peremptory demands. When these were rejected Rome declared war in

14406-425: The old tyrant of Syracuse of forty-five-years standing and a staunch Roman ally, died in 215   BC and his successor Hieronymus was discontented with his situation. Hannibal negotiated a treaty whereby Syracuse came over to Carthage, at the price of making the whole of Sicily a Syracusan possession. The Syracusan army proved no match for a Roman army led by Claudius Marcellus and by spring 213   BC Syracuse

14553-434: The ordinary run of military captains as an incomparable commander." 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. Scipio

14700-501: The other Roman army was also defeated at the battle of Umbrian Lake and annihilated. The prisoners were badly treated if they were Romans; captured Latin allies were well treated by the Carthaginians and many were freed and sent back to their cities, in the expectation they would speak well of Carthaginian martial prowess and of their treatment. Hannibal hoped some of these allies could be persuaded to defect . The Carthaginians continued their march through Etruria , then Umbria , to

14847-452: The peace so that he could continue the war in Scipio's place, the peace terms were ratified by the assembly in Rome, bringing the war to a final close. On his return, Scipio celebrated a triumph over Hannibal, the Carthaginians, and Syphax. There, he took the agnomen Africanus ('the African'), for his victories. By this point, Scipio's career reached far beyond his peers even though he

14994-549: The peninsula. In 208 Scipio defeated Hasdrubal , although Hasdrubal was able to withdraw most of his troops into Gaul and then Cisalpine Gaul in spring 207 BC. This new Carthaginian invasion was defeated at the Battle of the Metaurus . At the battle of Ilipa in 206 Scipio permanently ended the Carthaginian presence in Iberia. Scipio invaded Carthaginian Africa in 204 BC, compelling the Carthaginian Senate to recall Hannibal's army from Italy. The final engagement of

15141-455: 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). He often visited the temple of Jupiter and made offerings there. There was a belief that he was

15288-454: The preeminent powers in the western Mediterranean. Relationships were good, the two states had several times declared their mutual friendship and there were strong commercial links. According to the classicist Richard Miles Rome's expansionary attitude after southern Italy came under its control combined with Carthage's proprietary approach to Sicily caused the two powers to stumble into war more by accident than design. The immediate cause of

15435-511: The relatives of Scipio Aemilianus , his patron and friend, unduly favourably but the consensus is to accept his account largely at face value. The modern historian Andrew Curry sees Polybius as being "fairly reliable"; Craige Champion describes him as "a remarkably well-informed, industrious, and insightful historian". Much of Polybius's account of the Second Punic War is missing after 216 BC or only exists in fragmentary form. As

15582-408: The remnants of his Spanish army. It soon received Gallic and Ligurian reinforcements. Mago's arrival in the north of the Italian peninsula was followed by Hannibal's inconclusive battle of Crotona in 204   BC in the far south of the peninsula. Mago marched his reinforced army towards the lands of Carthage's main Gallic allies in Cisalpine Gaul, but was checked by a large Roman army and defeated at

15729-543: The richest and most fertile provinces of Italy, hoping the devastation would draw Fabius into battle, but Fabius refused. The Roman populace derided Fabius as "the Delayer" (in Latin , Cunctator ) and in 216 BC elected new consuls: Gaius Terentius Varro , who advocated pursuing a more aggressive war strategy, and Lucius Aemilius Paullus , who advocated a strategy somewhere between Fabius's and that suggested by Varro. In

15876-430: 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

16023-531: The siege, but was then ambushed and itself besieged. An army had previously been raised by the Romans to campaign in Iberia, but the Roman Senate detached one Roman and one allied legion from it to send to north Italy. Recruiting fresh troops to replace these delayed the army's departure for Iberia until September. At the same time a Roman army in Sicily under the consul Sempronius Longus was preparing for an invasion of Africa. Meanwhile, Hannibal assembled

16170-521: The silver mines, agricultural wealth, manpower , military facilities such as shipyards , and territorial depth to stand up to future Roman demands with confidence. Hamilcar ruled as a viceroy and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Hasdrubal , in 229   BC and then his son, Hannibal, in 221   BC. In 226   BC the Ebro Treaty was agreed with Rome, specifying the Ebro River as

16317-411: The spring of 207   BC Hasdrubal Barca repeated the feat of his elder brother by marching an army across the Alps. He invaded Cisalpine Gaul with an army of 35,000 men, intending to join forces with Hannibal, but Hannibal was unaware of his presence. The Romans facing Hannibal in southern Italy tricked him into believing the whole Roman army was still in camp, while a large portion marched north under

16464-455: The spring of 216 BC Hannibal seized the large supply depot at Cannae on the Apulian plain. The Roman Senate authorised the raising of double-sized armies by Varro and Paullus, a force of 86,000 men, the largest in Roman history up to that point. Paullus and Varro marched southward to confront Hannibal and encamped 10 km (6 mi) away. Hannibal accepted battle on the open plain between

16611-566: The spring of 218   BC. Since the end of the First Punic War Rome had also been expanding, especially in the area of north Italy either side of the River Po known as Cisalpine Gaul . Roman attempts to establish towns and farms in the region from 232 BC led to repeated wars with the local Gallic tribes, who were finally defeated in 222. In 218 the Romans pushed even further north, establishing two new towns, or "colonies", on

16758-481: The status quo ante bellum, Carthage restore to the Romans all captured goods and persons, Carthaginian disarmament of all but ten triremes, and Carthage needing to ask for Roman permission to make any war. Massinissa's territory in Numidia was to be confirmed; and a war indemnity of 10,000 talents was to be paid over the next fifty years. Although the consul of 201 BC, Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus attempted to oppose

16905-551: The suppression of the rebellion, Hamilcar understood that Carthage needed to strengthen its economic and military base if it were to confront Rome again; Carthaginian possessions in Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal) were limited to a handful of prosperous coastal cities in the south and Hamilcar took the army which he had led in the Truceless War to Iberia in 237   BC and carved out a quasi-monarchical, autonomous state in southern and eastern Iberia. This gave Carthage

17052-498: 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 . Scipio is considered by many to be one of Rome's greatest generals. Skillful alike in strategy and in tactics, he had also

17199-456: The third, Hannibal, without any hesitation, replied, 'Myself.' Scipio smiled and asked, 'What would you say if you had vanquished me?' 'In that case,' replied Hannibal, 'I should say that I surpassed Alexander and Pyrrhus, and all other commanders in the world.' Scipio was delighted with the turn which the speaker had with true Carthaginian adroitness given to his answer, and the unexpected flattery it conveyed, because Hannibal had set him apart from

17346-461: The toe of Italy that year, and left one Pleminius in command there. After Pleminius assumed command, he robbed the city's temple and tortured and killed two military tribunes. For these crimes, the senate had Pleminius placed under arrest; Scipio was also implicated but was cleared the next year. His imperium was prorogued into 205 BC and in that year, he crossed with his men into Africa and besieged Utica before withdrawing and pretending in

17493-526: The tribune desisted. From the start of the war through to 211 BC, Scipio's father, Publius Cornelius Scipio, and uncle – Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus – were in command of Rome's armies in Spain. They made some headway when the Carthaginians were forced to withdraw a considerable portion of their forces to handle a revolt by Syphax of Numidia . Through the seven years from 218, the brothers had successfully extended Roman control deep into Carthaginian territory. However, disaster struck in 211 BC when

17640-562: The voyage and some of his ships were intercepted by the Romans, but 12,000 of his troops reached Carthage. The Roman fleet continued on from Massala in the autumn of 218   BC, landing the army it was transporting in north-east Iberia, where it won support among the local tribes. The Romans' lodgement between the Ebro and the Pyrenees blocked the route from Iberia to Italy, making the despatch of reinforcements from Iberia to Hannibal difficult. A Carthaginian attack in late 218   BC

17787-494: The war Carthage expanded its holdings in Iberia where in 219   BC a Carthaginian army under Hannibal besieged, captured and sacked the pro-Roman city of Saguntum . In early 218   BC Rome declared war on Carthage, beginning the Second Punic War. Later that year, Hannibal surprised the Romans by marching his army overland from Iberia, through Gaul and over the Alps to Cisalpine Gaul (modern northern Italy). Reinforced by Gallic allies he obtained crushing victories over

17934-483: The war Carthage reinforced Hannibal. A second force, under Hannibal's youngest brother Mago , was meant to land in Italy in 215   BC but was diverted to Iberia after a major Carthaginian defeat there. Meanwhile, the Romans took drastic steps to raise new legions: enrolling slaves, criminals and those who did not meet the usual property qualification. By early 215   BC they were fielding at least 12 legions; by 214   BC 18; and by 213   BC 22. By 212 BC

18081-563: The war took place between armies under Scipio and Hannibal at Zama in 202 and resulted in Hannibal's defeat and in Carthage suing for peace . The peace treaty dictated by Rome stripped Carthage of all of its overseas territories and some of its African ones. An indemnity of 10,000 silver talents was to be paid over 50 years. Carthage was prohibited from waging war outside Africa, and in Africa only with Rome's express permission. Henceforth it

18228-481: The war's start. The consul of 190 BC was Scipio Africanus' brother, Lucius Cornelius Scipio , who was assigned by the senate to Greece with permission to cross into Asia. He appointed his older brother, Scipio Africanus, as one of his legates. While en route, Roman armies and fleets quickly overwhelmed Antiochus' defences, forcing him to retreat from the Hellespont and Abydos ; by October 190 BC, when

18375-537: The war. The Carthaginian fleet rarely put to sea, and when it did it was usually to escort transport ships; it rarely acted aggressively. This gave the Romans naval superiority for the duration of the war. The Roman Republic had been aggressively expanding in the southern Italian mainland for a century and had conquered peninsular Italy south of the Arno River by 270   BC, after the Pyrrhic War when

18522-410: The wealthier equites providing a cavalry component. Traditionally, when at war the Romans would raise four legions , each of 4,200 infantry and 300 cavalry. Approximately 1,200 of the infantry, poorer or younger men unable to afford the armour and equipment of a standard legionary , served as javelin -armed skirmishers , known as velites . They carried several javelins, which would be thrown from

18669-502: The winter to negotiate with the Carthaginians. During those pretended negotiations, Scipio mapped out the enemy camps and launched a night attack that was successful in destroying them and killing a large number of the enemy. The armies then fought in the Battle of the Great Plains some time early in the new year (his imperium was prorogued until the war's completion) and after capturing Syphax of Numidia, restored Massinissa to

18816-467: The year 199 BC, Scipio was elected censor with Publius Aelius Paetus as his colleague. Their censorship was largely unremarkable, but saw Scipio named as princeps senatus , a title which he retained for the next two lustra . After this point, the classicist Howard Hayes Scullard believed that Scipio's political position entered an eclipse. This is disputed. After the required ten years between consulships had elapsed, Scipio secured election to

18963-444: The year; according to Livy he was denied a triumph, on the grounds that he was privatus – that is, sine magistratu – and had never been elected to a magistracy with imperium . Scipio was elected unanimously to the consulship of 205 BC amid much enthusiasm; he was 31 and still technically too young to be consul. When he entered into office, he demanded that the senate assign him the province of Africa and threatened to take

19110-439: The younger Scipio joined him in the campaign to stop Hannibal's march on Italy. In a short cavalry engagement between Scipio's father and Hannibal at the river Ticinus near modern Pavia , Polybius claims that the son saved his father's life after the father was encircled by enemy horsemen. Other sources, however, credit an unnamed Ligurian slave. Two years later, in 216 BC, Scipio served as military tribune . He survived

19257-407: Was alive as late as 102 BC. 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 instead of wearing the beard . This man's fashion lasted until the time of emperor Hadrian (r. 117–138), then

19404-721: Was Africanus' tomb. The third is the pyramidal Meta Romuli which was ahistorically dubbed the Sepulcrum Scipionis during the Renaissance. Scipio married Aemilia Tertia , daughter of the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus who fell at Cannae. She was also the sister of another consul, Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus . Scipio's marriage was fruitful. They had three sons: They also had two daughters. Both were named Cornelia. The elder married Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum . The younger Cornelia married Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and became mother to

19551-524: Was a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War . Often regarded as one of the greatest military commanders and strategists of all time, his greatest military achievement was the defeat of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. This victory in Africa earned him the honorific epithet Africanus , literally meaning 'the African', but meant to be understood as

19698-678: Was a direct threat to the city. When they did, they fought as well-armoured heavy infantry armed with long thrusting spears, although they were notoriously ill-trained and ill-disciplined. In most circumstances Carthage recruited foreigners to make up its army. Many were from North Africa and these were frequently referred to as "Libyans". The region provided several types of fighters, including: close-order infantry equipped with large shields, helmets, short swords and long thrusting spears ; javelin-armed light infantry skirmishers; close-order shock cavalry also known as "heavy cavalry" carrying spears; and light cavalry skirmishers who threw javelins from

19845-410: Was a major Carthaginian logistics hub and of substantial strategic importance. In the battle , he captured the city by sending a wading party across the lagoon to the city's north when it reached low tide, he told the troops that he had a vision in which the god Neptune had promised aid; this alleged vision played a role in the rapid development of a Scipionic legend around him and his family. Storming

19992-400: Was besieged . Both Polybius' and Livy's accounts of the siege focus on Archimedes ' invention of war machines to counteract Roman siege warfare, which was already made difficult by the strong defences of the city. A large Carthaginian army led by Himilco was sent to relieve the city in 213   BC and several further Sicilian cities deserted the Romans. In the spring of 212   BC

20139-590: Was clear Carthage was politically subordinate to Rome. Rome used Carthaginian military activity against the Numidians as a pretext to declare war again in 149   BC starting the Third Punic War . In 146   BC the Romans stormed the city of Carthage , sacked it, slaughtered most of its population and completely demolished it . The most reliable source for the Second Punic War is the historian Polybius ( c.  200  – c.  118 BC ),

20286-508: Was difficult to force a battle if the other commander was unwilling to fight. Forming up in battle order was a complicated and premeditated affair, which took several hours. Infantry were usually positioned in the centre of the battle line, with light infantry skirmishers to their front and cavalry on each flank. Many battles were decided when one side's infantry force was attacked in the flank or rear and they were partially or wholly enveloped . Both states possessed large fleets throughout

20433-464: Was frequently depicted by painters of the Renaissance and early modern era as the Continence of Scipio. According to Valerius Maximus, Scipio had a relationship from c.  191 BC with one of his own serving girls, which his wife magnanimously overlooked. 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

20580-412: Was lured into combat by Hannibal on ground of his choosing at the battle of the Trebia . The Carthaginians encircled the Romans and only 10,000 out of 40,000 were able to fight their way to safety. Having secured his position in Cisalpine Gaul by this victory, Hannibal quartered his troops for the winter among the Gauls. The latter joined his army in large numbers, bringing it up to 50,000 men. There

20727-766: Was only in his early thirties. On his return, he deposited some 123,000 pounds of silver into the Roman treasury and distributed 400 asses each to his soldiers. His popularity among the plebs was also astonishing – the Scipionic legend, which in later forms depicted him a son of Jupiter – and heralded great political success. This success, however, turned many Roman aristocrats into his enemies, largely to oppose his further aggrandisement or out of jealousy. Even during his consulship, he had been opposed by Fabius Maximus and others, especially after stories circulated of his being saluted as king and god in Spain. His intended role in Roman politics, however, remained traditional. In

20874-416: Was repelled at the battle of Cissa . In 217   BC 40 Carthaginian and Iberian warships were beaten by 35 Roman and Massalian vessels at the battle of Ebro River , with the loss of 29 Carthaginian ships. In 216 Hasdrubal received orders from Carthage to move into Italy and join up with Hannibal to put pressure on the Romans in their homeland. Hasdrubal demurred, arguing that Carthaginian authority over

21021-513: Was revived by Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) and lasted until the reign of emperor Phocas (r. 602–610) who again introduced the wearing of the beard among Roman emperors. 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. To his political opponents, he was often harsh and arrogant, but towards others singularly gracious and sympathetic. His Graecophile lifestyle, and his unconventional way of wearing

21168-400: Was shock when news of the defeat reached Rome, but this calmed once Sempronius arrived, to preside over the consular elections in the usual manner. The consuls-elect recruited further legions, both Roman and from Rome's Latin allies; reinforced Sardinia and Sicily against the possibility of Carthaginian raids or invasion; placed garrisons at Tarentum and other places for similar reasons; built

21315-418: 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

21462-442: Was the long-standing Roman procedure to elect two men each year as senior magistrates , known as consuls , who in time of war would each lead an army. An army was usually formed by combining two Roman legions with a similarly sized and equipped pair of legions provided by their Latin allies . These legions usually had a larger attached complement of cavalry than Roman ones. Carthaginian citizens only served in their army if there

21609-469: Was to attempt to fight the Romans by using local resources; raising recruits from among the local population. His subordinate Hanno was able to raise troops in Samnium in 214 BC, but the Romans intercepted these new levies in the battle of Beneventum and eliminated them before they rendezvoused with Hannibal. Hannibal could win allies, but defending them against the Romans was a new and difficult problem, as

#270729