Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus (185 BC – 129 BC), also called Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a Roman general and leader known for his military achievements during the Third Punic War against Carthage and the Numantine War in Spain. He led to the final defeat and destruction of the city of Carthage. He supported many writers and philosophers, including the Greek historian Polybius. In politics, he disagreed with the popular reforms proposed by his brother-in-law, Tiberius Gracchus, who was later murdered.

Family

Scipio Aemilianus was the second son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, a Roman general who led the Romans to victory in the Third Macedonian War, and his first wife, Papiria Masonis. Scipio was adopted by his first cousin, Publius Cornelius Scipio, the eldest son of his aunt Aemilia Tertia and her husband, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the famous general who won the key battle of the Second Punic War against Hannibal. This made Scipio Africanus the adoptive grandfather of Scipio Aemilianus. After adoption, Scipio became known as Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, taking his adoptive father’s name but keeping Aemilianus as a fourth name to show his original family name. His older brother was adopted by a son or grandson of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, another important Roman general from the Second Punic War. His name then became Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus.

Military career

Lucius Aemilius Paullus took his two older sons with him on his military campaign in Greece. Plutarch wrote that Scipio was his favorite son because he "saw that he was by nature more prone to excellence than any of his brothers." He also wrote that during clean-up activities after the Battle of Pydna, Aemilius was worried because his younger son was missing. Plutarch added that "the whole army learned of the distress and anguish of their general, and springing up from their suppers, ran about with torches, many to the tent of Aemilius, and many in front of the ramparts, searching among the numerous dead bodies. Dejection reigned in the camp, and the plain was filled with the cries of men calling out the name of Scipio. For from the very outset he had been admired by everybody, since, beyond any other one of his family, he had a nature adapted for leadership in war and public service. Well, then, when it was already late and he was almost despaired of, he came in from the pursuit with two or three comrades, covered with the blood of the enemies he had slain…" Scipio Aemilianus was seventeen at the time.

In 152 BC, the consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus urged the Senate to conclude a peace with the Celtiberians. The Senate rejected this proposal and instead sent one of the consuls of 151 BC, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, to Hispania to continue the war. However, there was a crisis of recruitment due to rumors of incessant battles and heavy Roman losses. Additionally, Marcellus appeared to be afraid of continuing the war; this led to panic. Young men avoided enrollment as soldiers through unverifiable excuses. Men eligible to be legates (legion commanders) or military tribunes (senior officers) did not volunteer.

Scipio Aemilianus was thought to have advised for the prosecution of the war. He asked the Senate to send him to Hispania either as a military tribune or a legate, due to the urgency of the situation, even though it would have been safer to go to Macedon, where he had been invited to settle domestic disputes. The Senate was at first surprised. Ultimately, Scipio's decision made him popular, and many of those who had been avoiding their duty, ashamed by Scipio's example, began to volunteer as legates or to enroll as soldiers.

Scipio served under Lucullus. Velleius Paterculus wrote that Scipio was awarded a mural crown, which was a military decoration awarded to the soldier who first climbed the wall of a besieged city or fortress and successfully placed the military standard on it. Florus wrote that "having been challenged by [the Celtiberian] king to a single combat, carried off the spolia opima, the armor and arms stripped from the body of an opposing commander slain in single combat. These were regarded as the most honorable of all war trophies."

Although the power of Carthage had been broken with her defeat in the Second Punic War, there was still lingering resentment in Rome. Cato the Elder ended every speech with, "Carthage must be destroyed." In 150 BC an appeal was made to Scipio Aemilianus by the Carthaginians to act as a mediator between them and the Numidian prince Massinissa who, supported by the anti-Carthaginian faction in Rome, was incessantly encroaching on Carthaginian territory. After winning the Second Punic War, Rome had mandated that Carthage could not defend itself militarily without seeking Rome's permission first. Rome construed Carthage's defense of itself against Numidians as a violation of this agreement. In 149 BC Rome declared war and a force was sent to besiege Carthage.

In the early stages of the war, the Romans suffered repeated defeats. Scipio Aemilianus was a military tribune (senior officer) and distinguished himself repeatedly: After a failed Roman attack into Carthage itself, it was Aemilianus who prevented a disaster by covering the army's retreat from the city. When the Carthaginians launched a surprise night-time attack on the camp of consul Censorinus, it was Aemilianus who rallied part of the cavalry, led them out of a rear gate and attacked the Carthaginians in the flank, driving them back to the city and restoring the situation. While collecting supplies from the countryside, Aemilius was one of the few who managed to prevent his foraging party from being ambushed. When the Carthaginians mounted another surprise night-time attack on a fort protecting the Roman transport ships, it was Aemilianus who led out his men and drove off the assault party using a clever stratagem. During a Roman attack on Hasdrubal's forces near Nepheris he again prevented disaster by checking the Carthaginian counter-attack which hit the Roman army when it was in a disadvantaged position.

In 147 BC he was elected consul, while still under the minimum age required by law to hold this office. Without the customary procedure of drawing lots, he was assigned to the African theater of war. After a year of desperate fighting and stubborn heroism on the part of the defenders, he took the city of Carthage, taking prisoner about 50,000 survivors (about one-tenth of the city's population). Complying with the mandate of the Senate, he ordered the city evacuated, burnt it, razed it to the ground and plowed it over, ending the Third Punic War. It was formerly believed that he also salted the city, but modern scholars have found no evidence for that. On his return to Rome he received a Triumph, having also established a personal claim to his adoptive agnomen of Africanus. According

Political career

In 142 BC, Scipio Aemilianus was a censor. During his time as a censor, he worked to stop the increasing luxury and bad behavior of the period. In 139 BC, he was accused of high treason by Tiberius Claudius Asellus, who had been demoted while Scipio was a censor. The accusation was not successful. The speeches he gave at that time (which are now lost) were seen as very good.

Scipio helped his relative, Tiberius Gracchus, who in 137 BC had served in the Numantine War as a treasurer under the military leader Gaius Hostilius Mancinus. Mancinus was trapped by the enemy and could not escape, so he made a peace treaty. Tiberius negotiated the terms of the treaty. The Senate called the treaty a disgrace. Plutarch wrote that the families of soldiers blamed Mancinus and said Tiberius saved many lives. Others argued that the treaty was broken by the quaestors and military leaders, accusing them of breaking a promise. The people showed strong support for Tiberius, voting to deliver Mancinus unarmed to the Numantines but sparing other officers because of Tiberius. Scipio used his influence to save the men, but people criticized him for not saving Mancinus or keeping the treaty.

The Encyclopædia Britannica suggests Scipio Aemilianus did not support the optimates, a group that backed the aristocracy. He disagreed with the militant actions of the movement led by Gracchus, who pushed for a law to redistribute land to the poor. Plutarch wrote that this disagreement did not cause major problems. He thought that if Scipio had been in Rome during Gracchus’s political activity, Gracchus might not have been murdered. Still, Scipio disliked Gracchus’s actions. Plutarch wrote that when Scipio learned of Tiberius’s death, he loudly recited a verse from Homer. After returning to Rome, Scipio criticized Gracchus’s measures in a public meeting, which made him unpopular. Gaius Papirius Carbo was a plebeian tribune, and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus was a senator who supported the Gracchian cause.

Scipio made himself unpopular again. Appian wrote that Fulvius Flaccus, Carbo, and Tiberius’s younger brother, Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, led a commission to carry out the Gracchian law. Land had never been surveyed, and many landowners lacked deeds. The land was resurveyed, and some owners lost orchards and farm buildings, being forced to move to less fertile land. People were allowed to work undistributed land, which blurred the lines between public and private land. Rome’s Italian allies complained about lawsuits and asked Scipio to defend them. Scipio agreed because they had fought in his wars. In the Senate, he did not criticize the law but argued that cases should be heard by a court instead of the commission, which lacked trust. This was accepted, and the consul Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was appointed to judge. However, Tuditanus avoided the task by starting a war in Illyria. People were angry at Scipio because he had supported the allies against Rome. His enemies claimed he wanted to stop the Gracchian law and cause conflict. When people heard these claims, they were alarmed until Scipio died at home, according to Appian, without injury.

Modern historians believe there is no strong evidence to support any alternative explanation for Scipio’s death besides natural causes. Ancient sources, however, recorded rumors of foul play. Appian wrote that it was unclear whether Scipio was murdered by Cornelia (mother of the Gracchi) and her daughter Sempronia (Scipio’s wife), who feared the Gracchian law might be repealed, or whether he committed suicide after failing to keep promises. He added that some claimed slaves under torture said unknown people suffocated him at night.

Plutarch wrote that Scipio Africanus died at home after dinner, but no proof of how he died was found. Some said he died naturally, others from poison, and others from being smothered by enemies. Scipio’s body was shown to the public, and people made guesses about

Personal character

Velleius Paterculus wrote that Scipio was "a supporter who valued learning and kept two highly intelligent men, Polybius and Panaetius, close to him at all times. No one used their free time more thoughtfully than Scipio, whether in times of war or peace. He was always busy, either training his body through danger or his mind through study." Polybius wrote about traveling to Africa with Scipio to explore the continent. Gellius noted that Scipio spoke with the clearest language of his time. Cicero included Scipio among orators who were "slightly more expressive than usual, but never shouted or overreached." Scipio was known for his sense of humor, and Cicero recorded several stories about his wordplay. He also appears in Cicero’s dialogue De re publica, especially in Book VI, which is called the Somnium Scipionis or "Dream of Scipio."

Culturally, Scipio Aemilianus admired Greek traditions but also supported Roman customs. He was the leader of a group known as the Scipionic circle, which included 15 to 27 philosophers, poets, and politicians. This group included Roman writers like Lucilius and Terence, as well as Greek scholars like Polybius and the philosopher Panaetius. This showed Scipio’s admiration for Greek culture, which some Roman traditionalists criticized as harmful to Roman values. However, Scipio also supported Roman traditions. Gellius wrote that when Scipio was censor, he gave a speech urging people to follow the customs of their ancestors. He criticized practices he believed went against these traditions, such as allowing adopted sons to gain the same benefits as biological sons during the census.

Gellius also wrote that after Scipio’s time as censor, he was accused by Tiberius Claudius Asellus, a plebeian tribune whom Scipio had removed from the rank of knight. Gellius did not explain the accusation. Despite being accused, Scipio continued his usual habits, such as shaving and wearing white clothing, which were not typical for those under accusation. He noted that noblemen began shaving in middle age. The satirist Lucilius wrote a verse about the event: "Thus base Asellus did great Scipio taunt: Unlucky was his censorship and bad."

Polybius described an event in which Scipio reflected on the changing nature of human affairs after the destruction of Carthage:

Scipio reportedly wept openly for his enemies as he saw the city being destroyed. After long reflection, he realized that all cities, nations, and leaders eventually face destruction, just as the city of Ilium, the Assyrian, Median, and Persian empires, and even Macedonia had before. He said:

When Polybius, who was his teacher, asked him what he meant, Scipio openly mentioned his own country, fearing for its future. Polybius heard this and recorded it in his history.

In popular culture

In the 1971 film Scipio the African, Scipio Aemilianus is shown as a young boy living in the home of his adopted grandfather. The name "Scipio" appears in the animated series Code Lyoko because the general destroyed Carthage. Scipio is also shown in the anime Drifters. His image is included in the game Rise of Kingdoms as a commander who was good at leading groups of soldiers. He is also mentioned in the book The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.