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Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major (Latin:
P路CORNELIVS路P路F路L路N路SCIPIO路AFRICANVS
#Notes|¹) (236 BC|236 - 183 BC) was a
general in the Second Punic War and statesman of
the Roman Republic. He was best known for
defeating Hannibal of Carthage, a feat that earned
him the surname Africanus.

== Biography ==

=== Early years ===

Scipio was present at the disastrous Battle of
Ticinus (where, according to one tradition, he
saved his Publius Cornelius Scipio|father's life);
and those at the Battle of Trebia|Trebia and at
Battle of Cannae|Cannae. Even after the last of
these defeats at the hands of the
Carthage|Carthaginians, he was resolutely focused
on securing Roman victory. On hearing that
Caecilius Metellus|Lucius Caecilius Metellus and
other politicians were at the point of giving up
the struggle and quitting Italy in despair, he
gathered what few followers he could find and
stormed into the meeting, where at sword-point he
forced all present to swear that they would
continue in faithful service to Rome.

=== Spanish Campaign ===

The year after his father's death, he offered
himself for the command of the new army which the
Romans resolved to send to Spain. In spite of his
youth, his noble demeanor and enthusiastic
language had made so great an impression that he
was unanimously elected. All Spain south of the
Ebro river in the year of his arrival (210 BC|210)
was under Carthaginian control, but fortunately
for him the three Carthaginian
generals—Hannibal's brothers Hasdrubal and
Mago, and Hasdrubal the son of Gisgo—were
not disposed to act in concert and were
preoccupied with revolts in Africa. Scipio, on
landing at the mouth of the Ebro, was thus able to
surprise and capture Carthago Nova, the
headquarters of the Carthaginian power in Spain.
He obtained a rich booty of war stores and
supplies, and an excellent harbor. His kindly
treatment of the Spanish hostages and prisoners
brought many over to his side.

In 209 BC|209 he drove back Hasdrubal from his
position at Baecula, on the upper Guadalquivir,
but was unable to hinder the Carthaginian's march
to Italy. After winning over a number of Spanish
chiefs he achieved in 206 BC|206 a decisive
victory over the full Carthaginian levy at Ilipa
(near C贸rdoba), which resulted in the evacuation
of Spain by the Punic commanders.

With the idea of striking a blow at Carthage in
North Africa during the Classical Period|Africa,
he paid a short visit to the Numidian princes
Syphax and Massinissa, and managed to win them
both to his side. Unfortunately, Syphax later
changed his mind and married Sophonisba, daughter
of Hasdrubal the son of Gisgo, and fought against
Massinissa and Scipio in Africa. On his return to
Spain, Scipio had to quell a mutiny which had
broken out among his troops. Hannibal's brother
Hasdrubal had meanwhile marched for Italy, and in
206 Scipio himself, having secured the Roman
occupation of Spain by the capture of C谩diz |
Gades, gave up his command and returned to Rome.

=== African Campaign ===

In the following year he was unanimously elected
to the consulship and assigned the province of
Sicily.  By this time Hannibal's movements were
restricted to the southwestern toe of Italy, and
the war was now to be transferred to Africa.
Scipio was intent on this, and his great name drew
to him a number of volunteers from all parts of
Italy. The old-fashioned aristocracy of Rome, who
disliked his luxurious tastes and affinity for
Greek culture and still entertained a wholesome
dread of Hannibal, opposed the idea; all Scipio
could obtain was permission to cross over from
Sicily to Africa, if it appeared to be in the
interests of Rome. 

The introduction (205 BC|205) of the Phrygian
worship of Cybele and the transference of the
image of the goddess herself from Pessinus to Rome
to bless the expedition may have affected public
opinion. A commission of inquiry was sent over to
Sicily, and it found that Scipio was at the head
of a well-equipped fleet and army. At the
commissioners' bidding he sailed in 204 and landed
near Utica. Carthage, meanwhile, had secured the
friendship of the Numidian Syphax, whose advance
compelled Scipio to raise the siege of Utica and
dig in on the shore between that place and
Carthage. The following year he destroyed two
combined armies of the Carthaginians and
Numidians. 

After the failure of peace negotiations, in which
Scipio displayed great moderation, he defeated
Hannibal in a decisive Battle of Zama|battle near
Zama (October 19, 202 BC), despite being
outnumbered.

In the subsequent settlement with Carthage he
successfully upheld his comparatively lenient
terms, against the immoderate demands of many
Roman aristocrats. Scipio was welcomed back to
Rome with the Roman naming convention|cognomen of
Africanus.  He refused the many further honours
which the people would have thrust upon him. For
some years he lived quietly and took no part in
politics.

=== Allegations of Corruption ===

Meanwhile, Scipio's political enemies, led by Cato
the Elder|Cato, had gained ground. When the Scipio
| Scipiones returned to Rome, two tribunes
prosecuted (187 BC|187) Lucius on the grounds of
misappropriation of money received from Antiochus.
As Lucius was in the act of producing his
account-books, his brother wrested them from his
hands, tore them in pieces, and flung them on the
floor of the Senate house. This created a bad
impression; Lucius was brought to trial, condemned
and heavily fined. 

Africanus himself was subsequently (185 BC|185)
accused of having been bribed by Antiochus, but by
reminding the people that it was the anniversary
of his victory at Zama he caused an outburst of
enthusiasm in his favor. The people crowded round
him and followed him to the Capitol, where they
offered thanks to the gods and begged them to give
Rome more citizens like Africanus. 

He then retired to his country seat at Liternum on
the coast of Campania where he lived until his
death. With his wife Aemilia, daughter of the
consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus who fell at Cannae,
he had a daughter, Cornelia Africana, who became
the mother of the two famous Gracchi by her
marriage with Tiberius Gracchus.

== Opinions ==

Scipio was one of Rome's greatest generals,
possibly the greatest of all time. He never lost a
battle. Skillful alike in strategy and in tactics,
he had also the faculty of inspiring his soldiers
with confidence. According to the story, Hannibal,
who regarded Alexander the Great|Alexander as the
first and Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus as the second
among military commanders, confessed that had he
beaten Scipio he should have put himself before
either of them. He was a man of great intellectual
culture and could speak and read Greek
language|Greek, and wrote his own memoirs in
Greek. He also enjoyed the reputation of being a
graceful orator.

There was a belief that he was a special favourite
of heaven and held actual communication with the
gods. It is quite possible that he himself
honestly shared this belief; to his political
opponents he was often harsh and arrogant, but
towards others singularly gracious and
sympathetic. According to Gellmus, his life was
written by Oppius and Hyginus, and also, it was
said, by Plutarch.

== Music ==
The exploits of Scipio inspired George Frideric
Handel to write the opera Scipio (opera)|Scipio,
the march from which remains the regimental slow
March (music)|march of the British Grenadier
Guards.

==Notes==
P路CORNELIVS路P路F路L路N路SCIPIO路AFRICANVS
in English is "Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus,
son of Publius, grandson of Lucius"

==See also== 
*Scipio-Paullus-Gracchus family tree

1911

For the military achievements of Scipio see: A
Greater Than Napoleon, Scipio Africanus by B.H.
Liddell Hart, first published 1926, London