A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

SCIPIO. SCIPIO. 749
-capacity in which the consuls might choose to from house to house, and the work of destruction
employ him. He was appointed military tribune, and butchery went on for days. The fate of this
and accompanied the consul L. Lucullus to Spain. once magnificent city moved Scipio to tears, and
Here he distinguished himself by his personal anticipating that a similar catastrophe might one
courage. On one occasion he slew, in single day befall Rome, he is said to have repeated the
combat, a gigantic Spanish chieftain; and at lines of the Iliad (vi. 448) over the flames of
another time he was the first to mount the walls Carthage,
at the storming of the city of Intercatia. Such' e o' rA Ibo p,
daring deeds gained for him the admiration of the cal pias sT Xs IfstW lp ImA Psms.
barbarians, while his integrity and other virtues
conciliated their regard and esteem. He quite After completing the arrangements for reducing
threw into the shade his avaricious and cruel Africa to the form of a Roman province, he recommander, and revived among the Spaniards the turned to Rome in the same year, and celebrated
recollection of his grandfather, the elder Africanus. a splendid triumph on account of his victory. The
In the following year, B. c. 150, he was sent by surname of Africanus, which he had inherited by
Lucullus to Africa to obtain from Masinissa a adoption from the conqueror of Hannibal, had
supply of elephants. His name secured him a been now acquired by him by his own exploits.
most honourable reception from the aged Numi- In B. C. 142 Scipio was censor with L. Mumdian monarch. He arrived in the midst of the mius. Scipio, in the administration of the duties
war between Masinissa and the Carthaginians, of his office, followed in the footsteps of Cato, and
and was requested by the latter to act as mediator attempted by severity to repress the growing
between them; hut he was unable to accomplish luxury and immorality of his contemporaries. He
any thing, and returned to Spain with the ele- exhorted the people to uphold and maintain the
phants. customs of their ancestors in a speech which was
On the breaking out of the third Punic war in preserved in later times. His efforts, however, to
B. C. 149, Scipio again went to Africa, but still preserve the old Roman habits were thwarted by
only with the rank of military tribune. IIere his colldague Mummius, who had himself acquired
Scipio gained still more renown. By his personal a love for Greek and Asiatic luxuries, and was
bravery and military skill he repaired, to a great disposed to be more indulgent to the people (Gell.
extent, the mistakes, and made up for the inca- iv. 20, v. 19; Val. Max. vi. 4. ~ 2). In the
pacity of the consul Manilius, whose army on one solemn prayer offered at the conclusion of the
occasion he saved from destruction. His abilities lustrum, Scipio changed the supplication for the
gained him the complete confidence of Masinissa extension of the commonwealth into one for the
and the Roman troops, while his integrity and preservation of its actual possessions (Val. Max.
fidelity to his word were so highly prized by the iv. 1. ~ 10*). He vainly wished to check the
enemy, that to his promise only would they trust. appetite for foreign conquests, which had been
Accordingly, the commissioners,, who had been still further excited by the capture of Carthage.
sent by the senate to inspect the state of affairs in In B. C. 139 Scipio was brought to trial before
the Roman camp, made the most favourable report the people by Ti. Claudius Asellus, the tribune
of his abilities and conduct. When L. Calpurnius of the plebs. He seems to have been accused
Piso took the command of the army in the follow- of majestas; but Asellus attacked him out of
ing year, B. C. 148, Scipio left Africa, and returned private animosity, because he had been deprived
to Rome, accompanied by the wishes of the soldiers of his horse, and reduced to the condition of an
that he would soon return to be their commander. aerarian by Scipio in his censorship. Scipio was
Many of them wrote to their friends at Rome, acquitted, and the speeches which he delivered
saying that Scipio alone could conquer Carthage, on the occasion obtained great celebrity, and were
and the opinion became general at Rome that the held in high esteem in a later age (Gell. ii. 20,
conduct of the war ought to be entrusted to him. iii. 4, vii. 11; Cic. de Orat. ii. 64, 66; for
Even the aged Cato, who was always more ready further particulars see Vol. I. p. 385, a.). It apto blame than to praise, praised Scipio in the Ho- pears to have been after this event that Scipio was
meric words (Od. x. 495), "He alone has wisdom, sent on an embassy to Egypt and Asia to attend
the rest are empty shadows " (Plut. Cat. AlIaj. to the Roman interests in those countries (Cic. de
27). The prepossession in favour of Scipio Rep. vi. 11). To show his contempt of the pomp
was still further increased by the want of and luxury in which his contemporaries indulged,
success which attended the operations of Piso; he took with him only five slaves on this mission.
and, accordingly, when he became a candidate for (Athen. vi. p. 273.)
the aedileship for B. c. 147 he was elected consul, The long continuance of the war in Spain, and
although he was only thirty-seven, and had not the repeated disasters which the Roman arms
therefore attained the legal age. The senate, of experienced in that country, again called Scipio to
course, assigned to him Africa as his province, to the consulship. He was appointed consul in his
which he forthwith sailed, accompanied by his absence, along with C. Fulvius Flaccus, and had
friends Polybius and Laelius. The details of the the province of Spain assigned to him, B. c. 134.
war, which ended in the capture of Carthage, are His first efforts were directed to the restoration of
given by Appian (Pun. 113-131), and would discipline in the army, which had become almost
take up too much space to be repeated here. The disorganised by sensual indulgences. After bringCarthaginians defended themselves with the cou- ing the troops into an efficient condition by his
rage of despair. They were able to maintain
possession of their city till the spring of the fol- Valerius Maximus, however, appears to be
lowing year, B. c. 146, when the Roman legions mistaken in stating that Scipio held the lustrum,
at length forced their way into the devoted town. since Cicero says (de Orat. ii. 66), that it was
The inhabitants fought from street to street, and held by his colleague Murnmius.