(Lat. a staff), the name of an illustrious patrician family of Rome, of the gens Cornelia. It rose to great power in the Roman state, and to this family more than to any other Rome was indebted for her empire over the world. Of the thirty-six names usually given in connection with that distinguished house, unquestionably the most illustrious were Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major, and Publius Cornelius Scipio Æmilianus Africanus Minor.