Publius Cornelius, the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio, who fell in Spain, was probably the greatest man in Rome after Julius Caesar. He was born B.C. 234, since he was twenty-four years of age when appointed to the command in Spain, B.C. 210. From his early youth he displayed an uncommon reverence for the worship of the gods; and his quiet but deep enthusiasm burned in him like a flame. Before engaging in any business he first went to the Capitol, and there, in the high retirement of his own soul, held converse with the unseen powers, who gave or withheld their approval of the project which he had in view. Those Romans who still held on by any vestige of faith in the old Roman religion, entertained his assertions, and stood in awe of his person. There germinated in this man, despite the scepticism of Polybius, a deep and strong faith in the permanence of religious ideas, and in the constancy of religious impressions, which in other circumstances would have led him into the wilderness as an ascetic, or would have endowed him with the rapt earnestness of a mystic. Scipio was born a hero, and not an impostor. The large enthusiasm of his nature found vent in rude military life, where, if it found much to check the vigour of its growth, met likewise with much which it could assimilate. By presenting to the vulgar minds of the soldiery a picture of rapt devotion and yet of stern command, he gained an influence over them which was quite extraordinary because quite irresistible. In the more immediate relations of generalship, what could resist the energy of that arm which, in its every blow, dealt desolation and death to the enemies of Rome and of the Roman gods? When this religious enthusiasm seized hold not only of the feel- At the age of seventeen he fought at the Ticinus (in 218 B.C.), and is there reported to have saved his father's life. As a tribune, he fought and survived the fatal battle of Cannae, was made joint commander of the remains of the army with Appius Claudius at the age of nineteen, and by his youthful heroism brought light to his bewildered countrymen, and induced them to forego the silly project of resigning Italy in despair. He was chosen adile ere he was twenty-four. He displayed his arrogant temper to the hesitating tribunes on that occasion in these words—"If all the Quirites wish to make me adile, I am old enough." He lost his father and uncle in Spain in 211 B.C., and ere the year was out, when, in default of a more experienced general, he presented himself to the Roman people to command their army in Spain, he was received first of all with silent wonder, and lastly, gaining confidence by the picture of stern resolution presented to them in this young soldier, they chose him with shouts of acclamation.

He arrived in Spain in the summer of 210 B.C. The whole country south of the Iberus was in the hands of the enemy. Scipio at once resolved to strike a deadly blow at the head of the Carthaginian power, by attacking New Carthage. His project was crowned with success. In the conquered city he found a great abundance of arms, corn, and other necessaries. He retired to Tarraco, where he remained during the winter. Here, so great was the general enthusiasm of the people by the mildness, the courtesy, and the energy of the young Roman, that the Spanish tribes not only came over to his cause, but wished to make him their king. Next year he attacked Hasdrubal, in the valley of the Guadalquivir, and gained an almost incredible victory. It is said by the Roman writers that no less than 22,000 men were taken prisoners, and 8000 slain. In 207 B.C. Scipio gained, by a decisive victory, nearly the whole of Spain. He sheathed his sword, and trusted to the influence of humanity to win the rude inhabitants. They gathered round him, eager to kiss his garment, and all the native chiefs flocked in to offer their allegiance to omnipotent Rome. With the design of securing the co-operation of some of the native princes of Africa, Scipio crossed over into that country, accompanied by two quinquenomes. There he met his old foe, Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco, who had crossed over from Spain upon a similar errand. The Carthaginian, aided by the charms of a fair daughter, seems on this occasion to have outwitted the Roman commander. Scyphax, king of Numidia, received Sophonisba in marriage, and thus cemented the Carthaginian interest to his own. On his return to Spain, Scipio chastised severely the town of Illiturgi for having led on a revolt among his soldiers. He was seized with a severe illness. During the progress of his disease, 8000 of his own men broke out into open revolt. He suddenly rallied, and by his wonted dexterity at once allayed the fury of the soldiery. Scipio, whose presence was now no longer needed, returned to Rome in 206 B.C., leaving the proconsuls masters of the army and of Spain. He had hardly returned to Rome when he became a candidate for the consulship, and had the honour to be chosen, though considerably under the legal age. It now became apparent that if Hannibal was to be removed at all from Italy, it should be performed by a diversion against the Carthaginians on their own soil. No man was capable of effecting this save the youthful hero who had first asserted the prowess of the Roman arms in Spain. This Scipio clearly foresaw; but the older senators, and especially Q. Fabius Maximus, who was prompted by a meagre jealousy, sought stealthily to thwart. After their various wiles had been burst through, this splendid youth, with his passion for Greek art and Greek literature, showed his suspicious rivals that he knew as well how to train an army as how to conduct it in the field. Commissioners of inquiry had been summoned from Rome to the head-quarters of the army in Sicily, but the enthusiasm of the volunteers and the skill of the commander astounded these officials, and they went back only to tell the senate that they had commanded Scipio to march against Carthage. Sailing from Lilybaeum in 204 B.C., he landed near Utica with a force variously estimated at 12,200 and at 35,000 men. Masinissa, whose friendship he had made in Spain, now stood him in good stead. With the assistance of this prince, Scipio almost annihilated the joint forces of Hasdrubal and Scypax. (See Masinissa.) These disasters induced the Carthaginians to recall Hannibal and Mago from Italy. An armistice was accordingly struck, and the Roman army lay impatient before the walls of Carthage. The presence of their renowned general gave confidence to the Carthaginians, but Hannibal knew too well the army and the general he had to contend with, to be rash in his projects. Both generals, in truth, were anxious for a solid peace, but a solid peace on advantageous terms was what Scipio was quite unwilling to grant, and short of which the pride of Hannibal would not deign to stoop. The bloody battle of Naraga, near Zama, fought on the 19th of October 202 B.C., settled the contest in favour of the Romans, and Scipio returned to Rome in triumph 201 B.C. The populace manifested extraordinary enthusiasm, and sought to gratify it by quite extraordinary means. They bestowed upon him the surname of Africanus, and wished to make him consul and dictator for life. They wished to erect his statue in the comitia. They would set it up in the rostra and the curia, and even went so far as to wish his enshrinement in the Capitol. Scipio prudently declined those invidious honours; and to shun the suspicion of the senate, he withdrew into dignified retirement. Coming once more before the public, he was chosen censor and consul the second time. In 190 B.C. the censors re-elected him præfectus senatus, and during the same year he chose to accompany his brother Lucius to Greece, to serve under him as legatus. Returning to Rome in 189 B.C., on the conclusion of the war with Antiochus, the mean jealousy of the senate gave him fresh cause for alarm. The glory of the victory of Zama had now grown dim, the pride of the great general probably did not abate, and the Roman senate, with their paltry suspicions, could not brook the infringement of a jot of their dignity. They opened a prosecution against Scipio's brother, Lucius, but really directed against Africanus himself. This being successful, the enemies of the Scipios were emboldened to charge the great African. At his trial he descanted much on his signal services to the commonwealth, but did not deign to notice the charges brought against him by his foes. Night came, and the great culprit still continued to speak. The trial was adjourned till next day, and Africanus, on being summoned to appear, proudly reminded his judges and the people of Rome that this day was the anniversary of the battle of Zama. He adjured them in the same haughty terms to follow him to the Capitol, and return thanks to the immortal gods for the safety of Rome, and to pray them to grant in time coming other citizens like Scipio Africanus. The crowded assembly listened with breathless attention: he smote a chord which vibrated through every Roman heart: their veneration for Scipio returned; and he was followed to the Capitol with shouts which shook the stones of Rome. The haughty soldier quitted Rome never to return. He withdrew to Litternum, where he passed the remainder of his days in the peaceful cultivation of his estate. The year of his death is variously given by Polybius and Rutillus as 183 B.C., the same year as his great rival, Hannibal. By Livy and Cicero it is ascribed to 185 B.C., and by Valerius of Antium to 187 B.C. In compliance with his own command, his bones were buried at Litternum, where his tomb was shown in the time of Livy. Thus died one of the greatest men and most distinguished generals which Rome had known; and beside the pedestal occupied by Hannibal in the Temple of Fame stands the statue of his conqueror, Scipio Africanus.

Scipio Africanus Africanus Minor, Publius Cornelius, was the son of Emilius Paulus, conqueror of Macedonia, and was adopted by Scipio, son of the elder Africanus, whose mother was a sister of L. Emilius Paulus. He was born in 185 B.C., and while still a youth he accompanied his father to Greece, and fought under him at the battle of Pydna, B.C. 168. It was in Greece, most probably, he became acquainted with the historian Polybius, who, on coming to Rome, directed his literary studies, and introduced him to the art and the literature of Greece. Polybius accompanied him in all his campaigns, and disclosed to him during the leisure hours of his military duties, the treasures of Grecian thought and the wealth of Grecian learning. Nor did Scipio the younger neglect the literature or the manners of Rome, while he eagerly pursued those of her great eastern rival. He was a friend of the poets Lucilius and Terence; and his affection for the younger Laelius was as remarkable as that of Africanus for the elder Laelius, and has been immortalized by Cicero in his Laelius de Amicitia. Like the elder Scipio, he cultivated Greek letters, and understood the elegancies of "Greek taste, without setting aside the stern Roman virtues, or emasculating his mind by the warm blandishments of a more refined civilization." The younger Scipio began his public career in 161 B.C., by coming forward when it was quite the fashion to stand back, and offering himself to serve in dreaded Spain in whatever capacity the consuls might choose to employ him. He was appointed military tribune, under the consulship of Lucullus, and gave signal proofs of his personal courage during the adventures of this Spanish campaign. He slew in single strife a Spanish giant of great strength, and was the first to mount the walls at the storming of Intercaeta. His courage and his integrity reminded the barbarians of him whose name he bore, and he awakened an enthusiasm in the breasts of the rude savages, equalled only by that paid to his grandfather Africanus.

On the breaking out of the third Punic War in 149 B.C., Scipio was called to Africa, which he had already visited, under Lucullus, for a supply of elephants. Here he repaired the blunders of the consul Manlius, gained the confidence of Massinissa, and what he probably valued more than any of the more noisy demonstrations, the "stern" Cato said of him, in the words of Homer (Od., ii., 495), "He alone has wisdom, the rest are empty shadows." On Scipio's withdrawal from Africa, when Piso took the command, he was followed to Rome by the wishes of the soldiery, that he might become their commander. To this dignity he was raised sooner perhaps than he expected. In 147 B.C. he was chosen consul, though not yet of the legal age, and was assigned Africa, the most difficult province of Rome, to govern. The details of the third Punic War will be found recorded in the article ROMAN HISTORY, where will be found recorded the bloody capture of the splendid African city. The Carthaginians defended their city till the spring of 146 B.C., when they could no longer withstand the stern energy of the Roman legions. They advanced with thundering tramp, and at every street, and at every house of Carthage, they found the bloodiest work to do. The sight moved the Roman general to tears, and he is said to have given scope to his feelings in the almost prophetic words of Homer, recorded in the well-known lines of the Iliad (vi. 448):

The victor returned to Rome, where he was welcomed with a splendid triumph, and he now won the surname of Africanus, which he had only before received by inheritance from the conqueror of Hannibal. In no long time the ungrateful Romans had him brought to his trial before the tribune of the plebs, on the charge of majestas, or of contemning the sovereignty of the people. Scipio was acquitted, and the speech delivered by him on this occasion was long considered a masterpiece. He strove to check the Roman appetite for foreign conquest, and showed a high contempt for the pomp and luxury indulged in by his contemporaries. He was chosen consul in 134 B.C., and was assigned the province of Spain, which had long been considered invincible by any but a Scipio. After spending some time in remodelling the discipline of the army, he laid siege to Numantia, which displayed a most heroic resistance. (See NUMANTIA.) The taking of this town gained for him the surname of Numantinus. During his absence in Spain, his brother-in-law, Tiberius Gracchus, was suddenly put to death. Scipio did not, however, sympathise with his reforms, and is said to have exclaimed, on hearing of his death, in the words of Homer (Od., i., 47), "So perish all who do the like again." Scipio did not disguise his sentiments even on his return to Rome, and "down with the tyrant," was soon heard from the fickle mob who not long before had hailed him as the liberator of Rome. This flame was fanned by C. Papirius Carbo, the tribune, who could not tolerate the shadow of his presence, with his thirst for Greek letters and for Greek philosophy, and what was still more offensive, by his fondness for public display. Scipio was in truth a sort of Roman Tory, strongly addicted to letters, which he cultivated with great success, much given to military display, which bordered on parade, and earnestly opposed to nearly all popular measures. He paid too dear a price for his peculiarities. Returning home from the senate-house, he retired to his study, to compose a speech in his own defence against the following day. Next morning the cry went through Rome that Scipio Africanus Numantinus was dead, B.C. 129. The general opinion was that he was murdered, but by whose hand never was known. Popular suspicion generally rested on the tribune, Papirius Carbo; and he is expressly alluded to as the murderer by Cicero.

The few fragments of the speeches of Scipio the younger have been collected by Meyer in Orat. Roman. Fragm. pp. 176-193. His character has been drawn in very pleasing colours by Cicero, in his Republica. His life and death have been noticed with ability by Nitzsch, Schu, Gerlach, and Zimmerman.

A good account of the Scipio family is given in the Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Alterthumswissenschaft. The Scipios, as was usual among Roman families of distinction, possessed a burial-place used for family purposes. This tomb was discovered in 1780, near the Porta Capena, and adds a very interesting detail to the collection of discoveries relating to the republican period of Rome. A full account of the tomb is given by Visconti in his Monumenti degli Scipioni, and the inscriptions are given by Orelli.