this roman consul applied a scorched-earth strategy to fight against Hannibal’s invasion of Italy
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<table><tbody><tr><th><p>Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus</p></th></tr><tr><th>Born</th><td><abbr>c.</abbr> 280 BC</td></tr><tr><th>Died</th><td>203 BC</td></tr><tr><th>Nationality</th><td>Roman</td></tr><tr><th>Other names</th><td>Cunctator</td></tr><tr><th>Known for</th><td><a href="/wiki/Fabian_strategy">Fabian strategy</a></td></tr><tr><th>Office</th><td><a href="/wiki/Roman_consul">Consul</a> (233, 228, 215, 214, 209 BC)<br /><a href="/wiki/Roman_dictator">Dictator</a> (221, 217 BC)<br /><a href="/wiki/Roman_censor">Censor</a> (230 BC)</td></tr><tr><th>Children</th><td><a href="/wiki/Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_(consul_213_BC)">Quintus Fabius Maximus</a></td></tr><tr><th>Awards</th><td><a href="/wiki/Grass_Crown">Grass Crown</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Roman_triumph">Roman triumph</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>"Fabius Maximus" redirects here. For other notable Romans with this name, see <a href="/wiki/Fabia_gens">Fabia gens</a>.</p>
<p><b>Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus</b>, surnamed <b>Cunctator</b> (<abbr>c.</abbr> 280 – 203 BC), was a Roman statesman and general of the third century BC. He was <a href="/wiki/Roman_consul">consul</a> five times (233, 228, 215, 214, and 209 BC) and was appointed <a href="/wiki/Roman_dictator">dictator</a> in 221 and 217 BC. He was <a href="/wiki/Roman_Censor">censor</a> in 230 BC. His <a href="/wiki/Agnomen">agnomen</a>, <i>Cunctator</i>, usually translated as "the delayer", refers to <a href="/wiki/Fabian_strategy">the strategy</a> that he employed against <a href="/wiki/Hannibal">Hannibal</a>'s forces during the <a href="/wiki/Second_Punic_War">Second Punic War</a>. Facing an outstanding commander with superior numbers, he pursued a then-novel strategy of targeting the enemy's supply lines, and accepting only smaller engagements on favourable ground, rather than risking his entire army on direct confrontation with Hannibal himself. As a result, he is regarded as the originator of many tactics used in <a href="/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare">guerrilla warfare</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup>
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<h2>Beginnings[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:N26FabiusCunctator.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p>Born at Rome c. 280 BC, Fabius was a descendant of the ancient <a href="/wiki/Patrician_(ancient_Rome)">patrician</a> <a href="/wiki/Fabia_gens">Fabia gens</a>. He was the son or grandson<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[i]</a></sup> of <a href="/wiki/Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Gurges_(consul_265_BC)">Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges</a>, three times consul and <i><a href="/wiki/Princeps_senatus">princeps senatus</a></i>, and grandson or great-grandson of <a href="/wiki/Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Rullianus">Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus</a>, a hero of the <a href="/wiki/Samnite_Wars">Samnite Wars</a>, who like Verrucosus held five consulships, as well as the offices of dictator and censor. Many earlier ancestors had also been consuls. His <a href="/wiki/Cognomen">cognomen</a>, <i>Verrucosus</i>, or "warty", used to distinguish him from other members of his family, derived from a wart on his upper lip.<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[2]</a></sup>
</p><p>According to <a href="/wiki/Plutarch">Plutarch</a>, Fabius possessed a mild temper and slowness in speaking. As a child, he had difficulties in learning, engaged in sports with other children cautiously and appeared submissive in his interactions with others. All the above were perceived by those who knew him superficially to be signs of inferiority. However, according to Plutarch, these traits proceeded from stability, greatness of mind, and lion-likeness of temper. By the time he reached adulthood and was roused by active life, his virtues exerted themselves; consequently, his lack of energy displayed during his earlier years was revealed as a result of a lack of passion and his slowness was recognised as a sign of prudence and firmness.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[3]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[4]</a></sup>
</p><p>While still a youth in 265 BC, Fabius was consecrated an <a href="/wiki/Augur">augur</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[5]</a></sup> It is unknown whether he participated in the <a href="/wiki/First_Punic_War">First Punic War</a>, fought between the <a href="/wiki/Roman_Republic">Roman Republic</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Carthage">Carthage</a> from 264 to 241 BC, or what his role might have been. Fabius' political career began in the years following that war. He was probably <a href="/wiki/Quaestor">quaestor</a> in 237 or 236 BC, and curule <a href="/wiki/Aedile">aedile</a> about 235.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[6]</a></sup> During his first <a href="/wiki/Roman_consul">consulship</a>, in 233 BC, Fabius was awarded a <a href="/wiki/Roman_triumph">triumph</a> for his victory over the <a href="/wiki/Ligures">Ligurians</a>, whom he defeated and drove into the <a href="/wiki/Alps">Alps</a>. He was <a href="/wiki/Roman_censor">censor</a> in 230, then consul a second time in 228.<sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[7]</a></sup> It is possible that he held the office of dictator for a first time around this time: according to <a href="/wiki/Livy">Livy</a>, Fabius's tenure of the dictatorship in 217 was his second term in that office, with Gaius Flaminius as his deputy and <a href="/wiki/Magister_equitum">magister equitum</a> during the first term:<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[8]</a></sup> however Plutarch suggests that Flaminius was deputy instead to Marcus Minucius Rufus<sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[9]</a></sup> - presumably Fabius's great political rival of that name, who later served as deputy to Fabius himself (see below). It is of course possible that Flaminius was successively deputy to both, after Minucius's apparently premature deposition following bad augural omens: and also possible that little of note (other than, possibly, holding elections during the absence of consuls) was accomplished during either dictatorship.
</p><p>According to <a href="/wiki/Livy">Livy</a>, in 218 BC Fabius took part in an embassy to Carthage, sent to demand redress for the capture of the supposedly neutral town of <a href="/wiki/Saguntum">Saguntum</a> in <a href="/wiki/Hispania">Spain</a>. After the delegation had received the Carthaginians' reply, it was Fabius himself who, addressing the Carthaginian senate, issued a formal declaration of war between Carthage and the Roman Republic.<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[10]</a></sup> However, <a href="/wiki/Cassius_Dio">Cassius Dio</a>, followed by <a href="/wiki/Zonaras">Zonaras</a>, calls the ambassador <i>Marcus Fabius</i>, suggesting that it was his cousin, <a href="/wiki/Marcus_Fabius_Buteo">Marcus Fabius Buteo</a>, who issued the declaration of war against the Carthaginians.<sup><a href="#cite_note-12">[11]</a></sup>
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<h2>Dictatorship during the Second Punic War[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>When the <a href="/wiki/Roman_Consul">Consul</a> <a href="/wiki/Tiberius_Sempronius_Longus">Tiberius Sempronius Longus</a> was defeated in the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_the_Trebia">Battle of the Trebia</a> in December 218 BC Fabius advised that the Romans should simply bide their time and deny Hannibal any chance at a general engagement instead letting the invasion peter out while making sure the cities of their Italian Allies were supported or protected. However, Consul <a href="/wiki/Gaius_Flaminius_(consul_223_BC)">Gaius Flaminius</a> opposed this and joined his colleague <a href="/wiki/Gnaeus_Servilius_Geminus">Gnaeus Servilius Geminus</a> in raising two consular armies to confront Hannibal in central Italy. Flaminius' plan came to a disastrous end when he was killed during the decisive Roman defeat at the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Trasimene">Battle of Lake Trasimene</a> in 217 BC, with panic swept Rome. With Consular armies destroyed in two major battles, and <a href="/wiki/Hannibal">Hannibal</a> approaching Rome's gates, the Romans feared the imminent destruction of their city. The <a href="/wiki/Roman_Senate">Roman Senate</a> decided to appoint a <a href="/wiki/Roman_dictator">dictator</a>, and chose Fabius for the role – possibly for the second time, though evidence of a previous term seems to be conflicting – in part due to his advanced age and experience. However, he was not allowed to appoint his own <a href="/wiki/Magister_equitum">magister equitum</a>; instead, the Romans chose a political enemy, <a href="/wiki/Marcus_Minucius_Rufus_(consul_221_BC)">Marcus Minucius</a>. Then Fabius quickly sought to calm the Roman people by asserting himself as a strong Dictator at the moment of what was perceived to be the worst crisis in Roman history. He asked the Senate to allow him to ride on horseback, which Dictators were never allowed to do. He then caused himself to be accompanied by the full complement of twenty-four <a href="/wiki/Lictor">lictors</a>, and ordered the surviving Consul, <a href="/wiki/Gnaeus_Servilius_Geminus">Gnaeus Servilius Geminus</a>, to dismiss his lictors (in essence, acknowledging the seniority of the dictator), and to present himself before Fabius as a private citizen.
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Plutarch">Plutarch</a> tells us that Fabius believed that the disaster at Lake Trasimene was due, in part, to the fact that the gods had become neglected. Before that battle, a series of omens had been witnessed, including a series of lightning bolts, which Fabius had believed were warnings from the gods. He had warned Flaminius of this, but Flaminius had ignored the warnings. And so Fabius, as Dictator, next sought to please the gods. He ordered a massive sacrifice of the whole product of the next harvest season throughout Italy, in particular that of cows, goats, swine, and sheep. In addition, he ordered that musical festivities be celebrated, and then told his fellow citizens to each spend a precise sum of 333 <a href="/wiki/Sestertius">sestertii</a> and 333 <a href="/wiki/Denarius">denarii</a>. Plutarch isn't sure exactly how Fabius came up with this number, although he believes it was to honor the perfection of the number three, as it is the first of the odd numbers, and one of the first of the <a href="/wiki/Prime_number">prime numbers</a>. It is not known if Fabius truly believed that these actions had won the gods over to the Roman side, although the actions probably did (as intended) convince the average Roman that the gods had finally been won over.<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[12]</a></sup>
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<h3>Fabian strategy[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>Fabius respected Hannibal's military skill and so refused to meet him in a <a href="/wiki/Pitched_battle">pitched battle</a>. Instead, he kept his troops close to Hannibal, hoping to exhaust him in a long <a href="/wiki/Attrition_warfare">war of attrition</a>. Fabius was able to harass the Carthaginian foraging parties, limiting Hannibal's ability to wreak destruction, while conserving his own military force. The delaying tactics involved not directly engaging Hannibal, while also exercising a "<a href="/wiki/Scorched_earth">scorched earth</a>" practice to prevent Hannibal's forces from obtaining grain and other resources.
</p><p>The Romans were unimpressed with this defensive strategy and at first gave Fabius his epithet Cunctator (delayer) as an insult. The strategy was in part ruined because of a lack of unity in the command of the Roman army, since Fabius' Master of the Horse, Minucius, was a political enemy of Fabius. At one point, Fabius was called by the priests to assist with certain sacrifices, so Fabius left the command of the army in the hands of Minucius during his absence. Fabius had told Minucius not to attack Hannibal in his absence, but Minucius disobeyed and attacked anyway. The attack, though of no strategic value, resulted in the retreat of several enemy units, and so the Roman people, desperate for good news, believed Minucius to be a hero. On hearing of this, Fabius became enraged, and as Dictator, could have ordered Minucius' execution for his disobedience. One of the <a href="/wiki/Tribune_of_the_plebs">plebeian tribunes</a> (chief representatives of the people) for the year, Metilius, was a partisan of Minucius, and as such he sought to use his power to help Minucius. The Plebeian Tribunes were the only magistrates independent of the Dictator, and so with his protection, Minucius was relatively safe. Plutarch states that Metilius "boldly applied himself to the people in the behalf of Minucius", and had Minucius granted powers equivalent to those of Fabius. By this, Plutarch probably means that as a Plebeian Tribune, Metilius had the <a href="/wiki/Plebeian_Council">Plebeian Council</a>, a popular assembly which only Tribunes could preside over, grant Minucius quasi-dictatorial powers.
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<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Hannibal_Slodtz_Louvre_MR2093.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p>Fabius did not attempt to fight the promotion of Minucius, but rather decided to wait until Minucius' rashness caused him to run headlong into some disaster. He realized what would happen when Minucius was defeated in battle by Hannibal. Fabius, we are told, reminded Minucius that it was Hannibal, and not he, who was the enemy. Minucius proposed that they share the joint control of the army, with command rotating between the two every other day. Fabius rejected this, and instead let Minucius command half of the army, while he commanded the other half. Minucius openly claimed that Fabius was cowardly because he failed to confront the Carthaginian forces. Near <a href="/wiki/Larinum">Larinum</a> in <a href="/wiki/Samium">Samium</a>, Hannibal had taken up position in a town called Geronium. In the leadup to the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Geronium">battle of Geronium</a>, Minucius decided to make a broad frontal attack on Hannibal's troops in the valley between Larinum and Geronium. Several thousand men were involved on either side. It appeared that the Roman troops were winning, but Hannibal had set a trap. Soon the Roman troops were being slaughtered. Upon seeing the ambush of Minucius' army, Fabius cried "O Hercules! how much sooner than I expected, though later than he seemed to desire, hath Minucius destroyed himself!" On ordering his army to join the battle and rescue their fellow Romans, Fabius exclaimed "we must make haste to rescue Minucius, who is a valiant man, and a lover of his country."
</p><p>Fabius rushed to his co-commander's assistance and Hannibal's forces immediately retreated. After the battle, there was some feeling that there would be conflict between Minucius and Fabius; however, the younger soldier marched his men to Fabius' encampment and is reported to have said, "My father gave me life. Today you saved my life. You are my second father. I recognize your superior abilities as a commander."<sup><a href="#cite_note-14">[13]</a></sup> When Fabius' term as Dictator ended, consular government was restored, and <a href="/wiki/Gnaeus_Servilius_Geminus">Gnaeus Servilius Geminus</a> and <a href="/wiki/Marcus_Atilius_Regulus_(consul_227_BC)">Marcus Atilius Regulus</a> assumed the consulship for the remainder of the year.
</p><p>The once-looked-down-upon tactics employed by Fabius came then to be respected. It is said, asserts Plutarch, that even Hannibal acknowledged and feared the Fabian strategy and the Roman inexhaustible manpower. After Fabius lured him away from Apulia into the Bruttian territory and then proceeded to besiege Tarentum by treachery in 209 BC, Hannibal commented, "It seems that the Romans have found another Hannibal, for we have lost Tarentum in the same way that we took it."<sup><a href="#cite_note-15">[14]</a></sup>
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<h2>After his dictatorship[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Shortly after Fabius had laid down his dictatorship, <a href="/wiki/Gaius_Terentius_Varro">Gaius Terentius Varro</a> and <a href="/wiki/Lucius_Aemilius_Paullus_(consul_219_BC)">Lucius Aemilius Paullus</a> were elected as consuls. They rallied the people through the <a href="/wiki/Roman_assemblies">assemblies</a>, and won their support for Varro's plan to abandon Fabius' strategy, and engage Hannibal directly. Varro's rashness did not surprise Fabius, but when Fabius learned of the size of the army (eighty-eight thousand soldiers) that Varro had raised, he became quite concerned. Unlike the losses that had been suffered by Minucius, a major loss by Varro had the potential to kill so many soldiers that Rome might have had no further resources with which to continue the war. Fabius had warned the other consul for the year, Aemilius Paullus, to make sure that Varro remained unable to directly engage Hannibal. According to Plutarch, Paullus replied to Fabius that he feared the votes in Rome more than Hannibal's army.
</p><p>When word reached Rome of the disastrous Roman defeat under Varro and Paullus at the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae">Battle of Cannae</a> in 216 BC, the <a href="/wiki/SPQR">Senate and the People of Rome</a> turned to Fabius for guidance. They had believed his strategy to be flawed before, but now they thought him to be as wise as the gods. He walked the streets of Rome, assured as to eventual Roman victory, in an attempt to comfort his fellow Romans. Without his support, the senate might have remained too frightened to even meet. He placed guards at the gates of the city to stop the frightened Romans from fleeing, and regulated mourning activities. He set times and places for this mourning, and ordered that each family perform such observances within their own private walls, and that the mourning should be complete within a month; following the completion of these mourning rituals, the entire city was <a href="/wiki/Ritual_purification">purified</a> of its blood-guilt in the deaths.<sup><a href="#cite_note-16">[15]</a></sup> Although he did not again hold the office of dictator - and indeed, it was granted to others over him - he might as well have been one unofficially at this time, because whatever measures he proposed were immediately adopted with little or no further debate.
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<h3>Honors and death[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h3>
<p><i>Cunctator</i> became an honorific title, and his delaying tactic was followed in Italy for the rest of the war. Fabius' own military success was small, aside from the reconquest of <a href="/wiki/Taranto">Tarentum</a> in 209 BC. For this victory, Plutarch tells us, he was awarded a second triumph that was even more splendid than the first. When Marcus Livius Macatus, the governor of Tarentum, claimed the merit of recovering the town, Fabius rejoined, "Certainly, had you not lost it, I would have never retaken it."<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[16]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-18">[17]</a></sup> After serving as Dictator, he served as a Consul twice more (in 215 BC and 214 BC), and for a fifth time in 209 BC. He was also chief <a href="/wiki/Augur">augur</a> (at a very young age) and <a href="/wiki/Pontifex">pontifex</a>, but never <i><a href="/wiki/Pontifex_maximus">pontifex maximus</a></i> according to Gaius Stern (citing Livy on Fabius).<sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[18]</a></sup> The holding of seats in the two highest colleges was not repeated until either <a href="/wiki/Julius_Caesar">Julius Caesar</a> or possibly <a href="/wiki/Sulla">Sulla</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[19]</a></sup>
</p><p>In the senate, he opposed the young and ambitious <a href="/wiki/Scipio_Africanus">Scipio Africanus</a>, who wanted to carry the war to <a href="/wiki/Africa">Africa</a>. Fabius continued to argue that confronting Hannibal directly was too dangerous. Scipio planned to take Roman forces to Carthage itself and force Hannibal to return to Africa to defend the city. Scipio was eventually given limited approval, despite continuous opposition from Fabius, who blocked levies and restricted Scipio's access to troops. Fabius wished to ensure that sufficient forces remained to defend Roman territory if Scipio was defeated. Fabius became gravely ill and died in 203 BC, shortly after Hannibal's army left Italy, and before the eventual Roman victory over Hannibal at the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Zama">Battle of Zama</a> won by Scipio.
</p><p>Part of his eulogy is preserved on a fragment, which praised his delaying strategy in his altercations with Hannibal during the Second Punic War. The inscription reads as follows: "...[as censor] he conducted the first revision of the senate membership and held committal elections in the consulship of Marcus Junius Pera and Marcus Barbula; he besieged and recaptured Tarentum and the strong-hold of Hannibal, and [obtained enormous booty?]; he won surpassing glory by his military [exploits?]."<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[20]</a></sup>
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<h2>Legacy[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Later, he became a legendary figure and the model of a tough, courageous Roman, and was bestowed the honorific title, "The Shield of Rome" (similar to <a href="/wiki/Marcus_Claudius_Marcellus">Marcus Claudius Marcellus</a> being named the "Sword of Rome"). According to <a href="/wiki/Ennius">Ennius</a>, <i>unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem</i> – "one man, by delaying, restored the state to us." <a href="/wiki/Virgil">Virgil</a>, in the <a href="/wiki/Aeneid">Aeneid</a>, has <a href="/wiki/Aeneas">Aeneas</a>' father Anchises mention Fabius Maximus while in <a href="/wiki/Hades">Hades</a> as the greatest of the many great Fabii, quoting the same line. While Hannibal is mentioned in the company of history's greatest generals, military professionals have bestowed Fabius' name on an entire <a href="/wiki/Military_strategy">strategic</a> doctrine known as "<a href="/wiki/Fabian_strategy">Fabian strategy</a>", and <a href="/wiki/George_Washington">George Washington</a> has been called "the American Fabius". <a href="/wiki/Mikhail_Kutuzov">Mikhail Kutuzov</a> has likewise been called "the Russian Fabius" for his strategy against Napoleon.<sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[21]</a></sup>
</p><p>According to its own ancient legend, the Roman princely family of <a href="/wiki/Massimo_(family)">Massimo</a> descends from Fabius Maximus.<sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[22]</a></sup>
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<h2>See also[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fabian_Society">Fabian Society</a>, a <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom">British</a> <a href="/wiki/Socialist">socialist</a> society founded at the end of the 19th century and still active today. Their name derives from the tactics of Quintus Fabius Maximus.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Gens_Fabia">Gens Fabia</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/List_of_ancient_Romans">List of ancient Romans</a></li></ul>
<h2>Footnotes[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> Livy identifies Verrucosus as the son of Gurges and grandson of Rullianus, but <a href="/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder">Pliny the Elder</a> and Plutarch call him the great-grandson of Rullianus. Modern scholarship supposes that he was <i>probably</i> the grandson of Gurges, although in this case his father's identity is uncertain. He was probably the son of either the Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges who was consul in 265 BC, or of the Quintus Fabius who was curule aedile in 267. Traditionally the Gurges who was consul in 265 has been regarded as the same man who had been consul for the first time in 292, and again in 276, in which case Livy may be correct; but some scholars think that the Gurges who was consul in 265 was the son of the consul of 292 and 276; the aedile of 267 may have been his brother or another kinsman.
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> <cite>Laqueur, Walter (1976). <i>Guerrilla Warfare: A Historical &amp; Critical Study</i>. Transaction Publishers. p. 7. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-76-580406-8"><bdi>978-0-76-580406-8</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b> <cite>Scott-Kilvert, Ian (1965). <i>Plutarch: Makers of Rome</i>. Penguin Group. p. 53. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-044158-1"><bdi>978-0-14-044158-1</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> <cite>Plutarch. <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html">"Plutarch • Life of Fabius Maximus (Cunctator)"</a>. <i>penelope.uchicago.edu</i>. Retrieved 1 July 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b> <cite>Plutarch (Translated by John Dryden). <a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/fabius.html">"The Internet Classics Archive | Fabius by Plutarch"</a>. <i>classics.mit.edu</i>. Retrieved 1 July 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> T. R. S. Broughton, <i>The Magistrates of the Roman Republic</i>, American Philological Association (1951), vol. I, p. 202.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> Broughton, vol. I, pp. 222, 223.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> Broughton, vol. I, pp. 224, 227, 228.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> Livy says that Fabius was appointed dictator for the second time in 217. Broughton adduces that he must have been dictator during a gap in the Capitoline fasti (and thus in Livy's records) from 221 to 219, and before Livy's history resumes in 218. Since Flaminius was censor in 220 and 219, Broughton places this dictatorship in 221. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 234, 235.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> Plutarch, <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/lives/marcellus*.html">"The Life of Marcellus", 5.3-6</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> Livy, <i>History of Rome</i>, xxi. 18.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b> Broughton, vol. I, pp. 239, 241 (note 7).
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/fabius.html">"The Internet Classics Archive – Fabius by Plutarch – 3rd paragraph"</a>. Classics.mit.edu. Retrieved 2012-01-22.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b> <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html">Plutarch, Life of Fabius Maximus, 13</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b> <cite>Plutarch (1965). "Fabius Maximus". <i>Makers of Rome</i>. Penguin Classics. p. 78. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780140441581"><bdi>9780140441581</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b> Livy, The Histories of Rome, 22.55
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/fabius.html">"Plutarch, <i>Lives</i>, life of "Fabius", ca. 75 A.D. tr. by John Dryden, ca. 1683"</a>. Classics.mit.edu. Retrieved 2012-01-22.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b> <cite>Appian of Alexandria. <a href="https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_hannibal_07.html">"Appian, <i>History of Rome</i> or <i>Roman History</i>, before 165 A.D., \S 32 on Tarentum, available at"</a>. Livius.org. Retrieved 2012-01-22.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b> Gaius Stern, "Electoral Irregularity and Chicanery during the Second Punic War," CAMWS 2011, citing Liv. 23.21.7, 30.26.10, c.f. 25.5.2–3.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b> G.J. Szemler <i>The Priests of the Roman Republic,</i> 149 shows only an augurship for Sulla; 131-32, 156 on Julius. On Sulla see Stern, "Electoral Irregularity and Chicanery during the Second Punic War," CAMWS 2011, citing coinage.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b> Lewis, Naphtali, and Meyer Reinhold. Roman Civilization: Selected Readings. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Columbia UP, 1951. Print.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Nikolai_Tolstoy">Tolstoy, Nikolai</a> (5 September 1985). "The Strategy for Never Marching on Moscow" (A review of <i>Napoleon: 1812</i> by <a href="/wiki/Nigel_Nicolson">Nigel Nicolson</a>). <i><a href="/wiki/The_Times">The Times</a></i>, p. 9.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b> <cite>Panvinio, Onofrio (1556). <i>De gente Maximao</i> (in Italian). Italy.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h3>Primary sources[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10">edit</a>]</h3>
<ul><li><a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/fabius.html"><i>Fabius</i></a>, by <a href="/wiki/Plutarch">Plutarch</a></li></ul>
<h3>Secondary material[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=11">edit</a>]</h3>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9033518/Quintus-Fabius-Maximus-Cunctator">Encyclopædia Britannica, Fabius Maximus Cunctator</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Plutarch">Plutarch</a> <i>Makers of Rome</i> translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert 1965, <a href="/wiki/Penguin_Books">Penguin Books</a>, London, England.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Livy">Livy</a> <i>The War with Hannibal</i> translated by Aubrey de Selincourt 1974, <a href="/wiki/Penguin_Books">Penguin Books</a>, London, England.</li></ul>
<h2>Further reading[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=12">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><cite>De Beer, Sir Gavin (1969). <i>Hannibal Challenging Rome's Supremacy</i>. New York: Viking Press.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Lamb, Harold (1958). <a href="https://archive.org/details/hannibalonemanag00lamb"><i>Hannibal: One Man Against Rome</i></a>. New York: Doubleday.</cite></li>
<li>McCall, Jeremiah (2018). Clan Fabius, Defenders of Rome: A History of the Republic's Most Illustrious Family. Barnslet: Pen and Sword. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/1473885612">1473885612</a>.</li>
<li><cite>Scullard, H. H. (1981). <i>Roman politics: 220–150 BC</i>. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-313-23296-2"><bdi>0-313-23296-2</bdi></a>.</cite></li></ul>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=13">edit</a>]</h2>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Political offices
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>Preceded by<div><p><a href="/wiki/Lucius_Postumius_Albinus_(consul_234_BC)">Lucius Postumius Albinus</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Spurius_Carvilius_Maximus_Ruga">Spurius Carvilius Maximus Ruga</a></p></div>
</td>
<td><b> <a href="/wiki/List_of_Roman_Republican_consuls">Roman consul</a> </b><br /><i>with <a href="/wiki/Manius_Pomponius_Matho">Manius Pomponius Matho</a></i><br /> 233 BC
</td>
<td>Succeeded by<div><p><a href="/wiki/Marcus_Aemilius_Lepidus_(consul_232_BC)">Marcus Aemilius Lepidus</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Marcus_Publicius_Malleolus">Marcus Publicius Malleolus</a></p></div>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Preceded by<div><p><a href="/wiki/Lucius_Postumius_Albinus_(consul_234_BC)">Lucius Postumius Albinus</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Gnaeus_Fulvius_Centumalus">Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus</a></p></div>
</td>
<td><b> <a href="/wiki/List_of_Roman_Republican_consuls">Roman consul</a> II </b><br /><i>with <a href="/wiki/Spurius_Carvilius_Maximus_Ruga">Spurius Carvilius Maximus Ruga</a></i><br /> 228 BC
</td>
<td>Succeeded by<div><p><a href="/w/index.php?title=Publius_Valerius_Flaccus&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Publius Valerius Flaccus</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Marcus_Atilius_Regulus_(consul_227_BC)">Marcus Atilius Regulus</a></p></div>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Preceded by<div><p><a href="/wiki/Tiberius_Sempronius_Gracchus_(consul_215_BC)">Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Marcus_Claudius_Marcellus">Marcus Claudius Marcellus</a></p></div>
</td>
<td><b> <a href="/wiki/List_of_Roman_Republican_consuls">Roman consul</a> III </b><br /><i>with <a href="/wiki/Tiberius_Sempronius_Gracchus_(consul_215_BC)">Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus</a></i><br /> 215 BC (suffect)
</td>
<td>Succeeded by<div><p>himself and<br /><a href="/wiki/Marcus_Claudius_Marcellus">Marcus Claudius Marcellus</a></p></div>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Preceded by<div><p><a href="/wiki/Tiberius_Sempronius_Gracchus_(consul_215_BC)">Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus</a><br />and himself</p></div>
</td>
<td><b> <a href="/wiki/List_of_Roman_Republican_consuls">Roman consul</a> IV </b><br /><i>with <a href="/wiki/Marcus_Claudius_Marcellus">Marcus Claudius Marcellus</a></i><br /> 214 BC
</td>
<td>Succeeded by<div><p><a href="/wiki/Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_(consul_213_BC)">Quintus Fabius Maximus</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Tiberius_Sempronius_Gracchus_(consul_215_BC)">Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus</a></p></div>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Preceded by<div><p><a href="/wiki/Marcus_Valerius_Laevinus">Marcus Valerius Laevinus</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Marcus_Claudius_Marcellus">Marcus Claudius Marcellus</a></p></div>
</td>
<td><b> <a href="/wiki/List_of_Roman_Republican_consuls">Roman consul</a> V </b><br /><i>with <a href="/wiki/Quintus_Fulvius_Flaccus_(consul_237_BC)">Quintus Fulvius Flaccus</a></i><br /> 209 BC
</td>
<td>Succeeded by<div><p><a href="/wiki/Marcus_Claudius_Marcellus">Marcus Claudius Marcellus</a><br /><a href="/w/index.php?title=Titus_Quinctius_Crispinus&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Titus Quinctius Crispinus</a></p></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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 Contents

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 * (Top)
 * 1 Beginnings
 * 2 Dictatorship during the Second Punic War
 + 2.1 Fabian strategy
 * 3 After his dictatorship
 + 3.1 Honors and death
 * 4 Legacy
 * 5 See also
 * 6 Footnotes
 * 7 References
 + 7.1 Primary sources
 + 7.2 Secondary material
 * 8 Further reading
 * 9 External links
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 Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus
 Born c. 280 BC 
 Died 203 BC 
 Nationality Roman 
 Other names Cunctator 
 Known for Fabian strategy 
 Consul (233, 228, 215, 214, 209 BC)
 Office Dictator (221, 217 BC) 
 Censor (230 BC) 
 Children Quintus Fabius Maximus 
 Awards Grass Crown 
 Roman triumph 
 
 "Fabius Maximus" redirects here. For other notable Romans with this name, see Fabia gens.

 Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, surnamed Cunctator (c. 280 – 203 BC), was a Roman statesman and general of the third century BC. He was consul five times (233, 228, 215, 214, and 209 BC) and was appointed dictator in 221 and 217 BC. He was censor in 230 BC. His agnomen, Cunctator, usually translated as "the delayer", refers to the strategy that he employed against Hannibal's forces during the Second Punic War. Facing an outstanding commander with superior numbers, he pursued a then-novel strategy of targeting the enemy's supply lines, and accepting only smaller engagements on favourable ground, rather than risking his entire army on direct confrontation with Hannibal himself. As a result, he is regarded as the originator of many tactics used in guerrilla warfare.[1]

 Beginnings [ edit ]

 J. B. Hagenauer, Fabius Cunctator (1777), Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna

 Born at Rome c. 280 BC, Fabius was a descendant of the ancient patrician Fabia gens. He was the son or grandson[i] of Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges, three times consul and princeps senatus, and grandson or great-grandson of Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, a hero of the Samnite Wars, who like Verrucosus held five consulships, as well as the offices of dictator and censor. Many earlier ancestors had also been consuls. His cognomen, Verrucosus, or "warty", used to distinguish him from other members of his family, derived from a wart on his upper lip.[2]

 According to Plutarch, Fabius possessed a mild temper and slowness in speaking. As a child, he had difficulties in learning, engaged in sports with other children cautiously and appeared submissive in his interactions with others. All the above were perceived by those who knew him superficially to be signs of inferiority. However, according to Plutarch, these traits proceeded from stability, greatness of mind, and lion-likeness of temper. By the time he reached adulthood and was roused by active life, his virtues exerted themselves; consequently, his lack of energy displayed during his earlier years was revealed as a result of a lack of passion and his slowness was recognised as a sign of prudence and firmness.[3][4]

 While still a youth in 265 BC, Fabius was consecrated an augur.[5] It is unknown whether he participated in the First Punic War, fought between the Roman Republic and Carthage from 264 to 241 BC, or what his role might have been. Fabius' political career began in the years following that war. He was probably quaestor in 237 or 236 BC, and curule aedile about 235.[6] During his first consulship, in 233 BC, Fabius was awarded a triumph for his victory over the Ligurians, whom he defeated and drove into the Alps. He was censor in 230, then consul a second time in 228.[7] It is possible that he held the office of dictator for a first time around this time: according to Livy, Fabius's tenure of the dictatorship in 217 was his second term in that office, with Gaius Flaminius as his deputy and magister equitum during the first term:[8] however Plutarch suggests that Flaminius was deputy instead to Marcus Minucius Rufus[9] - presumably Fabius's great political rival of that name, who later served as deputy to Fabius himself (see below). It is of course possible that Flaminius was successively deputy to both, after Minucius's apparently premature deposition following bad augural omens: and also possible that little of note (other than, possibly, holding elections during the absence of consuls) was accomplished during either dictatorship.

 According to Livy, in 218 BC Fabius took part in an embassy to Carthage, sent to demand redress for the capture of the supposedly neutral town of Saguntum in Spain. After the delegation had received the Carthaginians' reply, it was Fabius himself who, addressing the Carthaginian senate, issued a formal declaration of war between Carthage and the Roman Republic.[10] However, Cassius Dio, followed by Zonaras, calls the ambassador Marcus Fabius, suggesting that it was his cousin, Marcus Fabius Buteo, who issued the declaration of war against the Carthaginians.[11]

 Dictatorship during the Second Punic War [ edit ]

 When the Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus was defeated in the Battle of the Trebia in December 218 BC Fabius advised that the Romans should simply bide their time and deny Hannibal any chance at a general engagement instead letting the invasion peter out while making sure the cities of their Italian Allies were supported or protected. However, Consul Gaius Flaminius opposed this and joined his colleague Gnaeus Servilius Geminus in raising two consular armies to confront Hannibal in central Italy. Flaminius' plan came to a disastrous end when he was killed during the decisive Roman defeat at the Battle of Lake Trasimene in 217 BC, with panic swept Rome. With Consular armies destroyed in two major battles, and Hannibal approaching Rome's gates, the Romans feared the imminent destruction of their city. The Roman Senate decided to appoint a dictator, and chose Fabius for the role – possibly for the second time, though evidence of a previous term seems to be conflicting – in part due to his advanced age and experience. However, he was not allowed to appoint his own magister equitum; instead, the Romans chose a political enemy, Marcus Minucius. Then Fabius quickly sought to calm the Roman people by asserting himself as a strong Dictator at the moment of what was perceived to be the worst crisis in Roman history. He asked the Senate to allow him to ride on horseback, which Dictators were never allowed to do. He then caused himself to be accompanied by the full complement of twenty-four lictors, and ordered the surviving Consul, Gnaeus Servilius Geminus, to dismiss his lictors (in essence, acknowledging the seniority of the dictator), and to present himself before Fabius as a private citizen.

 Plutarch tells us that Fabius believed that the disaster at Lake Trasimene was due, in part, to the fact that the gods had become neglected. Before that battle, a series of omens had been witnessed, including a series of lightning bolts, which Fabius had believed were warnings from the gods. He had warned Flaminius of this, but Flaminius had ignored the warnings. And so Fabius, as Dictator, next sought to please the gods. He ordered a massive sacrifice of the whole product of the next harvest season throughout Italy, in particular that of cows, goats, swine, and sheep. In addition, he ordered that musical festivities be celebrated, and then told his fellow citizens to each spend a precise sum of 333 sestertii and 333 denarii. Plutarch isn't sure exactly how Fabius came up with this number, although he believes it was to honor the perfection of the number three, as it is the first of the odd numbers, and one of the first of the prime numbers. It is not known if Fabius truly believed that these actions had won the gods over to the Roman side, although the actions probably did (as intended) convince the average Roman that the gods had finally been won over.[12]

 Fabian strategy [ edit ]

 Main article: Fabian strategy

 Fabius respected Hannibal's military skill and so refused to meet him in a pitched battle. Instead, he kept his troops close to Hannibal, hoping to exhaust him in a long war of attrition. Fabius was able to harass the Carthaginian foraging parties, limiting Hannibal's ability to wreak destruction, while conserving his own military force. The delaying tactics involved not directly engaging Hannibal, while also exercising a "scorched earth" practice to prevent Hannibal's forces from obtaining grain and other resources.

 The Romans were unimpressed with this defensive strategy and at first gave Fabius his epithet Cunctator (delayer) as an insult. The strategy was in part ruined because of a lack of unity in the command of the Roman army, since Fabius' Master of the Horse, Minucius, was a political enemy of Fabius. At one point, Fabius was called by the priests to assist with certain sacrifices, so Fabius left the command of the army in the hands of Minucius during his absence. Fabius had told Minucius not to attack Hannibal in his absence, but Minucius disobeyed and attacked anyway. The attack, though of no strategic value, resulted in the retreat of several enemy units, and so the Roman people, desperate for good news, believed Minucius to be a hero. On hearing of this, Fabius became enraged, and as Dictator, could have ordered Minucius' execution for his disobedience. One of the plebeian tribunes (chief representatives of the people) for the year, Metilius, was a partisan of Minucius, and as such he sought to use his power to help Minucius. The Plebeian Tribunes were the only magistrates independent of the Dictator, and so with his protection, Minucius was relatively safe. Plutarch states that Metilius "boldly applied himself to the people in the behalf of Minucius", and had Minucius granted powers equivalent to those of Fabius. By this, Plutarch probably means that as a Plebeian Tribune, Metilius had the Plebeian Council, a popular assembly which only Tribunes could preside over, grant Minucius quasi-dictatorial powers.

 Hannibal counting the rings of the Roman senators killed during the Battle of Cannae, statue by Sébastien Slodtz, 1704, Louvre

 Fabius did not attempt to fight the promotion of Minucius, but rather decided to wait until Minucius' rashness caused him to run headlong into some disaster. He realized what would happen when Minucius was defeated in battle by Hannibal. Fabius, we are told, reminded Minucius that it was Hannibal, and not he, who was the enemy. Minucius proposed that they share the joint control of the army, with command rotating between the two every other day. Fabius rejected this, and instead let Minucius command half of the army, while he commanded the other half. Minucius openly claimed that Fabius was cowardly because he failed to confront the Carthaginian forces. Near Larinum in Samium, Hannibal had taken up position in a town called Geronium. In the leadup to the battle of Geronium, Minucius decided to make a broad frontal attack on Hannibal's troops in the valley between Larinum and Geronium. Several thousand men were involved on either side. It appeared that the Roman troops were winning, but Hannibal had set a trap. Soon the Roman troops were being slaughtered. Upon seeing the ambush of Minucius' army, Fabius cried "O Hercules! how much sooner than I expected, though later than he seemed to desire, hath Minucius destroyed himself!" On ordering his army to join the battle and rescue their fellow Romans, Fabius exclaimed "we must make haste to rescue Minucius, who is a valiant man, and a lover of his country."

 Fabius rushed to his co-commander's assistance and Hannibal's forces immediately retreated. After the battle, there was some feeling that there would be conflict between Minucius and Fabius; however, the younger soldier marched his men to Fabius' encampment and is reported to have said, "My father gave me life. Today you saved my life. You are my second father. I recognize your superior abilities as a commander."[13] When Fabius' term as Dictator ended, consular government was restored, and Gnaeus Servilius Geminus and Marcus Atilius Regulus assumed the consulship for the remainder of the year.

 The once-looked-down-upon tactics employed by Fabius came then to be respected. It is said, asserts Plutarch, that even Hannibal acknowledged and feared the Fabian strategy and the Roman inexhaustible manpower. After Fabius lured him away from Apulia into the Bruttian territory and then proceeded to besiege Tarentum by treachery in 209 BC, Hannibal commented, "It seems that the Romans have found another Hannibal, for we have lost Tarentum in the same way that we took it."[14]

 After his dictatorship [ edit ]

 Shortly after Fabius had laid down his dictatorship, Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paullus were elected as consuls. They rallied the people through the assemblies, and won their support for Varro's plan to abandon Fabius' strategy, and engage Hannibal directly. Varro's rashness did not surprise Fabius, but when Fabius learned of the size of the army (eighty-eight thousand soldiers) that Varro had raised, he became quite concerned. Unlike the losses that had been suffered by Minucius, a major loss by Varro had the potential to kill so many soldiers that Rome might have had no further resources with which to continue the war. Fabius had warned the other consul for the year, Aemilius Paullus, to make sure that Varro remained unable to directly engage Hannibal. According to Plutarch, Paullus replied to Fabius that he feared the votes in Rome more than Hannibal's army.

 When word reached Rome of the disastrous Roman defeat under Varro and Paullus at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, the Senate and the People of Rome turned to Fabius for guidance. They had believed his strategy to be flawed before, but now they thought him to be as wise as the gods. He walked the streets of Rome, assured as to eventual Roman victory, in an attempt to comfort his fellow Romans. Without his support, the senate might have remained too frightened to even meet. He placed guards at the gates of the city to stop the frightened Romans from fleeing, and regulated mourning activities. He set times and places for this mourning, and ordered that each family perform such observances within their own private walls, and that the mourning should be complete within a month; following the completion of these mourning rituals, the entire city was purified of its blood-guilt in the deaths.[15] Although he did not again hold the office of dictator - and indeed, it was granted to others over him - he might as well have been one unofficially at this time, because whatever measures he proposed were immediately adopted with little or no further debate.

 Honors and death [ edit ]

 Cunctator became an honorific title, and his delaying tactic was followed in Italy for the rest of the war. Fabius' own military success was small, aside from the reconquest of Tarentum in 209 BC. For this victory, Plutarch tells us, he was awarded a second triumph that was even more splendid than the first. When Marcus Livius Macatus, the governor of Tarentum, claimed the merit of recovering the town, Fabius rejoined, "Certainly, had you not lost it, I would have never retaken it."[16][17] After serving as Dictator, he served as a Consul twice more (in 215 BC and 214 BC), and for a fifth time in 209 BC. He was also chief augur (at a very young age) and pontifex, but never pontifex maximus according to Gaius Stern (citing Livy on Fabius).[18] The holding of seats in the two highest colleges was not repeated until either Julius Caesar or possibly Sulla.[19]

 In the senate, he opposed the young and ambitious Scipio Africanus, who wanted to carry the war to Africa. Fabius continued to argue that confronting Hannibal directly was too dangerous. Scipio planned to take Roman forces to Carthage itself and force Hannibal to return to Africa to defend the city. Scipio was eventually given limited approval, despite continuous opposition from Fabius, who blocked levies and restricted Scipio's access to troops. Fabius wished to ensure that sufficient forces remained to defend Roman territory if Scipio was defeated. Fabius became gravely ill and died in 203 BC, shortly after Hannibal's army left Italy, and before the eventual Roman victory over Hannibal at the Battle of Zama won by Scipio.

 Part of his eulogy is preserved on a fragment, which praised his delaying strategy in his altercations with Hannibal during the Second Punic War. The inscription reads as follows: "...[as censor] he conducted the first revision of the senate membership and held committal elections in the consulship of Marcus Junius Pera and Marcus Barbula; he besieged and recaptured Tarentum and the strong-hold of Hannibal, and [obtained enormous booty?]; he won surpassing glory by his military [exploits?]."[20]

 Legacy [ edit ]

 Later, he became a legendary figure and the model of a tough, courageous Roman, and was bestowed the honorific title, "The Shield of Rome" (similar to Marcus Claudius Marcellus being named the "Sword of Rome"). According to Ennius, unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem – "one man, by delaying, restored the state to us." Virgil, in the Aeneid, has Aeneas' father Anchises mention Fabius Maximus while in Hades as the greatest of the many great Fabii, quoting the same line. While Hannibal is mentioned in the company of history's greatest generals, military professionals have bestowed Fabius' name on an entire strategic doctrine known as "Fabian strategy", and George Washington has been called "the American Fabius". Mikhail Kutuzov has likewise been called "the Russian Fabius" for his strategy against Napoleon.[21]

 According to its own ancient legend, the Roman princely family of Massimo descends from Fabius Maximus.[22]

 See also [ edit ]

 * Ancient Rome portal
 * Fabian Society, a British socialist society founded at the end of the 19th century and still active today. Their name derives from the tactics of Quintus Fabius Maximus.
 * Gens Fabia
 * List of ancient Romans

 Footnotes [ edit ]

 1. ^ Livy identifies Verrucosus as the son of Gurges and grandson of Rullianus, but Pliny the Elder and Plutarch call him the great-grandson of Rullianus. Modern scholarship supposes that he was probably the grandson of Gurges, although in this case his father's identity is uncertain. He was probably the son of either the Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges who was consul in 265 BC, or of the Quintus Fabius who was curule aedile in 267. Traditionally the Gurges who was consul in 265 has been regarded as the same man who had been consul for the first time in 292, and again in 276, in which case Livy may be correct; but some scholars think that the Gurges who was consul in 265 was the son of the consul of 292 and 276; the aedile of 267 may have been his brother or another kinsman.

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ Laqueur, Walter (1976). Guerrilla Warfare: A Historical & Critical Study. Transaction Publishers. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-76-580406-8.
 2. ^ Scott-Kilvert, Ian (1965). Plutarch: Makers of Rome. Penguin Group. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-14-044158-1.
 3. ^ Plutarch. "Plutarch • Life of Fabius Maximus (Cunctator)". penelope.uchicago.edu . Retrieved 1 July 2021 .
 4. ^ Plutarch (Translated by John Dryden). "The Internet Classics Archive | Fabius by Plutarch". classics.mit.edu . Retrieved 1 July 2021 .
 5. ^ T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic , American Philological Association (1951), vol. I, p. 202.
 6. ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 222, 223.
 7. ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 224, 227, 228.
 8. ^ Livy says that Fabius was appointed dictator for the second time in 217. Broughton adduces that he must have been dictator during a gap in the Capitoline fasti (and thus in Livy's records) from 221 to 219, and before Livy's history resumes in 218. Since Flaminius was censor in 220 and 219, Broughton places this dictatorship in 221. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 234, 235.
 9. ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Marcellus", 5.3-6 .
 10. ^ Livy, History of Rome , xxi. 18.
 11. ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 239, 241 (note 7).
 12. ^ "The Internet Classics Archive – Fabius by Plutarch – 3rd paragraph". Classics.mit.edu . Retrieved 2012-01-22 .
 13. ^ Plutarch, Life of Fabius Maximus, 13
 14. ^ Plutarch (1965). "Fabius Maximus". Makers of Rome. Penguin Classics. p. 78. ISBN 9780140441581.
 15. ^ Livy, The Histories of Rome, 22.55
 16. ^ "Plutarch, Lives, life of "Fabius", ca. 75 A.D. tr. by John Dryden, ca. 1683". Classics.mit.edu . Retrieved 2012-01-22 .
 17. ^ Appian of Alexandria. "Appian, History of Rome or Roman History, before 165 A.D., \S 32 on Tarentum, available at". Livius.org . Retrieved 2012-01-22 .
 18. ^ Gaius Stern, "Electoral Irregularity and Chicanery during the Second Punic War," CAMWS 2011, citing Liv. 23.21.7, 30.26.10, c.f. 25.5.2–3.
 19. ^ G.J. Szemler The Priests of the Roman Republic, 149 shows only an augurship for Sulla; 131-32, 156 on Julius. On Sulla see Stern, "Electoral Irregularity and Chicanery during the Second Punic War," CAMWS 2011, citing coinage.
 20. ^ Lewis, Naphtali, and Meyer Reinhold. Roman Civilization: Selected Readings. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Columbia UP, 1951. Print.
 21. ^ Tolstoy, Nikolai (5 September 1985). "The Strategy for Never Marching on Moscow" (A review of Napoleon: 1812 by Nigel Nicolson ). The Times , p. 9.
 22. ^ Panvinio, Onofrio (1556). De gente Maximao (in Italian). Italy.

 Primary sources [ edit ]

 * Fabius, by Plutarch

 Secondary material [ edit ]

 * Encyclopædia Britannica, Fabius Maximus Cunctator
 * Plutarch Makers of Rome translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert 1965, Penguin Books, London, England.
 * Livy The War with Hannibal translated by Aubrey de Selincourt 1974, Penguin Books, London, England.

 Further reading [ edit ]

 * De Beer, Sir Gavin (1969). Hannibal Challenging Rome's Supremacy. New York: Viking Press.
 * Lamb, Harold (1958). Hannibal: One Man Against Rome. New York: Doubleday.
 * McCall, Jeremiah (2018). Clan Fabius, Defenders of Rome: A History of the Republic's Most Illustrious Family. Barnslet: Pen and Sword. ISBN 1473885612.
 * Scullard, H. H. (1981). Roman politics: 220–150 BC. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-23296-2.

 External links [ edit ]

 Wikiquote has quotations related to Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus.
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Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus
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2023-01-01
<div><div>
	 <p>Carthaginian general Hannibal’s invasion of Italy during the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE) provided posterity with two alternative examples of effective military strategy. Hannibal delivered a decisive victory by annihilating the entire Roman army at the Battle of Cannae. Roman commander Fabius Maximus provided an alternative path to victory, a war of attrition to wear down an invading or occupying force. Under Fabius, the Romans attacked Hannibal's tenuous supply lines and isolated outposts, captured patrols and forage parties, avoided pitched battles, and ultimately forced a desperate Hannibal to attack fortified cities in a failed attempt to conquer a port. </p>
<p>Although he lacked a formal military education, General <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/george-washington/">George Washington</a> was familiar with Fabius’s example, which he referred to as a “war of posts,” from the works of classical historians Livy, Plutarch, and Polybius.<sup><a href="#1">[1]</a></sup> Moreover, the hit-and-run tactics of Fabius were similar to those used by Native Americans in the seventeenth century, and were commonly employed by American militia during the <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/french-and-indian-war/">French and Indian War</a>.</p>
<p>During the War of Independence, like most generals, Washington aspired to follow Hannibal’s example and win a decisive victory over the British in one grand battle. Early successes at Fort Ticonderoga and Boston in 1776 bred overconfidence in the commander-in-chief and his amateur army. After driving General William Howe’s redcoats out of Boston, Washington marched his force to New York City in anticipation of the next British move, hoping to vanquish the British in a traditional field battle.</p>
<p>The Americans, however, were too poorly prepared and organized to successfully defeat the King's highly trained, regular forces in a pitched battle. At the <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/battle-of-long-island/">Battle of Long Island</a>, Howe outflanked Washington, who, without proper cavalry and engineers to survey the terrain, fought at a terrible disadvantage. Fortunately for the patriot cause, Howe did not press his advantage, giving time for the beleaguered Americans to escape.</p>
<p>Following the advice of General <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/nathanael-greene/">Nathanael Greene</a>, Washington reconsidered his approach after this nearly fatal defeat. In September, 1776, Washington explained his shift to a defensive strategy to <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/john-hancock/">John Hancock</a> as he retreated into Pennsylvania, just out of reach of the pursuing British forces.<sup><a href="#2">[2]</a></sup> Washington’s army had become the embodiment of the revolutionary cause. By adopting a defensive posture and recognizing the necessity of his army’s survival to the nation, Washington had taken an important step down the Fabian path.</p>
<p>To extend his garrisons in their winter quarters, Howe distributed his forces, including the Hessians at Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, over a wide area. Following a classic Fabian tactic, Washington daringly attacked the <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/hessians/">Hessian</a> outposts. While the military consequences of such raids were minimal, the impact on both American and British morale was significant. At the darkest hour, Washington delivered a much-needed victory following Fabius’s example.<sup><a href="#3">[3]</a></sup> </p>
<p>At <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/battle-of-brandywine/">Brandywine</a>, Washington confronted the British main force as Howe advanced towards the capital at Philadelphia. While this might been a deviation from the Fabian example by engaging his entire army in one battle, Washington hedged his bet by planning an escape route in order to quickly withdraw his force. By attacking the perimeter of the British at <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/battle-of-germantown/">Germantown</a>, Pennsylvania, later in 1777, and the rear of their army at <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/battle-of-monmouth/">Monmouth</a>, New Jersey, in 1778, as it marched to New York City, Washington followed a more Fabian course. Nonetheless, Washington never completely surrendered his desire to defeat the British in a conventional battle. In the fall of 1781, Washington finally gained his long-awaited opportunity to fight a pitched battle against the British at <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/yorktown-campaign/">Yorktown</a>, Virginia. </p>
<p>As the main British effort at pacification shifted south in 1780, Washington dispatched to General Greene to take command of the southern department. As early as September 1776, Greene had been prodding Washington to follow the ancient Roman’s example against the British. In command of his own army, Greene practiced what he preached in a superbly effective and skilled example of a Fabian campaign throughout 1780 and 1781.</p>
<p>British General Lord Charles Cornwallis chased after Greene through most of the early months of 1781 in a failed effort to capture the rapidly retreating American army. Cornwallis pushed his men hard during his pursuit and jettisoned all but the most essential supplies. Although he had routed the Americans out of the Carolinas and won several battles, his own troops were exhausted and in desperate need of provisions. As Cornwallis withdrew to Yorktown, Greene drove south in a series of rapid marches that surprised the British forces. By the time Cornwallis had surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, Greene had reclaimed the Carolinas and Georgia for the American cause.</p>
<p>Gregory J. Dehler</p>
<p>Front Range Community College</p>
<p>Notes </p>
<p><a></a><a href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Joseph J. Ellis, <em>His Excellency: George Washington</em> (New York: Vintage Books, 2004), 95.</p>
<p><a></a><a href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> George Washington to John Hancock, September 8, 1776, in George Washington, <em>Writings</em>, John Rhodehamel, ed. (New York: Library of America, 1997), 240-244.</p>
<p><a></a><a href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Historians debate when and to what degree Washington committed to a Fabian strategy. John Ferling argues that Washington adopted a Fabian strategy after the Battle of Long Island. Joseph Ellis claims that Washington accepted a Fabian strategy following the Battle of Brandywine. Dave Palmer makes the case that Washington was a gifted strategist and opportunist who took calculated risks, not a strict Fabian.  Ron Chernow, on the other hand, suggests that whenever and to what level Washington may have utilized Fabian tactics, he never surrendered the hope of following Hannibal’s example of destroying the British in a glorious battle of annihilation.</p>
<p>Bibliography:</p>
<p>Chernow, Ron. <em>Washington: A Life</em>. New York: Penguin Books, 2011.</p>
<p>Ellis, Joseph J. <em>His Excellency: George Washington</em>. New York: Vintage Books, 2004.</p>
<p>Ferling, John. <em>Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence</em>. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.</p>
<p>Hart, B. H. Liddell. <em>Strategy</em>. 2<sup>nd</sup> rev ed. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1968.</p>
<p>Palmer, Dave S. <em>George Washington’s Military Ge</em>nius. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2012.</p>
<p>Washington, George. <em>Writings</em>. Edited by John Rhodehamel. New York: The Library of America, 1997.</p>
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 Fabian Strategy

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 Cato

 Fabius was not the only Roman to inspire George Washington, politically Cato was also an important figure from antiquity.

 Learn More

 Carthaginian general Hannibal’s invasion of Italy during the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE) provided posterity with two alternative examples of effective military strategy. Hannibal delivered a decisive victory by annihilating the entire Roman army at the Battle of Cannae. Roman commander Fabius Maximus provided an alternative path to victory, a war of attrition to wear down an invading or occupying force. Under Fabius, the Romans attacked Hannibal's tenuous supply lines and isolated outposts, captured patrols and forage parties, avoided pitched battles, and ultimately forced a desperate Hannibal to attack fortified cities in a failed attempt to conquer a port.

 Although he lacked a formal military education, General George Washington was familiar with Fabius’s example, which he referred to as a “war of posts,” from the works of classical historians Livy, Plutarch, and Polybius.[1] Moreover, the hit-and-run tactics of Fabius were similar to those used by Native Americans in the seventeenth century, and were commonly employed by American militia during the French and Indian War.

 During the War of Independence, like most generals, Washington aspired to follow Hannibal’s example and win a decisive victory over the British in one grand battle. Early successes at Fort Ticonderoga and Boston in 1776 bred overconfidence in the commander-in-chief and his amateur army. After driving General William Howe’s redcoats out of Boston, Washington marched his force to New York City in anticipation of the next British move, hoping to vanquish the British in a traditional field battle.

 The Americans, however, were too poorly prepared and organized to successfully defeat the King's highly trained, regular forces in a pitched battle. At the Battle of Long Island, Howe outflanked Washington, who, without proper cavalry and engineers to survey the terrain, fought at a terrible disadvantage. Fortunately for the patriot cause, Howe did not press his advantage, giving time for the beleaguered Americans to escape.

 Following the advice of General Nathanael Greene, Washington reconsidered his approach after this nearly fatal defeat. In September, 1776, Washington explained his shift to a defensive strategy to John Hancock as he retreated into Pennsylvania, just out of reach of the pursuing British forces.[2] Washington’s army had become the embodiment of the revolutionary cause. By adopting a defensive posture and recognizing the necessity of his army’s survival to the nation, Washington had taken an important step down the Fabian path.

 To extend his garrisons in their winter quarters, Howe distributed his forces, including the Hessians at Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, over a wide area. Following a classic Fabian tactic, Washington daringly attacked the Hessian outposts. While the military consequences of such raids were minimal, the impact on both American and British morale was significant. At the darkest hour, Washington delivered a much-needed victory following Fabius’s example.[3]

 At Brandywine, Washington confronted the British main force as Howe advanced towards the capital at Philadelphia. While this might been a deviation from the Fabian example by engaging his entire army in one battle, Washington hedged his bet by planning an escape route in order to quickly withdraw his force. By attacking the perimeter of the British at Germantown, Pennsylvania, later in 1777, and the rear of their army at Monmouth, New Jersey, in 1778, as it marched to New York City, Washington followed a more Fabian course. Nonetheless, Washington never completely surrendered his desire to defeat the British in a conventional battle. In the fall of 1781, Washington finally gained his long-awaited opportunity to fight a pitched battle against the British at Yorktown, Virginia.

 As the main British effort at pacification shifted south in 1780, Washington dispatched to General Greene to take command of the southern department. As early as September 1776, Greene had been prodding Washington to follow the ancient Roman’s example against the British. In command of his own army, Greene practiced what he preached in a superbly effective and skilled example of a Fabian campaign throughout 1780 and 1781.

 British General Lord Charles Cornwallis chased after Greene through most of the early months of 1781 in a failed effort to capture the rapidly retreating American army. Cornwallis pushed his men hard during his pursuit and jettisoned all but the most essential supplies. Although he had routed the Americans out of the Carolinas and won several battles, his own troops were exhausted and in desperate need of provisions. As Cornwallis withdrew to Yorktown, Greene drove south in a series of rapid marches that surprised the British forces. By the time Cornwallis had surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, Greene had reclaimed the Carolinas and Georgia for the American cause.

 Gregory J. Dehler

 Front Range Community College

 Notes

 [1] Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington (New York: Vintage Books, 2004), 95.

 [2] George Washington to John Hancock, September 8, 1776, in George Washington, Writings, John Rhodehamel, ed. (New York: Library of America, 1997), 240-244.

 [3] Historians debate when and to what degree Washington committed to a Fabian strategy. John Ferling argues that Washington adopted a Fabian strategy after the Battle of Long Island. Joseph Ellis claims that Washington accepted a Fabian strategy following the Battle of Brandywine. Dave Palmer makes the case that Washington was a gifted strategist and opportunist who took calculated risks, not a strict Fabian. Ron Chernow, on the other hand, suggests that whenever and to what level Washington may have utilized Fabian tactics, he never surrendered the hope of following Hannibal’s example of destroying the British in a glorious battle of annihilation.

 Bibliography:

 Chernow, Ron. Washington: A Life. New York: Penguin Books, 2011.

 Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington. New York: Vintage Books, 2004.

 Ferling, John. Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

 Hart, B. H. Liddell. Strategy. 2nd rev ed. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1968.

 Palmer, Dave S. George Washington’s Military Genius. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2012.

 Washington, George. Writings. Edited by John Rhodehamel. New York: The Library of America, 1997.

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<div><div>
<p></p>
	<h2>
	(Vol.Â III)
Plutarch,
	
The Parallel Lives
	</h2>
	<h2><a>Â p119Â </a>
The Life of Fabius Maximus
	</h2>
	<p>
	<a>1</a>
<a>1</a>Â Such were the memorable things in the career of Pericles, as we have received them, and now let us change the course of our narrative and tell of Fabius. It was a nymph, they say, or a woman native to the country, according to others, who consorted with Hercules by the river Tiber, and became by him the mother of Fabius, the founder of the family of the Fabii, which was a large one, and of high repute in Rome. <a>2</a>Â But some writers state that the first members of the family were called Fodii in ancient times, from their practice of taking wild beasts in pitfalls. For down to the present time "fossae" is the Latin for <i>ditches</i>, and "fodere" for <i>toÂ dig.</i> In course of time, by a change of two letters, they were called Fabii. This family produced many great men, and from Rullus, the greatest of them, and on this account called Maximus by the Romans, the Fabius Maximus of whom we now write was fourth in descent.
	</p><p>
<a>3</a>Â He had the surname of Verrucosus from a physical peculiarity, namely, a small wart growing above his lip: and that of Ovicula, which signifies <i>Lambkin</i>, was given him because of the gentleness and gravity of his nature when he was yet a child. Indeed, the calmness and silence of his demeanour,
<a>Â p121Â </a>the great caution with which he indulged in childish pleasures, the slowness and difficulty with which he learned his lessons, and his contented submissiveness in dealing with his comrades, led those who knew him superficially to suspect him of something like foolishness and stupidity. Only aÂ few discerned the inexorable firmness in the depth of his soul, and the magnanimous and leonine qualities of his nature. <a>4</a>Â But soon, as time went on and he was roused by the demands of active life, he made it clear even to the multitude that his seeming lack of energy was only lack of passion, that his caution was prudence, and that his never being quick nor even easy to move made him always steadfast and sure. He saw that the conduct of the state was a great task, and that wars must be many; he therefore trained his body for the wars (nature's own armour, as it were), and his speech as an instrument of persuasion with the people, giving it a form right well befitting his manner of life. <a>5</a>Â For it had no affectation, nor any empty, forensic grace, but an import of peculiar dignity, rendered weighty by an abundance of maxims. These, they say, most resembled those which Thucydides employs. And a speech of his is actually preserved, which was pronounced by him before the people in eulogy of his son,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note1">1</a> who died consul.
	</p><p>
	<a>2</a>
<a>1</a>Â The first​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note2">2</a> of the five consul­ships in which he served brought him the honour of a triumph over the Ligurians. These were defeated by him in battle, with heavy loss, and retired into the Alps, where they ceased plundering and harrying the parts of Italy next to them. <a>2</a>Â But Hannibal now
<a>Â p123Â </a>burst into Italy,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note3">3</a> and was at first victorious in battle at the river Trebia. Then he marched through Tuscany, ravaging the country, and smote Rome with dire consternation and fear. Signs and portents occurred, some familiar to the Romans, like peals of thunder, others wholly strange and quite extraordinary. <a>3</a>Â For instance, it was said that shields sweated blood, that ears of corn<a>Âº</a> were cut at Antium with blood upon them, that blazing, fiery stones fell from on high, and that the people of Falerii saw the heavens open and many tablets fall down and scatter themselves abroad, and that on one of these was written in letters plain to see, "Mars now brandisheth his weapons."​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note4">4</a> <a>4</a>Â The consul, Gaius Flaminius, was daunted by none of these things, for he was a man of a fiery and ambitious nature, and besides, he was elated by great successes which he had won before this, in a manner contrary to all expectation. He had, namely, although the senate dissented from his plan, and his colleague violently opposed it, joined battle with the Gauls and defeated them. Fabius also was less disturbed by the signs and portents, because he thought it would be absurd, although they had great effect upon many. <a>5</a>Â But when he learned how few in number the enemy were, and how great was their lack of resources, he exhorted the Romans to bide their time, and not to give battle to a man who wielded an army trained by many contests for this very issue, but to send aid to their allies, to keep their subject cities well in hand, and to suffer the culminating vigour of Hannibal to sink and expire of itself, like a flame that flares up from scant and slight material.
	</p><p>Â p125Â 
	<a>3</a>
<a>1</a>Â Flaminius, however, was not persuaded, but declared that he would not suffer the war to be brought near Rome, and that he would not, like Camillus of old, fight in the city for the city's defence. Accordingly, he ordered the tribunes to lead the army forth. But as Flaminius himself sprang upon his horse, for no apparent reason, and unaccountably, the animal was seized with quivering fright, and he was thrown and fell head foremost to the ground. Nevertheless, he in no wise desisted from his purpose, but since he had set out at the beginning to face Hannibal, drew up his forces near the lake called ThrasymenÃ©,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note5">5</a> in Tuscany.​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note:Lake_Thrasymene">a</a>
	</p><p>
<a>2</a>Â When the soldiers of both armies had engaged, at the very crisis of the battle, an earthquake occurred, by which cities were overthrown, rivers diverted from their channels, and fragments of cliffs torn away. And yet, although the disaster was so violent, no one of the combatants noticed it at all. <a>3</a>Â Flaminius himself, then, while displaying many deeds of daring and prowess, fell, and round about him the flower of his army. The rest were routed with much slaughter. Fifteen thousand were cut to pieces, and as many more taken prisoners. The body of Flaminius, to which Hannibal was eager to give honourable burial because of his valour, could not be found among the dead, but disappeared, no one ever knowing how.
	</p><p>
<a>4</a>Â Now of the defeat sustained at the Trebia,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note6">6</a> neither
<a>Â p127Â </a>the general who wrote nor the messenger who was sent with the tidings gave a straightforward account, the victory being falsely declared uncertain and doubtful; but as soon as Pomponius the praetor heard of this second defeat, he called an assembly of the people, faced it, and without roundabout or deceptive phrases, but in downright fashion, said: "Men of Rome, we have been beaten in a great battle; our army has been cut to pieces; our consul, Flaminius, is dead. Take ye therefore counsel for your own salvation and safety." <a>5</a>Â This speech of his fell like a tempest upon the great sea of people before him, and threw the city into commotion, nor could deliberate reasoning hold its own and stay the general consternation. But all were brought at last to be of one mind, namely, that the situation demanded a sole and absolute authority, which they call a dictator­ship, and a man who would wield this authority with energy and without fear; <a>6</a>Â that Fabius Maximus, and he alone, was such a man, having a spirit and a dignity of hand that fully matched the greatness of the office, and being moreover at the time of life when bodily vigour still suffices to carry out the counsels of the mind, and courage is tempered with prudence.
	</p><p>
	<a>4</a>
<a>1</a>Â Accordingly, this course was adopted, and Fabius was appointed dictator.​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note7">7</a> He himself appointed Marcus Minucius to be his Master of Horse, and then at once asked permission of the senate to use a horse himself when in the field. For this was not his right, but was forbidden by an ancient law, either because the Romans placed their greatest
<a>Â p129Â </a>strength in their infantry, and for this reason thought that their command ought to be with the phalanx and not leave it; or because they wished, since the power of the office in all other respects is as great as that of a tyrant, that in this point at least the dictator should be plainly dependent on the people. <a>2</a>Â However, Fabius himself was minded to show forth at once the magnitude and grandeur of his office, that the citizens might be more submissive and obedient to his commands. He therefore appeared in public attended by a united band of twenty-four lictors with their fasces,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note8">8</a> and when the remaining consul was coming to meet him, sent his adjutant to him with orders to dismiss his lictors, lay aside the insignia of his office, and meet him as a private person.
	</p><p>
<a>3</a>Â After this, he began with the gods, which is the fairest of all beginnings, and showed the people that the recent disaster was due to the neglect and scorn with which their general had treated religious rites, and not to the cowardice of those who fought under him. He thus induced them, instead of fearing their enemies, to propitiate and honour the gods. It was not that he filled them with superstition, but rather that he emboldened their valour with piety, allaying and removing the fear which their enemies inspired, with hopes of aid from the gods. <a>4</a>Â At this time, moreover, many of the soâcalled Sibylline books, containing secrets of service to the state, were consulted, and it is said that some of the oracular sayings therein preserved corresponded with the fortunes and events of the time. What was thus ascertained, however, could not be made public, but
<a>Â p131Â </a>the dictator, in the presence of all the people, vowed to sacrifice to the gods an entire year's increase in goats, swine, sheep, and cattle, that is, all that Italy's mountains, plains, rivers, and meadows should breed in the coming spring.​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note9">9</a> He likewise vowed to celebrate a musical and dramatic festival in honour of the gods, which should cost three hundred and thirty-three sestertia, plus three hundred and thirty-three denarii, plus one third of a denarius. <a>5</a>Â This sum, in Greek money, amounts to eighty-three thousand five hundred and eighty-three drachmas, plus two obols. Now the reason for the exact prescription of this particular number is hard to give, unless it was thereby desired to laud the power of the number three, as being a perfect number by nature, the first of odd numbers, the beginning of quantity, and as containing in itself the first differences and the elements of every number mingled and blended together.
	</p><p>
	<a>5</a>
<a>1</a>Â By thus fixing the thoughts of the people upon their relations with Heaven, Fabius made them more cheerful regarding the future. But he himself put all his hopes of victory in himself, believing that Heaven bestowed success by reason of wisdom and valour, and turned his attentions to Hannibal. He did not purpose to fight out the issue with him, but wished, having plenty of time, money, and men, to wear out and consume gradually his culminating vigour, his scanty resources, and his small army. <a>2</a>Â Therefore, always pitching his camp in hilly regions so as to be out of reach of the enemy's cavalry, he hung threateningly over them. If they sat still, he too kept quiet; but if they moved, he would fetch a
<a>Â p133Â </a>circuit down from the heights and show himself just far enough away to avoid being forced to fight against his will, and yet near enough to make his very delays inspire the enemy with the fear that he was going to give battle at last. But for merely consuming time in this way he was generally despised by his countrymen, and roundly abused even in his own camp. Much more did his enemies think him a man of no courage and a mere nobody, â all except Hannibal. <a>3</a>Â He, and he alone, comprehended the cleverness of his antagonist, and the style of warfare which he had adopted. He therefore made up his mind that by every possible device and constraint his foe must be induced to fight, or else the Carthaginians were undone, since they were unable to use their weapons, in which they were superior, but were slowly losing and expending to no purpose their men and moneys, in which they were inferior. He therefore resorted to every species of strategic trick and artifice, and tried them all, seeking, like a clever athlete, to get a hold upon his adversary. Now he would attack Fabius directly, now he would seek to throw his forces into confusion, now he would try to lead him off every whither, in his desire to divorce him from his safe, defensive plans.
	</p><p>
<a>4</a>Â But the purpose of Fabius, confident of a favourable issue, remained consistent and unchangeable. He was annoyed, however, by his Master of Horse, Minucius, who was eager to fight all out of season, and over bold, and who sought to win a following in the army, which he filled with mad impetuosity and empty hopes. The soldiers railed at Fabius and scornfully called him Hannibal's pedagogue; but
<a>Â p135Â </a>Minucius they considered a great man, and a general worthy of Rome. <a>5</a>Â All the more therefore did he indulge his arrogance and boldness, and scoffed at their encampments on the heights, where, as he said, the dictator was always arranging beauti­ful theatres for their spectacle of Italy laid waste with fire and sword. And he would ask the friends of Fabius whether he was taking his army up into heaven, having lost all hope of earth, or whether he wrapped himself in clouds and mists merely to run away from the enemy. <a>6</a>Â When his friends reported this to Fabius, and advised him to do away with the opprobrium by risking battle, "In that case, surely," said he, "IÂ should be a greater coward than IÂ am now held to be, if through fear of abusive jests IÂ should abandon my fixed plans. And verily the fear which one exercises in behalf of his country is not shameful; but to be frightened from one's course by the opinions of men, and by their slanderous censures, that marks a man unworthy of so high an office as this, who makes himself the slave of the fools over whom he is in duty bound to be lord and master."
	</p><p>
	<a>6</a>
<a>1</a>Â After this, Hannibal fell into a grievous error. He wished to draw his army off some distance beyond Fabius, and occupy plains affording pasturage. He therefore ordered his native guides to conduct him, immediately after supper, into the district of Casinum. But they did not hear the name correctly, owing to his foreign way of pronouncing it, and promptly hurried his forces to the edge of Campania, into the city and district of Casilinum, through the midst of which flows a dividing river, called Vulturnus by the Romans. <a>2</a>Â The region is otherwise encompassed by mountains, but a narrow defile opens
<a>Â p137Â </a>out towards the sea, in the vicinity of which it becomes marshy, from the overflow of the river, has high sand-heaps, and terminates in a beach where there is no anchorage because of the dashing waves. While Hannibal was descending into this valley, Fabius, taking advantage of his acquaintance with the ways, marched round him, and blocked up the narrow outlet with a detachment of four thousand heavy infantry. The rest of his army he posted to advantage on the remaining heights, while with the lightest and readiest of his troops he fell upon the enemy's rear-guard, threw their whole army into confusion, and slew about eight hundred of them. <a>3</a>Â Hannibal now perceived the mistake in his position, and its peril, and crucified the native guides who were responsible for it. He wished to effect a retreat, but despaired of dislodging his enemies by direct attack from the passes of which they were masters. All his men, moreover, were disheartened and fearful, thinking that they were surrounded on all sides by difficulties from which there was no escape. He therefore determined to cheat his enemies by a trick, the nature of which was as follows.
	</p><p>
<a>4</a>Â He gave orders to take about two thousand of the cattle which they had captured, fasten to each of their horns a torch consisting of a bundle of withes or faggots, and then, in the night, at a given signal, to light the torches and drive the cattle towards the passes, along the defiles guarded by the enemy. As soon as his orders had been obeyed, he decamped with the rest of his army, in the darkness which had now come, and led it slowly along. <a>5</a>Â The cattle, as long as the fire was slight, and consumed only the
<a>Â p139Â </a>wood, went on quietly, as they were driven, towards the slopes of the mountains, and the shepherds and herdsmen who looked down from the heights were amazed at the flames gleaming on the tips of their horns. They thought an army was marching in close array by the light of many torches. <a>6</a>Â But when the torches had been burned down to the roots, and the live flesh felt the flames, and the cattle, at the pain, shook and tossed their heads, and so covered one another with quantities of fire, then they kept no order in their going, but, in terror and anguish, went dashing down the mountains, their foreheads and tails ablaze, and setting fire also to much of the forest through which they fled. <a>7</a>Â It was, of course, a fearful spectacle to the Romans guarding the passes. For the flames seemed to come from torches in the hands of men who were running hither and thither with them. They were therefore in great commotion and fear, believing that the enemy were advancing upon them from all quarters and surrounding them on every side. Therefore they had not the courage to hold their posts, but withdrew to the main body of the army on the heights, and abandoned the defiles. Instantly the light-armed troops of Hannibal came up and took possession of the passes, and the rest of his forces presently joined them without any fear, although heavily encumbered with much spoil.
	</p><p>
	<a>7</a>
<a>1</a>Â It was still night when Fabius became aware of the ruse, for some of the cattle, in their random flight, were captured by his men; but he was afraid of ambushes in the darkness, and so kept still, with his forces under arms. When it was day, however, he pursued the enemy, and hung upon their rear-guard,
<a>Â p141Â </a>and there was hand-toâhand fighting over difficult ground, and much tumult and confusion. At last Hannibal sent back from his van a body of Spaniards, â nimble, light-footed men, and good mountaineers, who fell upon the heavy-armed Roman infantry, cut many of them to pieces,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note10">10</a> and forced Fabius to turn back. <a>2</a>Â And now more than ever was Fabius the mark for scorn and abuse. He had renounced all bold and open fighting, with the idea of conquering Hannibal by the exercise of superior judgment and foresight, and now he was clearly vanquished himself by these very qualities in his foes, and out-generalled.
	</p><p>
Hannibal, moreover, wishing to inflame still more the wrath of the Romans against Fabius, on coming to his fields, gave orders to burn and destroy everything else, but had these spared, and these alone.​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note11">11</a> He also set a guard over them, which suffered no harm to be done them, and nothing to be taken from them. <a>3</a>Â When this was reported at Rome, it brought more odium upon Fabius. The tribunes of the people also kept up a constant denunciation of him, chiefly at the instigation and behest of Metilius; not that Metilius hated Fabius, but he was a kinsman of Minucius, the Master of Horse, and thought that slander of the one meant honour and fame for the other. The senate also was in an angry mood, and found particular fault with Fabius for the terms he had made with Hannibal concerning the prisoners of war. <a>4</a>Â They had agreed between them to exchange the captives man for man, and if either party had more than the other, the one who recovered these
<a>Â p143Â </a>was to pay two hundred and fifty drachmas per man. Accordingly, after the exchange of man for man was made, it was found that Hannibal still had two hundred and forty Romans left. The senate decided not to send the ransom money for these, and found fault with Fabius for trying, in a manner unbecoming and unprofitable for the state, to recover men whose cowardice had made them a prey to the enemy. <a>5</a>Â When Fabius heard of this, he bore the resentment of his fellow-citizens with equanimity, but since he had no money, and could not harbour the thought of cheating Hannibal and abandoning his countrymen to their fate, he sent his son to Rome with orders to sell his fields​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note12">12</a> and bring the money to him at once, at camp. The young man sold the estates and quickly made his return, whereupon Fabius sent the ransom money to Hannibal and got back the prisoners of war. Many of these afterwards offered to pay him the price of their ransom, but in no case did he take it, remitting it rather for all.
	</p><p>
	<a>8</a>
<a>1</a>Â After this he was summoned to Rome by the priests to assist in sundry sacrifices, and put his forces in charge of Minucius, who was not to give battle, nor engage the enemy in any way. Such were not only the commands of Fabius as dictator, but also his reiterated counsels and requests. To all these Minucius gave little heed, and straightway began to threaten the enemy. <a>2</a>Â One day he noticed that Hannibal had sent the larger part of his army off to forage, whereupon he attacked the residue, drove them headlong inside their trenches, slew many of them, and inspired them all with the fear of being held in siege by him. When Hannibal's
<a>Â p145Â </a>forces were reunited in their camp, Minucius effected a safe retreat, thereby filling himself with measureless boastfulness and his soldiery with boldness. <a>3</a>Â An exaggerated version of the affair speedily made its way to Rome, and Fabius, when he heard it, said he was more afraid of the success of Minucius than he would be of his failure. But the people were exalted in spirit and joyfully ran to a meeting in the forum. <a></a>There Metilius their tribune mounted the <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Rostra.html">â¢</a>rostra and harangued them, extolling Minucius, but denouncing Fabius, not as a weakling merely, nor yet as a coward, but actually as a traitor. <a>4</a>Â He also included in his accusations the ablest and foremost men of the state besides. They had brought on the war at the outset, he said, in order to crush the people, and had at once flung the city into the hands of a man with sole and absolute authority, that he might, by his dilatory work, give Hannibal an assured position and time to reinforce himself with another army from Libya, on the plea that he had Italy in his power.
	</p><p>
	<a>9</a>
<a>1</a>Â Then Fabius came forward to speak, but wasted no time on a defence of himself against the tribune. He simply said that the sacrifices and sacred rites must be performed as quickly as possible, so that he might proceed to the army and punish Minucius for engaging the enemy contrary to his orders. Thereupon a great commotion spread swiftly through the people; they realized the peril that threatened Minucius. For the dictator has the power to imprison and put to death without trial, and they thought that the wrath of Fabius, provoked in a man of his great gentleness, would be severe
<a>Â p147Â </a>and implacable. <a>2</a>Â Wherefore they were all terrified and held their peace, excepting only Metilius. He enjoyed immunity of person as tribune of the people (for this is the only magistracy which is not robbed of its power by the election of a dictator; it abides when the rest are abolished),​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note13">13</a> and vehemently charged and prayed the people not to abandon Minucius, nor permit him to suffer the fate which Manlius Torquatus inflicted upon his son, whom he beheaded although crowned with laurel for the greatest prowess,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note14">14</a> but to strip Fabius of his tyrant's power and entrust the state to one who was able and willing to save it.
	</p><p>
<a>3</a>Â The rabble were moved by such utterances. They did not dare to force Fabius to resign his sovereignty, unpopular as he was, but they voted that Minucius should have an equal share in the command, and should conduct the war with the same powers as the dictator, â aÂ thing which had not happened before in Rome. AÂ little while afterwards, it is true, it happened again, namely, after the disaster at Cannae.​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note15">15</a> <a>4</a>Â At that time Marcus Junius the dictator was in the field, and at home it became necessary that the senate should be filled up, since many senators had perished in the battle. They therefore elected Fabius Buteo a second dictator. But he, after acting in that capacity and choosing the men to fill up the senate, at once dismissed his lictors, eluded his escort, plunged into the crowd, and straightway went up and down the forum arranging some business matter of his own and engaging in affairs like a private citizen.
	</p><p>Â p149Â 
	<a>10</a>
<a>1</a>Â Now that they had invested Minucius with the same powers as the dictator, the people supposed that the latter would feel shorn of strength and altogether humble, but they did not estimate the man aright. For he did not regard their mistake as his own calamity, but was like Diogenes the wise man, who, when some one said to him, "These folk are ridiculing you," said, "But IÂ am not ridiculed." He held that only those are ridiculed who are confounded by such treatment and yield their ground. <a>2</a>Â So Fabius endured the situation calmly and easily, so far as it affected himself, thereby confirming the axiom of philosophy that a sincerely good man can neither be insulted nor dishonoured. But because it affected the state, he was distressed by the folly of the multitude. <a>3</a>Â They had given opportunities to a man with a diseased military ambition, and fearful lest this man, utterly crazed by his empty glory and prestige, should bring about some great disaster before he could be checked, he set out in all secrecy from the city. When he reached the camp, he found that Minucius was no longer to be endured. He was harsh in his manner, puffed up with conceit, and demanded the sole command in his due turn. This Fabius would not grant, feeling that the sole command of a part of the army was better than the command of the whole in his turn. <a>4</a>Â The first and fourth legions he therefore took himself, and gave the second and third to Minucius, the allied forces also being equally divided between them. When Minucius put on lofty airs and exulted because the majesty of the highest and greatest office in the state had been lowered and insulted on his account, Fabius reminded him that his contention was not
<a>Â p151Â </a>with Fabius, but rather, were he wise, with Hannibal. <a>5</a>Â If, however, he was bent on rivalry with his colleague in office, he must see to it that the man who had been triumphantly honoured by his fellow-citizens should not be proved more careless of their salvation and safety than the man who had been ingloriously outraged by them.
	</p><p>
	<a>11</a>
<a>1</a>Â But Minucius regarded all this as an old man's dissimulation, and taking the forces allotted to him, went into camp apart by himself,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note16">16</a> while Hannibal, not unaware of what was going on, kept a watchful eye on everything. Now there was a hill between him and the Romans which could be occupied with no difficulty, and which, if occupied, would be a strong site for a camp and in every way sufficient. The plain round about, when viewed from a distance, was perfectly smooth and level, but really had sundry small ditches and other hollow places in it. <a>2</a>Â For this reason, though it would have been very easy for him to get possession of the hill by stealth, Hannibal had not cared to do so, but had left it standing between the two armies in the hope that it might bring on a battle. But when he saw Minucius separated from Fabius, in the night he scattered bodies of his soldiers among the ditches and hollows,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note17">17</a> and at break of day, with no attempt at concealment, sent aÂ few to occupy the hill, that he might seduce Minucius into an engagement for it.
	</p><p>
<a>3</a>Â And this actually came to pass. First Minucius sent out his light-armed troops, then his horsemen,
<a>Â p153Â </a>and finally, when he saw Hannibal coming to the support of his troops on the hill, he descended into the plain with all his forces in battle array. In a fierce battle he sustained the discharge of missiles from the hill, coming to close quarters with the enemy there and holding his advantage, until Hannibal, seeing that his enemy was happily deceived and was exposing the rear of his line of battle to the troops who had been placed in ambush, raised the signal. <a>4</a>Â At this the men rose up on all sides, attacked with loud cries, and slew their foes who were in the rear ranks. Then indescribable confusion and fright took possession of the Romans. Minucius himself felt all his courage shattered, and looked anxiously now to one and now to another of his commanders, no one of whom dared to hold his ground, nay, all urged their men to flight, and a fatal flight too. For the Numidians, now masters of the situation, galloped round the plain and slew them as they scattered themselves about.
	</p><p>
	<a>12</a>
<a>1</a>Â Now that the Romans were in such an evil pass, Fabius was not unaware of their peril. He had anticipated the result, as it would seem, and had his forces drawn up under arms, wisely learning the progress of events not from messengers, but by his own observations in front of his camp. Accordingly, when he saw the army of Minucius surrounded and confounded, and when their cries, as they fell upon his ears, showed him that they no longer stood their ground, <a>2</a>Â but were already panic-stricken and routed, he smote his thigh, and with a deep groan said to the bystanders: "Hercules! how much sooner than IÂ expected, but later than his own rash eagerness demanded, has Minucius destroyed himself!" Then
<a>Â p155Â </a>ordering the standards to be swiftly advanced and the army to follow, he called out with a loud voice: "Now, my soldiers, let every man be mindful of Marcus Minucius and press on to his aid; for he is a brilliant man, and a lover of his country. And if his ardent desire to drive away the enemy has led him into any error, we will charge him with it later."
	</p><p>
<a>3</a>Â Well then, as soon as he appeared upon the scene, he routed and dispersed the Numidians who were galloping about in the plain. Then he made against those who were attacking the rear of the Romans under Minucius, and slew those whom he encountered. But the rest of them, ere they were cut off and surrounded in their own turn, as the Romans had been by them, gave way and fled. <a>4</a>Â Then Hannibal, seeing the turn affairs had taken, and Fabius, with a vigour beyond his years, ploughing his way through the combatants up to Minucius on the hill, put an end to the battle, signalled a retreat, and led his Carthaginians back to their camp, the Romans also being glad of a respite. It is said that as Hannibal withdrew, he addressed to his friends some such pleasantry as this about Fabius: "Verily, didÂ I not often prophesy to you that the cloud which we saw hovering above the heights would one day burst upon us in a drenching and furious storm?"
	</p><p>
	<a>13</a>
<a>1</a>Â After the battle, Fabius despoiled all of the enemy whom he had slain, and withdrew to his camp, without indulging in a single haughty or invidious word about his colleague. And Minucius, assembling his own army, said to them: "Fellow-soldiers, to avoid all mistakes in the conduct of great enterprises
<a>Â p157Â </a>is beyond man's powers; but when a mistake has once been made, to use his reverses as lessons for the future is the part of a brave and sensible man. <a>2</a>Â IÂ therefore confess that while IÂ have some slight cause of complaint against fortune, IÂ have larger grounds for praising her. For what IÂ could not learn in all the time that preceded it, IÂ have been taught in the brief space of a single day, and IÂ now perceive that IÂ am not able to command others myself, but need to be under the command of another, and that IÂ have all the while been ambitious to prevail over men of whom to be outdone were better. Now in all other matters the dictator is your leader, but in the rendering of thanks to him IÂ myself will take the lead, and will show myself first in following his advice and doing his bidding."
	</p><p>
<a>3</a>Â After these words, he ordered the eagles to be raised and all to follow them, and led the way to the camp of Fabius. When he had entered this, he proceeded to the general's tent, while all were lost in wonder. When Fabius came forth, Minucius had the standards planted in front of him, and addressed him with a loud voice as Father, while his soldiers greeted the soldiers of Fabius as Patrons, the name by which freedmen address those who have set them free. <a>4</a>Â When quiet prevailed, Minucius said; "Dictator, you have on this day won two victories, one over Hannibal through your valour, and one over your colleague through your wisdom and kindness. By the first you saved our lives, and by the second you taught us a great lesson, vanquished as we were by our enemy to our shame, and by you to our honour and safety. <a>5</a>Â IÂ call you by the
<a>Â p159Â </a>excellent name of Father, because there is no more honourable name which IÂ can use; and yet a father's kindness is not so great as this kindness bestowed by you. My father did but beget me, while to you IÂ owe not only my own salvation, but also that of all these men of mine." So saying, he embraced Fabius and kissed him, and the soldiers on both sides in like manner embraced and kissed each other, so that the camp was filled with joy and tears of rejoicing.
	</p><p>
	<a>14</a>
<a>1</a>Â After this, Fabius laid down his office, and consuls were again appointed. The first of these maintained the style of warfare which Fabius had ordained. They avoided a pitched battle with Hannibal, but gave aid and succour to their allies, and prevented their falling away. But when Terentius Varro was elevated to the consul­ship, a man whose birth was obscure and whose life was conspicuous for servile flattery of the people and for rashness, it was clear that in his inexperience and temerity he would stake the entire issue upon the hazard of a single throw. <a>2</a>Â For he used to shout in the assemblies that the war would continue as long as the city employed men like Fabius as its generals; but that he himself would conquer the enemy the very day he saw them. And not only did he make such speeches, but he also assembled and enrolled a larger force than the Romans had ever employed against any enemy. Eighty-eight thousand men were arrayed for battle, to the great terror of Fabius and all sensible Romans. For they thought their city could not recover if she lost so many men in the prime of life.
	</p><p>Â p161Â 
<a>3</a>Â Now, Paulus Aemilius was the colleague of Terentius, a man of experience in many wars, but not acceptable to the people, and crushed in spirit by a fine which they had imposed upon him. Therefore Fabius tried to rouse and encourage him to restrain the madness of his colleague, showing him that he must struggle to save his country not so much from Hannibal as from Terentius. The latter, he said, was eager to fight because he did not see where his strength lay; the former, because he saw his own weakness. <a>4</a>Â "But," said he, "it is to me, OÂ Paulus, that more credence should be given in regard to Hannibal's affairs, and IÂ solemnly assure you that, if no one shall give him battle this year, the man will remain in Italy only to perish, or will leave it in flight, since even now, when he is thought to be victorious and to be master of the country, not one of his enemies has come over to his side, and not even so much as the third part of the force which he brought from home is still left." <a>5</a>Â To this Paulus is said to have answered: "If IÂ consult my own interests, OÂ Fabius, it is better for me to encounter the spears of the enemy than to face again the votes of my fellow-citizens. But if the state is in such a pass, IÂ will try to be a good general in your opinion, rather than in that of all the rest who so forcibly oppose you." With this determination, Paulus went forth to the war.
	</p><p>
	<a>15</a>
<a>1</a>Â But Terentius, insisting on his right to command aÂ day in turn, and then encamping over against Hannibal by the river Aufidus and the town called Cannae, at break of day put out the signal for battle, â aÂ scarlet tunic displayed above the general's tent. At this even the Carthaginians were confounded
<a>Â p163Â </a>at first, seeing the boldness of the Roman general and the number of his army, which was more than double their own. <a>2</a>Â But Hannibal ordered his forces to arm for battle, while he himself, with aÂ few companions, rode to the top of a gently sloping ridge, from which he watched his enemies as they formed in battle array. When one of his companions, named Gisco, a man of his own rank, remarked that the number of the enemy amazed him, Hannibal put on a serious look and said: "Gisco, another thing has escaped your notice which is more amazing still." And when Gisco asked what it was, "It is the fact," said he, "that in all this multitude there is no one who is called Gisco." <a>3</a>Â The jest took them all by surprise and set them laughing, and as they made their way down from the ridge, they reported the pleasantry to all who met them, so that great numbers were laughing heartily, and Hannibal's escort could not even recover themselves. The sight of this infused courage into the Carthaginians. They reasoned that their general must have a mighty contempt for the enemy if he laughed and jested so in the presence of danger.
	</p><p>
	<a>16</a>
<a>1</a>Â In the battle Hannibal practiced a double strategy. In the first place, he took advantage of the ground to put the wind at his back. This wind came down like a fiery hurricane, and raised a huge cloud of dust from the exposed and sandy plains and drove it over the Carthaginian lines hard into the faces of the Romans, who turned away
<a>Â p165Â </a>to avoid it, and so fell into confusion. <a>2</a>Â In the second place, he formed his troops as follows: the sturdiest and most warlike part of his force he stationed on either side of the centre, and manned the centre itself with his poorest soldiers, intending to use this as a wedge jutting out far in advance of the rest of his line. But orders were given to the picked troops, when the Romans should have cut the troops in the centre to pieces, pursued them hotly as they retreated and formed a deep hollow, and so go within their enemy's line of battle, â then to turn sharply from either side, smite them on the flanks, and envelop them by closing in upon their rear. <a>3</a>Â And it was this which seems to have produced the greatest slaughter. For the centre gave way and was followed by the Romans in pursuit, Hannibal's line of battle thus changing its shape into that of a crescent; and the commanders of the picked troops on his wings wheeled them swiftly to left and right and fell upon the exposed sides of their enemy, all of whom, except those who retired before they were surrounded, were then overwhelmed and destroyed.
	</p><p>
<a>4</a>Â It is said, further, that a strange calamity befell the Roman cavalry also. The horse of Paulus, as it appears, was wounded and threw its rider off, and one after another of his attendants dismounted and sought to defend the consul on foot. When the horsemen saw this, supposing that a general order had been given, they all dismounted and engaged the enemy on foot. On seeing this, Hannibal said: "This is more to my wish than if they had been handed over to me in fetters."​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note18">18</a> <a>5</a>Â But such particulars as these may be found in the detailed histories of the war.
	</p><p>Â p167Â 
As for the consuls, Varro galloped off with aÂ few followers to the city of Venusia, but Paulus, caught in the deep surges of that panic flight and covered with many missiles which hung in his wounds, weighed down in body and spirit by so vast a misfortune, sat down, leaning against a stone, and waiting for an enemy to dispatch him. <a>6</a>Â His head and face were so profusely smeared with blood that few could recognize him; even his friends and retainers passed him by without knowing him. Only Cornelius Lentulus, a young man of the patrician order, saw who he was, and leaping from his horse, led him to Paulus and besought the consul to take him and save himself for the sake of his fellow-citizens, who now more than ever needed a brave commander. <a>7</a>Â But Paulus rejected this prayer, and forced the youth, all tears, to mount his horse again, and then rose up and clasped his hand and said: "Lentulus, tell Fabius Maximus, and be thyself a witness to what thou tellest, that Paulus Aemilius was true to his precepts up to the end, and broke not one of the agreements made with him, but was vanquished first by Varro, and then by Hannibal." <a>8</a>Â With such injunctions, he sent Lentulus away, then threw himself into the midst of the slaughter and perished. And it is said that fifty thousand Romans fell in that battle, that four thousand were taken alive, and that after the battle there were captured in both consular camps no less than ten thousand.
	</p><p>Â p169Â 
	<a>17</a>
<a>1</a>Â In view of such a complete success, Hannibal's friends urged him to follow up his good fortune and dash into their city on the heels of the flying enemy, assuring him in that case that on the fifth day after his victory he would sup on the Capitol. It is not easy to say what consideration turned him from this course, nay, it would rather seem that his evil genius, or some divinity, interposed to inspire him with the hesitation and timidity which he now showed. Wherefore, as they say, Barca, the Carthaginian, said to him angrily: "Thou canst win a victory, but thy victory thou canst not use."​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note19">19</a> <a>2</a>Â And yet his victory wrought a great change in his circumstances. Before the battle, he had not a city, not a trading-place, not a sea-port in Italy, and could with difficulty barely supply his army with provisions for foraging, since he had no secure base of supplies for the war, but wandered hither and thither with his army as if it were a great horde of robbers. After the battle, however, he brought almost all Italy under his sway. <a>3</a>Â Most of its peoples, and the largest of them too, came over to him of their own accord, and Capua, which is the most considerable city after Rome, attached herself firmly to his cause.
	</p><p>
Not only, then, does it work great mischief, as Euripides says, to put friends to the test, but also prudent generals. For that which was called cowardice and sluggishness in Fabius before the battle, immediately after the battle was thought to be no mere human calculation, nay, rather, a divine and marvellous intelligence, since it looked so far into the future and foretold a disaster which could
<a>Â p171Â </a>hardly be believed by those who experienced it. <a>4</a>Â In him, therefore, Rome at once placed her last hopes; to his wisdom she fled for refuge as to the temple and altar, believing that it was first and chiefly due to his prudence that she still remained a city, and was not utterly broken up, as in the troublous times of the Gallic invasion. <a>5</a>Â For he who, in times of apparent security, appeared cautious and irresolute, then, when all were plunged in boundless grief and helpless confusion, was the only man to walk the city with calm step, composed countenance, and gracious address, checking effeminate lamentation, and preventing those from assembling together who were eager to make public their common complaints. He persuaded the senate to convene, heartened up the magistrates, and was himself the strength and power of every magistracy, since all looked to him for guidance.
	</p><p>
	<a>18</a>
<a>1</a>Â Accordingly, he put guards at the gates, in order to keep the frightened throng from abandoning the city, and set limits of time and place to the mourning for the dead, ordering any who wished to indulge in lamentation, to do so at home for a period of thirty days; after that, all mourning must cease and the city be purified of such rites. <a>2</a>Â And since the festival of Ceres fell within these days, it was deemed better to remit entirely the sacrifices and the procession, rather than to emphasize the magnitude of their calamity by the small number and dejection of the participants. For the gods' delight is in honours paid them by the fortunate. <a>3</a>Â However, all the rites which the augurs advocated for the propitiation of the gods, or to avert inauspicious omens, were duly performed. And besides, Pictor, a kinsman of Fabius, was sent to
<a>Â p173Â </a>consult the oracle at Delphi; and when two of the vestal virgins were found to have been corrupted, one of them was buried alive, according to the custom,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note20">20</a> and the other slew herself.
	</p><p>
<a>4</a>Â But most of all was the gentle dignity of the city to be admired in this, that when Varro, the consul, came back from his flight, as one would come back from a most ill-starred and disgraceful experience, in humility and dejection, the senate and the whole people met him at the gates with a welcome. <a>5</a>Â The magistrates and the chief men of the senate, of whom Fabius was one, praised him, as soon as quiet was restored, because he had not despaired of the city after so great a misfortune, but was at hand to assume the reins of government, and to employ the laws and his fellow-citizens in accomplishing the salvation which lay within their power.
	</p><p>
	<a>19</a>
<a>1</a>Â When they learned that Hannibal, after the battle, had turned aside into other parts of Italy, they plucked up courage and sent out commanders with armies. The most illustrious of these were Fabius Maximus and Claudius Marcellus, men who were similarly admired for directly opposite characters. <a>2</a>Â The latter, as has been stated in his Life,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note21">21</a> was a man of splendid and impetuous actions, with an arm of ready vigour, and by nature like the men whom Homer is wont to call "fond of battle, and "eager for the fray." He therefore conducted his first engagements in the venturesome and reckless style of warfare which met the daring of such a man as Hannibal with an equal daring. <a>3</a>Â Fabius, on the contrary, clung to his first and famous convictions, and looked to see Hannibal, if only no one
<a>Â p175Â </a>fought with him or harassed him, become his own worst enemy, wear himself out in the war, and speedily lose his high efficiency, like an athlete whose bodily powers have been overtaxed and exhausted. It was for these reasons, as Poseidonius says, that the Romans called Fabius their buckler, and Marcellus their sword, and that the mingling of the firm steadfastness of the one with the versatility of the other proved the salvation of Rome. <a>4</a>Â By his frequent encounters with Marcellus, whose course was like that of a swiftly-flowing river, Hannibal saw his forces shaken and swept away; while by Fabius, whose course was slow, noiseless, and unceasing in its stealthy hostility, they were imperceptibly worn away and consumed. And finally he was brought to such a pass that he was worn out with fighting Marcellus, and afraid of Fabius when not fighting.
	</p><p>
<a>5</a>Â For it was with these two men that he fought almost all the time, as they held the offices of praetor, pro-consul, or consul; and each of them was consul five times. However, when Marcellus was serving as consul for the fifth time, Hannibal led him into an ambush and slew him;​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note22">22</a> but he had no success against Fabius, although he frequently brought all sorts of deceit­ful tests to bear upon him. Once, it is true, he did deceive the man, and came near giving him a disastrous overthrow. <a>6</a>Â He composed and sent to Fabius letters purporting to come from the chief men of Metapontum, assuring him that their city would be surrendered to him if he should come there, and that those who were contriving the surrender only waited for him to come and show
<a>Â p177Â </a>himself in the neighbourhood. These letters moved Fabius to action, and he proposed to take a part of his force and set out by night. Then he got unfavourable auspices and was turned from his purpose by them, and in a little while it was discovered that the letters which had come to him were cunning forgeries by Hannibal, who had laid an ambush for him near the city. The escape, however, may be laid to the favour of the gods.
	</p><p>
	<a>20</a>
<a>1</a>Â Fabius thought that the revolts of the cities and the agitations of the allies ought to be restrained and discountenanced rather by mild and gentle measures, without testing every suspicion and showing harshness in every case to be suspected. It is said, for instance, that when he learned about a Marsian soldier, eminent among the allies for valour and high birth, who had been talking with some of the soldiers in the camp about deserting to the enemy, he was not incensed with him, but admitted frankly that he had been unduly neglected; <a>2</a>Â so far, he said, this was the fault of the commanders, who distributed their honours by favour rather than for valour, but in the future it would be the man's own fault if he did not come to him and tell him when he wanted anything. These words were followed by the gift of a warhorse and by other signal rewards for bravery, and from that time on there was no more faithful and zealous man in the service. <a>3</a>Â Fabius thought it hard that, whereas the trainers of horses and dogs relied upon care and intimacy and feeding rather than on goads and heavy collars for the removal of the animal's obstinacy, anger, and discontent, the commander of men should not base the most of his discipline on kindness and gentleness, but
<a>Â p179Â </a>show more harshness and violence in his treatment of them than farmers in their treatment of wild fig-trees, wild pear-trees, and wild olive-trees, which they reclaim and domesticate till they bear luscious olives, pears, and figs.
	</p><p>
<a>4</a>Â Accordingly, when another soldier, a Lucanian, was reported by his officers as frequently quitting his post and roaming away from the camp, Fabius asked them what kind of a man they knew him to be in other respects. All testified that such another soldier could not easily be found, and rehearsed sundry exploits of his wherein he had shown conspicuous bravery. Fabius therefore inquired into the cause of the man's irregularity, and discovered that he was deeply in love with a maid, and risked his life in long journeys from the camp every time he visited her. <a>5</a>Â Accordingly, without the man's knowledge, Fabius sent and arrested the girl and hid her in his own tent. Then he called the Lucanian to him privately and said: "It is well known that, contrary to Roman custom and law, you often pass the night away from camp; but it is also well known that you have done good service in the past. Your transgressions shall therefore be atoned for by your deeds of valour, but for the future IÂ shall put another person in charge over you." <a>6</a>Â Then, to the soldier's amazement, he led the girl forth and put her in his hands, saying: "This person pledges herself that you will hereafter remain in camp with us, and you will now show plainly whether or not you left us for some other and base purpose, making this maid and your love for her a mere pretext." Such is the story which is told about this matter.
	</p><p>
	<a>21</a>
<a>1</a>Â The city of Tarentum, which had been lost
<a>Â p181Â </a>to the Romans by treachery,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note23">23</a> Fabius recovered in the following manner.​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note24">24</a> There was a young man of Tarentum in his army, and he had a sister who was very faithfully and affectionately disposed towards him. <a>2</a>Â With this woman the commander of the forces set by Hannibal to guard the city, a Bruttian, was deeply enamoured, and the circumstance led her brother to hope that he could accomplish something by means of it. He therefore joined his sister in Tarentum, ostensibly as a deserter from the Romans, though he was really sent into the city by Fabius, who was privy to his scheme. Some days passed, accordingly, during which the Bruttian remained at home, since the woman thought that her amour was unknown to her brother. Then her brother had the following words with her: "IÂ would have you know that a story was very current out there in the Roman camp that you have interviews with a man in high authority. Who is this man? For if he is, as they say, a man of repute, and illustrious for his valour, war, that confounder of all things, makes very little account of race. Nothing is disgraceful if it is done under compulsion, nay, we may count it rare good fortune, at a time when right is weak, to find might very gentle with us." <a>3</a>Â Thereupon the woman sent for her Bruttian and made her brother acquainted with him. The Barbarian's confidence was soon gained, since the brother fostered his passion and plainly induced the sister to be more complacent and submissive to him than before, so that it was not difficult, that man being a lover and a mercenary as well, to change his allegiance, in anticipation of the large gifts which it was promised that he should receive from Fabius.
	</p><p>Â p183Â 
<a>4</a>Â This is the way the story is usually told.​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note25">25</a> But some writers say that the woman by whom the Bruttian was won over, was not a Tarentine, but a Bruttian, and a concubine of Fabius, and that when she learned that the commander of the Bruttian garrison was a fellow-countryman and an acquaintance of hers, she told Fabius, held a conference with the man beneath the walls of the city, and won him completely over.
	</p><p>
	<a>22</a>
<a>1</a>Â While this plot was under way, Fabius schemed to draw Hannibal away from the neighbourhood, and therefore gave orders to the garrison at Rhegium to overrun Bruttium and take Caulonia by storm. This garrison numbered eight thousand, most of them deserters, and the refuse of the soldiers sent home from Sicily in disgrace by Marcellus, men whose loss would least afflict and injure Rome. <a>2</a>Â Fabius expected that by casting these forces, like a bait, in front of Hannibal, he would draw him away from Tarentum. And this was what actually happened. For Hannibal immediately swept thither in pursuit with his army. But five days after Fabius had laid siege to Tarentum, the youth who, with his sister, had come to an understanding with the Bruttian commander in the city, came to him by night. He had seen and knew precisely the spot at which the Bruttian was watching with the purpose of handing the city over to its assailants. Fabius, however, would not suffer his enterprise to depend wholly upon the betrayal of the city. <a>3</a>Â While, therefore, he himself led a detachment quietly to the appointed spot, the rest of his army attacked the walls by land and sea, with great shouting and
<a>Â p185Â </a>tumult, until most of the Tarentines had run to the aid of those who were defending them. Then the Bruttian gave Fabius the signal, and he scaled the walls and got the mastery of the city.
	</p><p>
<a>4</a>Â At this point, however, Fabius seems to have been overcome by his ambition, for he ordered his men to put the Bruttians first of all to the sword, that his possession of the city might not be known to be due to treachery. He not only failed to prevent this knowledge, but incurred also the reproach of perfidy and cruelty. Many of the Tarentines also were slain, thirty thousand of them were sold into slavery, their city was plundered by the Roman army, and three thousand talents were thereby brought into the public treasury. <a>5</a>Â While everything else was carried off as plunder, it is said that the accountant asked Fabius what his orders were concerning the gods, for so he called the pictures and statues; and that Fabius answered: "Let us leave their angered gods for the Tarentines." <a>6</a>Â However, he removed the colossal statue of Heracles from Tarentum, and set it up on the Capitol, and near it an equestrian statue of himself, in bronze. He thus appeared far more eccentric in these matters than Marcellus, nay rather, the mild and humane conduct of Marcellus was thus made to seem altogether admirable by contrast, as has been written in his Life.<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note26">26</a>
	</p><p>
	<a>23</a>
<a>1</a>Â It is said that Hannibal had got within <a>â¢</a>five miles of Tarentum when it fell, and that openly
<a>Â p187Â </a>he merely remarked: "It appears, then, that the Romans have another Hannibal, for we have lost Tarentum even as we look at it"; but that in private he was then for the first time led to confess to his friends that he had long seen the difficulty, and now saw the impossibility of their mastering Italy with their present forces. <a>2</a>Â For this success, Fabius celebrated a second triumph more splendid than his first, since he was contending with Hannibal like a clever athlete, and easily baffling all his undertakings, now that his hugs and grips no longer had their old time vigour. For his forces were partly enervated by luxury and wealth,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note27">27</a> and partly blunted, as it were, and worn out by their unremitting struggles.
	</p><p>
<a>3</a>Â Now there was a certain Marcus Livius, who commanded the garrison of Tarentum when Hannibal got the city to revolt. He occupied the citadel, however, and was not dislodged from this position, but held it until the Romans again got the upper hand of the Tarentines. This man was vexed by the honours paid to Fabius, and once, carried away by his jealousy and ambition, said to the senate that it was not Fabius, but himself, who should be credited with the capture of Tarentum. At this Fabius laughed, and said: "You are right; had you not lost the city, IÂ had not taken it."
	</p><p>
	<a>24</a>
<a>1</a>Â Among the other marks of high favour which the Romans conferred upon Fabius, they made his son Fabius consul.​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note28">28</a> When this son had entered upon the office and was arranging some matter pertaining to the war, his father, either by reason of his age and weakness, or because he was
<a>Â p189Â </a>putting his son to the test, mounted his horse and rode towards him through the throng of bystanders. The young man caught sight of his father at a distance and would not suffer what he did, but sent a lictor with orders for him to dismount and come to the consul on foot if he had any need of his offices. <a>2</a>Â All the rest were offended at this command, and implied by their silent gaze at Fabius that this treatment of him was unworthy of his high position. But Fabius himself sprang quickly from his horse, almost ran to his son, and embraced him affectionately. "My son," he said, "you are right in thought and act. You understand what a people has made you its officer, and what a high office you have received from them. It was in this spirit that our fathers and we ourselves have exalted Rome, a spirit which makes parents and children ever secondary to our country's good."<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note29">29</a>
	</p><p>
<a>3</a>Â And of a truth it is reported of the great-grandfather of our Fabius, that though he had the greatest reputation and influence in Rome, and though he had himself been consul five times and had celebrated the most splendid triumphs for the greatest wars, he nevertheless, when his son was consul, went forth to war with him as his lieutenant,​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note30">30</a> and in the triumph that followed, while the son entered the city on a four-horse chariot, the father followed on horseback with the rest of the train, exulting in the fact that, though he was master of his son, and was the greatest of the citizens both in name and in fact, he yet put himself beneath the law and its official. However, this was not the only admirable thing about him.
	</p><p>Â p191Â 
<a>4</a>Â But the son of our Fabius, as it happened, died, and this affliction he bore with equanimity, like a wise man and a good father. The funeral oration, which is pronounced at the obsequies of illustrious men by some kinsman, he delivered himself from his place in the forum, and then wrote out the speech and published it.<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note31">31</a>
	</p><p>
	<a>25</a>
<a>1</a>Â But now Cornelius Scipio was sent into Spain, where he not only conquered the Carthaginians in many battles, and drove them out of the country, but also won over a multitude of nations, and took great cities with splendid spoils, so that, on his return to Rome, he enjoyed an incomparable favour and fame, and was made consul.​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note32">32</a> <a>2</a>Â Perceiving that the people demanded and expected a great achievement from him, he regarded the hand to hand struggle with Hannibal there in Italy as very antiquated and senile policy, and purposed to fill Libya at once, and the territory of Carthage itself, with Roman arms and soldiery, and ravage them, and thus to transfer the war from Italy thither. To this policy he urged the people with all his soul. But just at this point Fabius tried to fill the city with all sorts of fear. They were hurrying, he said, under the guidance of a foolhardy young man, into the remotest and greatest peril, <a>3</a>Â and he spared neither word nor deed which he thought might deter the citizens from this course. He brought the senate over to his views; but the people thought that he attacked Scipio through jealousy of his success, and that he was afraid lest, if Scipio performed some great and glorious exploit and either put an end to the war entirely or removed it out of Italy, his own
<a>Â p193Â </a>failure to end the war after all these years would be attributed to sloth and cowardice.
	</p><p>
<a>4</a>Â Now it is likely that Fabius began this opposition out of his great caution and prudence, in fear of the danger, which was great; but that he grew more violent and went to greater lengths in his opposition out of ambition and rivalry, in an attempt to check the rising influence of Scipio. For he even tried to persuade Crassus, Scipio's colleague in the consul­ship, not to surrender the command of the army and not to yield to Scipio, but to proceed in person against Carthage, if that policy were adopted. He also prevented the granting of moneys for the war. <a>5</a>Â As for moneys, since he was obliged to provide them for himself, Scipio collected them on his private account from the cities of Etruria, which were devotedly attached to him; and as for Crassus, it was partly his nature, which was not contentious, but gentle, that kept him at home, and partly also a religious custom, for he was pontifex maximus, or High Priest.
	</p><p>
	<a>26</a>
<a>1</a>Â Accordingly, Fabius took another way to oppose Scipio, and tried to hinder and restrain the young men who were eager to serve under him, crying out in sessions of the senate and the assembly that it was not Scipio himself only who was running away from Hannibal, but that he was sailing off from Italy with her reserve forces, playing upon the hopes of her young men, and persuading them to abandon their parents, their wives, and their city, although the enemy still sat at her gates, master­ful and undefeated. And verily he frightened the Romans with these speeches, <a>2</a>Â and they decreed that Scipio should employ only the forces which were then in Sicily, and take with him only three hundred of the
<a>Â p195Â </a>men who had been with him in Spain, â men who had served him faithfully. In this course, at any rate, Fabius seems to have been influenced by his own cautious temper.
	</p><p>
But as soon as Scipio had crossed into Africa, tidings were brought​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note33">33</a> to Rome of wonder­ful achievements and of exploits transcendent in magnitude and splendour. These reports were confirmed by abundant spoils which followed them; the king of Numidia was taken captive; <a>3</a>Â two of the enemy's camps were at once destroyed by fire, and in them a great number of men, arms, and horses; embassies were sent from Carthage to Hannibal urgently calling upon him to give up his fruitless hopes in Italy and come to the aid of his native city;​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note34">34</a> <a>4</a>Â and when every tongue in Rome was dwelling on the theme of Scipio's successes, then Fabius demanded that a successor should be sent out to replace him. He gave no other reason, but urged the well remembered maxim that it was dangerous to entrust such vast interests to the fortune of a single man, since it was difficult for the same man to have good fortune always. By this course he gave offence now to many, who thought him a captious and malicious man, or one whose old age had robbed him utterly of courage and confidence, so that he was immoderately in awe of Hannibal. <a>5</a>Â For not even after Hannibal and his army had sailed away from Italy​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note35">35</a> would he suffer the rejoicing and fresh courage of the citizens to be undisturbed and assured, but then even more than ever he insisted that the city was running into the extremest peril and that her affairs were in a dangerous plight.
<a>Â p197Â </a>For Hannibal, he said, would fall upon them with all the greater effect in Africa at the gates of Carthage, and Scipio would be confronted with an army yet warm with the blood of many imperators, dictators, and consuls. Consequently, the city was once more confounded by these speeches, and although the war had been removed to Africa, they thought its terrors were nearer Rome.
	</p><p>
	<a>27</a>
<a>1</a>Â But shortly afterward Scipio utterly defeated Hannibal himself in battle, humbled and trod under foot the pride of fallen Carthage, restored to his fellow-citizens a joy that surpassed all their hopes, and in very truth "righted once more" the ship of their supremacy, which had been "shaken in a heavy surge." Fabius Maximus, however, did not live to see the end of the war, nor did he even hear of Hannibal's defeat, nor behold the great and assured prosperity of the country, but at about the time when Hannibal set sail from Italy, he fell sick and died.​<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#note36">36</a> <a>2</a>Â Epaminondas, it is true, was buried by the Thebans at the public cost, because of the poverty in which he died, for it is said that nothing was found in his house after his death except a piece of iron money. Fabius, however, was not buried by the Romans at the public charge, but each private citizen contributed the smallest coin in his possession, not because his poverty called for their aid, but because the people felt that it was burying a father, whose death thus received honour and regard befitting his life.
	</p><hr /><h2>
The Editor's Notes:
	</h2>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref1">1</a>
<i>Cf.</i>Â <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/Cato_Maior_de_Senectute/text*.html#R4">Cicero, <i>Cato Maior</i>, 4</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref2">2</a>
233Â B.C.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref3">3</a>
218Â B.C.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref4">4</a>
Mauors telum suum concutit
	<a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.22.shtml#1">
(Livy,Â XXII.1)</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref5">5</a>
Tarsimene,
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/3*.html#82.9">
Polybius,Â III.82</a>; Trasimenus,
	<a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.22.shtml#4">
Livy,Â XXII.4</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref6">6</a>
<i>Cf.</i>Â <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#2.2">chapterÂ ii.2</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref7">7</a>
In the absence of a consul, who alone could appoint a dictator, the people made Fabius pro-dictator
	<a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.22.shtml#8">
(Livy,Â XXII.8)</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref8">8</a>
Each consul was allowed twelve.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref9">9</a>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Ver_Sacrum.html">
Ver sacrum
	</a> (<a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.22.shtml#10">LivyÂ XXII.10</a>).
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref10">10</a>
One thousand, according to
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/3*.html#94.6">
Polybius,Â iii.94</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref11">11</a>
<i>Cf.</i>Â <i>Pericles</i>, xxxiii.2.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref12">12</a>
<i>Cf.</i>Â <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#7.2">chapterÂ vii.2</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref13">13</a>
See
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/3*.html#87.8">
Polybius,Â iii.87</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref14">14</a>
The son had disobeyed consular orders and engaged in single combat with a Latin, in the great battle at the foot of Vesuvius, 340Â B.C.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref15">15</a>
<i>Cf.</i>Â <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#16">chapterÂ xvi</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref16">16</a>
<a>â¢</a>AÂ mile and aÂ half from Fabius, according to
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/3*.html#103.8">
Polybius,Â iii.103</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref17">17</a>
Five thousand horsemen and footmen, according to
	<a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.22.shtml#28">
Livy,Â XXII.28</a>; five thousand light-armed and other infantry, and five hundred cavalry, according to
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/3*.html#104.4">
Polybius,Â iii.104</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref18">18</a>
Quam mallem vinctos mihi traderet.
	<a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.22.shtml#49">
Livy,Â XXII.49</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref19">19</a>
Tum Maharbal: "Non omnia nimirum eidem diÂ dedere: vincere scis, Hannibal, victoria uti nescis."
	<a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.22.shtml#51">
Livy,Â XXII.51</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref20">20</a>
<i>Cf.</i>Â <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Numa*.html#10.4"><i>Numa</i>, x.4Â ff.</a>
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref21">21</a>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Marcellus*.html#1">
ChapterÂ i</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref22">22</a>
In Lucania, 208Â B.C. <i>Cf.</i>Â the
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Marcellus*.html#29">
<i>Marcellus</i>, xxix</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref23">23</a>
212Â B.C.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref24">24</a>
209Â B.C.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref25">25</a>
So, substantially, by
	<a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.27.shtml#15">
Livy,Â XXVII.15</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref26">26</a>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Marcellus*.html#26">
ChapterÂ xxi</a>. Marcellus had enriched Rome with works of Greek art taken from Syracuse in 212Â B.C. Livy's opinion is rather different from Plutarch's: sed maiore animo generis eius praeda abstinuit Fabius quam Marcellus,
	<a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.27.shtml#16">
XXVII.16</a>. Fabius killed the people but spared their gods; Marcellus spared the people but took their gods.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref27">27</a>
InÂ 216â215Â B.C. Hannibal made the opulent city of Capua his winter quarters.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref28">28</a>
213Â B.C.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref29">29</a>
"Experiri volui, fili, satin scires consulem te esse."
	<a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.24.shtml#44">
Livy,Â XXIV.44</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref30">30</a>
294Â B.C.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref31">31</a>
<i>Cf.</i>Â <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#1.5">chapterÂ 1.5</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref32">32</a>
205Â B.C.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref33">33</a>
204Â B.C.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref34">34</a>
<i>Cf.</i>Â <a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.30.shtml#19">Livy,Â XXX.19</a>.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref35">35</a>
203Â B.C.
</p><p>â¦</p>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref36">36</a>
203Â B.C. <i>Cf.</i>Â <a href="http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.30.shtml#26">Livy,Â XXX.26</a>.
	</p><hr /><h2>
Thayer's Note:
	</h2>
	<p>
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html#ref:Lake_Thrasymene">a</a>
Lago Trasimeno, 20Â km of Perugia, in what is now Umbria; but in classical times it was in Etruria (Tuscia). The site of the battle was in the comune of
	<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Umbria/Perugia/Tuoro_sul_Trasimeno/Tuoro_sul_Trasimeno/home.html">
Tuoro
	</a>
(<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Umbria/Perugia/Tuoro_sul_Trasimeno/Tuoro_sul_Trasimeno/home.html">q.v., and the further links there</a>, which include a very good site on the battle).
</p></div>||||I|||| mail:  
 Bill Thayer á¼Î»Î»Î·Î½Î¹ÎºÎ® Italiano Help Up Home
 This webpage reproduces one of 
 The Parallel Lives 
 by 
 Plutarch 
 published in Vol.Â III 
 previous: of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 
 1916 
 Greek 
 Parallel: The text is in the public domain. 
 Pericles 
 This page has been carefully proofread 
 and IÂ believe it to be free of errors. 
 If you find a mistake though, 
 please let me know! 
 
 
 

 (Vol.Â III) Plutarch, The Parallel Lives

 Â p119Â The Life of Fabius Maximus

 1 1Â Such were the memorable things in the career of Pericles, as we have received them, and now let us change the course of our narrative and tell of Fabius. It was a nymph, they say, or a woman native to the country, according to others, who consorted with Hercules by the river Tiber, and became by him the mother of Fabius, the founder of the family of the Fabii, which was a large one, and of high repute in Rome. 2Â But some writers state that the first members of the family were called Fodii in ancient times, from their practice of taking wild beasts in pitfalls. For down to the present time " fossae " is the Latin for ditches, and " fodere " for toÂ dig. In course of time, by a change of two letters, they were called Fabii. This family produced many great men, and from Rullus, the greatest of them, and on this account called Maximus by the Romans, the Fabius Maximus of whom we now write was fourth in descent.

 3Â He had the surname of Verrucosus from a physical peculiarity, namely, a small wart growing above his lip: and that of Ovicula, which signifies Lambkin, was given him because of the gentleness and gravity of his nature when he was yet a child. Indeed, the calmness and silence of his demeanour, Â p121Â the great caution with which he indulged in childish pleasures, the slowness and difficulty with which he learned his lessons, and his contented submissiveness in dealing with his comrades, led those who knew him superficially to suspect him of something like foolishness and stupidity. Only aÂ few discerned the inexorable firmness in the depth of his soul, and the magnanimous and leonine qualities of his nature. 4Â But soon, as time went on and he was roused by the demands of active life, he made it clear even to the multitude that his seeming lack of energy was only lack of passion, that his caution was prudence, and that his never being quick nor even easy to move made him always steadfast and sure. He saw that the conduct of the state was a great task, and that wars must be many; he therefore trained his body for the wars (nature's own armour, as it were), and his speech as an instrument of persuasion with the people, giving it a form right well befitting his manner of life. 5Â For it had no affectation, nor any empty, forensic grace, but an import of peculiar dignity, rendered weighty by an abundance of maxims. These, they say, most resembled those which Thucydides employs. And a speech of his is actually preserved, which was pronounced by him before the people in eulogy of his son,​1 who died consul.

 2 1Â The first​2 of the five consul ­ships in which he served brought him the honour of a triumph over the Ligurians. These were defeated by him in battle, with heavy loss, and retired into the Alps, where they ceased plundering and harrying the parts of Italy next to them. 2Â But Hannibal now Â p123Â burst into Italy,​3 and was at first victorious in battle at the river Trebia. Then he marched through Tuscany, ravaging the country, and smote Rome with dire consternation and fear. Signs and portents occurred, some familiar to the Romans, like peals of thunder, others wholly strange and quite extraordinary. 3Â For instance, it was said that shields sweated blood, that ears of cornÂº were cut at Antium with blood upon them, that blazing, fiery stones fell from on high, and that the people of Falerii saw the heavens open and many tablets fall down and scatter themselves abroad, and that on one of these was written in letters plain to see, "Mars now brandisheth his weapons."​4 4Â The consul, Gaius Flaminius, was daunted by none of these things, for he was a man of a fiery and ambitious nature, and besides, he was elated by great successes which he had won before this, in a manner contrary to all expectation. He had, namely, although the senate dissented from his plan, and his colleague violently opposed it, joined battle with the Gauls and defeated them. Fabius also was less disturbed by the signs and portents, because he thought it would be absurd, although they had great effect upon many. 5Â But when he learned how few in number the enemy were, and how great was their lack of resources, he exhorted the Romans to bide their time, and not to give battle to a man who wielded an army trained by many contests for this very issue, but to send aid to their allies, to keep their subject cities well in hand, and to suffer the culminating vigour of Hannibal to sink and expire of itself, like a flame that flares up from scant and slight material.

 Â p125Â 3 1Â Flaminius, however, was not persuaded, but declared that he would not suffer the war to be brought near Rome, and that he would not, like Camillus of old, fight in the city for the city's defence. Accordingly, he ordered the tribunes to lead the army forth. But as Flaminius himself sprang upon his horse, for no apparent reason, and unaccountably, the animal was seized with quivering fright, and he was thrown and fell head foremost to the ground. Nevertheless, he in no wise desisted from his purpose, but since he had set out at the beginning to face Hannibal, drew up his forces near the lake called ThrasymenÃ©,​5 in Tuscany.​a

 2Â When the soldiers of both armies had engaged, at the very crisis of the battle, an earthquake occurred, by which cities were overthrown, rivers diverted from their channels, and fragments of cliffs torn away. And yet, although the disaster was so violent, no one of the combatants noticed it at all. 3Â Flaminius himself, then, while displaying many deeds of daring and prowess, fell, and round about him the flower of his army. The rest were routed with much slaughter. Fifteen thousand were cut to pieces, and as many more taken prisoners. The body of Flaminius, to which Hannibal was eager to give honourable burial because of his valour, could not be found among the dead, but disappeared, no one ever knowing how.

 4Â Now of the defeat sustained at the Trebia,​6 neither Â p127Â the general who wrote nor the messenger who was sent with the tidings gave a straightforward account, the victory being falsely declared uncertain and doubtful; but as soon as Pomponius the praetor heard of this second defeat, he called an assembly of the people, faced it, and without roundabout or deceptive phrases, but in downright fashion, said: "Men of Rome, we have been beaten in a great battle; our army has been cut to pieces; our consul, Flaminius, is dead. Take ye therefore counsel for your own salvation and safety." 5Â This speech of his fell like a tempest upon the great sea of people before him, and threw the city into commotion, nor could deliberate reasoning hold its own and stay the general consternation. But all were brought at last to be of one mind, namely, that the situation demanded a sole and absolute authority, which they call a dictator ­ship, and a man who would wield this authority with energy and without fear; 6Â that Fabius Maximus, and he alone, was such a man, having a spirit and a dignity of hand that fully matched the greatness of the office, and being moreover at the time of life when bodily vigour still suffices to carry out the counsels of the mind, and courage is tempered with prudence.

 4 1Â Accordingly, this course was adopted, and Fabius was appointed dictator.​7 He himself appointed Marcus Minucius to be his Master of Horse, and then at once asked permission of the senate to use a horse himself when in the field. For this was not his right, but was forbidden by an ancient law, either because the Romans placed their greatest Â p129Â strength in their infantry, and for this reason thought that their command ought to be with the phalanx and not leave it; or because they wished, since the power of the office in all other respects is as great as that of a tyrant, that in this point at least the dictator should be plainly dependent on the people. 2Â However, Fabius himself was minded to show forth at once the magnitude and grandeur of his office, that the citizens might be more submissive and obedient to his commands. He therefore appeared in public attended by a united band of twenty-four lictors with their fasces,​8 and when the remaining consul was coming to meet him, sent his adjutant to him with orders to dismiss his lictors, lay aside the insignia of his office, and meet him as a private person.

 3Â After this, he began with the gods, which is the fairest of all beginnings, and showed the people that the recent disaster was due to the neglect and scorn with which their general had treated religious rites, and not to the cowardice of those who fought under him. He thus induced them, instead of fearing their enemies, to propitiate and honour the gods. It was not that he filled them with superstition, but rather that he emboldened their valour with piety, allaying and removing the fear which their enemies inspired, with hopes of aid from the gods. 4Â At this time, moreover, many of the soâcalled Sibylline books, containing secrets of service to the state, were consulted, and it is said that some of the oracular sayings therein preserved corresponded with the fortunes and events of the time. What was thus ascertained, however, could not be made public, but Â p131Â the dictator, in the presence of all the people, vowed to sacrifice to the gods an entire year's increase in goats, swine, sheep, and cattle, that is, all that Italy's mountains, plains, rivers, and meadows should breed in the coming spring.​9 He likewise vowed to celebrate a musical and dramatic festival in honour of the gods, which should cost three hundred and thirty-three sestertia, plus three hundred and thirty-three denarii, plus one third of a denarius. 5Â This sum, in Greek money, amounts to eighty-three thousand five hundred and eighty-three drachmas, plus two obols. Now the reason for the exact prescription of this particular number is hard to give, unless it was thereby desired to laud the power of the number three, as being a perfect number by nature, the first of odd numbers, the beginning of quantity, and as containing in itself the first differences and the elements of every number mingled and blended together.

 5 1Â By thus fixing the thoughts of the people upon their relations with Heaven, Fabius made them more cheerful regarding the future. But he himself put all his hopes of victory in himself, believing that Heaven bestowed success by reason of wisdom and valour, and turned his attentions to Hannibal. He did not purpose to fight out the issue with him, but wished, having plenty of time, money, and men, to wear out and consume gradually his culminating vigour, his scanty resources, and his small army. 2Â Therefore, always pitching his camp in hilly regions so as to be out of reach of the enemy's cavalry, he hung threateningly over them. If they sat still, he too kept quiet; but if they moved, he would fetch a Â p133Â circuit down from the heights and show himself just far enough away to avoid being forced to fight against his will, and yet near enough to make his very delays inspire the enemy with the fear that he was going to give battle at last. But for merely consuming time in this way he was generally despised by his countrymen, and roundly abused even in his own camp. Much more did his enemies think him a man of no courage and a mere nobody, â all except Hannibal. 3Â He, and he alone, comprehended the cleverness of his antagonist, and the style of warfare which he had adopted. He therefore made up his mind that by every possible device and constraint his foe must be induced to fight, or else the Carthaginians were undone, since they were unable to use their weapons, in which they were superior, but were slowly losing and expending to no purpose their men and moneys, in which they were inferior. He therefore resorted to every species of strategic trick and artifice, and tried them all, seeking, like a clever athlete, to get a hold upon his adversary. Now he would attack Fabius directly, now he would seek to throw his forces into confusion, now he would try to lead him off every whither, in his desire to divorce him from his safe, defensive plans.

 4Â But the purpose of Fabius, confident of a favourable issue, remained consistent and unchangeable. He was annoyed, however, by his Master of Horse, Minucius, who was eager to fight all out of season, and over bold, and who sought to win a following in the army, which he filled with mad impetuosity and empty hopes. The soldiers railed at Fabius and scornfully called him Hannibal's pedagogue; but Â p135Â Minucius they considered a great man, and a general worthy of Rome. 5Â All the more therefore did he indulge his arrogance and boldness, and scoffed at their encampments on the heights, where, as he said, the dictator was always arranging beauti ­ful theatres for their spectacle of Italy laid waste with fire and sword. And he would ask the friends of Fabius whether he was taking his army up into heaven, having lost all hope of earth, or whether he wrapped himself in clouds and mists merely to run away from the enemy. 6Â When his friends reported this to Fabius, and advised him to do away with the opprobrium by risking battle, "In that case, surely," said he, "IÂ should be a greater coward than IÂ am now held to be, if through fear of abusive jests IÂ should abandon my fixed plans. And verily the fear which one exercises in behalf of his country is not shameful; but to be frightened from one's course by the opinions of men, and by their slanderous censures, that marks a man unworthy of so high an office as this, who makes himself the slave of the fools over whom he is in duty bound to be lord and master."

 6 1Â After this, Hannibal fell into a grievous error. He wished to draw his army off some distance beyond Fabius, and occupy plains affording pasturage. He therefore ordered his native guides to conduct him, immediately after supper, into the district of Casinum. But they did not hear the name correctly, owing to his foreign way of pronouncing it, and promptly hurried his forces to the edge of Campania, into the city and district of Casilinum, through the midst of which flows a dividing river, called Vulturnus by the Romans. 2Â The region is otherwise encompassed by mountains, but a narrow defile opens Â p137Â out towards the sea, in the vicinity of which it becomes marshy, from the overflow of the river, has high sand-heaps, and terminates in a beach where there is no anchorage because of the dashing waves. While Hannibal was descending into this valley, Fabius, taking advantage of his acquaintance with the ways, marched round him, and blocked up the narrow outlet with a detachment of four thousand heavy infantry. The rest of his army he posted to advantage on the remaining heights, while with the lightest and readiest of his troops he fell upon the enemy's rear-guard, threw their whole army into confusion, and slew about eight hundred of them. 3Â Hannibal now perceived the mistake in his position, and its peril, and crucified the native guides who were responsible for it. He wished to effect a retreat, but despaired of dislodging his enemies by direct attack from the passes of which they were masters. All his men, moreover, were disheartened and fearful, thinking that they were surrounded on all sides by difficulties from which there was no escape. He therefore determined to cheat his enemies by a trick, the nature of which was as follows.

 4Â He gave orders to take about two thousand of the cattle which they had captured, fasten to each of their horns a torch consisting of a bundle of withes or faggots, and then, in the night, at a given signal, to light the torches and drive the cattle towards the passes, along the defiles guarded by the enemy. As soon as his orders had been obeyed, he decamped with the rest of his army, in the darkness which had now come, and led it slowly along. 5Â The cattle, as long as the fire was slight, and consumed only the Â p139Â wood, went on quietly, as they were driven, towards the slopes of the mountains, and the shepherds and herdsmen who looked down from the heights were amazed at the flames gleaming on the tips of their horns. They thought an army was marching in close array by the light of many torches. 6Â But when the torches had been burned down to the roots, and the live flesh felt the flames, and the cattle, at the pain, shook and tossed their heads, and so covered one another with quantities of fire, then they kept no order in their going, but, in terror and anguish, went dashing down the mountains, their foreheads and tails ablaze, and setting fire also to much of the forest through which they fled. 7Â It was, of course, a fearful spectacle to the Romans guarding the passes. For the flames seemed to come from torches in the hands of men who were running hither and thither with them. They were therefore in great commotion and fear, believing that the enemy were advancing upon them from all quarters and surrounding them on every side. Therefore they had not the courage to hold their posts, but withdrew to the main body of the army on the heights, and abandoned the defiles. Instantly the light-armed troops of Hannibal came up and took possession of the passes, and the rest of his forces presently joined them without any fear, although heavily encumbered with much spoil.

 7 1Â It was still night when Fabius became aware of the ruse, for some of the cattle, in their random flight, were captured by his men; but he was afraid of ambushes in the darkness, and so kept still, with his forces under arms. When it was day, however, he pursued the enemy, and hung upon their rear-guard, Â p141Â and there was hand-toâhand fighting over difficult ground, and much tumult and confusion. At last Hannibal sent back from his van a body of Spaniards, â nimble, light-footed men, and good mountaineers, who fell upon the heavy-armed Roman infantry, cut many of them to pieces,​10 and forced Fabius to turn back. 2Â And now more than ever was Fabius the mark for scorn and abuse. He had renounced all bold and open fighting, with the idea of conquering Hannibal by the exercise of superior judgment and foresight, and now he was clearly vanquished himself by these very qualities in his foes, and out-generalled .

 Hannibal, moreover, wishing to inflame still more the wrath of the Romans against Fabius, on coming to his fields, gave orders to burn and destroy everything else, but had these spared, and these alone.​11 He also set a guard over them, which suffered no harm to be done them, and nothing to be taken from them. 3Â When this was reported at Rome, it brought more odium upon Fabius. The tribunes of the people also kept up a constant denunciation of him, chiefly at the instigation and behest of Metilius; not that Metilius hated Fabius, but he was a kinsman of Minucius, the Master of Horse, and thought that slander of the one meant honour and fame for the other. The senate also was in an angry mood, and found particular fault with Fabius for the terms he had made with Hannibal concerning the prisoners of war. 4Â They had agreed between them to exchange the captives man for man, and if either party had more than the other, the one who recovered these Â p143Â was to pay two hundred and fifty drachmas per man. Accordingly, after the exchange of man for man was made, it was found that Hannibal still had two hundred and forty Romans left. The senate decided not to send the ransom money for these, and found fault with Fabius for trying, in a manner unbecoming and unprofitable for the state, to recover men whose cowardice had made them a prey to the enemy. 5Â When Fabius heard of this, he bore the resentment of his fellow-citizens with equanimity, but since he had no money, and could not harbour the thought of cheating Hannibal and abandoning his countrymen to their fate, he sent his son to Rome with orders to sell his fields​12 and bring the money to him at once, at camp. The young man sold the estates and quickly made his return, whereupon Fabius sent the ransom money to Hannibal and got back the prisoners of war. Many of these afterwards offered to pay him the price of their ransom, but in no case did he take it, remitting it rather for all.

 8 1Â After this he was summoned to Rome by the priests to assist in sundry sacrifices, and put his forces in charge of Minucius, who was not to give battle, nor engage the enemy in any way. Such were not only the commands of Fabius as dictator, but also his reiterated counsels and requests. To all these Minucius gave little heed, and straightway began to threaten the enemy. 2Â One day he noticed that Hannibal had sent the larger part of his army off to forage, whereupon he attacked the residue, drove them headlong inside their trenches, slew many of them, and inspired them all with the fear of being held in siege by him. When Hannibal's Â p145Â forces were reunited in their camp, Minucius effected a safe retreat, thereby filling himself with measureless boastfulness and his soldiery with boldness. 3Â An exaggerated version of the affair speedily made its way to Rome, and Fabius, when he heard it, said he was more afraid of the success of Minucius than he would be of his failure. But the people were exalted in spirit and joyfully ran to a meeting in the forum. There Metilius their tribune mounted the â¢rostra and harangued them, extolling Minucius, but denouncing Fabius, not as a weakling merely, nor yet as a coward, but actually as a traitor. 4Â He also included in his accusations the ablest and foremost men of the state besides. They had brought on the war at the outset, he said, in order to crush the people, and had at once flung the city into the hands of a man with sole and absolute authority, that he might, by his dilatory work, give Hannibal an assured position and time to reinforce himself with another army from Libya, on the plea that he had Italy in his power.

 9 1Â Then Fabius came forward to speak, but wasted no time on a defence of himself against the tribune. He simply said that the sacrifices and sacred rites must be performed as quickly as possible, so that he might proceed to the army and punish Minucius for engaging the enemy contrary to his orders. Thereupon a great commotion spread swiftly through the people; they realized the peril that threatened Minucius. For the dictator has the power to imprison and put to death without trial, and they thought that the wrath of Fabius, provoked in a man of his great gentleness, would be severe Â p147Â and implacable. 2Â Wherefore they were all terrified and held their peace, excepting only Metilius. He enjoyed immunity of person as tribune of the people (for this is the only magistracy which is not robbed of its power by the election of a dictator; it abides when the rest are abolished),​13 and vehemently charged and prayed the people not to abandon Minucius, nor permit him to suffer the fate which Manlius Torquatus inflicted upon his son, whom he beheaded although crowned with laurel for the greatest prowess,​14 but to strip Fabius of his tyrant's power and entrust the state to one who was able and willing to save it.

 3Â The rabble were moved by such utterances. They did not dare to force Fabius to resign his sovereignty, unpopular as he was, but they voted that Minucius should have an equal share in the command, and should conduct the war with the same powers as the dictator, â aÂ thing which had not happened before in Rome. AÂ little while afterwards, it is true, it happened again, namely, after the disaster at Cannae.​15 4Â At that time Marcus Junius the dictator was in the field, and at home it became necessary that the senate should be filled up, since many senators had perished in the battle. They therefore elected Fabius Buteo a second dictator. But he, after acting in that capacity and choosing the men to fill up the senate, at once dismissed his lictors, eluded his escort, plunged into the crowd, and straightway went up and down the forum arranging some business matter of his own and engaging in affairs like a private citizen.

 Â p149Â 10 1Â Now that they had invested Minucius with the same powers as the dictator, the people supposed that the latter would feel shorn of strength and altogether humble, but they did not estimate the man aright. For he did not regard their mistake as his own calamity, but was like Diogenes the wise man, who, when some one said to him, "These folk are ridiculing you," said, "But IÂ am not ridiculed." He held that only those are ridiculed who are confounded by such treatment and yield their ground. 2Â So Fabius endured the situation calmly and easily, so far as it affected himself, thereby confirming the axiom of philosophy that a sincerely good man can neither be insulted nor dishonoured. But because it affected the state, he was distressed by the folly of the multitude. 3Â They had given opportunities to a man with a diseased military ambition, and fearful lest this man, utterly crazed by his empty glory and prestige, should bring about some great disaster before he could be checked, he set out in all secrecy from the city. When he reached the camp, he found that Minucius was no longer to be endured. He was harsh in his manner, puffed up with conceit, and demanded the sole command in his due turn. This Fabius would not grant, feeling that the sole command of a part of the army was better than the command of the whole in his turn. 4Â The first and fourth legions he therefore took himself, and gave the second and third to Minucius, the allied forces also being equally divided between them. When Minucius put on lofty airs and exulted because the majesty of the highest and greatest office in the state had been lowered and insulted on his account, Fabius reminded him that his contention was not Â p151Â with Fabius, but rather, were he wise, with Hannibal. 5Â If, however, he was bent on rivalry with his colleague in office, he must see to it that the man who had been triumphantly honoured by his fellow-citizens should not be proved more careless of their salvation and safety than the man who had been ingloriously outraged by them.

 11 1Â But Minucius regarded all this as an old man's dissimulation, and taking the forces allotted to him, went into camp apart by himself,​16 while Hannibal, not unaware of what was going on, kept a watchful eye on everything. Now there was a hill between him and the Romans which could be occupied with no difficulty, and which, if occupied, would be a strong site for a camp and in every way sufficient. The plain round about, when viewed from a distance, was perfectly smooth and level, but really had sundry small ditches and other hollow places in it. 2Â For this reason, though it would have been very easy for him to get possession of the hill by stealth, Hannibal had not cared to do so, but had left it standing between the two armies in the hope that it might bring on a battle. But when he saw Minucius separated from Fabius, in the night he scattered bodies of his soldiers among the ditches and hollows,​17 and at break of day, with no attempt at concealment, sent aÂ few to occupy the hill, that he might seduce Minucius into an engagement for it.

 3Â And this actually came to pass. First Minucius sent out his light-armed troops, then his horsemen, Â p153Â and finally, when he saw Hannibal coming to the support of his troops on the hill, he descended into the plain with all his forces in battle array. In a fierce battle he sustained the discharge of missiles from the hill, coming to close quarters with the enemy there and holding his advantage, until Hannibal, seeing that his enemy was happily deceived and was exposing the rear of his line of battle to the troops who had been placed in ambush, raised the signal. 4Â At this the men rose up on all sides, attacked with loud cries, and slew their foes who were in the rear ranks. Then indescribable confusion and fright took possession of the Romans. Minucius himself felt all his courage shattered, and looked anxiously now to one and now to another of his commanders, no one of whom dared to hold his ground, nay, all urged their men to flight, and a fatal flight too. For the Numidians, now masters of the situation, galloped round the plain and slew them as they scattered themselves about.

 12 1Â Now that the Romans were in such an evil pass, Fabius was not unaware of their peril. He had anticipated the result, as it would seem, and had his forces drawn up under arms, wisely learning the progress of events not from messengers, but by his own observations in front of his camp. Accordingly, when he saw the army of Minucius surrounded and confounded, and when their cries, as they fell upon his ears, showed him that they no longer stood their ground, 2Â but were already panic-stricken and routed, he smote his thigh, and with a deep groan said to the bystanders: "Hercules! how much sooner than IÂ expected, but later than his own rash eagerness demanded, has Minucius destroyed himself!" Then Â p155Â ordering the standards to be swiftly advanced and the army to follow, he called out with a loud voice: "Now, my soldiers, let every man be mindful of Marcus Minucius and press on to his aid; for he is a brilliant man, and a lover of his country. And if his ardent desire to drive away the enemy has led him into any error, we will charge him with it later."

 3Â Well then, as soon as he appeared upon the scene, he routed and dispersed the Numidians who were galloping about in the plain. Then he made against those who were attacking the rear of the Romans under Minucius, and slew those whom he encountered. But the rest of them, ere they were cut off and surrounded in their own turn, as the Romans had been by them, gave way and fled. 4Â Then Hannibal, seeing the turn affairs had taken, and Fabius, with a vigour beyond his years, ploughing his way through the combatants up to Minucius on the hill, put an end to the battle, signalled a retreat, and led his Carthaginians back to their camp, the Romans also being glad of a respite. It is said that as Hannibal withdrew, he addressed to his friends some such pleasantry as this about Fabius: "Verily, didÂ I not often prophesy to you that the cloud which we saw hovering above the heights would one day burst upon us in a drenching and furious storm?"

 13 1Â After the battle, Fabius despoiled all of the enemy whom he had slain, and withdrew to his camp, without indulging in a single haughty or invidious word about his colleague. And Minucius, assembling his own army, said to them: " Fellow-soldiers , to avoid all mistakes in the conduct of great enterprises Â p157Â is beyond man's powers; but when a mistake has once been made, to use his reverses as lessons for the future is the part of a brave and sensible man. 2Â IÂ therefore confess that while IÂ have some slight cause of complaint against fortune, IÂ have larger grounds for praising her. For what IÂ could not learn in all the time that preceded it, IÂ have been taught in the brief space of a single day, and IÂ now perceive that IÂ am not able to command others myself, but need to be under the command of another, and that IÂ have all the while been ambitious to prevail over men of whom to be outdone were better. Now in all other matters the dictator is your leader, but in the rendering of thanks to him IÂ myself will take the lead, and will show myself first in following his advice and doing his bidding."

 3Â After these words, he ordered the eagles to be raised and all to follow them, and led the way to the camp of Fabius. When he had entered this, he proceeded to the general's tent, while all were lost in wonder. When Fabius came forth, Minucius had the standards planted in front of him, and addressed him with a loud voice as Father, while his soldiers greeted the soldiers of Fabius as Patrons, the name by which freedmen address those who have set them free. 4Â When quiet prevailed, Minucius said; "Dictator, you have on this day won two victories, one over Hannibal through your valour, and one over your colleague through your wisdom and kindness. By the first you saved our lives, and by the second you taught us a great lesson, vanquished as we were by our enemy to our shame, and by you to our honour and safety. 5Â IÂ call you by the Â p159Â excellent name of Father, because there is no more honourable name which IÂ can use; and yet a father's kindness is not so great as this kindness bestowed by you. My father did but beget me, while to you IÂ owe not only my own salvation, but also that of all these men of mine." So saying, he embraced Fabius and kissed him, and the soldiers on both sides in like manner embraced and kissed each other, so that the camp was filled with joy and tears of rejoicing.

 14 1Â After this, Fabius laid down his office, and consuls were again appointed. The first of these maintained the style of warfare which Fabius had ordained. They avoided a pitched battle with Hannibal, but gave aid and succour to their allies, and prevented their falling away. But when Terentius Varro was elevated to the consul ­ship, a man whose birth was obscure and whose life was conspicuous for servile flattery of the people and for rashness, it was clear that in his inexperience and temerity he would stake the entire issue upon the hazard of a single throw. 2Â For he used to shout in the assemblies that the war would continue as long as the city employed men like Fabius as its generals; but that he himself would conquer the enemy the very day he saw them. And not only did he make such speeches, but he also assembled and enrolled a larger force than the Romans had ever employed against any enemy. Eighty-eight thousand men were arrayed for battle, to the great terror of Fabius and all sensible Romans. For they thought their city could not recover if she lost so many men in the prime of life.

 Â p161Â 3Â Now, Paulus Aemilius was the colleague of Terentius, a man of experience in many wars, but not acceptable to the people, and crushed in spirit by a fine which they had imposed upon him. Therefore Fabius tried to rouse and encourage him to restrain the madness of his colleague, showing him that he must struggle to save his country not so much from Hannibal as from Terentius. The latter, he said, was eager to fight because he did not see where his strength lay; the former, because he saw his own weakness. 4Â "But," said he, "it is to me, OÂ Paulus, that more credence should be given in regard to Hannibal's affairs, and IÂ solemnly assure you that, if no one shall give him battle this year, the man will remain in Italy only to perish, or will leave it in flight, since even now, when he is thought to be victorious and to be master of the country, not one of his enemies has come over to his side, and not even so much as the third part of the force which he brought from home is still left." 5Â To this Paulus is said to have answered: "If IÂ consult my own interests, OÂ Fabius, it is better for me to encounter the spears of the enemy than to face again the votes of my fellow-citizens . But if the state is in such a pass, IÂ will try to be a good general in your opinion, rather than in that of all the rest who so forcibly oppose you." With this determination, Paulus went forth to the war.

 15 1Â But Terentius, insisting on his right to command aÂ day in turn, and then encamping over against Hannibal by the river Aufidus and the town called Cannae, at break of day put out the signal for battle, â aÂ scarlet tunic displayed above the general's tent. At this even the Carthaginians were confounded Â p163Â at first, seeing the boldness of the Roman general and the number of his army, which was more than double their own. 2Â But Hannibal ordered his forces to arm for battle, while he himself, with aÂ few companions, rode to the top of a gently sloping ridge, from which he watched his enemies as they formed in battle array. When one of his companions, named Gisco, a man of his own rank, remarked that the number of the enemy amazed him, Hannibal put on a serious look and said: "Gisco, another thing has escaped your notice which is more amazing still." And when Gisco asked what it was, "It is the fact," said he, "that in all this multitude there is no one who is called Gisco." 3Â The jest took them all by surprise and set them laughing, and as they made their way down from the ridge, they reported the pleasantry to all who met them, so that great numbers were laughing heartily, and Hannibal's escort could not even recover themselves. The sight of this infused courage into the Carthaginians. They reasoned that their general must have a mighty contempt for the enemy if he laughed and jested so in the presence of danger.

 16 1Â In the battle Hannibal practiced a double strategy. In the first place, he took advantage of the ground to put the wind at his back. This wind came down like a fiery hurricane, and raised a huge cloud of dust from the exposed and sandy plains and drove it over the Carthaginian lines hard into the faces of the Romans, who turned away Â p165Â to avoid it, and so fell into confusion. 2Â In the second place, he formed his troops as follows: the sturdiest and most warlike part of his force he stationed on either side of the centre, and manned the centre itself with his poorest soldiers, intending to use this as a wedge jutting out far in advance of the rest of his line. But orders were given to the picked troops, when the Romans should have cut the troops in the centre to pieces, pursued them hotly as they retreated and formed a deep hollow, and so go within their enemy's line of battle, â then to turn sharply from either side, smite them on the flanks, and envelop them by closing in upon their rear. 3Â And it was this which seems to have produced the greatest slaughter. For the centre gave way and was followed by the Romans in pursuit, Hannibal's line of battle thus changing its shape into that of a crescent; and the commanders of the picked troops on his wings wheeled them swiftly to left and right and fell upon the exposed sides of their enemy, all of whom, except those who retired before they were surrounded, were then overwhelmed and destroyed.

 4Â It is said, further, that a strange calamity befell the Roman cavalry also. The horse of Paulus, as it appears, was wounded and threw its rider off, and one after another of his attendants dismounted and sought to defend the consul on foot. When the horsemen saw this, supposing that a general order had been given, they all dismounted and engaged the enemy on foot. On seeing this, Hannibal said: "This is more to my wish than if they had been handed over to me in fetters."​18 5Â But such particulars as these may be found in the detailed histories of the war.

 Â p167Â As for the consuls, Varro galloped off with aÂ few followers to the city of Venusia, but Paulus, caught in the deep surges of that panic flight and covered with many missiles which hung in his wounds, weighed down in body and spirit by so vast a misfortune, sat down, leaning against a stone, and waiting for an enemy to dispatch him. 6Â His head and face were so profusely smeared with blood that few could recognize him; even his friends and retainers passed him by without knowing him. Only Cornelius Lentulus, a young man of the patrician order, saw who he was, and leaping from his horse, led him to Paulus and besought the consul to take him and save himself for the sake of his fellow-citizens , who now more than ever needed a brave commander. 7Â But Paulus rejected this prayer, and forced the youth, all tears, to mount his horse again, and then rose up and clasped his hand and said: "Lentulus, tell Fabius Maximus, and be thyself a witness to what thou tellest, that Paulus Aemilius was true to his precepts up to the end, and broke not one of the agreements made with him, but was vanquished first by Varro, and then by Hannibal." 8Â With such injunctions, he sent Lentulus away, then threw himself into the midst of the slaughter and perished. And it is said that fifty thousand Romans fell in that battle, that four thousand were taken alive, and that after the battle there were captured in both consular camps no less than ten thousand.

 Â p169Â 17 1Â In view of such a complete success, Hannibal's friends urged him to follow up his good fortune and dash into their city on the heels of the flying enemy, assuring him in that case that on the fifth day after his victory he would sup on the Capitol. It is not easy to say what consideration turned him from this course, nay, it would rather seem that his evil genius, or some divinity, interposed to inspire him with the hesitation and timidity which he now showed. Wherefore, as they say, Barca, the Carthaginian, said to him angrily: "Thou canst win a victory, but thy victory thou canst not use."​19 2Â And yet his victory wrought a great change in his circumstances. Before the battle, he had not a city, not a trading-place , not a sea-port in Italy, and could with difficulty barely supply his army with provisions for foraging, since he had no secure base of supplies for the war, but wandered hither and thither with his army as if it were a great horde of robbers. After the battle, however, he brought almost all Italy under his sway. 3Â Most of its peoples, and the largest of them too, came over to him of their own accord, and Capua, which is the most considerable city after Rome, attached herself firmly to his cause.

 Not only, then, does it work great mischief, as Euripides says, to put friends to the test, but also prudent generals. For that which was called cowardice and sluggishness in Fabius before the battle, immediately after the battle was thought to be no mere human calculation, nay, rather, a divine and marvellous intelligence, since it looked so far into the future and foretold a disaster which could Â p171Â hardly be believed by those who experienced it. 4Â In him, therefore, Rome at once placed her last hopes; to his wisdom she fled for refuge as to the temple and altar, believing that it was first and chiefly due to his prudence that she still remained a city, and was not utterly broken up, as in the troublous times of the Gallic invasion. 5Â For he who, in times of apparent security, appeared cautious and irresolute, then, when all were plunged in boundless grief and helpless confusion, was the only man to walk the city with calm step, composed countenance, and gracious address, checking effeminate lamentation, and preventing those from assembling together who were eager to make public their common complaints. He persuaded the senate to convene, heartened up the magistrates, and was himself the strength and power of every magistracy, since all looked to him for guidance.

 18 1Â Accordingly, he put guards at the gates, in order to keep the frightened throng from abandoning the city, and set limits of time and place to the mourning for the dead, ordering any who wished to indulge in lamentation, to do so at home for a period of thirty days; after that, all mourning must cease and the city be purified of such rites. 2Â And since the festival of Ceres fell within these days, it was deemed better to remit entirely the sacrifices and the procession, rather than to emphasize the magnitude of their calamity by the small number and dejection of the participants. For the gods' delight is in honours paid them by the fortunate. 3Â However, all the rites which the augurs advocated for the propitiation of the gods, or to avert inauspicious omens, were duly performed. And besides, Pictor, a kinsman of Fabius, was sent to Â p173Â consult the oracle at Delphi; and when two of the vestal virgins were found to have been corrupted, one of them was buried alive, according to the custom,​20 and the other slew herself.

 4Â But most of all was the gentle dignity of the city to be admired in this, that when Varro, the consul, came back from his flight, as one would come back from a most ill-starred and disgraceful experience, in humility and dejection, the senate and the whole people met him at the gates with a welcome. 5Â The magistrates and the chief men of the senate, of whom Fabius was one, praised him, as soon as quiet was restored, because he had not despaired of the city after so great a misfortune, but was at hand to assume the reins of government, and to employ the laws and his fellow-citizens in accomplishing the salvation which lay within their power.

 19 1Â When they learned that Hannibal, after the battle, had turned aside into other parts of Italy, they plucked up courage and sent out commanders with armies. The most illustrious of these were Fabius Maximus and Claudius Marcellus, men who were similarly admired for directly opposite characters. 2Â The latter, as has been stated in his Life,​21 was a man of splendid and impetuous actions, with an arm of ready vigour, and by nature like the men whom Homer is wont to call "fond of battle, and "eager for the fray." He therefore conducted his first engagements in the venturesome and reckless style of warfare which met the daring of such a man as Hannibal with an equal daring. 3Â Fabius, on the contrary, clung to his first and famous convictions, and looked to see Hannibal, if only no one Â p175Â fought with him or harassed him, become his own worst enemy, wear himself out in the war, and speedily lose his high efficiency, like an athlete whose bodily powers have been overtaxed and exhausted. It was for these reasons, as Poseidonius says, that the Romans called Fabius their buckler, and Marcellus their sword, and that the mingling of the firm steadfastness of the one with the versatility of the other proved the salvation of Rome. 4Â By his frequent encounters with Marcellus, whose course was like that of a swiftly-flowing river, Hannibal saw his forces shaken and swept away; while by Fabius, whose course was slow, noiseless, and unceasing in its stealthy hostility, they were imperceptibly worn away and consumed. And finally he was brought to such a pass that he was worn out with fighting Marcellus, and afraid of Fabius when not fighting.

 5Â For it was with these two men that he fought almost all the time, as they held the offices of praetor, pro-consul , or consul; and each of them was consul five times. However, when Marcellus was serving as consul for the fifth time, Hannibal led him into an ambush and slew him;​22 but he had no success against Fabius, although he frequently brought all sorts of deceit ­ful tests to bear upon him. Once, it is true, he did deceive the man, and came near giving him a disastrous overthrow. 6Â He composed and sent to Fabius letters purporting to come from the chief men of Metapontum, assuring him that their city would be surrendered to him if he should come there, and that those who were contriving the surrender only waited for him to come and show Â p177Â himself in the neighbourhood. These letters moved Fabius to action, and he proposed to take a part of his force and set out by night. Then he got unfavourable auspices and was turned from his purpose by them, and in a little while it was discovered that the letters which had come to him were cunning forgeries by Hannibal, who had laid an ambush for him near the city. The escape, however, may be laid to the favour of the gods.

 20 1Â Fabius thought that the revolts of the cities and the agitations of the allies ought to be restrained and discountenanced rather by mild and gentle measures, without testing every suspicion and showing harshness in every case to be suspected. It is said, for instance, that when he learned about a Marsian soldier, eminent among the allies for valour and high birth, who had been talking with some of the soldiers in the camp about deserting to the enemy, he was not incensed with him, but admitted frankly that he had been unduly neglected; 2Â so far, he said, this was the fault of the commanders, who distributed their honours by favour rather than for valour, but in the future it would be the man's own fault if he did not come to him and tell him when he wanted anything. These words were followed by the gift of a warhorse and by other signal rewards for bravery, and from that time on there was no more faithful and zealous man in the service. 3Â Fabius thought it hard that, whereas the trainers of horses and dogs relied upon care and intimacy and feeding rather than on goads and heavy collars for the removal of the animal's obstinacy, anger, and discontent, the commander of men should not base the most of his discipline on kindness and gentleness, but Â p179Â show more harshness and violence in his treatment of them than farmers in their treatment of wild fig-trees, wild pear-trees, and wild olive-trees , which they reclaim and domesticate till they bear luscious olives, pears, and figs.

 4Â Accordingly, when another soldier, a Lucanian, was reported by his officers as frequently quitting his post and roaming away from the camp, Fabius asked them what kind of a man they knew him to be in other respects. All testified that such another soldier could not easily be found, and rehearsed sundry exploits of his wherein he had shown conspicuous bravery. Fabius therefore inquired into the cause of the man's irregularity, and discovered that he was deeply in love with a maid, and risked his life in long journeys from the camp every time he visited her. 5Â Accordingly, without the man's knowledge, Fabius sent and arrested the girl and hid her in his own tent. Then he called the Lucanian to him privately and said: "It is well known that, contrary to Roman custom and law, you often pass the night away from camp; but it is also well known that you have done good service in the past. Your transgressions shall therefore be atoned for by your deeds of valour, but for the future IÂ shall put another person in charge over you." 6Â Then, to the soldier's amazement, he led the girl forth and put her in his hands, saying: "This person pledges herself that you will hereafter remain in camp with us, and you will now show plainly whether or not you left us for some other and base purpose, making this maid and your love for her a mere pretext." Such is the story which is told about this matter.

 21 1Â The city of Tarentum, which had been lost Â p181Â to the Romans by treachery,​23 Fabius recovered in the following manner.​24 There was a young man of Tarentum in his army, and he had a sister who was very faithfully and affectionately disposed towards him. 2Â With this woman the commander of the forces set by Hannibal to guard the city, a Bruttian, was deeply enamoured, and the circumstance led her brother to hope that he could accomplish something by means of it. He therefore joined his sister in Tarentum, ostensibly as a deserter from the Romans, though he was really sent into the city by Fabius, who was privy to his scheme. Some days passed, accordingly, during which the Bruttian remained at home, since the woman thought that her amour was unknown to her brother. Then her brother had the following words with her: "IÂ would have you know that a story was very current out there in the Roman camp that you have interviews with a man in high authority. Who is this man? For if he is, as they say, a man of repute, and illustrious for his valour, war, that confounder of all things, makes very little account of race. Nothing is disgraceful if it is done under compulsion, nay, we may count it rare good fortune, at a time when right is weak, to find might very gentle with us." 3Â Thereupon the woman sent for her Bruttian and made her brother acquainted with him. The Barbarian's confidence was soon gained, since the brother fostered his passion and plainly induced the sister to be more complacent and submissive to him than before, so that it was not difficult, that man being a lover and a mercenary as well, to change his allegiance, in anticipation of the large gifts which it was promised that he should receive from Fabius.

 Â p183Â 4Â This is the way the story is usually told.​25 But some writers say that the woman by whom the Bruttian was won over, was not a Tarentine, but a Bruttian, and a concubine of Fabius, and that when she learned that the commander of the Bruttian garrison was a fellow-countryman and an acquaintance of hers, she told Fabius, held a conference with the man beneath the walls of the city, and won him completely over.

 22 1Â While this plot was under way, Fabius schemed to draw Hannibal away from the neighbourhood, and therefore gave orders to the garrison at Rhegium to overrun Bruttium and take Caulonia by storm. This garrison numbered eight thousand, most of them deserters, and the refuse of the soldiers sent home from Sicily in disgrace by Marcellus, men whose loss would least afflict and injure Rome. 2Â Fabius expected that by casting these forces, like a bait, in front of Hannibal, he would draw him away from Tarentum. And this was what actually happened. For Hannibal immediately swept thither in pursuit with his army. But five days after Fabius had laid siege to Tarentum, the youth who, with his sister, had come to an understanding with the Bruttian commander in the city, came to him by night. He had seen and knew precisely the spot at which the Bruttian was watching with the purpose of handing the city over to its assailants. Fabius, however, would not suffer his enterprise to depend wholly upon the betrayal of the city. 3Â While, therefore, he himself led a detachment quietly to the appointed spot, the rest of his army attacked the walls by land and sea, with great shouting and Â p185Â tumult, until most of the Tarentines had run to the aid of those who were defending them. Then the Bruttian gave Fabius the signal, and he scaled the walls and got the mastery of the city.

 4Â At this point, however, Fabius seems to have been overcome by his ambition, for he ordered his men to put the Bruttians first of all to the sword, that his possession of the city might not be known to be due to treachery. He not only failed to prevent this knowledge, but incurred also the reproach of perfidy and cruelty. Many of the Tarentines also were slain, thirty thousand of them were sold into slavery, their city was plundered by the Roman army, and three thousand talents were thereby brought into the public treasury. 5Â While everything else was carried off as plunder, it is said that the accountant asked Fabius what his orders were concerning the gods, for so he called the pictures and statues; and that Fabius answered: "Let us leave their angered gods for the Tarentines." 6Â However, he removed the colossal statue of Heracles from Tarentum, and set it up on the Capitol, and near it an equestrian statue of himself, in bronze. He thus appeared far more eccentric in these matters than Marcellus, nay rather, the mild and humane conduct of Marcellus was thus made to seem altogether admirable by contrast, as has been written in his Life.26

 23 1Â It is said that Hannibal had got within â¢five miles of Tarentum when it fell, and that openly Â p187Â he merely remarked: "It appears, then, that the Romans have another Hannibal, for we have lost Tarentum even as we look at it"; but that in private he was then for the first time led to confess to his friends that he had long seen the difficulty, and now saw the impossibility of their mastering Italy with their present forces. 2Â For this success, Fabius celebrated a second triumph more splendid than his first, since he was contending with Hannibal like a clever athlete, and easily baffling all his undertakings, now that his hugs and grips no longer had their old time vigour. For his forces were partly enervated by luxury and wealth,​27 and partly blunted, as it were, and worn out by their unremitting struggles.

 3Â Now there was a certain Marcus Livius, who commanded the garrison of Tarentum when Hannibal got the city to revolt. He occupied the citadel, however, and was not dislodged from this position, but held it until the Romans again got the upper hand of the Tarentines. This man was vexed by the honours paid to Fabius, and once, carried away by his jealousy and ambition, said to the senate that it was not Fabius, but himself, who should be credited with the capture of Tarentum. At this Fabius laughed, and said: "You are right; had you not lost the city, IÂ had not taken it."

 24 1Â Among the other marks of high favour which the Romans conferred upon Fabius, they made his son Fabius consul.​28 When this son had entered upon the office and was arranging some matter pertaining to the war, his father, either by reason of his age and weakness, or because he was Â p189Â putting his son to the test, mounted his horse and rode towards him through the throng of bystanders. The young man caught sight of his father at a distance and would not suffer what he did, but sent a lictor with orders for him to dismount and come to the consul on foot if he had any need of his offices. 2Â All the rest were offended at this command, and implied by their silent gaze at Fabius that this treatment of him was unworthy of his high position. But Fabius himself sprang quickly from his horse, almost ran to his son, and embraced him affectionately. "My son," he said, "you are right in thought and act. You understand what a people has made you its officer, and what a high office you have received from them. It was in this spirit that our fathers and we ourselves have exalted Rome, a spirit which makes parents and children ever secondary to our country's good."29

 3Â And of a truth it is reported of the great-grandfather of our Fabius, that though he had the greatest reputation and influence in Rome, and though he had himself been consul five times and had celebrated the most splendid triumphs for the greatest wars, he nevertheless, when his son was consul, went forth to war with him as his lieutenant,​30 and in the triumph that followed, while the son entered the city on a four-horse chariot, the father followed on horseback with the rest of the train, exulting in the fact that, though he was master of his son, and was the greatest of the citizens both in name and in fact, he yet put himself beneath the law and its official. However, this was not the only admirable thing about him.

 Â p191Â 4Â But the son of our Fabius, as it happened, died, and this affliction he bore with equanimity, like a wise man and a good father. The funeral oration, which is pronounced at the obsequies of illustrious men by some kinsman, he delivered himself from his place in the forum, and then wrote out the speech and published it.31

 25 1Â But now Cornelius Scipio was sent into Spain, where he not only conquered the Carthaginians in many battles, and drove them out of the country, but also won over a multitude of nations, and took great cities with splendid spoils, so that, on his return to Rome, he enjoyed an incomparable favour and fame, and was made consul.​32 2Â Perceiving that the people demanded and expected a great achievement from him, he regarded the hand to hand struggle with Hannibal there in Italy as very antiquated and senile policy, and purposed to fill Libya at once, and the territory of Carthage itself, with Roman arms and soldiery, and ravage them, and thus to transfer the war from Italy thither. To this policy he urged the people with all his soul. But just at this point Fabius tried to fill the city with all sorts of fear. They were hurrying, he said, under the guidance of a foolhardy young man, into the remotest and greatest peril, 3Â and he spared neither word nor deed which he thought might deter the citizens from this course. He brought the senate over to his views; but the people thought that he attacked Scipio through jealousy of his success, and that he was afraid lest, if Scipio performed some great and glorious exploit and either put an end to the war entirely or removed it out of Italy, his own Â p193Â failure to end the war after all these years would be attributed to sloth and cowardice.

 4Â Now it is likely that Fabius began this opposition out of his great caution and prudence, in fear of the danger, which was great; but that he grew more violent and went to greater lengths in his opposition out of ambition and rivalry, in an attempt to check the rising influence of Scipio. For he even tried to persuade Crassus, Scipio's colleague in the consul ­ship, not to surrender the command of the army and not to yield to Scipio, but to proceed in person against Carthage, if that policy were adopted. He also prevented the granting of moneys for the war. 5Â As for moneys, since he was obliged to provide them for himself, Scipio collected them on his private account from the cities of Etruria, which were devotedly attached to him; and as for Crassus, it was partly his nature, which was not contentious, but gentle, that kept him at home, and partly also a religious custom, for he was pontifex maximus, or High Priest.

 26 1Â Accordingly, Fabius took another way to oppose Scipio, and tried to hinder and restrain the young men who were eager to serve under him, crying out in sessions of the senate and the assembly that it was not Scipio himself only who was running away from Hannibal, but that he was sailing off from Italy with her reserve forces, playing upon the hopes of her young men, and persuading them to abandon their parents, their wives, and their city, although the enemy still sat at her gates, master ­ful and undefeated. And verily he frightened the Romans with these speeches, 2Â and they decreed that Scipio should employ only the forces which were then in Sicily, and take with him only three hundred of the Â p195Â men who had been with him in Spain, â men who had served him faithfully. In this course, at any rate, Fabius seems to have been influenced by his own cautious temper.

 But as soon as Scipio had crossed into Africa, tidings were brought​33 to Rome of wonder ­ful achievements and of exploits transcendent in magnitude and splendour. These reports were confirmed by abundant spoils which followed them; the king of Numidia was taken captive; 3Â two of the enemy's camps were at once destroyed by fire, and in them a great number of men, arms, and horses; embassies were sent from Carthage to Hannibal urgently calling upon him to give up his fruitless hopes in Italy and come to the aid of his native city;​34 4Â and when every tongue in Rome was dwelling on the theme of Scipio's successes, then Fabius demanded that a successor should be sent out to replace him. He gave no other reason, but urged the well remembered maxim that it was dangerous to entrust such vast interests to the fortune of a single man, since it was difficult for the same man to have good fortune always. By this course he gave offence now to many, who thought him a captious and malicious man, or one whose old age had robbed him utterly of courage and confidence, so that he was immoderately in awe of Hannibal. 5Â For not even after Hannibal and his army had sailed away from Italy​35 would he suffer the rejoicing and fresh courage of the citizens to be undisturbed and assured, but then even more than ever he insisted that the city was running into the extremest peril and that her affairs were in a dangerous plight. Â p197Â For Hannibal, he said, would fall upon them with all the greater effect in Africa at the gates of Carthage, and Scipio would be confronted with an army yet warm with the blood of many imperators, dictators, and consuls. Consequently, the city was once more confounded by these speeches, and although the war had been removed to Africa, they thought its terrors were nearer Rome.

 27 1Â But shortly afterward Scipio utterly defeated Hannibal himself in battle, humbled and trod under foot the pride of fallen Carthage, restored to his fellow-citizens a joy that surpassed all their hopes, and in very truth "righted once more" the ship of their supremacy, which had been "shaken in a heavy surge." Fabius Maximus, however, did not live to see the end of the war, nor did he even hear of Hannibal's defeat, nor behold the great and assured prosperity of the country, but at about the time when Hannibal set sail from Italy, he fell sick and died.​36 2Â Epaminondas, it is true, was buried by the Thebans at the public cost, because of the poverty in which he died, for it is said that nothing was found in his house after his death except a piece of iron money. Fabius, however, was not buried by the Romans at the public charge, but each private citizen contributed the smallest coin in his possession, not because his poverty called for their aid, but because the people felt that it was burying a father, whose death thus received honour and regard befitting his life.

 The Editor's Notes:

 1 Cf.Â Cicero, Cato Maior, 4.

 â¦

 2 233Â B.C.

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 3 218Â B.C.

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 4 Mauors telum suum concutit (Livy,Â XXII .1).

 â¦

 5 Tarsimene , Polybius,Â III .82; Trasimenus , Livy,Â XXII .4.

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 6 Cf.Â chapterÂ ii.2.

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 7 In the absence of a consul, who alone could appoint a dictator, the people made Fabius pro-dictator (Livy,Â XXII .8).

 â¦

 8 Each consul was allowed twelve.

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 9 Ver sacrum (LivyÂ XXII .10).

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 10 One thousand, according to Polybius,Â iii.94.

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 11 Cf.Â Pericles, xxxiii.2.

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 12 Cf.Â chapterÂ vii.2.

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 13 See Polybius,Â iii.87.

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 14 The son had disobeyed consular orders and engaged in single combat with a Latin, in the great battle at the foot of Vesuvius, 340Â B.C.

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 15 Cf.Â chapterÂ xvi.

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 16 â¢AÂ mile and aÂ half from Fabius, according to Polybius,Â iii.103.

 â¦

 17 Five thousand horsemen and footmen, according to Livy,Â XXII .28; five thousand light-armed and other infantry, and five hundred cavalry, according to Polybius,Â iii.104.

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 18 Quam mallem vinctos mihi traderet. Livy,Â XXII .49.

 â¦

 19 Tum Maharbal: "Non omnia nimirum eidem diÂ dedere: vincere scis, Hannibal, victoria uti nescis." Livy,Â XXII .51.

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 20 Cf.Â Numa, x.4Â ff.

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 21 ChapterÂ i.

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 22 In Lucania, 208Â B.C. Cf.Â the Marcellus, xxix.

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 23 212Â B.C.

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 24 209Â B.C.

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 25 So, substantially, by Livy,Â XXVII .15.

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 26 ChapterÂ xxi. Marcellus had enriched Rome with works of Greek art taken from Syracuse in 212Â B.C. Livy's opinion is rather different from Plutarch's: sed maiore animo generis eius praeda abstinuit Fabius quam Marcellus , XXVII .16. Fabius killed the people but spared their gods; Marcellus spared the people but took their gods.

 â¦

 27 InÂ 216â215Â B.C. Hannibal made the opulent city of Capua his winter quarters.

 â¦

 28 213Â B.C.

 â¦

 29 " Experiri volui, fili, satin scires consulem te esse. " Livy,Â XXIV .44.

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 30 294Â B.C.

 â¦

 31 Cf.Â chapterÂ 1.5.

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 32 205Â B.C.

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 33 204Â B.C.

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 34 Cf.Â Livy,Â XXX .19.

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 35 203Â B.C.

 â¦

 36 203Â B.C. Cf.Â Livy,Â XXX .26.

 Thayer's Note:

 a Lago Trasimeno, 20Â km of Perugia, in what is now Umbria; but in classical times it was in Etruria (Tuscia). The site of the battle was in the comune of Tuoro (q.v., and the further links there, which include a very good site on the battle).

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Â p119Â The Life of Fabius Maximus
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					</div><div>
<p><b>Quintus Fabius Ambustus</b> (flourished early 4th century BC) was a military leader of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic">Roman Republic</a>, and the son of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Fabius_Ambustus_(pontifex_maximus_390_BC)">Marcus Fabius Ambustus</a>. In 390 BC, when his father was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontifex_maximus">pontifex maximus</a>, he and his two brothers, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerius_Fabius_Ambustus">Numerius</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caeso_Fabius_Ambustus">Caeso</a>, were sent as emissaries to a Gaulish army besieging <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clusium">Clusium</a>. Instead of entering into negotiations, however, the three Fabii gathered their forces and aided the citizens of Clusium in an attack against the Gauls, in which Quintus Fabius himself was said to have killed one of the Gaulish leaders.<sup><a href="#cite_note-DGRBM-1"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Outraged, the Gauls demanded that the senate hand over the three brothers for violating "the law of nations". Instead, all three were honored by election as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consular_tribune">consular tribunes</a>. Further incensed, the Gauls marched on Rome, defeated the Roman Army in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Allia">Battle of the Allia</a>, and sacked the city. In 389 BC he was supposed to have been prosecuted for his actions at Clusium, but died before the trial could take place.<sup><a href="#cite_note-OCD-2"><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Many scholars believe the entire story of the events at Clusium to be fiction, as Clusium had no real reason to appeal to Rome for help, and the Gauls needed no real provocation to sack Rome. The story, it is hypothesized, exists to provide an explanation for an otherwise unmotivated attack on Rome, and to depict Rome as a bulwark of Italy against the Gauls.<sup><a href="#cite_note-OCD-2"><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<p>Quintus Fabius Ambustus was played by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kendall_(actor)">Tony Kendall</a> in the 1963 film <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennus,_Enemy_of_Rome">Brennus, Enemy of Rome</a></i>.
</p>

<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambustus_(disambiguation)">Ambustus</a>, for other men with the same <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognomen">cognomen</a></i></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabius_Ambustus">Fabius Ambustus</a>, for other men who used the same combination of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gens">gens</a></i> name and <i>cognomen</i></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabia_gens">Fabia gens</a>, for a comprehensive list of <i>gens</i> members</li></ul>

<div><ol>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-DGRBM_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Smith_(lexicographer)">Smith, William</a> (1867). <a href="http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0150.html">"Ambustus (5)"</a>. In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Smith_(lexicographer)">William Smith</a> (ed.). <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_Greek_and_Roman_Biography_and_Mythology">Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology</a></i>. Vol. 1. Boston: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little,_Brown_and_Company">Little, Brown and Company</a>. p. 141.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-OCD_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-OCD_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><cite>Drummond, Andrew (1996), "Fabius Ambustus, Quintus", in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Hornblower">Hornblower, Simon</a>; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antony_Spawforth&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Spawforth, Antony</a> (eds.), <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Classical_Dictionary">Oxford Classical Dictionary</a></i> (3rd ed.), Oxford: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_University_Press">Oxford University Press</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-521693-8"><bdi>0-19-521693-8</bdi></a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45857759">45857759</a></cite><span></span></span>
</li>
</ol></div>
<table>


<tbody><tr>
<th>Political offices
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>Preceded by<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Lucretius_Tricipitinus_Flavus">Lucius Lucretius Tricipitinus Flavus</a>, <br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Furius_Medullinus">Lucius Furius Medullinus</a> VII <br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Servius_Sulpicius_Camerinus&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Servius Sulpicius Camerinus</a>, <br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Agrippa_Furius_Fusus_(consular_tribune_391_BC)&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Agrippa Furius Fusus</a>, <br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lucius_Aemilius_Mamercinus&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus</a>, <br/>and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaius_Aemilius_Mamercinus&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Gaius Aemilius Mamercinus</a> II</p></div>
</td>
<td><b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_Republican_consuls">Roman consular tribune</a> </b><br/>390 BC<br/><i>with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Sulpicius_Longus">Quintus Sulpicius Longus</a>, <br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caeso_Fabius_Ambustus">Caeso Fabius Ambustus</a> IV,<br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Servilius_Fidenas">Quintus Servilius Fidenas</a> IV,<br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerius_Fabius_Ambustus">Numerius Fabius Ambustus</a> II, <br/>and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Publius_Cornelius_Maluginensis&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Publius Cornelius Maluginensis</a> IV</i>
</td>
<td>Succeeded by<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lucius_Valerius_Potitus_Poplicola&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Lucius Valerius Potitus Poplicola</a> II, <br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aulus_Manlius_Capitolinus">Aulus Manlius Capitolinus</a>, <br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Verginius_Tricostus_Esquilinus">Lucius Verginius Tricostus Esquilinus</a>, <br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lucius_Aemilius_Mamercinus&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus</a> II, <br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Publius_Cornelius&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Publius Cornelius</a>, <br/>and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lucius_Postumius_Albinus_Regillensis&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Lucius Postumius Albinus Regillensis</a></p></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>




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      Quintus Fabius Ambustus (tribune)

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            From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

            Quintus Fabius Ambustus (flourished early 4th century BC) was a military leader of the Roman Republic, and the son of Marcus Fabius Ambustus. In 390 BC, when his father was pontifex maximus, he and his two brothers, Numerius and Caeso, were sent as emissaries to a Gaulish army besieging Clusium. Instead of entering into negotiations, however, the three Fabii gathered their forces and aided the citizens of Clusium in an attack against the Gauls, in which Quintus Fabius himself was said to have killed one of the Gaulish leaders. [ 1 ]

            Outraged, the Gauls demanded that the senate hand over the three brothers for violating "the law of nations". Instead, all three were honored by election as consular tribunes. Further incensed, the Gauls marched on Rome, defeated the Roman Army in the Battle of the Allia, and sacked the city. In 389 BC he was supposed to have been prosecuted for his actions at Clusium, but died before the trial could take place. [ 2 ]

            Many scholars believe the entire story of the events at Clusium to be fiction, as Clusium had no real reason to appeal to Rome for help, and the Gauls needed no real provocation to sack Rome. The story, it is hypothesized, exists to provide an explanation for an otherwise unmotivated attack on Rome, and to depict Rome as a bulwark of Italy against the Gauls. [ 2 ]

              In popular culture

              [ edit ]

            Quintus Fabius Ambustus was played by Tony Kendall in the 1963 film Brennus, Enemy of Rome.

              See also

              [ edit ]
              * Ambustus, for other men with the same cognomen
              * Fabius Ambustus, for other men who used the same combination of gens name and cognomen
              * Fabia gens, for a comprehensive list of gens members

              References

              [ edit ]
                 1. ^ Smith, William (1867). "Ambustus (5)". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 141.
                 2. ^ a b Drummond, Andrew (1996), "Fabius Ambustus, Quintus", in Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony (eds.), Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-521693-8, OCLC 45857759
              Political offices                      
              Preceded by                              Roman consular tribune                 Succeeded by                              
                Lucius Lucretius Tricipitinus Flavus,  390 BC                                   Lucius Valerius Potitus Poplicola II,   
                Lucius Furius Medullinus VII           with Quintus Sulpicius Longus,           Aulus Manlius Capitolinus,              
                Servius Sulpicius Camerinus,           Caeso Fabius Ambustus IV,                Lucius Verginius Tricostus Esquilinus,  
                Agrippa Furius Fusus,                  Quintus Servilius Fidenas IV,            Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus II,          
                Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus,            Numerius Fabius Ambustus II,             Publius Cornelius,                      
                and Gaius Aemilius Mamercinus II       and Publius Cornelius Maluginensis IV    and Lucius Postumius Albinus Regillensis
              
              Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quintus_Fabius_Ambustus_(tribune)&oldid=1156148325"
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Quintus Fabius Ambustus (tribune)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Fabius_Ambustus_(tribune)
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
2024-08-09T17:13:29Z
<div><div>


<table><tbody><tr><th><p>Scipio Africanus</p></th></tr><tr><td><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bust_of_Sulla_(loan_from_Ny_Carlsberg_Glyptotek)_-_Glyptothek_-_Munich_-_Germany_2017.jpg"></a></span><p>Bust likely of Scipio Africanus (formerly identified as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulla">Sulla</a>), originally found near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_the_Scipios">his family tomb</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEtcheto2012274–278-1"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup></p></td></tr><tr><th>Born</th><td>236 or 235 BC<br/><div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome">Rome</a></p></div></td></tr><tr><th>Died</th><td><abbr>c.</abbr><span> 183 BC</span><br/><div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liternum">Liternum</a></p></div></td></tr><tr><th>Nationality</th><td>Roman</td></tr><tr><th>Known for</th><td>Defeating <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal">Hannibal</a></td></tr><tr><th>Office</th><td><div>
<ul><li>Proconsul (Spain, 216–210 BC)</li>
<li>Consul (205 BC)</li>
<li>Proconsul (Africa, 204–201 BC)</li>
<li>Censor (199 BC)</li>
<li>Consul (194 BC)</li>
<li>Legate (Asia, 190 BC)</li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th>Spouse</th><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aemilia_Tertia">Aemilia Tertia</a></td></tr><tr><th>Children</th><td>4, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelia_(mother_of_the_Gracchi)">Cornelia</a></td></tr><tr><th>Parent</th><td><div><ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Cornelius_Scipio_(consul_218_BC)">Publius Scipio</a> (father)</li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th>Relatives</th><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cornelius_Scipio_Asiaticus">Scipio Asiaticus</a> (brother)<br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Aemilianus">Scipio Aemilianus</a> (adoptive grandson)<br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Gracchus">Tiberius</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Gracchus">Gaius Gracchus</a> (grandsons)</td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><th>Military service</th></tr><tr><th>Allegiance</th><td>Rome</td></tr><tr><th>Branch/service</th><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_army">Roman army</a></td></tr><tr><th>Battles/wars</th><td><div>
<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War">Second Punic War</a>
<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ticinus">Battle of Ticinus</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Victumulae">Battle of Victumulae</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae">Battle of Cannae</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cartagena_(209_BC)">Battle of Cartagena</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baecula">Battle of Baecula</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ilipa">Battle of Ilipa</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Utica_(204_BC)">Siege of Utica</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Utica_(203_BC)">Battle of Utica</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Great_Plains">Battle of the Great Plains</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zama">Battle of Zama</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman%E2%80%93Seleucid_War">Roman–Seleucid War</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><b>Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus</b> (, , <span>Latin:</span> <span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Latin">[ˈskiːpioː]</a></span>; 236/235–<abbr>c.</abbr><span> 183 BC</span>) was a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Carthage">Carthage</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War">Second Punic War</a>. Often regarded as one of the greatest military commanders and strategists of all time, his greatest military achievement was the defeat of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal">Hannibal</a> at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zama">Battle of Zama</a> in 202 BC. This victory in Africa earned him the honorific epithet <i>Africanus</i>, literally meaning "the African", but meant to be understood as a conqueror of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa_(Roman_province)">Africa</a>.
</p><p>Scipio's conquest of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthaginian_Iberia">Carthaginian Iberia</a> culminated in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ilipa">Battle of Ilipa</a> in 206 BC against Hannibal's brother <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mago_Barca">Mago Barca</a>. Although considered a hero by the Roman people, primarily for his victories against Carthage, Scipio had many opponents, especially <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_the_Elder">Cato the Elder</a>, who hated him deeply. In 187 BC, he was tried in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_trial">show trial</a> alongside his brother for bribes they supposedly received from the Seleucid king <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochus_III_the_Great">Antiochos III</a> during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman%E2%80%93Seleucid_War">Roman–Seleucid War</a>. Disillusioned by the ingratitude of his peers, Scipio left Rome and retired from public life at his villa in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liternum">Liternum</a>.
</p>



<p>Scipio Africanus was born as <b>Publius Cornelius Scipio</b> in 236 BC to his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Cornelius_Scipio_(consul_218_BC)">then-homonymous father</a> and  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomponia#Pomponia,_mother_of_Scipio_Africanus">Pomponia</a> into the family of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelii_Scipiones">Cornelii Scipiones</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200997-2"><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a></sup> His family was one of the major still-extant <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrician_(ancient_Rome)">patrician families</a> and had held multiple consulships within living memory: his great-grandfather <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cornelius_Scipio_Barbatus">Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus</a> and grandfather <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cornelius_Scipio_(consul_259_BC)">Lucius Cornelius Scipio</a> had both been <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_consul">consuls</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_censor">censors</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-3"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a></sup> His father had held the consulship of 218 BC,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200996–97-4"><span>[</span>4<span>]</span></a></sup> his uncle was consul in 222 BC,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200996-5"><span>[</span>5<span>]</span></a></sup> and his mother's brothers – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manius_Pomponius_Matho">Manius Pomponius Matho</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Pomponius_Matho_(consul_231_BC)">Marcus Pomponius Matho</a> – were both consuls in 233 and 231, respectively.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal2009221-6"><span>[</span>6<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<div><h3>Early military service</h3><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_war">Second Punic war</a> started in the spring of 218 BC when the Roman ultimatum to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Carthage">Carthage</a> demanding that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal">Hannibal</a> withdraw from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagunto">Saguntum</a> in Spain was rejected.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198945-7"><span>[</span>7<span>]</span></a></sup> Scipio's father was consul that year<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951237-8"><span>[</span>8<span>]</span></a></sup> and the younger Scipio joined him in the campaign to stop Hannibal's march on Italy. In a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ticinus">short cavalry engagement</a> between Scipio's father and Hannibal at the river Ticinus near modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavia">Pavia</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198949-9"><span>[</span>9<span>]</span></a></sup> Polybius claims that the son saved his father's life after the father was encircled by enemy horsemen.<sup><a href="#cite_note-10"><span>[</span>10<span>]</span></a></sup> Other sources, however, credit an unnamed Ligurian slave.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200353-11"><span>[</span>11<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Two years later, in 216 BC, Scipio served as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_tribune">military tribune</a>. He survived the disastrous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae">Battle of Cannae</a> – his father-in-law, the consul <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Aemilius_Paullus_(consul_219_BC)">Lucius Aemilius Paullus</a>, was there slain<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200353-11"><span>[</span>11<span>]</span></a></sup> – and, after the battle, rallied survivors at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canusium">Canusium</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951251-12"><span>[</span>12<span>]</span></a></sup> According to Livy, when he heard that Lucius Caecilius Metellus and other young nobles were discussing a plan to abandon the republic and go overseas to serve as mercenaries, Scipio stormed into the meeting and forced all of them at sword-point to swear to Jupiter and the Capitoline triad that they would never abandon Rome.<sup><a href="#cite_note-13"><span>[</span>13<span>]</span></a></sup> This story is probably a late invention, as it does not appear in Polybius.<sup><a href="#cite_note-14"><span>[</span>14<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The next year, in 213 BC, he was elected <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curule_aedile">curule aedile</a> and served with his cousin <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Cornelius_Cethegus">Marcus Cornelius Cethegus</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-15"><span>[</span>15<span>]</span></a></sup> His candidacy was opposed by one of the plebeian tribunes on the grounds that he had not yet reached the minimum age, but the voters expressed such enthusiastic support for Scipio that the tribune desisted.<sup><a href="#cite_note-16"><span>[</span>16<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<div><h3>Campaign in Hispania</h3><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iberia_210-206BC-it.png"></a><figcaption>Roman campaigning from 210–206 BC in Hispania</figcaption></figure>
<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hasdrubal_coin.jpg"></a><figcaption>A Carthaginian coin depicting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasdrubal_Barca">Hasdrubal Barca</a> (245–207 BC), one of Hannibal's younger brothers, wearing a <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diadem">diadem</a></i></figcaption></figure>
<p>From the start of the war through to 211 BC, Scipio's father, Publius Cornelius Scipio, and uncle – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Cornelius_Scipio_Calvus">Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus</a> – were in command of Rome's armies in Spain. They made some headway when the Carthaginians were forced to withdraw a considerable portion of their forces to handle a revolt by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphax_of_Numidia">Syphax of Numidia</a>. Through the seven years from 218, the brothers had successfully extended Roman control deep into Carthaginian territory.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198957-17"><span>[</span>17<span>]</span></a></sup> However, disaster struck in 211 BC when the brothers divided their forces to attack three separate Carthaginian armies and were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defeat_in_detail">defeated in detail</a>. The brothers fell in separate battles against the Carthaginians, who were led by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasdrubal_Barca">Hasdrubal Barca</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mago_Barca">Mago Barca</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasdrubal_Gisco">Hasdrubal Gisco</a>; the two Barcas were Hannibal's brothers.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198957–59-18"><span>[</span>18<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Initially, Gaius Claudius Nero – who was praetor in 212 BC – was sent to contain the situation.<sup><a href="#cite_note-19"><span>[</span>19<span>]</span></a></sup> But in 210 BC, the assembly elected Scipio to take command.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951280-20"><span>[</span>20<span>]</span></a></sup> Modern scholars dismiss the Livian narrative of senatorial indecision and have instead suggested that the senate chose Scipio but forced a popular vote to legitimise an irregular command.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200356-21"><span>[</span>21<span>]</span></a></sup> Giving Scipio command was an extraordinary act, as he at this point had never held a praetorship or consulship, but was regardless granted <i>imperium pro consule</i>, taking command on his arrival to Spain in the early autumn.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198959Broughton1951280-22"><span>[</span>22<span>]</span></a></sup> He was the first person to have been given proconsular imperium without having held consular office.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012-23"><span>[</span>23<span>]</span></a></sup> He went to Spain with some 10,000 reinforcements<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200356-21"><span>[</span>21<span>]</span></a></sup> and was joined by another commander, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Junius_Silanus_(praetor_212_BC)">Marcus Junius Silanus</a>, who was dispatched <i>pro praetore</i> and soon assumed command of Nero's army.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951280-20"><span>[</span>20<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Seeking to defeat the three Carthaginian armies in detail,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200356-21"><span>[</span>21<span>]</span></a></sup> the next year, 209 BC, saw Scipio's first major campaign: he besieged <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthago_Nova">Carthago Nova</a> (modern Cartagena), which was a major Carthaginian logistics hub and of substantial strategic importance. In the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carthago_Nova_(209_BC)">battle</a>, he captured the city by sending a wading party across the lagoon to the city's north when it reached low tide, he told the troops that he had a vision in which the god <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_(mythology)">Neptune</a> had promised aid; this alleged vision played a role in the rapid development of a Scipionic legend around him and his family.<sup><a href="#cite_note-24"><span>[</span>24<span>]</span></a></sup> Storming the city rapidly and with little ability to tell combatants and civilians apart, Scipio ordered his men to massacre all they encountered and pillage any structures; Polybius viewed the massacre as intended to terrorise the Spanish population into rapidly surrendering and included an anecdote of Romans being so thorough as to cut even the dogs and other animals in half.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPolyb.10.15.4–5-25"><span>[</span>25<span>]</span></a></sup>  He then forced the surrender of Mago in the citadel and rapidly switched his tune, sparing the remaining citizens and only enslaving the town's non-citizens. He then took the three hundred Spanish hostages into his custody, giving them gifts, guaranteeing their safety and that of their families, and promising them freedom if their respective communities would ally with Rome.<sup><a href="#cite_note-26"><span>[</span>26<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>After the battle, several Spanish tribes defected to the Romans. The next year, 208 BC, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baecula">Scipio fought Hasdrubal</a> north of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalquivir">river Baetis</a>, near Baecula. While Scipio was victorious, the battle was indecisive and Hasdrubal escaped north with most of his army across the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrenees">Pyrenees</a> for Italy;<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198959–60-27"><span>[</span>27<span>]</span></a></sup> Hasdrubal and his army reached Italy in 207, where they were eventually defeated in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Metaurus">Battle of the Metaurus</a> with the army destroyed and Hasdrubal slain.<sup><a href="#cite_note-28"><span>[</span>28<span>]</span></a></sup> The following year, Hasdrubal was replaced by a certain Hanno, who was captured by Junius Silanus in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtiberians">Celtiberia</a>. Following the army under Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, which retreated to Gades (modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A1diz">Cádiz</a>), Scipio's brother took Orongis (modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja%C3%A9n,_Spain">Jaén</a>) before a decisive victory in 206 BC at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ilipa">Battle of Ilipa</a>, north of modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville">Seville</a>, forced the Carthaginians to withdraw from the peninsula.<sup><a href="#cite_note-29"><span>[</span>29<span>]</span></a></sup> In mopping-up operations, Scipio captured Ilourgeia and Castulo, inflicting severe punishment on the former for having killed refugees from his army. Other Roman commanders captured other towns in Spain, including Astapa, whose inhabitants committed mass suicide.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198960-30"><span>[</span>30<span>]</span></a></sup> After a quickly-suppressed revolt by Spanish tribes when false rumours of Scipio's death from illness spread, he crossed into Africa to solicit the support of Syphax and thence into western Hispania to meet Massinissa for the same purpose.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198962-31"><span>[</span>31<span>]</span></a></sup> Syphax pledged loyalty but eventually joined with the Carthaginians; Massinissa, however, joined with the Romans with a small contingent when Syphax expelled him the kingdom of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massylii">Massylii</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963-32"><span>[</span>32<span>]</span></a></sup> Meanwhile, Gades surrendered to the Romans.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198960–61-33"><span>[</span>33<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Some time <abbr>c.</abbr><span> 206 BC</span>, Scipio also founded the town of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italica">Italica</a> (located about 9 km northwest of Seville), which later became the birthplace of the emperors, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan">Trajan</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian">Hadrian</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodosius_I">Theodosius I</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-34"><span>[</span>34<span>]</span></a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-35"><span>[</span>35<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>With a general victory across the peninsula, Scipio then returned to Rome to stand for the consulship of 205 BC, leaving <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cornelius_Lentulus_(consul_199_BC)">Lucius Cornelius Lentulus</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Manlius_Acidinus_(praetor_210_BC)">Lucius Manlius Acidinus</a> in command.<sup><a href="#cite_note-36"><span>[</span>36<span>]</span></a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-37"><span>[</span>37<span>]</span></a></sup> He returned to Rome late in the year; according to Livy he was denied a triumph,<sup><a href="#cite_note-38"><span>[</span>38<span>]</span></a></sup> on the grounds that he was <i>privatus</i> – that is, <i>sine magistratu</i>, – and had never been elected to a magistracy with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperium">imperium</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-39"><span>[</span>39<span>]</span></a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-40"><span>[</span>40<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dc-hannibal-coin.png"></a><figcaption>A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthaginian_currency">Carthaginian coin</a> possibly depicting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal">Hannibal</a> as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules">Hercules</a> (i.e. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracles">Heracles</a>)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Scipio was elected unanimously to the consulship of 205 BC amid much enthusiasm;<sup><a href="#cite_note-41"><span>[</span>41<span>]</span></a></sup> he was 31 and still technically too young to be consul.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200351-42"><span>[</span>42<span>]</span></a></sup> When he entered into office, he demanded that the senate assign him the province of Africa and threatened to take the matter to the popular assemblies if it refused to do so. Despite fierce opposition from the princeps senatus, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus">Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus</a>, the senate bowed to his pressure and he received Sicily with permission to cross into Africa if he wished.<sup><a href="#cite_note-43"><span>[</span>43<span>]</span></a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963Broughton1951301-44"><span>[</span>44<span>]</span></a></sup> Fabius' opposition may have been related to jealousy of Scipio's popularity, but also was likely informed by the failed African campaign <abbr>c.</abbr><span> 255 BC</span> under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Atilius_Regulus_(consul_267_BC)">Marcus Atilius Regulus</a> during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Punic_War">First Punic War</a>, which saw the Carthaginians' war efforts renewed.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200375-45"><span>[</span>45<span>]</span></a></sup> The senate, regardless, assigned Scipio no additional soldiers, leading him to recruit an army of volunteers;<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDrogula2015136-46"><span>[</span>46<span>]</span></a></sup> Livy reports that from his clients and supporters in Italy, he mustered some 30 warships and 7,000 men.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTELivy28.45–46-47"><span>[</span>47<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>He spent most of his consulship preparing his troops in Sicily for the invasion of Africa. He captured <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locri">Locri</a> on the toe of Italy that year, and left one Pleminius in command there.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951301-48"><span>[</span>48<span>]</span></a></sup> After Pleminius assumed command, he robbed the city's temple and tortured and killed two military tribunes.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951304-49"><span>[</span>49<span>]</span></a></sup> For these crimes, the senate had Pleminius placed under arrest; Scipio was also implicated but was cleared the next year.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200376Broughton1951308-50"><span>[</span>50<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<p>His imperium was prorogued into 205 BC and in that year, he crossed with his men into Africa and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Utica_(204_BC)">besieged</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utica,_Tunisia">Utica</a> before withdrawing and pretending in the winter to negotiate with the Carthaginians.<sup><a href="#cite_note-51"><span>[</span>51<span>]</span></a></sup> During those pretended negotiations, Scipio mapped out the enemy camps and launched a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Utica_(203_BC)">night attack</a> that was successful in destroying them and killing a large number of the enemy.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963-32"><span>[</span>32<span>]</span></a></sup> The armies then fought in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Great_Plains">Battle of the Great Plains</a> some time early in the new year (his <i>imperium</i> was prorogued until the war's completion) and after capturing Syphax of Numidia, restored Massinissa to the kingdom.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963Broughton1951312-52"><span>[</span>52<span>]</span></a></sup> The Carthaginians reacted to the defeat by recalling their generals Hannibal and Mago from Italy and launching their fleet against Scipio's to cut off their supply lines. Scipio was forced into a naval battle near Utica, but was able to avert disaster, losing only some sixty transport ships.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963-32"><span>[</span>32<span>]</span></a></sup> Another set of peace negotiations occurred, with the Carthaginians eventually agreeing to abandon all territorial claims in the Mediterranean and beyond, limit her rights to expand in Africa, recognize Massinissa's kingdom, give up all but twenty of her ships, and pay a war indemnity. However, during the negotiations, the Carthaginians – suffering from starvation – attacked a Roman food convoy, leading to protests to be sent and envoys exchanged.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963–64-53"><span>[</span>53<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Amid further attempts to remove him from command – one of the consuls of 203 BC, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Servilius_Caepio_(consul_203_BC)">Gnaeus Servilius Caepio</a>, attempted to substitute himself for Scipio to claim credit for the final blow against Carthage;<sup><a href="#cite_note-54"><span>[</span>54<span>]</span></a></sup> the consuls of 202 BC coveted the African command for the same reason<sup><a href="#cite_note-55"><span>[</span>55<span>]</span></a></sup> – Scipio refused peace terms at a parley with Hannibal in 202 BC. With the support of Masinissa's Numidian cavalry, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zama">Battle of Zama</a> was fought shortly after; the Romans won<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200376-56"><span>[</span>56<span>]</span></a></sup> and Carthage then again sued for peace.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198964Broughton1951317-57"><span>[</span>57<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>In the new year, 201 BC, Scipio remained in Africa to conclude negotiations, which saw Carthage's territory kept to the status quo ante bellum, Carthage restore to the Romans all captured goods and persons, Carthaginian disarmament of all but ten triremes, and Carthage needing to ask for Roman permission to make any war. Massinissa's territory in Numidia was to be confirmed; and a war indemnity of 10,000 talents was to be paid over the next fifty years.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198964–65-58"><span>[</span>58<span>]</span></a></sup> Although the consul of 201 BC, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Cornelius_Lentulus_(consul_201_BC)">Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus</a> attempted to oppose the peace so that he could continue the war in Scipio's place, the peace terms were ratified by the assembly in Rome, bringing the war to a final close.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198965Broughton1951319-59"><span>[</span>59<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<p>On his return, Scipio celebrated a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_triumph">triumph</a> over Hannibal, the Carthaginians, and Syphax. There, he took the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnomen">agnomen</a> <i>Africanus</i> ("the African"), for his victories.<sup><a href="#cite_note-60"><span>[</span>60<span>]</span></a></sup> By this point, Scipio's career reached far beyond his peers even though he was only in his early thirties.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200376-56"><span>[</span>56<span>]</span></a></sup> On his return, he deposited some 123,000 pounds of silver into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerarium">Roman treasury</a> and distributed 400 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_(Roman_coin)">asses</a> each to his soldiers.<sup><a href="#cite_note-61"><span>[</span>61<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>His popularity among the plebs was also astonishing – the Scipionic legend, which in later forms depicted him a son of Jupiter, – and heralded great political success.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012-23"><span>[</span>23<span>]</span></a></sup> This success, however, turned many Roman aristocrats into his enemies, largely to oppose his further aggrandisement or out of jealousy. Even during his consulship, he had been opposed by Fabius Maximus and others, especially after stories circulated of his being saluted as king and god in Spain.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198974,_73Briscoe2012-62"><span>[</span>62<span>]</span></a></sup> His intended role in Roman politics, however, remained traditional.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012-23"><span>[</span>23<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Escipi%C3%B3n_africano.JPG"></a><figcaption><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_portraiture">Bronze bust</a> dated mid-first century BC, formerly identified as Scipio Africanus, now thought to portray a priest of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis">Isis</a></figcaption></figure>
<div><h3>Censorship and second consulship</h3><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<p>In the year 199 BC, Scipio was elected <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_censor">censor</a> with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Aelius_Paetus">Publius Aelius Paetus</a> as his colleague. Their censorship was largely unremarkable, but saw Scipio named as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeps_senatus">princeps senatus</a>, a title which he retained for the next two <i>lustra</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951327Briscoe2012-63"><span>[</span>63<span>]</span></a></sup> After this point, the classicist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hayes_Scullard">Howard Hayes Scullard</a> believed that Scipio's political position entered an eclipse.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEScullard1970191-64"><span>[</span>64<span>]</span></a></sup> This is disputed.<sup><a href="#cite_note-65"><span>[</span>65<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>After the required ten years between consulships had elapsed, Scipio secured election to the consulship of 194 BC. During his second consulship, he wanted to succeed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Quinctius_Flamininus">Titus Quinctius Flamininus</a> in Greece and advocated for a stronger Roman presence in the Aegean to guard against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochus_III_the_Great">Antiochus III</a>, but was unsuccessful.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012-23"><span>[</span>23<span>]</span></a></sup> He instead fought the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boii">Boii</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligurians">Ligurians</a> in northern Italy,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951343-66"><span>[</span>66<span>]</span></a></sup> against whom the Romans had been continuously campaigning since 201 BC.<sup><a href="#cite_note-67"><span>[</span>67<span>]</span></a></sup> Scipio let his co-consul, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Sempronius_Longus_(consul_194_BC)">Tiberius Sempronius Longus</a>, take the leading role in the fighting and returned to Rome to hold the consular elections.<sup><a href="#cite_note-68"><span>[</span>68<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>In 193 BC, Scipio is said to have taken part in two embassies. The first was to Africa, where he was one of three sent to arbitrate a boundary dispute between Carthage and Masinissa: the commission left the matter undecided, possibly on purpose.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012Broughton1951348-69"><span>[</span>69<span>]</span></a></sup> The second embassy is said to have been to Asia and, on the basis of travel time, could not have happened. During the alleged embassy, Scipio is apocryphally said to have discussed the best generals with Hannibal at Ephesus.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012Broughton1951348–349-70"><span>[</span>70<span>]</span></a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-71"><span>[</span>71<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jean-Pierre_Granger_Antiochus.JPG"></a><figcaption>Antiochus sends his son to Scipio. Painting by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Granger">Jean-Pierre Granger</a> (<abbr>c.</abbr><span> 1800</span>).</figcaption></figure>
<p>In 192 BC, Rome declared war on Antiochus,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEErrington1989283-72"><span>[</span>72<span>]</span></a></sup> who – after a cold war with the Romans starting from the close of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Macedonian_War">Second Macedonian War</a> through to 193 BC – had invaded Greece.<sup><a href="#cite_note-73"><span>[</span>73<span>]</span></a></sup> Antiochus' initial push into Greece was met with little enthusiasm by the locals, who were well-treated in a peaceful and largely open interstate system in the aftermath of the Roman proclamation of Greek freedom. It did not help that the cities that he did take had to be taken by force.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEErrington1989283-72"><span>[</span>72<span>]</span></a></sup> The consul of 191 BC, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manius_Acilius_Glabrio_(consul_191_BC)">Manius Acilius Glabrio</a>, arrived in the spring and promptly defeated Antiochus at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae_(191_BC)">Battle of Thermopylae</a> – Antiochus lost the battle and was forced back across the Aegean to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesus">Ephesus</a> within six months of the war's start.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEErrington1989284-74"><span>[</span>74<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The consul of 190 BC was Scipio Africanus' brother, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cornelius_Scipio_Asiaticus">Lucius Cornelius Scipio</a>, who was assigned by the senate to Greece with permission to cross into Asia. He appointed his older brother, Scipio Africanus, as one of his legates.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951356,_358-75"><span>[</span>75<span>]</span></a></sup> While en route, Roman armies and fleets quickly overwhelmed Antiochus' defences, forcing him to retreat from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellespont">Hellespont</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abydos_(Hellespont)">Abydos</a>; by October 190 BC, when the Scipios arrived, the Romans had an army in Asia minor. Antiochus offered terms – a war indemnity to cover half the cost of the war and abandonment of his claims to Smyrna, Lapsacus, Alexandria Troas, and other towns – but the Scipiones rejected the offer based on the Roman war aim of reshaping to their benefit the Aegean balance of power. They responded by demanding Antiochus cede all territory to the Taurus mountains and pay an indemnity covering the entire cost of the war; the demands were so extreme he immediately broke off negotiations. Late in the year, around mid-December, Antiochus' forces <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Magnesia">engaged the Romans at Magnesia</a>; even though they outnumbered the Romans and allies by at least two to one, Antiochus' army of some 60,000 men was routed.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEErrington1989286-76"><span>[</span>76<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Shortly before Magnesia, Antiochus offered Scipio Africanus a bribe to secure favourable peace terms, which Africanus rejected. At the battle itself, he claimed illness, but was selected to present the Roman peace terms regardless.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012-23"><span>[</span>23<span>]</span></a></sup> The credit for the victory accrued to his brother and commander, Lucius. The peace terms presented at Sardis were largely the Roman demands prior to the battle: Antiochus would cede all territory outside the Taurus line (eventually determined to be from Cape Sarpedon in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cilicia">Cilicia</a> through to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6ksu">river Tanais</a>),<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEErrington1989288-77"><span>[</span>77<span>]</span></a></sup>  pay a war indemnity of 15,000 talents to Rome with a separate 400 talents to Eumenes, all exiles and enemies of Rome would be handed over (including Hannibal) along with twenty hostages (including Antiochus' youngest son).<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEErrington1989286–287-78"><span>[</span>78<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<div><h3>Trials of the Scipios</h3><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=12"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<p>The 190s BC saw a re-emergence of attempts by the aristocratic elite to put limits on individual ambitions. The return of the Scipiones to Rome saw claims over Lucius Scipio's triumph disputed: critics thought the Scipiones had been fighting a weak enemy and that the war had actually truly been won a year earlier at Thermopylae. His triumph, however, was approved regardless.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGruen199565-79"><span>[</span>79<span>]</span></a></sup> Lucius' attempt to secure from the senate a prorogation to oversee the settlement of Asia also was rejected; no exception would be made to the general post-Hannibalic war rule against promagistrates.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGruen199569-80"><span>[</span>80<span>]</span></a></sup> Lucius Scipio adopted the cognomen <i>Asiagenes</i><sup><a href="#cite_note-81"><span>[</span>81<span>]</span></a></sup> and at his triumph brought some 137,420 pounds of silver, 224,000 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetradrachm">tetradrachms</a>, 140,000 gold coins, 234 gold crowns, 1231 ivory tusks, and more into the city. His soldiers were granted bonuses of 25 denarii each, with more to officers and cavalry.<sup><a href="#cite_note-82"><span>[</span>82<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>These enormous amounts of plunder triggered moral panic at Rome about the possible diversion of those funds to extravagant private use.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGruen199573-83"><span>[</span>83<span>]</span></a></sup> These troubles related to the broader matter of charting the boundaries of power that magistrates could exercise abroad, especially in relation of monies obtained in war.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGruen199587-84"><span>[</span>84<span>]</span></a></sup> A confusing mess of stories related to the Scipiones' legal troubles are recorded in the ancient sources.<sup><a href="#cite_note-85"><span>[</span>85<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Scipio Asiagenes was in fact indicted. He was not alone, his successor in Asia – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Manlius_Vulso_(consul_189_BC)">Gnaeus Manlius Vulso</a> – also was brought up on charges. Regardless, the trial forced a full accounting of cash paid by Antiochus to Manlius and Asiagenes. After Asiagenes was fined – either by a special court or by tribunician legislation – he refused to pay the fine, claiming poverty, and was only saved from prison when one of the plebeian tribunes, usually identified as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Sempronius_Gracchus_(consul_177_BC)">Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus</a>, interceded.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGruen199575–77,_86-86"><span>[</span>86<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Africanus was around the same time challenged in the senate. A senator demanded that he produce his account-books for the Antiochene campaign and account for the monies allotted to pay his troops. He responded with indignation and declared that he owed no reckoning. Securing the account-books from his brother, he waved them before the senators and then tore them up, asking the rhetorical question as to how the senate could be concerned with a mere 3,000 talents when he had brought 15,000 into the treasury by conquering Spain, Africa, and Asia.<sup><a href="#cite_note-87"><span>[</span>87<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>One story, given by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerius_Antias">Valerius Antias</a>, indicates that one of the tribunes at the urging of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_the_Elder">Cato the Elder</a> brought charges against Scipio Africanus alleging bribery and theft. Antias then has Scipio respond with a rousing oration detailing his services to the republic and noting that the day is the anniversary of the Battle of Zama. At this notice, he then leads an impromptu procession to sacrifice at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Jupiter_Optimus_Maximus">Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus</a> amid thunderous applause, leaving the prosecutors embarrassed. This story, however, "generates little confidence".<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGruen199580–81-88"><span>[</span>88<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The legal troubles proved little trouble for the Scipiones, as evidence by Asiagenes' lavish games in 186 and vigorous campaign for the censorship of 184 (he was unsuccessful). Friends of the Scipiones continued to win consular elections. Scipio himself retired to Liternum; "the idea that he retired in semi-exile or ignominy is pure romance".<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGruen199588-89"><span>[</span>89<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sepolcro_degli_Scipioni_001_Entrata.jpg"></a><figcaption>The entrance to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_the_Scipios">Tomb of the Scipios</a></figcaption></figure>
<p>Scipio retired to his country seat at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liternum">Liternum</a> on the coast of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campania">Campania</a>, where he died. There are multiple dates reported for his death. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybius">Polybius</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutilius">Rutilius</a>, who both lived shortly after his death, report that he died in 183 BC; the later historian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerius_Antias">Valerius Antias</a> reported that he died in 187 BC. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livy">Livy</a>, arguing against both dates in his history, believed Scipio died <abbr>c.</abbr><span> 185 BC</span>, rejecting both dates with the argument that if Scipio lived to 183 he would be noted as <i>princeps senatus</i> and that Scipio had to have lived to 185 BC to have been prosecuted by the Naevius who was tribune in that year.<sup><a href="#cite_note-90"><span>[</span>90<span>]</span></a></sup> However, most modern sources, such as the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Classical_Dictionary">Oxford Classical Dictionary</a></i>, prefer 183 BC.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012-23"><span>[</span>23<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>It is not clear where Scipio Africanus was buried. There are three main possibilities. The first is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_the_Scipios">Tomb of the Scipios</a> in Rome. Nothing survives in the literary record documenting his burial there, however.<sup><a href="#cite_note-91"><span>[</span>91<span>]</span></a></sup> The second is his villa at Liternum: it was later owned by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_the_Younger">Seneca the Younger</a>, who in a letter expressed his belief that an altar there was Africanus' tomb.<sup><a href="#cite_note-92"><span>[</span>92<span>]</span></a></sup> The third is the pyramidal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Romuli">Meta Romuli</a> which was ahistorically dubbed the <span><i>Sepulcrum Scipionis</i></span> during the Renaissance.<sup><a href="#cite_note-93"><span>[</span>93<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<p>Scipio married <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aemilia_Tertia">Aemilia Tertia</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200998-94"><span>[</span>94<span>]</span></a></sup> daughter of the consul <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Aemilius_Paullus_(consul_219_BC)">Lucius Aemilius Paullus</a> who fell at Cannae.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200922,_21-95"><span>[</span>95<span>]</span></a></sup> She was also the sister of another consul, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Aemilius_Paullus_Macedonicus">Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200922-96"><span>[</span>96<span>]</span></a></sup> Scipio's marriage was fruitful.
</p><p>They had three sons:
</p>
<ul><li>Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio, who became praetor in 177 BC;</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cornelius_Scipio_(praetor_174_BC)">Lucius Cornelius Scipio</a>, who became praetor in 174 BC; and</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Cornelius_Scipio_(son_of_Scipio_Africanus)">Publius Cornelius Scipio</a>, who was inducted into the augurate in 180 BC.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200998-94"><span>[</span>94<span>]</span></a></sup></li></ul>
<p>They also had two daughters. Both were named Cornelia. The elder married <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Cornelius_Scipio_Nasica_Corculum">Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum</a>. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelia_(mother_of_the_Gracchi)">younger Cornelia</a> married <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Sempronius_Gracchus_(consul_177_BC)">Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus</a> and became mother to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracchi_brothers">Gracchi brothers</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Gracchus">Tiberius Gracchus</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Gracchus">Gaius Gracchus</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200999-97"><span>[</span>97<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>None of his sons had legitimate issue. However, his son Publius adopted the son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, who became known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Aemilianus">Scipio Aemilianus</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal2009100-98"><span>[</span>98<span>]</span></a></sup> Scipio's only descendants living through the late Republican period were the descendants of his two daughters. His younger daughter's last surviving child <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sempronia_(sister_of_the_Gracchi)">Sempronia</a>, wife and then widow of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Aemilianus">Scipio Aemilianus</a> – his adoptive grandson<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZmeskal2009101–102-99"><span>[</span>99<span>]</span></a></sup> – was <span>alive as late as 102 BC.</span><sup>[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"><span>citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup>
</p>
<div><h2>Personality and traits</h2><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=15"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<div><h3>Roman opinions of Scipio</h3><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=16"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<p>Scipio was a man of great intellect and culture who could speak and read <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language">Greek</a>, wrote his own memoirs in Greek and became also noted for his introduction of the clean shaven face fashion among the Romans according to the example of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great">Alexander the Great</a> instead of wearing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beard#Rome">beard</a>. This man's fashion lasted until the time of emperor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian">Hadrian</a> (r. 117–138), then was revived by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great">Constantine the Great</a> (r. 306–337) and lasted until the reign of emperor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phocas">Phocas</a> (r. 602–610) who again introduced the wearing of the beard among Roman emperors.<sup><a href="#cite_note-100"><span>[</span>100<span>]</span></a></sup>
He also enjoyed the reputation of being a graceful <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orator">orator</a>, the secret of his sway being his deep self-confidence and radiant sense of fairness.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Scipio-101"><span>[</span>101<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>To his political opponents, he was often harsh and arrogant, but towards others singularly gracious and sympathetic. His <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philhellenism">Graecophile</a> lifestyle, and his unconventional way of wearing the Roman toga, raised much opposition among some Senators of Rome, led by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_the_Elder">Cato the Elder</a> who felt that Greek influence was destroying Roman culture. Cato, as a loyalist of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_Verrucosus">Fabius Maximus</a>, had been sent out as quaestor to Scipio in Sicily circa 204 BC to investigate charges of military indiscipline, corruption, and other offence against Scipio; none of those charges was found true by the tribunes of the plebs accompanying Cato (it may or may not be significant that years later, as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_censor">censor</a>, Cato degraded Scipio's brother <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Asiaticus">Scipio Asiaticus</a> from the Senate. It is certainly true that some Romans of the day viewed Cato as a representative of the old Romans, and Scipio and his like as Graecophiles).<sup><a href="#cite_note-Scipio-101"><span>[</span>101<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>He often visited the temple of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_(mythology)">Jupiter</a> and made offerings there. There was a belief that he was a special favourite of heaven and actually communicated with the gods. It is quite possible that he himself honestly shared this belief. However, the strength of this belief is evident, even a generation later when his adopted grandson, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Aemilianus_Africanus">Publius Aemilianus Scipio</a>, was elected to the consulship from the office of tribune. His rise was spectacular and letters survive from soldiers under his command in Hispania show that they believed that he possessed the same abilities as his grandfather.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Scipio-101"><span>[</span>101<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The elder Scipio was a spiritual man as well as a soldier and statesman, and was a priest of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_(mythology)">Mars</a>. The ability which he is supposed to have possessed is called by the old name, "second sight", and he is supposed to have had prescient dreams in which he saw the future. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livy">Livy</a> describes this belief as it was perceived then, without offering his opinion as to its veracity. Polybius made a case that Scipio's successes resulted from good planning, rational thinking and intelligence, which he said was a higher sign of the gods' favour than prophetic dreams. Polybius suggested that people had only said that Scipio had supernatural powers because they had not appreciated the natural mental gifts which facilitated Scipio's achievements.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Scipio-101"><span>[</span>101<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<div><h3>The continence of Scipio</h3><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=17"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Continence_of_Scipio_mg_0095.jpg"></a><figcaption><i>Continence of Scipio</i>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas-Guy_Brenet">Nicolas-Guy Brenet</a></figcaption></figure>
<p>The Roman historian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerius_Maximus">Valerius Maximus</a>, writing in the first century AD, alleged that Scipio Africanus had a weakness for beautiful women, and knowing this, some of his soldiers presented him with a beautiful young woman captured in New Carthage. The woman turned out to be the fiancée of an important Iberian chieftain<sup><a href="#cite_note-102"><span>[</span>102<span>]</span></a></sup> and Scipio chose to act as a general and not an ordinary soldier in restoring her, virtue and ransom intact, to her fiancé.<sup><a href="#cite_note-103"><span>[</span>103<span>]</span></a></sup> This episode was frequently depicted by painters of the Renaissance and early modern era as the Continence of Scipio.
</p><p>According to Valerius Maximus, Scipio had a relationship from <abbr>c.</abbr><span> 191 BC</span> with one of his own serving girls, which his wife magnanimously overlooked.<sup><a href="#cite_note-104"><span>[</span>104<span>]</span></a></sup> The affair, if it lasted from circa 191 BC to Scipio's death 183 BC, might have resulted in issue (not mentioned); what is mentioned is that the girl was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manumission">freed</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aemilia_Paulla">Aemilia Paulla</a> after Scipio's death and married to one of his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedman">freedmen</a>. This account is only found in Valerius Maximus (Memorable Deeds and Sayings 6.7.1–3. L) writing in the first century AD, some decades after Livy. Valerius Maximus is hostile to Scipio Africanus in other matters such as his frequent visits to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Jupiter_Optimus_Maximus">Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus</a>, which Maximus saw as "fake religion."
</p>

<p>Scipio is said to have written his memoirs in Greek, but those are lost (perhaps destroyed) along with the history written by his elder son and namesake (adoptive father of Scipio Aemilianus) and his Life by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutarch">Plutarch</a>. As a result, contemporary accounts of his life, particularly his childhood and youth, are virtually non-existent. Even Plutarch's account of Scipio's life, written much later, has been lost.
</p><p>What remains are accounts of his doings in Polybius, Livy's Histories (which say little about his private life), supplemented with the surviving histories of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appian">Appian</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassius_Dio">Cassius Dio</a>, and the odd anecdote in Valerius Maximus. Of these, Polybius was the closest to Scipio Africanus in age and in connections, but his narrative may be biased by his friendship with Scipio's close relatives and that the primary source of his information about Africanus came from one of his best friends, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Laelius">Gaius Laelius</a>.
</p>


<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FR_Carskie_Siolo,_Galeria_Camerona,_2013.08.10,_fot._I._Nowicka_(11)_corr2.jpg"></a><figcaption>18th century bust formerly identified as Scipio at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Cameron_(architect)">Cameron Gallery</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsarskoye_Selo">Tsarskoye Selo</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia">Russia</a></figcaption></figure>
<p>Scipio is considered by many to be one of Rome's greatest generals. Skillful alike in strategy and in tactics, he had also the faculty of inspiring his soldiers with confidence. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livy">Livy</a> reports that, as a Roman commissioner to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesus">Ephesus</a> following the defeat of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochus_III_the_Great">Antiochus III</a>, on meeting the exiled <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal">Hannibal</a>, Scipio took the opportunity to ask Hannibal's opinion of the "greatest commander," to which Hannibal named <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great">Alexander the Great</a> as the first and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhus_of_Epirus">Pyrrhus</a> as the second.<sup><a href="#cite_note-auto-105"><span>[</span>105<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Livy continues, "On Scipio's again asking him whom he regarded as the third, Hannibal, without any hesitation, replied, 'Myself.' Scipio smiled and asked, 'What would you say if you had vanquished me?' 'In that case,' replied Hannibal, 'I should say that I surpassed Alexander and Pyrrhus, and all other commanders in the world.' Scipio was delighted with the turn which the speaker had with true Carthaginian adroitness given to his answer, and the unexpected flattery it conveyed, because Hannibal had set him apart from the ordinary run of military captains as an incomparable commander."<sup><a href="#cite_note-auto-105"><span>[</span>105<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Caecilius_Metellus_Pius_Scipio_Nasica">Metellus Scipio</a>, a descendant of Scipio, commanded legions against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar">Julius Caesar</a> in Africa until his defeat at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thapsus">Battle of Thapsus</a> in 49 BC. Popular superstition was that only a Scipio could win a battle in Africa, so Julius Caesar assigned a distant relative of Metellus to his staff in order to say that he too had a Scipio fighting for him.<sup><a href="#cite_note-106"><span>[</span>106<span>]</span></a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-107"><span>[</span>107<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<p>Scipio was the first Roman general to expand Roman territories outside Italy and islands around the Italian mainland. He conquered the Carthaginian territory of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula">Iberia</a> for Rome, although the two Iberian provinces were not fully pacified for a couple of centuries. His defeat of Hannibal at Zama paved the way for Carthage's eventual destruction in 146 BC. His interest in a Graecophile lifestyle had tremendous influence on the Roman elite; more than a century later, even the conservative <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_Uticensis">Cato Uticensis</a> (great-grandson of the elder Cato) espoused Greek philosophy.
</p><p>Scipio did not introduce Greek ideas or art to the Romans, but his ardent support for the Greek way of life coupled with his own charisma had its inevitable impact. Less beneficially, the Scipios may have led the way in the inevitable chasm that grew up between the Roman elite and the Roman masses, in terms of the way the elite was educated and lived and in the amount of wealth they possessed.
</p><p>Scipio supported land distribution for his veterans in a tradition harking back to the earliest days of the Republic, yet his actions were seen as somewhat radical by conservatives. In being a successful general who demanded lands for his soldiers, Scipio may have led the way for later generals such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Marius">Gaius Marius</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar">Julius Caesar</a>. Unlike  Marius or Caesar, however, he did not seek to use his charisma and reputation to weaken the Republic. The true measure of Scipio's character in this regard can perhaps be seen by his behaviour shortly after returning in triumph from Africa to a grateful Rome. Scipio refused to accept demands for him to become perpetual consul and dictator. For his self-restraint in putting the good of the republic ahead of his own gain, Scipio was praised by Livy for showing uncommon greatness of mind—an example conspicuously not emulated by Marius, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cornelius_Sulla">Sulla</a> or Caesar.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Scipio-101"><span>[</span>101<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The relatives of Scipio continued to dominate the republic for a couple of generations. This domination came to an end in the tumults between the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracchi">Gracchi</a> brothers, who were his grandsons, and their other relatives in the period from 133 to 122 BC. The Gracchi brothers championed land redistribution in order to boost the ranks of potential Roman soldiers, as Roman soldiers needed to own land to be enfranchised for service in the legions and the number of Roman land owners was withering. They were lynched by their relatives who disapproved of their methods and perhaps had economic reasons to fear the land redistribution.
</p><p>After the fall of the Gracchi, the house of Caecilius became more prominent. However, the Scipiones maintained their aristocratic lustre, providing the consular general who unsuccessfully prevented Sulla's second march on Rome and Metellus Scipio whose daughter was the last wife of Pompey the Great, and who took over command in the civil war against Julius Caesar after the death of Pompey. The granddaughter of Gaius Gracchus, Fulvia, was also unusually prominent for a Roman woman in the affairs of the late republic, marrying Publius Clodius, Gaius Curio and Mark Antony in turn. At a later date, some Roman emperors claimed descent from Scipio Africanus.
</p>
<div><h2>Cultural depictions</h2><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=22"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<div><h3>Classical literature</h3><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=23"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<p>Scipio appears or is mentioned in passing in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero">Cicero</a>'s <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Republica">De Republica</a></i> and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Amicitia">De Amicitia</a></i>, and in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silius_Italicus">Silius Italicus</a>' <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punica_(poem)">Punica</a></i> (Cicero was mentored by prominent Romans whose ancestors had been associated with Scipio). As a Roman hero, Scipio appears in Book VI of the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneid">Aeneid</a></i> where he is shown to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneas">Aeneas</a> in a vision in the underworld. Scipio figures prominently in Livy's "Ab urbe condita libri" and is named as an example of a warrior at the end of Book III of Lucretius' <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_rerum_natura">De rerum natura</a></i>.
</p>
<div><h3>Medieval literature</h3><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=24"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<p>Scipio is mentioned four times in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante">Dante</a>'s <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Comedy">Divine Comedy</a></i>: in "Inferno"—Canto XXXI, in "Purgatorio"—Canto XXIX, and in "Paradiso"—Cantos VI and XXVII.
</p>
<div><h3>Renaissance literature and art</h3><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=25"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Medieval_Portrait_of_Scipio_Africanus_(Philadelphia_Museum_of_Art).jpg"></a><figcaption>Portrait of Scipio Africanus, marble, c. 1460–1465, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mino_da_Fiesole">Mino da Fiesole</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Museum_of_Art">Philadelphia Museum of Art</a>)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Scipio is the hero of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarch">Petrarch</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_language">Latin</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_poetry">epic</a> <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa_(Petrarch)">Africa</a></i>. 'The Continence [i.e. moderation] of Scipio' was a stock motif in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exemplary_literature">exemplary literature</a> and art,<sup><a href="#cite_note-108"><span>[</span>108<span>]</span></a></sup> as was the 'Dream of Scipio', portraying his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegorical">allegorical</a> choice between Virtue and Luxury.<sup><a href="#cite_note-109"><span>[</span>109<span>]</span></a></sup> <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Continence_of_Scipio">The Continence of Scipio</a></i>, depicting his clemency and sexual restraint after the fall of Carthago Nova, was an even more popular subject. Versions of the subject were painted by many artists from the Renaissance through to the 19th century, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Mantegna">Andrea Mantegna</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Poussin">Nicolas Poussin</a>.
</p><p>Scipio is mentioned in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machiavelli">Machiavelli</a>'s work <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince">The Prince</a></i> (Chapter XVII "Concerning Cruelty And Clemency, And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared"). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton">Milton</a> mentions Scipio in Book 9 of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost">Paradise Lost</a></i> and in Book 3 of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Regained">Paradise Regained</a></i>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael">Raphael</a>'s painting <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_of_a_Knight_(Raphael)">Vision of a Knight</a></i> is thought to be a depiction of Scipio.
</p>

<p>Publius Cornelius Scipio was the title character of a number of Italian operas composed during the baroque period of music, including settings by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel">George Frideric Handel</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Vinci">Leonardo Vinci</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Francesco_Pollarolo">Carlo Francesco Pollarolo</a>. The march from Handel's setting, entitled <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipione">Scipione</a></i>, remains the regimental slow <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_(music)">march</a> of the British <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenadier_Guards">Grenadier Guards</a>. Scipio is also referenced in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Canto_degli_Italiani">Italian national anthem</a>.
</p>
<div><h3>Film and television</h3><p><span><span>[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scipio_Africanus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=27"><span>edit</span></a><span>]</span></span></p></div>
<p>Shortly before <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War">Italy's invasion of Ethiopia</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini">Benito Mussolini</a> commissioned an epic film depicting the exploits of Scipio. <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Africanus:_The_Defeat_of_Hannibal">Scipione l'africano</a></i>, written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine_Gallone">Carmine Gallone</a>, won the Mussolini Cup for the greatest Italian film at the 1937 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Film_Festival">Venice Film Festival</a>.
</p><p>In 1971 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Magni">Luigi Magni</a> scripted and directed the movie <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_the_African">Scipione, detto anche l'Africano</a></i> (Scipio, aka "the African"), starring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcello_Mastroianni">Marcello Mastroianni</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Gassman">Vittorio Gassman</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvana_Mangano">Silvana Mangano</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Strode">Woody Strode</a>, in which the historical events are portrayed in a light and satirical mode, with some intentional references to the political events of the time in which the movie was made.
</p><p>In the 1983 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC">BBC</a> mini-series <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cleopatras">The Cleopatras</a></i>, Scipio is portrayed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Whitehead">Geoffrey Whitehead</a>.
</p><p>In the 2000 film <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator_(2000_film)">Gladiator</a></i>, the first battle in the Colosseum is meant to re-enact Scipio Africanus's battle of Zama against Hannibal's barbarian horde. In the film, Maximus ruins the re-enactment by leading the gladiators, who are meant to represent Hannibal's forces, to victory over Scipio's legionaries.
</p><p>In the 2006 television film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_(2006_TV_film)">Hannibal</a>, he is portrayed by British actor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Dingwall">Shaun Dingwall</a>, notably at the battles of Cannae and Zama.
</p>

<p>Scipio features as a playable character, represented by a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataphract">cataphract</a>, in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zama">Battle of Zama</a> in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Empires:_The_Rise_of_Rome">Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome</a></i>. He also appears in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemimont_Games">Haemimont Games</a> video game <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperivm_III:_The_Great_Battles_of_Rome">Imperivm III: The Great Battles of Rome</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion:_Defender_of_Rome">Centurion: Defender of Rome</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-110"><span>[</span>110<span>]</span></a></sup></i> and in the Hannibal at the Gates campaign in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_War:_Rome_II">Total War: Rome II</a>.</i>
Scipio appears twice as a playable character in the Mobile/PC Game Rise of Kingdoms.
</p>

<p>The following table is derived from <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1952">Broughton 1952</a>, p. 555 unless otherwise indicated.
</p>
<table>

<tbody><tr>
<th>Year (BC)
</th>
<th>Office
</th>
<th>Colleague
</th>
<th>Comment
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>216
</td>
<td>Military tribune
</td>
<td><div>
<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appius_Claudius_Pulcher_(consul_212_BC)">Appius Claudius Pulcher</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Cornelius_Lentulus_(consul_201_BC)">Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Fabius_Maximus_(consul_213_BC)">Quintus Fabius Maximus</a></li>
<li>Gnaeus Octavius</li>
<li>Lucius Publicius Bibulus</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Sempronius_Tuditanus">Publius Sempronius Tuditanus</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951250–251-111"><span>[</span>111<span>]</span></a></sup></li></ul>
</div>
</td>
<td>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>213
</td>
<td>Curule aedile
</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Cornelius_Cethegus_(consul_204_BC)">Marcus Cornelius Cethegus</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951263-112"><span>[</span>112<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td>
<td>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>216–210
</td>
<td>Proconsul
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Spain
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>205
</td>
<td>Consul
</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Licinius_Crassus_Dives_(consul_205_BC)">Publius Licinius Crassus Dives</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951301-48"><span>[</span>48<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td>
<td>Assigned Sicily <i>extra sortem</i>, then further assigned Africa<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951301-48"><span>[</span>48<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>204–201
</td>
<td>Proconsul
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Continuously prorogued in Africa; victor of Zama in 202<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951317-113"><span>[</span>113<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>199
</td>
<td>Censor
</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Aelius_Paetus">Publius Aelius Paetus</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951327-114"><span>[</span>114<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td>
<td>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>199–189
</td>
<td>Princeps senatus
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Chosen <i>princeps senatus</i> in his own censorship<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951327-114"><span>[</span>114<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>194
</td>
<td>Consul
</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Sempronius_Longus_(consul_194_BC)">Tiberius Sempronius Longus</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951342-115"><span>[</span>115<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td>
<td>Fought the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boii">Boii</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligures">Ligurians</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951343-66"><span>[</span>66<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>193
</td>
<td>Legate (ambassador)
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Sent to Africa to settle boundary dispute and thence possibly to Asia<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951348–349-116"><span>[</span>116<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>190
</td>
<td>Legate (lieutenant)
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Served under his brother, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cornelius_Scipio_Asiaticus">Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951358-117"><span>[</span>117<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>184?
</td>
<td>Legate?
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Possibly legate in Etruria<sup><a href="#cite_note-118"><span>[</span>118<span>]</span></a></sup>
</td></tr></tbody></table>

<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio%E2%80%93Paullus%E2%80%93Gracchus_family_tree">Scipio–Paullus–Gracchus family tree</a></li></ul>


<div>
<ol>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEtcheto2012274–278_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFEtcheto2012">Etcheto 2012</a>, pp. 274–278.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200997_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, p. 97.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, p. 92. Barbatus was consul in 298 and censor in 280; Lucius was consul in 259 and 258 BC.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200996–97_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, pp. 96–97.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200996_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, p. 96.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal2009221_6-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, p. 221.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198945_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 45.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951237_8-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 237.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198949_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 49.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe2012">Briscoe 2012</a>; <a href="#CITEREFPolyb.">Polyb.</a>, 10.3.5. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder">Pliny the Elder</a>, writing in the 1st century AD, mentions that Scipio refused the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_crown">civic crown</a> for the deed. <a href="#CITEREFGoldsworthy2003">Goldsworthy 2003</a>, p. 53, citing Plin. <i>NH</i>, 16.14.</span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200353_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200353_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGoldsworthy2003">Goldsworthy 2003</a>, p. 53.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951251_12-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 251.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 22.53. See also, on Metellus, <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 260.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Ridley, R T (1975). <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41529611">"Was Scipio Africanus at Cannae?"</a>. <i>Latomus</i>. <b>34</b> (1): 161–165. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)">ISSN</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0023-8856">0023-8856</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41529611">41529611</a>.</cite><span></span> Ridley cites <a href="#CITEREFScullard1929">Scullard 1929</a>, p. 38. </span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 263. <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 25.2.6, wrongly dates this to 212 BC; patricians held the curule aedileship in odd years, implying 213. Broughton also dismisses the "story that Scipio won election both for himself and his brother" – originating in <a href="#CITEREFPolyb.">Polyb.</a>, 10.4–5 – as "intrinsically improbable" and notes its general scholarly rejection. <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 267 n. 4.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 25.2. Livy also records Scipio's response: "If the Quirites are unanimous in their desire to appoint me aedile, I am quite old enough".</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198957_17-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 57.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198957–59_18-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, pp. 57–59.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 59, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 35.32–39.</span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951280_20-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951280_20-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 280.</span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200356_21-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200356_21-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200356_21-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGoldsworthy2003">Goldsworthy 2003</a>, p. 56.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198959Broughton1951280_22-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 59; <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 280.</span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012_23-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012_23-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012_23-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012_23-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012_23-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012_23-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe2012">Briscoe 2012</a>.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 59, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 26.17–20.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPolyb.10.15.4–5_25-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFPolyb.">Polyb.</a>, 10.15.4–5.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Baker, Gabriel David (2021). <i>Spare no one: mass violence in Roman warfare</i>. War and Society. Lanham: Rowman &amp; Littlefield. pp. 118–120. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-5381-1221-2"><bdi>978-1-5381-1221-2</bdi></a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1182021748">1182021748</a>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198959–60_27-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, pp. 59–60.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 55, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 26.38–39, 27.1–2, 27.12–16.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 60, citing <a href="#CITEREFPolyb.">Polyb.</a>, 11.20–24; <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 28.1–28.4.4, 12.10–16, 19–21.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198960_30-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 60.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198962_31-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 62.</span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963_32-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963_32-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963_32-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 63.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198960–61_33-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, pp. 60–61.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Canto, Alicia M (2004). <a href="https://www.academia.edu/1082511">"Itálica, sedes natalis de Adriano. 31 textos históricos y argumentos para una secular polémica (2004)"</a>. <i>Athenaeum</i> (in Spanish). <b>92</b>: 367–408.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Canto, Alicia M (2006). <a href="https://www.academia.edu/1075565">"Sobre el origen bético de Teodosio I el Grande, y su improbable nacimiento en Cauca de Gallaecia (2006)"</a>. <i>Latomus</i> (in Spanish). <b>65</b> (2): 388–421.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, pp. 60–61, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 28.38.1 for the turnover in command.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, pp. 299–300, noting Lentulus was another <i>privatus cum imperio</i>; both Lentulus and Acidinus were prorogued <i>pro consule</i>. Lentulus and Acidinus are those reported at <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 28.38.1; <a href="#CITEREFPolyb.">Polyb.</a>, 11.33.8 instead has Scipio leave Silanus and Lucius Marcius Septimius – one of Scipio's legates – in command.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 299, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 28.38.4, 31.20.3; <a href="#CITEREFPolyb.">Polyb.</a>, 11.33.7; App. <i>Hisp.</i>, 38. Broughton also suggests the possibility of an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovation"><i>ovatio</i></a>.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, p. 61 n. 3, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 28.38.2–4; <a href="#CITEREFVal._Max.">Val. Max.</a>, 2.8.5; Dio, 17.57.6.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Richardson, J S (1975). <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/370063">"The triumph, the praetors and the senate in the early second century BC"</a>. <i>Journal of Roman Studies</i>. <b>65</b>: 50–63. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F370063">10.2307/370063</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)">ISSN</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0075-4358">0075-4358</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/370063">370063</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:163561022">163561022</a>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-41">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 28.38. "[A]ll the centuries voted amidst much enthusiasm for Scipio... It is recorded that a larger number of voters took part in that election than at any other time during the war. They had come from all parts, not only to give their votes, but also to get sight of Scipio".</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200351_42-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGoldsworthy2003">Goldsworthy 2003</a>, p. 51.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-43">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFDrogula2015">Drogula 2015</a>, pp. 285, 298–299 n. 4, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 28.40.1–2 and Plut. <i>Fab.</i>, 25.2.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963Broughton1951301_44-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 63; <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 301.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200375_45-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGoldsworthy2003">Goldsworthy 2003</a>, p. 75.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDrogula2015136_46-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFDrogula2015">Drogula 2015</a>, p. 136.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELivy28.45–46_47-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 28.45–46.</span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951301_48-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951301_48-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951301_48-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 301.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951304_49-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 304.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200376Broughton1951308_50-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGoldsworthy2003">Goldsworthy 2003</a>, p. 76; <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 308.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-51">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 308, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 29.24–36, 30.3.3–30.4.12.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963Broughton1951312_52-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 63; <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 312.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198963–64_53-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, pp. 63–64.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-54">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFDrogula2015">Drogula 2015</a>, p. 313, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 30.24.1–4; <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 311</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-55">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFDrogula2015">Drogula 2015</a>, p. 134 n. 11, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 30.27.1–4. Scipio's position was regardless confirmed by plebiscite in Rome. <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, pp. 317, 320.</span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200376_56-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoldsworthy200376_56-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGoldsworthy2003">Goldsworthy 2003</a>, p. 76.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198964Broughton1951317_57-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 64; <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 317.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198964–65_58-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, pp. 64–65.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198965Broughton1951319_59-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, p. 65; <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 319.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-60">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 321, citing <a href="#CITEREFPolyb.">Polyb.</a>, 16.23.5.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-61">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, p. 70, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 30.45.3.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe198974,_73Briscoe2012_62-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe1989">Briscoe 1989</a>, pp. 74, 73; <a href="#CITEREFBriscoe2012">Briscoe 2012</a>.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951327Briscoe2012_63-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 327; <a href="#CITEREFBriscoe2012">Briscoe 2012</a>.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEScullard1970191_64-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFScullard1970">Scullard 1970</a>, p. 191.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-65">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Gruen, Erich S (1972). <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/293271">"Review of "Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician"<span></span>"</a>. <i>American Journal of Philology</i>. <b>93</b> (2): 377–380. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F293271">10.2307/293271</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)">ISSN</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0002-9475">0002-9475</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/293271">293271</a>.</cite><span></span> Gruen writes also "there is no hint of an eclipse" politically and calls Scullard's inference that there was one "unfounded".</span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951343_66-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951343_66-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 343.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-67">^</a></b></span> <span><span>Harris, W V. "Roman expansion in the west". In <a href="#CITEREFCAH2_81989">CAH<sup>2</sup> 8 (1989)</a>, p. 110.</span> "The reimposition of Roman power in northern Italy had a high priority, and each year from 201 to 190 the senate assigned one or both consuls to that region".</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-68">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, pp. 343, 346 n. 1, noting also that both Plutarch and Nepos confuse Scipio Africanus with Scipio Nasica in this year.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012Broughton1951348_69-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe2012">Briscoe 2012</a>; <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 348.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBriscoe2012Broughton1951348–349_70-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBriscoe2012">Briscoe 2012</a>; <a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, pp. 348–349.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-71">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGoldsworthy2003">Goldsworthy 2003</a>, p. 77, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 35.14.</span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEErrington1989283_72-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEErrington1989283_72-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFErrington1989">Errington 1989</a>, p. 283.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-73">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Griffith, G T; Sherwin-White, S M; van der Spek, R J (2012). "Antiochus (3) III". <a href="https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-505"><i>Oxford Classical Dictionary</i></a>. Oxford University Press. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780199381135.013.505">10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.505</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-938113-5"><bdi>978-0-19-938113-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEErrington1989284_74-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFErrington1989">Errington 1989</a>, p. 284.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951356,_358_75-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 356, 358.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEErrington1989286_76-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFErrington1989">Errington 1989</a>, p. 286.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEErrington1989288_77-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFErrington1989">Errington 1989</a>, p. 288.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEErrington1989286–287_78-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFErrington1989">Errington 1989</a>, pp. 286–287.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGruen199565_79-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, p. 65.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGruen199569_80-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, p. 69.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-81">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Briscoe, John (7 March 2016). <a href="http://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1868">"Cornelius Scipio Asiagenes, Lucius"</a>. <i>Oxford Classical Dictionary</i>. Oxford University Press. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780199381135.013.1868">10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1868</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-938113-5"><bdi>978-0-19-938113-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-82">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, p. 71. "[N]ew heights of extravagance".</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGruen199573_83-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, p. 73.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGruen199587_84-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, p. 87.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-85">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, p. 74. "No reconstruction can reconcile all the conflicting testimony".</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGruen199575–77,_86_86-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, pp. 75–77, 86.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-87">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, p. 79, citing, among others, <a href="#CITEREFPolyb.">Polyb.</a>, 23.14.8–11; <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 38.55.10–13; <a href="#CITEREFVal._Max.">Val. Max.</a>, 3.7.1d.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGruen199580–81_88-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, pp. 80–81.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGruen199588_89-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFGruen1995">Gruen 1995</a>, p. 88.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-90">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFMiles1995">Miles 1995</a>, pp. 59–60, referencing Livy, 39.52.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-91">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Lushkov, A Haimson (2014). "Narrative and notice in Livy's fourth decade: the case of Scipio Africanus". <i>Classical Antiquity</i>. <b>33</b> (1): 102–129. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1525%2FCA.2014.33.1.102">10.1525/CA.2014.33.1.102</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)">ISSN</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0278-6656">0278-6656</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:149035118">149035118</a>.</cite><span></span> Lushkov notes also, p. 121 n. 53, that <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 38.56.4 merely claims <i>it is said</i> that statutes of Scipios Africanus and Asiagenes adorn the tomb.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-92">^</a></b></span> <span>Sen. <i>Ep.</i>, 86.1. "I am inclined to think is the tomb of that great warrior".</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-93">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Richardson, L (1992). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=K_qjo30tjHAC"><i>A new topographical dictionary of ancient Rome</i></a>. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 359. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8018-4300-6"><bdi>978-0-8018-4300-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200998_94-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200998_94-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, p. 98.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200922,_21_95-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, pp. 22, 21.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200922_96-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, p. 22.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal200999_97-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, p. 99.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal2009100_98-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, p. 100.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZmeskal2009101–102_99-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFZmeskal2009">Zmeskal 2009</a>, pp. 101–102.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-100">^</a></b></span> <span><cite><a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Barba">"Barba – NumisWiki, The Collaborative Numismatics Project"</a>. Forumancientcoins.com<span>. Retrieved <span>19 October</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Scipio_101-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Scipio_101-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Scipio_101-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Scipio_101-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Scipio_101-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><cite>Liddell Hart, Basil (1992) [1926]. <i>Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon</i>. Greenhill Books. pp. 2–10, 24, 25, 200–207. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-85367-132-0"><bdi>1-85367-132-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-102">^</a></b></span> <span>Allucius (Livy, <i>History of Rome</i> XXVI.50), cf. Indibilis (Valerius Maximus, <i>Memorable Deeds and Sayings</i> 4.3.1)</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-103">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="http://ojourdui.ifrance.com/art/art4jun/art0604.html">Livy, <i>Roman History, XXVI</i>, 50 (extract)</a></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-104">^</a></b></span> <span><cite>Lefkowitz, Mary; Fant, Maureen (1992). <a href="https://diotima-doctafemina.org/translations/anthologies/womens-life-in-greece-and-rome-selections/ii-mens-opinions/53-womanly-virtue/">"Women's Life in Greece and Rome (selections): 53. Womanly virtue"</a>. <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diot%C3%ADma_(website)">Diotíma</a></i>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-auto_105-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-auto_105-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><cite><a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0165:book=35:chapter=14">"Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 35, chapter 14"</a>. <i>www.perseus.tufts.edu</i>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-106">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutarch">Plutarch</a>, Life of Caesar, 52.4–5</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-107">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suetonius">Suetonius</a>, Life of Caesar, 59</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-108">^</a></b></span> <span><cite><a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=ng643.2">"Giulio Licinio | The Continence of Scipio | NG643.2 | The National Gallery, London"</a>. Nationalgallery.org.uk<span>. Retrieved <span>19 October</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-109">^</a></b></span> <span><cite><a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=ng213">"Raphael | An Allegory ('Vision of a Knight') | NG213 | The National Gallery, London"</a>. Nationalgallery.org.uk<span>. Retrieved <span>19 October</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-110">^</a></b></span> <span><cite><a href="https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/207904/how-to-get-good-generals-in-centurion-defender-of-rome">"How to get good generals in Centurion: Defender of Rome?"</a><span>. Retrieved <span>8 September</span> 2019</span>.</cite><span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951250–251_111-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, pp. 250–251.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951263_112-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 263.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951317_113-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 317.</span>
</li>
<li><span>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951327_114-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951327_114-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 327.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951342_115-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 342.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951348–349_116-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, pp. 348–349.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBroughton1951358_117-0">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 358.</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-118">^</a></b></span> <span><a href="#CITEREFBroughton1951">Broughton 1951</a>, p. 377, citing <a href="#CITEREFLivy">Livy</a>, 38.56.8–9.</span>
</li>
</ol></div>


<div>
<ul><li><cite>Astin, A E; et al., eds. (1989). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5Oe1u1H_OSMC"><i>Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 BC</i></a>. Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 8 (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-23448-4"><bdi>0-521-23448-4</bdi></a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/916019669">916019669</a>.</cite><span></span>
<ul><li><span>Briscoe, John. "The Second Punic War". In <a href="#CITEREFCAH2_81989">CAH<sup>2</sup> 8 (1989)</a>, pp. 44–80.</span></li>
<li><span>Errington, R M. "Rome against Philip and Antiochus". In <a href="#CITEREFCAH2_81989">CAH<sup>2</sup> 8 (1989)</a>, pp. 244–289.</span></li></ul></li>
<li><cite>Briscoe, John (2012). "Cornelius Scipio Africanus, Publius, 'the elder'<span></span>". <a href="http://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1867"><i>Oxford Classical Dictionary</i></a> (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780199381135.013.1867">10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1867</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-938113-5"><bdi>978-0-19-938113-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Robert_Shannon_Broughton">Broughton, Thomas Robert Shannon</a> (1951). <i>The magistrates of the Roman republic</i>. Vol. 1. New York: American Philological Association.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Robert_Shannon_Broughton">Broughton, Thomas Robert Shannon</a> (1952). <i>The magistrates of the Roman republic</i>. Vol. 2. New York: American Philological Association.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite>Drogula, Fred (2015). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=XJ6_BwAAQBAJ"><i>Commanders &amp; command in the Roman republic and early empire</i></a>. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4696-2314-6"><bdi>978-1-4696-2314-6</bdi></a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/905949529">905949529</a>.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite>Etcheto, Henri (2012). <a href="https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01984245/document"><i>Les Scipions: famille et pouvoir à Rome à l'époque républicaine</i></a> (in French). Bordeaux: Ausonius Éditions. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-2-35613-073-0"><bdi>978-2-35613-073-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite>Goldsworthy, Adrian (2003). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=-hd8CwAAQBAJ"><i>In the name of Rome: the men who won the Roman empire</i></a>. Yale University Press. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-300-22183-1"><bdi>978-0-300-22183-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite>Gruen, Erich (1995). "The "fall" of the Scipios". In Malkin, I; Rubinsohn, Z W (eds.). <a href="https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004329447/BP000006.xml"><i>Leaders and masses in the Roman world</i></a>. Mnemosyne Supplements. Vol. 139. Brill. pp. 59–90. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1163%2F9789004329447_006">10.1163/9789004329447_006</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-9-0040-9917-3"><bdi>978-9-0040-9917-3</bdi></a>.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite>Miles, Gary B (1995). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TlhuDwAAQBAJ"><i>Livy: reconstructing early Rome</i></a>. Cornell University Press. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-5017-2461-9"><bdi>978-1-5017-2461-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite>Scullard, H H (1929). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KeM8AAAAIAAJ"><i>Scipio Africanus in the Second Punic War</i></a> (PhD thesis). Cambridge University.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite>Scullard, H H (1970). <i>Scipio Africanus: soldier and politician</i>. London: Thames &amp; Hudson. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-500-40012-1"><bdi>0-500-40012-1</bdi></a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/80462">80462</a>.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite>Zmeskal, Klaus (2009). <i>Adfinitas</i> (in German). Vol. 1. Passau: Verlag Karl Stutz. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-88849-304-1"><bdi>978-3-88849-304-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span></span></li></ul>
</div>

<div>
<ul><li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livy">Livy</a> (1905) [1st century AD]. <span><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/en:From_the_Founding_of_the_City"><i>From the Founding of the City</i> </a></span>. Translated by Roberts, Canon – via <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikisource">Wikisource</a>.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite>Polybius (1922–1927) [2nd century BC]. <a href="http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/home.html"><i>Histories</i></a>. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Paton, W R. Cambridge: Harvard University Press – via LacusCurtius.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerius_Maximus">Valerius Maximus</a> (2004). <i>Memorable deeds and sayings: one thousand tales from ancient Rome</i>. Translated by Walker, Henry. Indianapolis: Hackett. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87220-675-0"><bdi>0-87220-675-0</bdi></a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53231884">53231884</a>.</cite><span></span></li></ul>
</div>

<div>
<ul><li><span><span><span></span></span> </span><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Chisholm">Chisholm, Hugh</a>, ed. (1911). "<a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Scipio">Scipio § <i>Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus</i></a>". <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i>. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 405–406.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite>Jacobs, John (28 June 2023). <a href="https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2023/2023.06.36/">"Review of: L'area archeologica del Sepolcro degli Scipioni a Roma: analisi delle strutture di eta imperiale e tardo antica"</a>. <i>Bryn Mawr Classical Review</i>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)">ISSN</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1055-7660">1055-7660</a>.</cite><span></span></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orosius">Orosius</a>. <i>History against the pagans</i>.</cite><span></span></li></ul>
</div>


<table>


<tbody><tr>
<th>Political offices
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>Preceded by<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Veturius_Philo_(consul_206_BC)">L. Veturius Philo</a><br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Caecilius_Metellus_(consul_206_BC)">Q. Caecilius Metellus</a></p></div>
</td>
<td><b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_consuls">Roman consul</a> </b><br/>205 BC        <br/>With: <b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Licinius_Crassus_Dives_(consul_205_BC)">P. Licinius Crassus Dives</a> </b>
</td>
<td>Succeeded by<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Cornelius_Cethegus_(consul_204_BC)">M. Cornelius Cethegus</a><br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Sempronius_Tuditanus">P. Sempronius Tuditanus</a></p></div>
</td></tr>

<tr>
<td>Preceded by<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Valerius_Flaccus_(consul_195_BC)">L. Valerius Flaccus</a><br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_the_Censor">Cato the Censor</a></p></div>
</td>
<td><b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_consuls">Roman consul</a> II </b><br/>194 BC        <br/>With: <b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Sempronius_Longus_(consul_194_BC)">Ti. Sempronius Longus</a> </b>
</td>
<td>Succeeded by<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cornelius_Merula_(consul_193_BC)">L. Cornelius Merula</a><br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Minucius_Thermus_(consul_193_BC)">Q. Minucius Thermus</a></p></div>
</td></tr>

<tr>
<td>Preceded by<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Claudius_Nero">G. Claudius Nero</a><br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Livius_Salinator">M. Livius Salinator</a></p></div>
</td>
<td><b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_censors_of_the_Roman_Republic">Roman censor</a> </b><br/>199 BC        <br/>With: <b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Aelius_Paetus_(consul_201_BC)">P. Aelius Paetus</a> </b>
</td>
<td>Succeeded by<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Cornelius_Cethegus_(consul)">G. Cornelius Cethegus</a><br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sextus_Aelius_Paetus_Catus">Sex. Aelius Paetus Catus</a></p></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>





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              Contents

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                * (Top)
                * 1 Early years
                Toggle Early years subsection
                    + 1.1 Family
                    + 1.2 Early military service
                * 2 Second Punic War
                Toggle Second Punic War subsection
                    + 2.1 Campaign in Hispania
                    + 2.2 African campaign
                        o 2.2.1 Invasion of Africa
                        o 2.2.2 Return
                * 3 Later life
                Toggle Later life subsection
                    + 3.1 Censorship and second consulship
                    + 3.2 War with Antiochus
                    + 3.3 Trials of the Scipios
                    + 3.4 Death
                * 4 Marriage and issue
                * 5 Personality and traits
                Toggle Personality and traits subsection
                    + 5.1 Roman opinions of Scipio
                    + 5.2 The continence of Scipio
                * 6 Lost works
                * 7 Legacy
                Toggle Legacy subsection
                    + 7.1 Military
                    + 7.2 Political
                * 8 Cultural depictions
                Toggle Cultural depictions subsection
                    + 8.1 Classical literature
                    + 8.2 Medieval literature
                    + 8.3 Renaissance literature and art
                    + 8.4 Music
                    + 8.5 Film and television
                    + 8.6 Video games
                * 9 Offices
                * 10 See also
                * 11 Notes
                * 12 References
                Toggle References subsection
                    + 12.1 Modern sources
                    + 12.2 Primary sources
                * 13 Further reading
                * 14 External links
        Toggle the table of contents

      Scipio Africanus

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            From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
              For other uses, see Scipio Africanus (disambiguation) and Publius Cornelius Scipio.

                Scipio Africanus                                                                                           
                Bust likely of Scipio Africanus (formerly identified as Sulla), originally found near his family tomb [ 1 ]
              Born                                                                                                           236 or 235 BC                          
                                                                                                                             Rome                                   
              Died                                                                                                           c. 183 BC                              
                                                                                                                             Liternum                               
              Nationality                                                                                                    Roman                                  
              Known for                                                                                                      Defeating Hannibal                     
                                                                                                                                 * Proconsul (Spain, 216–210 BC)    
                                                                                                                                 * Consul (205 BC)                  
              Office                                                                                                             * Proconsul (Africa, 204–201 BC)   
                                                                                                                                 * Censor (199 BC)                  
                                                                                                                                 * Consul (194 BC)                  
                                                                                                                                 * Legate (Asia, 190 BC)            
              Spouse                                                                                                         Aemilia Tertia                         
              Children                                                                                                       4, including Cornelia                  
              Parent                                                                                                             * Publius Scipio (father)          
                                                                                                                             Scipio Asiaticus (brother)             
              Relatives                                                                                                      Scipio Aemilianus (adoptive grandson)  
                                                                                                                             Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus (grandsons)
                                                                                                                           
              Military service                                                                                             
              Allegiance                                                                                                     Rome                                   
              Branch/service                                                                                                 Roman army                             
                                                                                                                                 * Second Punic War                 
                                                                                                                                     + Battle of Ticinus            
                                                                                                                                     + Battle of Victumulae         
                                                                                                                                     + Battle of Cannae             
                                                                                                                                     + Battle of Cartagena          
              Battles/wars                                                                                                           + Battle of Baecula            
                                                                                                                                     + Battle of Ilipa              
                                                                                                                                     + Siege of Utica               
                                                                                                                                     + Battle of Utica              
                                                                                                                                     + Battle of the Great Plains   
                                                                                                                                     + Battle of Zama               
                                                                                                                                 * Roman–Seleucid War               
                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                           
              

              Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (/ ˈ s k ɪ p . i . oʊ /, / ˈ s ɪ p -/, Latin: [ˈskiːpioː]; 236/235–c. 183 BC ) was a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the greatest military commanders and strategists of all time, his greatest military achievement was the defeat of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. This victory in Africa earned him the honorific epithet Africanus, literally meaning "the African", but meant to be understood as a conqueror of Africa.

              Scipio's conquest of Carthaginian Iberia culminated in the Battle of Ilipa in 206 BC against Hannibal's brother Mago Barca. Although considered a hero by the Roman people, primarily for his victories against Carthage, Scipio had many opponents, especially Cato the Elder, who hated him deeply. In 187 BC, he was tried in a show trial alongside his brother for bribes they supposedly received from the Seleucid king Antiochos III during the Roman–Seleucid War. Disillusioned by the ingratitude of his peers, Scipio left Rome and retired from public life at his villa in Liternum.

                Early years

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                Family

                [ edit ]

              Scipio Africanus was born as Publius Cornelius Scipio in 236 BC to his then-homonymous father and Pomponia into the family of the Cornelii Scipiones. [ 2 ] His family was one of the major still-extant patrician families and had held multiple consulships within living memory: his great-grandfather Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus and grandfather Lucius Cornelius Scipio had both been consuls and censors. [ 3 ] His father had held the consulship of 218 BC, [ 4 ] his uncle was consul in 222 BC, [ 5 ] and his mother's brothers – Manius Pomponius Matho and Marcus Pomponius Matho – were both consuls in 233 and 231, respectively. [ 6 ]

                Early military service

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              The Second Punic war started in the spring of 218 BC when the Roman ultimatum to Carthage demanding that Hannibal withdraw from Saguntum in Spain was rejected. [ 7 ] Scipio's father was consul that year [ 8 ] and the younger Scipio joined him in the campaign to stop Hannibal's march on Italy. In a short cavalry engagement between Scipio's father and Hannibal at the river Ticinus near modern Pavia, [ 9 ] Polybius claims that the son saved his father's life after the father was encircled by enemy horsemen. [ 10 ] Other sources, however, credit an unnamed Ligurian slave. [ 11 ]

              Two years later, in 216 BC, Scipio served as military tribune. He survived the disastrous Battle of Cannae – his father-in-law, the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus, was there slain [ 11 ] – and, after the battle, rallied survivors at Canusium. [ 12 ] According to Livy, when he heard that Lucius Caecilius Metellus and other young nobles were discussing a plan to abandon the republic and go overseas to serve as mercenaries, Scipio stormed into the meeting and forced all of them at sword-point to swear to Jupiter and the Capitoline triad that they would never abandon Rome. [ 13 ] This story is probably a late invention, as it does not appear in Polybius. [ 14 ]

              The next year, in 213 BC, he was elected curule aedile and served with his cousin Marcus Cornelius Cethegus. [ 15 ] His candidacy was opposed by one of the plebeian tribunes on the grounds that he had not yet reached the minimum age, but the voters expressed such enthusiastic support for Scipio that the tribune desisted. [ 16 ]

                Second Punic War

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                Campaign in Hispania

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              Roman campaigning from 210–206 BC in Hispania

              A Carthaginian coin depicting Hasdrubal Barca (245–207 BC), one of Hannibal's younger brothers, wearing a diadem

              From the start of the war through to 211 BC, Scipio's father, Publius Cornelius Scipio, and uncle – Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus – were in command of Rome's armies in Spain. They made some headway when the Carthaginians were forced to withdraw a considerable portion of their forces to handle a revolt by Syphax of Numidia. Through the seven years from 218, the brothers had successfully extended Roman control deep into Carthaginian territory. [ 17 ] However, disaster struck in 211 BC when the brothers divided their forces to attack three separate Carthaginian armies and were defeated in detail. The brothers fell in separate battles against the Carthaginians, who were led by Hasdrubal Barca, Mago Barca, and Hasdrubal Gisco; the two Barcas were Hannibal's brothers. [ 18 ]

              Initially, Gaius Claudius Nero – who was praetor in 212 BC – was sent to contain the situation. [ 19 ] But in 210 BC, the assembly elected Scipio to take command. [ 20 ] Modern scholars dismiss the Livian narrative of senatorial indecision and have instead suggested that the senate chose Scipio but forced a popular vote to legitimise an irregular command. [ 21 ] Giving Scipio command was an extraordinary act, as he at this point had never held a praetorship or consulship, but was regardless granted imperium pro consule, taking command on his arrival to Spain in the early autumn. [ 22 ] He was the first person to have been given proconsular imperium without having held consular office. [ 23 ] He went to Spain with some 10,000 reinforcements [ 21 ] and was joined by another commander, Marcus Junius Silanus, who was dispatched pro praetore and soon assumed command of Nero's army. [ 20 ]

              Seeking to defeat the three Carthaginian armies in detail, [ 21 ] the next year, 209 BC, saw Scipio's first major campaign: he besieged Carthago Nova (modern Cartagena), which was a major Carthaginian logistics hub and of substantial strategic importance. In the battle, he captured the city by sending a wading party across the lagoon to the city's north when it reached low tide, he told the troops that he had a vision in which the god Neptune had promised aid; this alleged vision played a role in the rapid development of a Scipionic legend around him and his family. [ 24 ] Storming the city rapidly and with little ability to tell combatants and civilians apart, Scipio ordered his men to massacre all they encountered and pillage any structures; Polybius viewed the massacre as intended to terrorise the Spanish population into rapidly surrendering and included an anecdote of Romans being so thorough as to cut even the dogs and other animals in half. [ 25 ] He then forced the surrender of Mago in the citadel and rapidly switched his tune, sparing the remaining citizens and only enslaving the town's non-citizens. He then took the three hundred Spanish hostages into his custody, giving them gifts, guaranteeing their safety and that of their families, and promising them freedom if their respective communities would ally with Rome. [ 26 ]

              After the battle, several Spanish tribes defected to the Romans. The next year, 208 BC, Scipio fought Hasdrubal north of the river Baetis, near Baecula. While Scipio was victorious, the battle was indecisive and Hasdrubal escaped north with most of his army across the Pyrenees for Italy; [ 27 ] Hasdrubal and his army reached Italy in 207, where they were eventually defeated in the Battle of the Metaurus with the army destroyed and Hasdrubal slain. [ 28 ] The following year, Hasdrubal was replaced by a certain Hanno, who was captured by Junius Silanus in Celtiberia. Following the army under Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, which retreated to Gades (modern Cádiz), Scipio's brother took Orongis (modern Jaén) before a decisive victory in 206 BC at the Battle of Ilipa, north of modern Seville, forced the Carthaginians to withdraw from the peninsula. [ 29 ] In mopping-up operations, Scipio captured Ilourgeia and Castulo, inflicting severe punishment on the former for having killed refugees from his army. Other Roman commanders captured other towns in Spain, including Astapa, whose inhabitants committed mass suicide. [ 30 ] After a quickly-suppressed revolt by Spanish tribes when false rumours of Scipio's death from illness spread, he crossed into Africa to solicit the support of Syphax and thence into western Hispania to meet Massinissa for the same purpose. [ 31 ] Syphax pledged loyalty but eventually joined with the Carthaginians; Massinissa, however, joined with the Romans with a small contingent when Syphax expelled him the kingdom of Massylii. [ 32 ] Meanwhile, Gades surrendered to the Romans. [ 33 ]

              Some time c. 206 BC , Scipio also founded the town of Italica (located about 9 km northwest of Seville), which later became the birthplace of the emperors, Trajan, Hadrian, and Theodosius I. [ 34 ] [ 35 ]

              With a general victory across the peninsula, Scipio then returned to Rome to stand for the consulship of 205 BC, leaving Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus in command. [ 36 ] [ 37 ] He returned to Rome late in the year; according to Livy he was denied a triumph, [ 38 ] on the grounds that he was privatus – that is, sine magistratu, – and had never been elected to a magistracy with imperium. [ 39 ] [ 40 ]

                African campaign

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              A Carthaginian coin possibly depicting Hannibal as Hercules (i.e. Heracles)

              Scipio was elected unanimously to the consulship of 205 BC amid much enthusiasm; [ 41 ] he was 31 and still technically too young to be consul. [ 42 ] When he entered into office, he demanded that the senate assign him the province of Africa and threatened to take the matter to the popular assemblies if it refused to do so. Despite fierce opposition from the princeps senatus, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, the senate bowed to his pressure and he received Sicily with permission to cross into Africa if he wished. [ 43 ] [ 44 ] Fabius' opposition may have been related to jealousy of Scipio's popularity, but also was likely informed by the failed African campaign c. 255 BC under Marcus Atilius Regulus during the First Punic War, which saw the Carthaginians' war efforts renewed. [ 45 ] The senate, regardless, assigned Scipio no additional soldiers, leading him to recruit an army of volunteers; [ 46 ] Livy reports that from his clients and supporters in Italy, he mustered some 30 warships and 7,000 men. [ 47 ]

              He spent most of his consulship preparing his troops in Sicily for the invasion of Africa. He captured Locri on the toe of Italy that year, and left one Pleminius in command there. [ 48 ] After Pleminius assumed command, he robbed the city's temple and tortured and killed two military tribunes. [ 49 ] For these crimes, the senate had Pleminius placed under arrest; Scipio was also implicated but was cleared the next year. [ 50 ]

                Invasion of Africa

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              His imperium was prorogued into 205 BC and in that year, he crossed with his men into Africa and besieged Utica before withdrawing and pretending in the winter to negotiate with the Carthaginians. [ 51 ] During those pretended negotiations, Scipio mapped out the enemy camps and launched a night attack that was successful in destroying them and killing a large number of the enemy. [ 32 ] The armies then fought in the Battle of the Great Plains some time early in the new year (his imperium was prorogued until the war's completion) and after capturing Syphax of Numidia, restored Massinissa to the kingdom. [ 52 ] The Carthaginians reacted to the defeat by recalling their generals Hannibal and Mago from Italy and launching their fleet against Scipio's to cut off their supply lines. Scipio was forced into a naval battle near Utica, but was able to avert disaster, losing only some sixty transport ships. [ 32 ] Another set of peace negotiations occurred, with the Carthaginians eventually agreeing to abandon all territorial claims in the Mediterranean and beyond, limit her rights to expand in Africa, recognize Massinissa's kingdom, give up all but twenty of her ships, and pay a war indemnity. However, during the negotiations, the Carthaginians – suffering from starvation – attacked a Roman food convoy, leading to protests to be sent and envoys exchanged. [ 53 ]

              Amid further attempts to remove him from command – one of the consuls of 203 BC, Gnaeus Servilius Caepio, attempted to substitute himself for Scipio to claim credit for the final blow against Carthage; [ 54 ] the consuls of 202 BC coveted the African command for the same reason [ 55 ] – Scipio refused peace terms at a parley with Hannibal in 202 BC. With the support of Masinissa's Numidian cavalry, the Battle of Zama was fought shortly after; the Romans won [ 56 ] and Carthage then again sued for peace. [ 57 ]

              In the new year, 201 BC, Scipio remained in Africa to conclude negotiations, which saw Carthage's territory kept to the status quo ante bellum, Carthage restore to the Romans all captured goods and persons, Carthaginian disarmament of all but ten triremes, and Carthage needing to ask for Roman permission to make any war. Massinissa's territory in Numidia was to be confirmed; and a war indemnity of 10,000 talents was to be paid over the next fifty years. [ 58 ] Although the consul of 201 BC, Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus attempted to oppose the peace so that he could continue the war in Scipio's place, the peace terms were ratified by the assembly in Rome, bringing the war to a final close. [ 59 ]

                Return

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              On his return, Scipio celebrated a triumph over Hannibal, the Carthaginians, and Syphax. There, he took the agnomen Africanus ("the African"), for his victories. [ 60 ] By this point, Scipio's career reached far beyond his peers even though he was only in his early thirties. [ 56 ] On his return, he deposited some 123,000 pounds of silver into the Roman treasury and distributed 400 asses each to his soldiers. [ 61 ]

              His popularity among the plebs was also astonishing – the Scipionic legend, which in later forms depicted him a son of Jupiter, – and heralded great political success. [ 23 ] This success, however, turned many Roman aristocrats into his enemies, largely to oppose his further aggrandisement or out of jealousy. Even during his consulship, he had been opposed by Fabius Maximus and others, especially after stories circulated of his being saluted as king and god in Spain. [ 62 ] His intended role in Roman politics, however, remained traditional. [ 23 ]

                Later life

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              Bronze bust dated mid-first century BC, formerly identified as Scipio Africanus, now thought to portray a priest of Isis

                Censorship and second consulship

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              In the year 199 BC, Scipio was elected censor with Publius Aelius Paetus as his colleague. Their censorship was largely unremarkable, but saw Scipio named as princeps senatus, a title which he retained for the next two lustra. [ 63 ] After this point, the classicist Howard Hayes Scullard believed that Scipio's political position entered an eclipse. [ 64 ] This is disputed. [ 65 ]

              After the required ten years between consulships had elapsed, Scipio secured election to the consulship of 194 BC. During his second consulship, he wanted to succeed Titus Quinctius Flamininus in Greece and advocated for a stronger Roman presence in the Aegean to guard against Antiochus III, but was unsuccessful. [ 23 ] He instead fought the Boii and Ligurians in northern Italy, [ 66 ] against whom the Romans had been continuously campaigning since 201 BC. [ 67 ] Scipio let his co-consul, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, take the leading role in the fighting and returned to Rome to hold the consular elections. [ 68 ]

              In 193 BC, Scipio is said to have taken part in two embassies. The first was to Africa, where he was one of three sent to arbitrate a boundary dispute between Carthage and Masinissa: the commission left the matter undecided, possibly on purpose. [ 69 ] The second embassy is said to have been to Asia and, on the basis of travel time, could not have happened. During the alleged embassy, Scipio is apocryphally said to have discussed the best generals with Hannibal at Ephesus. [ 70 ] [ 71 ]

                War with Antiochus

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              Antiochus sends his son to Scipio. Painting by Jean-Pierre Granger (c. 1800 ).

              In 192 BC, Rome declared war on Antiochus, [ 72 ] who – after a cold war with the Romans starting from the close of the Second Macedonian War through to 193 BC – had invaded Greece. [ 73 ] Antiochus' initial push into Greece was met with little enthusiasm by the locals, who were well-treated in a peaceful and largely open interstate system in the aftermath of the Roman proclamation of Greek freedom. It did not help that the cities that he did take had to be taken by force. [ 72 ] The consul of 191 BC, Manius Acilius Glabrio, arrived in the spring and promptly defeated Antiochus at the Battle of Thermopylae – Antiochus lost the battle and was forced back across the Aegean to Ephesus within six months of the war's start. [ 74 ]

              The consul of 190 BC was Scipio Africanus' brother, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, who was assigned by the senate to Greece with permission to cross into Asia. He appointed his older brother, Scipio Africanus, as one of his legates. [ 75 ] While en route, Roman armies and fleets quickly overwhelmed Antiochus' defences, forcing him to retreat from the Hellespont and Abydos; by October 190 BC, when the Scipios arrived, the Romans had an army in Asia minor. Antiochus offered terms – a war indemnity to cover half the cost of the war and abandonment of his claims to Smyrna, Lapsacus, Alexandria Troas, and other towns – but the Scipiones rejected the offer based on the Roman war aim of reshaping to their benefit the Aegean balance of power. They responded by demanding Antiochus cede all territory to the Taurus mountains and pay an indemnity covering the entire cost of the war; the demands were so extreme he immediately broke off negotiations. Late in the year, around mid-December, Antiochus' forces engaged the Romans at Magnesia; even though they outnumbered the Romans and allies by at least two to one, Antiochus' army of some 60,000 men was routed. [ 76 ]

              Shortly before Magnesia, Antiochus offered Scipio Africanus a bribe to secure favourable peace terms, which Africanus rejected. At the battle itself, he claimed illness, but was selected to present the Roman peace terms regardless. [ 23 ] The credit for the victory accrued to his brother and commander, Lucius. The peace terms presented at Sardis were largely the Roman demands prior to the battle: Antiochus would cede all territory outside the Taurus line (eventually determined to be from Cape Sarpedon in Cilicia through to the river Tanais), [ 77 ] pay a war indemnity of 15,000 talents to Rome with a separate 400 talents to Eumenes, all exiles and enemies of Rome would be handed over (including Hannibal) along with twenty hostages (including Antiochus' youngest son). [ 78 ]

                Trials of the Scipios

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              The 190s BC saw a re-emergence of attempts by the aristocratic elite to put limits on individual ambitions. The return of the Scipiones to Rome saw claims over Lucius Scipio's triumph disputed: critics thought the Scipiones had been fighting a weak enemy and that the war had actually truly been won a year earlier at Thermopylae. His triumph, however, was approved regardless. [ 79 ] Lucius' attempt to secure from the senate a prorogation to oversee the settlement of Asia also was rejected; no exception would be made to the general post-Hannibalic war rule against promagistrates. [ 80 ] Lucius Scipio adopted the cognomen Asiagenes [ 81 ] and at his triumph brought some 137,420 pounds of silver, 224,000 tetradrachms, 140,000 gold coins, 234 gold crowns, 1231 ivory tusks, and more into the city. His soldiers were granted bonuses of 25 denarii each, with more to officers and cavalry. [ 82 ]

              These enormous amounts of plunder triggered moral panic at Rome about the possible diversion of those funds to extravagant private use. [ 83 ] These troubles related to the broader matter of charting the boundaries of power that magistrates could exercise abroad, especially in relation of monies obtained in war. [ 84 ] A confusing mess of stories related to the Scipiones' legal troubles are recorded in the ancient sources. [ 85 ]

              Scipio Asiagenes was in fact indicted. He was not alone, his successor in Asia – Gnaeus Manlius Vulso – also was brought up on charges. Regardless, the trial forced a full accounting of cash paid by Antiochus to Manlius and Asiagenes. After Asiagenes was fined – either by a special court or by tribunician legislation – he refused to pay the fine, claiming poverty, and was only saved from prison when one of the plebeian tribunes, usually identified as Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, interceded. [ 86 ]

              Africanus was around the same time challenged in the senate. A senator demanded that he produce his account-books for the Antiochene campaign and account for the monies allotted to pay his troops. He responded with indignation and declared that he owed no reckoning. Securing the account-books from his brother, he waved them before the senators and then tore them up, asking the rhetorical question as to how the senate could be concerned with a mere 3,000 talents when he had brought 15,000 into the treasury by conquering Spain, Africa, and Asia. [ 87 ]

              One story, given by Valerius Antias, indicates that one of the tribunes at the urging of Cato the Elder brought charges against Scipio Africanus alleging bribery and theft. Antias then has Scipio respond with a rousing oration detailing his services to the republic and noting that the day is the anniversary of the Battle of Zama. At this notice, he then leads an impromptu procession to sacrifice at the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus amid thunderous applause, leaving the prosecutors embarrassed. This story, however, "generates little confidence". [ 88 ]

              The legal troubles proved little trouble for the Scipiones, as evidence by Asiagenes' lavish games in 186 and vigorous campaign for the censorship of 184 (he was unsuccessful). Friends of the Scipiones continued to win consular elections. Scipio himself retired to Liternum; "the idea that he retired in semi-exile or ignominy is pure romance". [ 89 ]

                Death

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              The entrance to the Tomb of the Scipios

              Scipio retired to his country seat at Liternum on the coast of Campania, where he died. There are multiple dates reported for his death. Polybius and Rutilius, who both lived shortly after his death, report that he died in 183 BC; the later historian Valerius Antias reported that he died in 187 BC. Livy, arguing against both dates in his history, believed Scipio died c. 185 BC , rejecting both dates with the argument that if Scipio lived to 183 he would be noted as princeps senatus and that Scipio had to have lived to 185 BC to have been prosecuted by the Naevius who was tribune in that year. [ 90 ] However, most modern sources, such as the Oxford Classical Dictionary, prefer 183 BC. [ 23 ]

              It is not clear where Scipio Africanus was buried. There are three main possibilities. The first is the Tomb of the Scipios in Rome. Nothing survives in the literary record documenting his burial there, however. [ 91 ] The second is his villa at Liternum: it was later owned by Seneca the Younger, who in a letter expressed his belief that an altar there was Africanus' tomb. [ 92 ] The third is the pyramidal Meta Romuli which was ahistorically dubbed the Sepulcrum Scipionis during the Renaissance. [ 93 ]

                Marriage and issue

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              Scipio married Aemilia Tertia, [ 94 ] daughter of the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus who fell at Cannae. [ 95 ] She was also the sister of another consul, Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus. [ 96 ] Scipio's marriage was fruitful.

              They had three sons:

                * Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio, who became praetor in 177 BC;
                * Lucius Cornelius Scipio, who became praetor in 174 BC; and
                * Publius Cornelius Scipio, who was inducted into the augurate in 180 BC. [ 94 ]

              They also had two daughters. Both were named Cornelia. The elder married Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum. The younger Cornelia married Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and became mother to the Gracchi brothers, Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus. [ 97 ]

              None of his sons had legitimate issue. However, his son Publius adopted the son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, who became known as Scipio Aemilianus. [ 98 ] Scipio's only descendants living through the late Republican period were the descendants of his two daughters. His younger daughter's last surviving child Sempronia, wife and then widow of Scipio Aemilianus – his adoptive grandson [ 99 ] – was alive as late as 102 BC. [ citation needed ]

                Personality and traits

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                Roman opinions of Scipio

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              Scipio was a man of great intellect and culture who could speak and read Greek, wrote his own memoirs in Greek and became also noted for his introduction of the clean shaven face fashion among the Romans according to the example of Alexander the Great instead of wearing the beard. This man's fashion lasted until the time of emperor Hadrian (r. 117–138), then was revived by Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) and lasted until the reign of emperor Phocas (r. 602–610) who again introduced the wearing of the beard among Roman emperors. [ 100 ] He also enjoyed the reputation of being a graceful orator, the secret of his sway being his deep self-confidence and radiant sense of fairness. [ 101 ]

              To his political opponents, he was often harsh and arrogant, but towards others singularly gracious and sympathetic. His Graecophile lifestyle, and his unconventional way of wearing the Roman toga, raised much opposition among some Senators of Rome, led by Cato the Elder who felt that Greek influence was destroying Roman culture. Cato, as a loyalist of Fabius Maximus, had been sent out as quaestor to Scipio in Sicily circa 204 BC to investigate charges of military indiscipline, corruption, and other offence against Scipio; none of those charges was found true by the tribunes of the plebs accompanying Cato (it may or may not be significant that years later, as censor, Cato degraded Scipio's brother Scipio Asiaticus from the Senate. It is certainly true that some Romans of the day viewed Cato as a representative of the old Romans, and Scipio and his like as Graecophiles). [ 101 ]

              He often visited the temple of Jupiter and made offerings there. There was a belief that he was a special favourite of heaven and actually communicated with the gods. It is quite possible that he himself honestly shared this belief. However, the strength of this belief is evident, even a generation later when his adopted grandson, Publius Aemilianus Scipio, was elected to the consulship from the office of tribune. His rise was spectacular and letters survive from soldiers under his command in Hispania show that they believed that he possessed the same abilities as his grandfather. [ 101 ]

              The elder Scipio was a spiritual man as well as a soldier and statesman, and was a priest of Mars. The ability which he is supposed to have possessed is called by the old name, "second sight", and he is supposed to have had prescient dreams in which he saw the future. Livy describes this belief as it was perceived then, without offering his opinion as to its veracity. Polybius made a case that Scipio's successes resulted from good planning, rational thinking and intelligence, which he said was a higher sign of the gods' favour than prophetic dreams. Polybius suggested that people had only said that Scipio had supernatural powers because they had not appreciated the natural mental gifts which facilitated Scipio's achievements. [ 101 ]

                The continence of Scipio

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              Continence of Scipio, Nicolas-Guy Brenet

              The Roman historian Valerius Maximus, writing in the first century AD, alleged that Scipio Africanus had a weakness for beautiful women, and knowing this, some of his soldiers presented him with a beautiful young woman captured in New Carthage. The woman turned out to be the fiancée of an important Iberian chieftain [ 102 ] and Scipio chose to act as a general and not an ordinary soldier in restoring her, virtue and ransom intact, to her fiancé. [ 103 ] This episode was frequently depicted by painters of the Renaissance and early modern era as the Continence of Scipio.

              According to Valerius Maximus, Scipio had a relationship from c. 191 BC with one of his own serving girls, which his wife magnanimously overlooked. [ 104 ] The affair, if it lasted from circa 191 BC to Scipio's death 183 BC, might have resulted in issue (not mentioned); what is mentioned is that the girl was freed by Aemilia Paulla after Scipio's death and married to one of his freedmen. This account is only found in Valerius Maximus (Memorable Deeds and Sayings 6.7.1–3. L) writing in the first century AD, some decades after Livy. Valerius Maximus is hostile to Scipio Africanus in other matters such as his frequent visits to the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which Maximus saw as "fake religion."

                Lost works

                [ edit ]

              Scipio is said to have written his memoirs in Greek, but those are lost (perhaps destroyed) along with the history written by his elder son and namesake (adoptive father of Scipio Aemilianus) and his Life by Plutarch. As a result, contemporary accounts of his life, particularly his childhood and youth, are virtually non-existent. Even Plutarch's account of Scipio's life, written much later, has been lost.

              What remains are accounts of his doings in Polybius, Livy's Histories (which say little about his private life), supplemented with the surviving histories of Appian and Cassius Dio, and the odd anecdote in Valerius Maximus. Of these, Polybius was the closest to Scipio Africanus in age and in connections, but his narrative may be biased by his friendship with Scipio's close relatives and that the primary source of his information about Africanus came from one of his best friends, Gaius Laelius.

                Legacy

                [ edit ]

                Military

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              18th century bust formerly identified as Scipio at Cameron Gallery in Tsarskoye Selo, Russia

              Scipio is considered by many to be one of Rome's greatest generals. Skillful alike in strategy and in tactics, he had also the faculty of inspiring his soldiers with confidence. Livy reports that, as a Roman commissioner to Ephesus following the defeat of Antiochus III, on meeting the exiled Hannibal, Scipio took the opportunity to ask Hannibal's opinion of the "greatest commander," to which Hannibal named Alexander the Great as the first and Pyrrhus as the second. [ 105 ]

              Livy continues, "On Scipio's again asking him whom he regarded as the third, Hannibal, without any hesitation, replied, 'Myself.' Scipio smiled and asked, 'What would you say if you had vanquished me?' 'In that case,' replied Hannibal, 'I should say that I surpassed Alexander and Pyrrhus, and all other commanders in the world.' Scipio was delighted with the turn which the speaker had with true Carthaginian adroitness given to his answer, and the unexpected flattery it conveyed, because Hannibal had set him apart from the ordinary run of military captains as an incomparable commander." [ 105 ]

              Metellus Scipio, a descendant of Scipio, commanded legions against Julius Caesar in Africa until his defeat at the Battle of Thapsus in 49 BC. Popular superstition was that only a Scipio could win a battle in Africa, so Julius Caesar assigned a distant relative of Metellus to his staff in order to say that he too had a Scipio fighting for him. [ 106 ] [ 107 ]

                Political

                [ edit ]

              Scipio was the first Roman general to expand Roman territories outside Italy and islands around the Italian mainland. He conquered the Carthaginian territory of Iberia for Rome, although the two Iberian provinces were not fully pacified for a couple of centuries. His defeat of Hannibal at Zama paved the way for Carthage's eventual destruction in 146 BC. His interest in a Graecophile lifestyle had tremendous influence on the Roman elite; more than a century later, even the conservative Cato Uticensis (great-grandson of the elder Cato) espoused Greek philosophy.

              Scipio did not introduce Greek ideas or art to the Romans, but his ardent support for the Greek way of life coupled with his own charisma had its inevitable impact. Less beneficially, the Scipios may have led the way in the inevitable chasm that grew up between the Roman elite and the Roman masses, in terms of the way the elite was educated and lived and in the amount of wealth they possessed.

              Scipio supported land distribution for his veterans in a tradition harking back to the earliest days of the Republic, yet his actions were seen as somewhat radical by conservatives. In being a successful general who demanded lands for his soldiers, Scipio may have led the way for later generals such as Gaius Marius and Julius Caesar. Unlike Marius or Caesar, however, he did not seek to use his charisma and reputation to weaken the Republic. The true measure of Scipio's character in this regard can perhaps be seen by his behaviour shortly after returning in triumph from Africa to a grateful Rome. Scipio refused to accept demands for him to become perpetual consul and dictator. For his self-restraint in putting the good of the republic ahead of his own gain, Scipio was praised by Livy for showing uncommon greatness of mind—an example conspicuously not emulated by Marius, Sulla or Caesar. [ 101 ]

              The relatives of Scipio continued to dominate the republic for a couple of generations. This domination came to an end in the tumults between the Gracchi brothers, who were his grandsons, and their other relatives in the period from 133 to 122 BC. The Gracchi brothers championed land redistribution in order to boost the ranks of potential Roman soldiers, as Roman soldiers needed to own land to be enfranchised for service in the legions and the number of Roman land owners was withering. They were lynched by their relatives who disapproved of their methods and perhaps had economic reasons to fear the land redistribution.

              After the fall of the Gracchi, the house of Caecilius became more prominent. However, the Scipiones maintained their aristocratic lustre, providing the consular general who unsuccessfully prevented Sulla's second march on Rome and Metellus Scipio whose daughter was the last wife of Pompey the Great, and who took over command in the civil war against Julius Caesar after the death of Pompey. The granddaughter of Gaius Gracchus, Fulvia, was also unusually prominent for a Roman woman in the affairs of the late republic, marrying Publius Clodius, Gaius Curio and Mark Antony in turn. At a later date, some Roman emperors claimed descent from Scipio Africanus.

                Cultural depictions

                [ edit ]

                Classical literature

                [ edit ]

              Scipio appears or is mentioned in passing in Cicero's De Republica and De Amicitia, and in Silius Italicus' Punica (Cicero was mentored by prominent Romans whose ancestors had been associated with Scipio). As a Roman hero, Scipio appears in Book VI of the Aeneid where he is shown to Aeneas in a vision in the underworld. Scipio figures prominently in Livy's "Ab urbe condita libri" and is named as an example of a warrior at the end of Book III of Lucretius' De rerum natura.

                Medieval literature

                [ edit ]

              Scipio is mentioned four times in Dante's Divine Comedy: in "Inferno"—Canto XXXI, in "Purgatorio"—Canto XXIX, and in "Paradiso"—Cantos VI and XXVII.

                Renaissance literature and art

                [ edit ]

              Portrait of Scipio Africanus, marble, c. 1460–1465, by Mino da Fiesole (Philadelphia Museum of Art)

              Scipio is the hero of Petrarch's Latin epic Africa. 'The Continence [i.e. moderation] of Scipio' was a stock motif in exemplary literature and art, [ 108 ] as was the 'Dream of Scipio', portraying his allegorical choice between Virtue and Luxury. [ 109 ] The Continence of Scipio, depicting his clemency and sexual restraint after the fall of Carthago Nova, was an even more popular subject. Versions of the subject were painted by many artists from the Renaissance through to the 19th century, including Andrea Mantegna and Nicolas Poussin.

              Scipio is mentioned in Machiavelli's work The Prince (Chapter XVII "Concerning Cruelty And Clemency, And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared"). Milton mentions Scipio in Book 9 of Paradise Lost and in Book 3 of Paradise Regained. Raphael's painting Vision of a Knight is thought to be a depiction of Scipio.

                Music

                [ edit ]

              Publius Cornelius Scipio was the title character of a number of Italian operas composed during the baroque period of music, including settings by George Frideric Handel, Leonardo Vinci, and Carlo Francesco Pollarolo. The march from Handel's setting, entitled Scipione, remains the regimental slow march of the British Grenadier Guards. Scipio is also referenced in the Italian national anthem.

                Film and television

                [ edit ]

              Shortly before Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, Benito Mussolini commissioned an epic film depicting the exploits of Scipio. Scipione l'africano, written by Carmine Gallone, won the Mussolini Cup for the greatest Italian film at the 1937 Venice Film Festival.

              In 1971 Luigi Magni scripted and directed the movie Scipione, detto anche l'Africano (Scipio, aka "the African"), starring Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Silvana Mangano and Woody Strode, in which the historical events are portrayed in a light and satirical mode, with some intentional references to the political events of the time in which the movie was made.

              In the 1983 BBC mini-series The Cleopatras, Scipio is portrayed by Geoffrey Whitehead.

              In the 2000 film Gladiator, the first battle in the Colosseum is meant to re-enact Scipio Africanus's battle of Zama against Hannibal's barbarian horde. In the film, Maximus ruins the re-enactment by leading the gladiators, who are meant to represent Hannibal's forces, to victory over Scipio's legionaries.

              In the 2006 television film Hannibal, he is portrayed by British actor Shaun Dingwall, notably at the battles of Cannae and Zama.

                Video games

                [ edit ]

              Scipio features as a playable character, represented by a cataphract, in the Battle of Zama in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. He also appears in the Haemimont Games video game Imperivm III: The Great Battles of Rome, Centurion: Defender of Rome, [ 110 ] and in the Hannibal at the Gates campaign in Total War: Rome II. Scipio appears twice as a playable character in the Mobile/PC Game Rise of Kingdoms.

                Offices

                [ edit ]

              The following table is derived from Broughton 1952, p. 555 unless otherwise indicated.

                Year (BC)  Office               Colleague                                   Comment                                                                      
                                                    * Appius Claudius Pulcher                                                                                            
                                                    * Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus                                                                                          
                216        Military tribune         * Quintus Fabius Maximus                                                                                             
                                                    * Gnaeus Octavius                                                                                                    
                                                    * Lucius Publicius Bibulus                                                                                           
                                                    * Publius Sempronius Tuditanus [ 111 ]                                                                               
                213        Curule aedile        Marcus Cornelius Cethegus [ 112 ]                                                                                        
                216–210    Proconsul                                                        Spain                                                                        
                205        Consul               Publius Licinius Crassus Dives [ 48 ]       Assigned Sicily extra sortem, then further assigned Africa [ 48 ]            
                204–201    Proconsul                                                        Continuously prorogued in Africa; victor of Zama in 202 [ 113 ]              
                199        Censor               Publius Aelius Paetus [ 114 ]                                                                                            
                199–189    Princeps senatus                                                 Chosen princeps senatus in his own censorship [ 114 ]                        
                194        Consul               Tiberius Sempronius Longus [ 115 ]          Fought the Boii and Ligurians [ 66 ]                                         
                193        Legate (ambassador)                                              Sent to Africa to settle boundary dispute and thence possibly to Asia [ 116 ]
                190        Legate (lieutenant)                                              Served under his brother, Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus [ 117 ]          
                184?       Legate?                                                          Possibly legate in Etruria [ 118 ]                                           
                

                  See also

                  [ edit ]
                  * Scipio–Paullus–Gracchus family tree

                  Notes

                  [ edit ]
                   1. ^ Etcheto 2012 , pp. 274–278.
                   2. ^ Zmeskal 2009 , p. 97.
                   3. ^ Zmeskal 2009 , p. 92. Barbatus was consul in 298 and censor in 280; Lucius was consul in 259 and 258 BC.
                   4. ^ Zmeskal 2009 , pp. 96–97.
                   5. ^ Zmeskal 2009 , p. 96.
                   6. ^ Zmeskal 2009 , p. 221.
                   7. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 45.
                   8. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 237.
                   9. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 49.
                  10. ^ Briscoe 2012 ; Polyb. , 10.3.5. Pliny the Elder , writing in the 1st century AD, mentions that Scipio refused the civic crown for the deed. Goldsworthy 2003 , p. 53, citing Plin. NH , 16.14.
                  11. ^ a b Goldsworthy 2003 , p. 53.
                  12. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 251.
                  13. ^ Livy , 22.53. See also, on Metellus, Broughton 1951 , p. 260.
                  14. ^ Ridley, R T (1975). "Was Scipio Africanus at Cannae?". Latomus. 34 (1): 161–165. ISSN 0023-8856. JSTOR 41529611. Ridley cites Scullard 1929 , p. 38.
                  15. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 263. Livy , 25.2.6, wrongly dates this to 212 BC; patricians held the curule aedileship in odd years, implying 213. Broughton also dismisses the "story that Scipio won election both for himself and his brother" – originating in Polyb. , 10.4–5 – as "intrinsically improbable" and notes its general scholarly rejection. Broughton 1951 , p. 267 n. 4.
                  16. ^ Livy , 25.2. Livy also records Scipio's response: "If the Quirites are unanimous in their desire to appoint me aedile, I am quite old enough".
                  17. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 57.
                  18. ^ Briscoe 1989 , pp. 57–59.
                  19. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 59, citing Livy , 35.32–39.
                  20. ^ a b Broughton 1951 , p. 280.
                  21. ^ a b c Goldsworthy 2003 , p. 56.
                  22. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 59; Broughton 1951 , p. 280.
                  23. ^ a b c d e f Briscoe 2012 .
                  24. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 59, citing Livy , 26.17–20.
                  25. ^ Polyb. , 10.15.4–5.
                  26. ^ Baker, Gabriel David (2021). Spare no one: mass violence in Roman warfare. War and Society. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 118–120. ISBN 978-1-5381-1221-2. OCLC 1182021748.
                  27. ^ Briscoe 1989 , pp. 59–60.
                  28. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 55, citing Livy , 26.38–39, 27.1–2, 27.12–16.
                  29. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 60, citing Polyb. , 11.20–24; Livy , 28.1–28.4.4, 12.10–16, 19–21.
                  30. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 60.
                  31. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 62.
                  32. ^ a b c Briscoe 1989 , p. 63.
                  33. ^ Briscoe 1989 , pp. 60–61.
                  34. ^ Canto, Alicia M (2004). "Itálica, sedes natalis de Adriano. 31 textos históricos y argumentos para una secular polémica (2004)". Athenaeum (in Spanish). 92: 367–408.
                  35. ^ Canto, Alicia M (2006). "Sobre el origen bético de Teodosio I el Grande, y su improbable nacimiento en Cauca de Gallaecia (2006)". Latomus (in Spanish). 65 (2): 388–421.
                  36. ^ Briscoe 1989 , pp. 60–61, citing Livy , 28.38.1 for the turnover in command.
                  37. ^ Broughton 1951 , pp. 299–300, noting Lentulus was another privatus cum imperio ; both Lentulus and Acidinus were prorogued pro consule . Lentulus and Acidinus are those reported at Livy , 28.38.1; Polyb. , 11.33.8 instead has Scipio leave Silanus and Lucius Marcius Septimius – one of Scipio's legates – in command.
                  38. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 299, citing Livy , 28.38.4, 31.20.3; Polyb. , 11.33.7; App. Hisp. , 38. Broughton also suggests the possibility of an ovatio .
                  39. ^ Gruen 1995 , p. 61 n. 3, citing Livy , 28.38.2–4; Val. Max. , 2.8.5; Dio, 17.57.6.
                  40. ^ Richardson, J S (1975). "The triumph, the praetors and the senate in the early second century BC". Journal of Roman Studies. 65: 50–63. doi:10.2307/370063. ISSN 0075-4358. JSTOR 370063. S2CID 163561022.
                  41. ^ Livy , 28.38. "[A]ll the centuries voted amidst much enthusiasm for Scipio... It is recorded that a larger number of voters took part in that election than at any other time during the war. They had come from all parts, not only to give their votes, but also to get sight of Scipio".
                  42. ^ Goldsworthy 2003 , p. 51.
                  43. ^ Drogula 2015 , pp. 285, 298–299 n. 4, citing Livy , 28.40.1–2 and Plut. Fab. , 25.2.
                  44. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 63; Broughton 1951 , p. 301.
                  45. ^ Goldsworthy 2003 , p. 75.
                  46. ^ Drogula 2015 , p. 136.
                  47. ^ Livy , 28.45–46.
                  48. ^ a b c Broughton 1951 , p. 301.
                  49. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 304.
                  50. ^ Goldsworthy 2003 , p. 76; Broughton 1951 , p. 308.
                  51. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 308, citing Livy , 29.24–36, 30.3.3–30.4.12.
                  52. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 63; Broughton 1951 , p. 312.
                  53. ^ Briscoe 1989 , pp. 63–64.
                  54. ^ Drogula 2015 , p. 313, citing Livy , 30.24.1–4; Broughton 1951 , p. 311
                  55. ^ Drogula 2015 , p. 134 n. 11, citing Livy , 30.27.1–4. Scipio's position was regardless confirmed by plebiscite in Rome. Broughton 1951 , pp. 317, 320.
                  56. ^ a b Goldsworthy 2003 , p. 76.
                  57. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 64; Broughton 1951 , p. 317.
                  58. ^ Briscoe 1989 , pp. 64–65.
                  59. ^ Briscoe 1989 , p. 65; Broughton 1951 , p. 319.
                  60. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 321, citing Polyb. , 16.23.5.
                  61. ^ Gruen 1995 , p. 70, citing Livy , 30.45.3.
                  62. ^ Briscoe 1989 , pp. 74, 73; Briscoe 2012 .
                  63. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 327; Briscoe 2012 .
                  64. ^ Scullard 1970 , p. 191.
                  65. ^ Gruen, Erich S (1972). "Review of "Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician"". American Journal of Philology. 93 (2): 377–380. doi:10.2307/293271. ISSN 0002-9475. JSTOR 293271. Gruen writes also "there is no hint of an eclipse" politically and calls Scullard's inference that there was one "unfounded".
                  66. ^ a b Broughton 1951 , p. 343.
                  67. ^ Harris, W V. "Roman expansion in the west". In CAH2 8 (1989) , p. 110. "The reimposition of Roman power in northern Italy had a high priority, and each year from 201 to 190 the senate assigned one or both consuls to that region".
                  68. ^ Broughton 1951 , pp. 343, 346 n. 1, noting also that both Plutarch and Nepos confuse Scipio Africanus with Scipio Nasica in this year.
                  69. ^ Briscoe 2012 ; Broughton 1951 , p. 348.
                  70. ^ Briscoe 2012 ; Broughton 1951 , pp. 348–349.
                  71. ^ Goldsworthy 2003 , p. 77, citing Livy , 35.14.
                  72. ^ a b Errington 1989 , p. 283.
                  73. ^ Griffith, G T; Sherwin-White, S M; van der Spek, R J (2012). "Antiochus (3) III". Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.505. ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5.
                  74. ^ Errington 1989 , p. 284.
                  75. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 356, 358.
                  76. ^ Errington 1989 , p. 286.
                  77. ^ Errington 1989 , p. 288.
                  78. ^ Errington 1989 , pp. 286–287.
                  79. ^ Gruen 1995 , p. 65.
                  80. ^ Gruen 1995 , p. 69.
                  81. ^ Briscoe, John (7 March 2016). "Cornelius Scipio Asiagenes, Lucius". Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1868. ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5.
                  82. ^ Gruen 1995 , p. 71. "[N]ew heights of extravagance".
                  83. ^ Gruen 1995 , p. 73.
                  84. ^ Gruen 1995 , p. 87.
                  85. ^ Gruen 1995 , p. 74. "No reconstruction can reconcile all the conflicting testimony".
                  86. ^ Gruen 1995 , pp. 75–77, 86.
                  87. ^ Gruen 1995 , p. 79, citing, among others, Polyb. , 23.14.8–11; Livy , 38.55.10–13; Val. Max. , 3.7.1d.
                  88. ^ Gruen 1995 , pp. 80–81.
                  89. ^ Gruen 1995 , p. 88.
                  90. ^ Miles 1995 , pp. 59–60, referencing Livy, 39.52.
                  91. ^ Lushkov, A Haimson (2014). "Narrative and notice in Livy's fourth decade: the case of Scipio Africanus". Classical Antiquity. 33 (1): 102–129. doi:10.1525/CA.2014.33.1.102. ISSN 0278-6656. S2CID 149035118. Lushkov notes also, p. 121 n. 53, that Livy , 38.56.4 merely claims it is said that statutes of Scipios Africanus and Asiagenes adorn the tomb.
                  92. ^ Sen. Ep. , 86.1. "I am inclined to think is the tomb of that great warrior".
                  93. ^ Richardson, L (1992). A new topographical dictionary of ancient Rome. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 359. ISBN 978-0-8018-4300-6.
                  94. ^ a b Zmeskal 2009 , p. 98.
                  95. ^ Zmeskal 2009 , pp. 22, 21.
                  96. ^ Zmeskal 2009 , p. 22.
                  97. ^ Zmeskal 2009 , p. 99.
                  98. ^ Zmeskal 2009 , p. 100.
                  99. ^ Zmeskal 2009 , pp. 101–102.
                 100. ^ "Barba – NumisWiki, The Collaborative Numismatics Project". Forumancientcoins.com . Retrieved 19 October 2012 .
                 101. ^ a b c d e Liddell Hart, Basil (1992) [1926]. Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon. Greenhill Books. pp. 2–10, 24, 25, 200–207. ISBN 1-85367-132-0.
                 102. ^ Allucius (Livy, History of Rome XXVI.50), cf. Indibilis (Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds and Sayings 4.3.1)
                 103. ^ Livy, Roman History, XXVI, 50 (extract)
                 104. ^ Lefkowitz, Mary; Fant, Maureen (1992). "Women's Life in Greece and Rome (selections): 53. Womanly virtue". Diotíma.
                 105. ^ a b "Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 35, chapter 14". www.perseus.tufts.edu.
                 106. ^ Plutarch , Life of Caesar, 52.4–5
                 107. ^ Suetonius , Life of Caesar, 59
                 108. ^ "Giulio Licinio | The Continence of Scipio | NG643.2 | The National Gallery, London". Nationalgallery.org.uk . Retrieved 19 October 2012 .
                 109. ^ "Raphael | An Allegory ('Vision of a Knight') | NG213 | The National Gallery, London". Nationalgallery.org.uk . Retrieved 19 October 2012 .
                 110. ^ "How to get good generals in Centurion: Defender of Rome?" . Retrieved 8 September 2019 .
                 111. ^ Broughton 1951 , pp. 250–251.
                 112. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 263.
                 113. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 317.
                 114. ^ a b Broughton 1951 , p. 327.
                 115. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 342.
                 116. ^ Broughton 1951 , pp. 348–349.
                 117. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 358.
                 118. ^ Broughton 1951 , p. 377, citing Livy , 38.56.8–9.

                  References

                  [ edit ]

                  Modern sources

                  [ edit ]
                    * Astin, A E; et al., eds. (1989). Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 BC. Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 8 (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23448-4. OCLC 916019669.
                        + Briscoe, John. "The Second Punic War". In CAH2 8 (1989) , pp. 44–80.
                        + Errington, R M. "Rome against Philip and Antiochus". In CAH2 8 (1989) , pp. 244–289.
                    * Briscoe, John (2012). "Cornelius Scipio Africanus, Publius, 'the elder'". Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1867. ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5.
                    * Broughton, Thomas Robert Shannon (1951). The magistrates of the Roman republic. Vol. 1. New York: American Philological Association.
                    * Broughton, Thomas Robert Shannon (1952). The magistrates of the Roman republic. Vol. 2. New York: American Philological Association.
                    * Drogula, Fred (2015). Commanders & command in the Roman republic and early empire. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-4696-2314-6. OCLC 905949529.
                    * Etcheto, Henri (2012). Les Scipions: famille et pouvoir à Rome à l'époque républicaine (in French). Bordeaux: Ausonius Éditions. ISBN 978-2-35613-073-0.
                    * Goldsworthy, Adrian (2003). In the name of Rome: the men who won the Roman empire. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-22183-1.
                    * Gruen, Erich (1995). "The "fall" of the Scipios". In Malkin, I; Rubinsohn, Z W (eds.). Leaders and masses in the Roman world. Mnemosyne Supplements. Vol. 139. Brill. pp. 59–90. doi:10.1163/9789004329447_006. ISBN 978-9-0040-9917-3.
                    * Miles, Gary B (1995). Livy: reconstructing early Rome. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-2461-9.
                    * Scullard, H H (1929). Scipio Africanus in the Second Punic War (PhD thesis). Cambridge University.
                    * Scullard, H H (1970). Scipio Africanus: soldier and politician. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-40012-1. OCLC 80462.
                    * Zmeskal, Klaus (2009). Adfinitas (in German). Vol. 1. Passau: Verlag Karl Stutz. ISBN 978-3-88849-304-1.

                  Primary sources

                  [ edit ]
                    * Livy (1905) [1st century AD]. From the Founding of the City . Translated by Roberts, Canon – via Wikisource.
                    * Polybius (1922–1927) [2nd century BC]. Histories. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Paton, W R. Cambridge: Harvard University Press – via LacusCurtius.
                    * Valerius Maximus (2004). Memorable deeds and sayings: one thousand tales from ancient Rome. Translated by Walker, Henry. Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN 0-87220-675-0. OCLC 53231884.

                  Further reading

                  [ edit ]
                    * Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Scipio § Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 405–406.
                    * Jacobs, John (28 June 2023). "Review of: L'area archeologica del Sepolcro degli Scipioni a Roma: analisi delle strutture di eta imperiale e tardo antica". Bryn Mawr Classical Review. ISSN 1055-7660.
                    * Orosius. History against the pagans.

                  External links

                  [ edit ]
                  * Media related to Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major at Wikimedia Commons
                  * Quotations related to Scipio Africanus at Wikiquote
                  * Works by or about Scipio Africanus at Wikisource
                  Political offices      
                  Preceded by              Roman consul                     Succeeded by              
                    L. Veturius Philo      205 BC                             M. Cornelius Cethegus   
                    Q. Caecilius Metellus  With: P. Licinius Crassus Dives    P. Sempronius Tuditanus 
                  Preceded by              Roman consul II                  Succeeded by              
                    L. Valerius Flaccus    194 BC                             L. Cornelius Merula     
                    Cato the Censor        With: Ti. Sempronius Longus        Q. Minucius Thermus     
                  Preceded by              Roman censor                     Succeeded by              
                    G. Claudius Nero       199 BC                             G. Cornelius Cethegus   
                    M. Livius Salinator    With: P. Aelius Paetus             Sex. Aelius Paetus Catus
                  
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Scipio Africanus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Africanus
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
2024-03-09T14:40:45Z
<div><div>
							

						<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
					</div><div><p>This article is about the consul of 151 BC. For other Romans with the same name, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Licinius_Lucullus_(disambiguation)">Lucius Licinius Lucullus</a>.</p>
<p><b>Lucius Licinius Lucullus</b> was a Roman politician who became <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_consul">consul</a> in 151 BC.
</p><p>Lucullus was sent to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispania_Citerior">Hispania Citerior</a> (Nearer Spain, on the east coast of Hispania) when the senate rejected a proposal for a peace treaty with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtiberians">Celtiberians</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Claudius_Marcellus">Marcus Claudius Marcellus</a> to end the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numantine_War">Numantine War</a> (154–152 BC). However, Marcellus went ahead with his plan and quickly concluded a treaty before Lucullus got there. Lucullus was disappointed and, "being greedy of fame and needing money because he was in straitened circumstances",<sup><a href="#cite_note-1"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup> he  attacked the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccaei">Vaccaei</a>, a Celtiberian tribe which lived further north and who were not at war with Rome, and did so without the authorisation of the senate. He claimed that they had mistreated the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpetani">Carpetani</a> as an excuse.
</p><p>He pitched camp by the town of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca,_Segovia">Cauca</a> (near modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segovia">Segovia</a>) and when its people asked for peace terms he demanded, among other things, that a garrison be placed in the town. He got his soldiers to kill all the adult males. Only a few out of 20,000 escaped.<sup><a href="#cite_note-2"><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a></sup> Lucullus then went the city of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercatia">Intercatia</a> (Villanueva del Campo, in the modern province of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamora,_Spain">Zamora</a>) whose inhabitants, having heard about Cauca, refused to ask for terms. He struggled to seize the city, and his lieutenant, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Africanus_the_Younger">Scipio Africanus the Younger</a>, promised the Intercatians that if they made a treaty it would not be broken. They trusted him and surrendered.<sup><a href="#cite_note-3"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a></sup> Lucullus was advised not to attack the large city of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallantia">Pallantia</a> (modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palencia">Palencia</a>), which hosted many refugees and was renowned for its bravery, but because he heard that it was a rich city he camped there. The Pallantian cavalry constantly harassed his foragers until he ran out of food and he had to withdraw. He set up winter camp in the land of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turdetani">Turdetani</a> (in modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalusia">Andalusia</a>).<sup><a href="#cite_note-4"><span>[</span>4<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>He was imprisoned by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribune">tribunes</a> for attempting to enforce a troop levy too harshly.
</p><p>Appian emphasised the greed of Lucullus and said that he fought these campaigns for the sake of gold and silver, which he thought were abundant all over Hispania. However, the people he attacked did not have any and did not even "set any value on those metals". He added that Lucullus was never called into account for his actions.<sup><a href="#cite_note-5"><span>[</span>5<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>While he was in Turdetania, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusitanians">Lusitanians</a>, who were also rebelling, carried out raids in the area. Lucullus invaded Lusitania and, according to Appian, he depopulated it. He was not meant to get involved. The war with the Lusitanians was under the jurisdiction of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servius_Sulpicius_Galba_(consul_144_BC)">Servius Sulpicius Galba</a>, the praetor of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispania_Ulterior">Hispania Ulterior</a> (Further Spain, roughly modern Andalusia) and Lucullus was wintering in his province. However, Appian wrote that Galba was even more greedy than Lucullus. He let him do so and did the same on the other side of Lusitania. Galba, too, was in search for booty, and slaughtered a large number of Lusitanians by treachery. He, too, was not held to account.<sup><a href="#cite_note-6"><span>[</span>6<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Lucullus built a temple dedicated to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortuna">Fortuna</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velabrum">Velabrum</a> to celebrate his "success". He adorned it with statues which <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Mummius_Achaicus">Lucius Mummius Achaicus</a>, who defeated the Achaean League in Greece, had lent him. Later Mummius asked for his statues back, but Lucullus told him that it would be irresponsible because they were now dedicated to the goddess. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassius_Dio">Cassius Dio</a> wrote that Mummius lent him his statues because of his amiable and charitable nature.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7"><span>[</span>7<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>


<p>Lucullus was the father of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Licinius_Lucullus_(praetor_104_BC)">Lucius Licinius Lucullus</a> who was praetor in 104 BC and led Roman forces against rebel Sicilian slaves in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Servile_War">Second Servile War</a> (104–100 BC). He was the grandfather of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucullus">Lucius Licinius Lucullus</a>, who was consul in 74 BC, and the Roman commander in the  first part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Mithridatic_War">Third Mithridatic War</a> (74-63 BC) until 67 BC, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Terentius_Varro_Lucullus">Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus</a>, who was consul in 73 BC and proconsul of Macedonia in 72 BC.<sup><a href="#cite_note-8"><span>[</span>8<span>]</span></a></sup>
</p>

<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licinia_(gens)">Licinia (gens)</a></li></ul>

<div><ol>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span>Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 51</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span>Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 51–52</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span>Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 53–54</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span>Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 55</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span>Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 55</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span>Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 59–60</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span>Cassius Dio, Fragments of Book 22, 76</span>
</li>
<li><span><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span>Arthur Keaveney, <i>Lucullus: A Life</i> 1992, pp. 2, 4</span>
</li>
</ol></div>

<ul><li>Appian: <i>Roman History</i>, Volume I, Books 1–8.1 (Loeb Classical Library), Loeb, 1989; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0674990029">978-0674990029</a></li>
<li>Arthur Keaveney, <i>Lucullus, A Life</i>, Gorgias Press; W/A New PostScr edition, 2009; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1607240785">978-1607240785</a></li>
<li>Cassius Dio, <i>Roman History</i>, Volume I, Books 25-25 (Loeb Classical Library), Loeb, 1989; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0674990418">978-0674990418</a></li></ul>
<table>


<tbody><tr>
<th>Political offices
</th></tr>

<tr>
<td>Preceded by<div><p>Lucius Valerius Flaccus <br/> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Claudius_Marcellus_(consul_166_BC)">Marcus Claudius Marcellus</a></p></div>
</td>
<td><b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_Republican_consuls">Consul</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic">Roman Republic</a> </b><br/><i>with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aulus_Postumius_Albinus_(consul_151_BC)">Aulus Postumius Albinus</a></i><br/> 151 BC
</td>
<td>Succeeded by<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tiberius_Quinctius_Flaminius&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Tiberius Quinctius Flaminius</a> <br/> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manius_Acilius_Balbus&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Manius Acilius Balbus</a></p></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>




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                * 1 Children
                * 2 See also
                * 3 Notes
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      Lucius Licinius Lucullus (consul 151 BC)

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            From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
              This article is about the consul of 151 BC. For other Romans with the same name, see Lucius Licinius Lucullus.

            Lucius Licinius Lucullus was a Roman politician who became consul in 151 BC.

            Lucullus was sent to Hispania Citerior (Nearer Spain, on the east coast of Hispania) when the senate rejected a proposal for a peace treaty with the Celtiberians by Marcus Claudius Marcellus to end the Numantine War (154–152 BC). However, Marcellus went ahead with his plan and quickly concluded a treaty before Lucullus got there. Lucullus was disappointed and, "being greedy of fame and needing money because he was in straitened circumstances", [ 1 ] he attacked the Vaccaei, a Celtiberian tribe which lived further north and who were not at war with Rome, and did so without the authorisation of the senate. He claimed that they had mistreated the Carpetani as an excuse.

            He pitched camp by the town of Cauca (near modern Segovia) and when its people asked for peace terms he demanded, among other things, that a garrison be placed in the town. He got his soldiers to kill all the adult males. Only a few out of 20,000 escaped. [ 2 ] Lucullus then went the city of Intercatia (Villanueva del Campo, in the modern province of Zamora) whose inhabitants, having heard about Cauca, refused to ask for terms. He struggled to seize the city, and his lieutenant, Scipio Africanus the Younger, promised the Intercatians that if they made a treaty it would not be broken. They trusted him and surrendered. [ 3 ] Lucullus was advised not to attack the large city of Pallantia (modern Palencia), which hosted many refugees and was renowned for its bravery, but because he heard that it was a rich city he camped there. The Pallantian cavalry constantly harassed his foragers until he ran out of food and he had to withdraw. He set up winter camp in the land of the Turdetani (in modern Andalusia). [ 4 ]

            He was imprisoned by the tribunes for attempting to enforce a troop levy too harshly.

            Appian emphasised the greed of Lucullus and said that he fought these campaigns for the sake of gold and silver, which he thought were abundant all over Hispania. However, the people he attacked did not have any and did not even "set any value on those metals". He added that Lucullus was never called into account for his actions. [ 5 ]

            While he was in Turdetania, the Lusitanians, who were also rebelling, carried out raids in the area. Lucullus invaded Lusitania and, according to Appian, he depopulated it. He was not meant to get involved. The war with the Lusitanians was under the jurisdiction of Servius Sulpicius Galba, the praetor of Hispania Ulterior (Further Spain, roughly modern Andalusia) and Lucullus was wintering in his province. However, Appian wrote that Galba was even more greedy than Lucullus. He let him do so and did the same on the other side of Lusitania. Galba, too, was in search for booty, and slaughtered a large number of Lusitanians by treachery. He, too, was not held to account. [ 6 ]

            Lucullus built a temple dedicated to Fortuna in the Velabrum to celebrate his "success". He adorned it with statues which Lucius Mummius Achaicus, who defeated the Achaean League in Greece, had lent him. Later Mummius asked for his statues back, but Lucullus told him that it would be irresponsible because they were now dedicated to the goddess. Cassius Dio wrote that Mummius lent him his statues because of his amiable and charitable nature. [ 7 ]

              Children

              [ edit ]

            Lucullus was the father of the Lucius Licinius Lucullus who was praetor in 104 BC and led Roman forces against rebel Sicilian slaves in the Second Servile War (104–100 BC). He was the grandfather of Lucius Licinius Lucullus, who was consul in 74 BC, and the Roman commander in the first part of the Third Mithridatic War (74-63 BC) until 67 BC, and Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus, who was consul in 73 BC and proconsul of Macedonia in 72 BC. [ 8 ]

              See also

              [ edit ]
              * Licinia (gens)

              Notes

              [ edit ]
                 1. ^ Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 51
                 2. ^ Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 51–52
                 3. ^ Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 53–54
                 4. ^ Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 55
                 5. ^ Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 55
                 6. ^ Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Wars in Spain, 59–60
                 7. ^ Cassius Dio, Fragments of Book 22, 76
                 8. ^ Arthur Keaveney, Lucullus: A Life 1992, pp. 2, 4

              References

              [ edit ]
              * Appian: Roman History, Volume I, Books 1–8.1 (Loeb Classical Library), Loeb, 1989; ISBN 978-0674990029
              * Arthur Keaveney, Lucullus, A Life, Gorgias Press; W/A New PostScr edition, 2009; ISBN 978-1607240785
              * Cassius Dio, Roman History, Volume I, Books 25-25 (Loeb Classical Library), Loeb, 1989; ISBN 978-0674990418
              Political offices          
              Preceded by                  Consul of the Roman Republic  Succeeded by                  
                Lucius Valerius Flaccus    with Aulus Postumius Albinus    Tiberius Quinctius Flaminius
                Marcus Claudius Marcellus  151 BC                          Manius Acilius Balbus       
              
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Lucius Licinius Lucullus (consul 151 BC)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Licinius_Lucullus_(consul_151_BC)