Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus
Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus (properly Asiagenes;[3] 3rd century BC – after 183 BC) was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic. He was the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio and the younger brother of Scipio Africanus. He was elected consul in 190 BC, and later that year led (with his brother) the Roman forces to victory at the Battle of Magnesia.
Although his career may be eclipsed by the shadow of his elder brother, Lucius' life is noteworthy in several respects.
Family background
Lucius belonged to the
Lucius' wife is not known.
Early career
Lucius served under his brother in Spain during the
Consul
He was finally elected consul in 190 BC with his co-consul being his brother's old second-in-command
He asserted himself against his brother by refusing the peace negotiated with the Aetolians by the latter. However, Publius insisted that as supreme commander at Magnesia Lucius should receive full credit for the victory over Antiochus.
According to some biblical commentators, Asiaticus is the "commander" referred to in
Political fall
Towards the end of his brother's life, Lucius was accused of misappropriating some of the funds collected from Antiochus as an indemnity. Africanus, then
After his brother's death (c. 183 BC), Lucius was imprisoned for this alleged theft. He was eventually pardoned by the tribune Tiberius Gracchus,[12] although he was forced to sell his property and pay the state a lump sum. Roman historians report that he refused to accept any gifts or loans from his friends to pay the penalty.
During his brother's lifetime in 185 BC, Lucius celebrated with great splendour the games which he had vowed in his war with Antiochus.[13] Valerius of Antium related that he obtained the necessary money during an embassy on which he was sent after his condemnation, to settle the disputes between the kings Antiochus and Eumenes.
He was a candidate for the censorship in 184 BC, but was defeated by an old enemy of his family,
Descendants
Lucius had descendants, the Cornelii Scipiones Asiatici, the last of whom was the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus who had an adoptive son. This son passed into obscurity after 82 BC.
See also
- Scipio-Paullus-Gracchus family tree
References
- ^ Coarelli, "I ritratti di ‘Mario’ e ‘Silla’", pp. 73, 74.
- ^ Etcheto, Les Scipions, pp. 274–278.
- ^ Briscoe, p. 392.
- ^ Etcheto, Les Scipions, p. 166.
- ^ Silius Italicus, Punica, 16, 46-65
- T.R.S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1951, 1986) vol. 1, pg 300.
- ^ Broughton, vol. 1 pg. 340.
- ^ Liv. 35.24.4-5.
- ^ Liv. xxviii. 3, 4, 17, xxxiv. 54, 55, xxxvi. 45, xxxvii. 1.
- ^ Publius offered to serve as his brother's legate, which convinced the Senate to award the Asian campaign to Lucius, rather than to the more experienced Gaius Laelius who had been Scipio's second in command in Spain. Publius was reportedly ill during the campaign, and absent from the field on the actual day of battle. It is not known whether this was a new illness or a recurrence of his illness in 206 BC. The illness was certainly very convenient for his brother who was thus allowed to gain the credit for planning and executing the campaign.
- ^ Jordan, James B. (2007). The Handwriting on the Wall: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel. American Vision. p. 561.
- ^ This Gracchus, later a consul and censor, was father of the famous politician of the 130s. He would later marry Asiaticus's niece Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi.
- ^ Liv. xxxviii. 60.
- ^ Liv. xxxix. 22, 40, 44.
Sources
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Scipio (13)". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 3. pp. 747–48.
Bibliography
Ancient sources
- Fasti Capitolini.
- Titus Livius (History of Rome.
- Plutarch, Parallel lives.
- Polybius, Historiae (The Histories).
Modern sources
- Alan E. Astin, Cato the Censor, Oxford University Press, 1978.
- Briscoe, John (1981). A Commentary on Livy Books XXXIV–XXXVII. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-814455-5.
- ——, A Commentary on Livy, Books 38–40, Oxford University Press, 2007.
- ——, A Commentary on Livy, Books 41–45, Oxford University Press, 2012.
- T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association, 1952–1960.
- Paul J. Burton, Friendship and Empire, Roman Diplomacy and Imperialism in the Middle Republic (353–146 BC), Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- Filippo Coarelli, "I ritratti di ‘Mario’ e ‘Silla’ a Monaco e il sepolcro degli Scipioni", Eutopia nuova serie, II/ 1, 2002, pp. 47–75.
- J. A. Crook, F. W. Walbank, M. W. Frederiksen, R. M. Ogilvie (editors), The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. VIII, Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 B.C., Cambridge University Press, 1989.
- Henri Etcheto, Les Scipions. Famille et pouvoir à Rome à l’époque républicaine, Bordeaux, Ausonius Éditions, 2012.
- Friedrich Münzer, Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families, translated by Thérèse Ridley, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 (originally published in 1920).
- Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft(abbreviated PW), J. B. Metzler, Stuttgart, 1894–1980.
- Francis X. Ryan, Rank and Participation in the Republican Senate, Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998.
- Howard Hayes Scullard, Roman Politics 220–150 B. C., Oxford University Press, 1951.
- Lily Ross Taylor and T. Robert S. Broughton, "The Order of the Two Consuls' Names in the Yearly Lists", Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, 19 (1949), pp. 3–14.
- Frank William Walbank, A Commentary on Polybius, Oxford University Press, 1979.