Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/753

Rh SCIPIO. bastiano. The inscriptions and other curiosities are deposited in the Museo Pio-Clementino, at Rome. A full account of this tomb is given by Visconti, Monumenti degli Scipioni, Roma, 1785, fol. The inscriptions are also given by Orelli, In- script. Nos. 550 — 559. (See also Becker, Hand- buch der Romischen Alterthumer^ vol. i. p. 518.) 1. P. Cornelius Scipio, magister equitum, in B. c. 3.96, to the dictator M. Furius Camillus. The Capitoline Fasti, however, make P. Cornelius Ma- luginensis the magister equitum in this year. Scipio was consular tribune in B. c. 395, and again in 394. He was also twice interrex, once in B. c. 391, and again in 389. (Liv. v. 19, 24, 26, 31, vi. 1.) 2. P. Cornelius Scipio, probably son of the preceding, was one of the first curule aediles, who were appointed in B. c. 366, when one place in the consulship was thrown open to the plebeians. He is apparently the same as the L. Scipio who was magister equitum to the dictator Camillus, in b. c. 350. (Liv. vii. 1, 24.) 3. L. Cornelius Scipio, was interrex in b.c. 352, and consul in 350, with M. Popillius Laenas. (Liv. vii. 21, 23.) 4. P. Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, was consul B. c. 328, with C. Plautius, according to the Fasti. Livy (viii. 22), however, calls him P. Cornelius Scapula. In B. c. 306 he was appointed dictator, for the purpose of holding the consular comitia, and in the following year he is spoken of as the ponti- fex maximus. (Liv. ix. 44, 46.) 5. L. Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, the son of Cnaeus, as we learn from his epitaph. Pie was consul B. c. 298, with Cn. Fulvius Maximus Cen- tumalus, carried on war against the Etruscans, and defeated them near Volaterrae. In the following year, b. c. 297, he served as legate under the con- sul Q. Fabius Maximus, against the Samnites (comp. Frontin. ii. 4. § 2). In b. c. 295 he again served under the consuls Fabius Maximus and Decius Mus, with the title of propraetor, in the great cam- paign of that year against the Gauls, Etruscans, and Samnites. In B. c. 293 he again fought, under L. Papirius Cursor, in the campaign which brought the Samnite war to a close (Liv. x. 1 1, 12, 14, 25, 26, 40, 41). This is the narrative of Livy, but we have a very diiferent account of his exploits in the epitaph on his tomb, which says nothing of his victory in Etruria, but speaks of his conquests in Samnium and Apulia.* Niebuhr supposes that his conquests in Samnium and Apulia were made first contemporary record of a Roman which has reached our times. We subjoin a copy of it taken from Orelli (Inscr. No. 550) : cornelivs lvcivs scipio barbatvs gnaivod patrb ii prognatvs fortis vir sapiensqve qvoivs forma virtvtei parisvma || fvit CONSOL censor AIDILIS QVEI FVIT APVD VOS TAVRASIA CISAVNA || 8AMNIO CEPIT SVBIGIT OMNB LOVCANA OPSIDESQVE ABDOVCIT. In more modern Latin this inscription might thus l)e written : — " Cornelius Lucius Scipio Barbatus, Cnaeo patre prognatus, fortis vir sapiensque, cujus forma virtuti parissuma fuit. Consul, Censor, Aedi- lis, qui fuit apud vos, Taurasiam, Cisaunam (in) Samnio cepit, subigit omnera Lucaniam, obsidesque abducit." SCIPIO. 74] in B. c. 297, when he was the legate of Fabius Maximus (Niebuhr, Hist, of Rome, vol. iii. pp. 363 — 366, 378). This Scipio was the great-grand- father of the conqueror of Hannibal. The genea- logy of the family can be traced with more certainty from this time. 6. Cn. Cornelius Scipio Asina, the son of No. 5. The reason of his cognomen Asina is related by Macrobius {Sat i. 6). He was consul in B. c. 260, with C. Duillius, in the fifth year of the first Punic war, and received the command of the fleet which the Romans had recently built. In an attempt upon the Liparaean islands, he was taken prisoner with seventeen ships; but the details of his capture are related somewhat differently (Polyb. i. 21, 22; Liv. Ep. 17; Oros. iv. 7; Eutrop. ii. 20; Flor. ii. 2; Zonar. viii. 10; Val. Max. vi. 6. § 2; Polyaen. vi. 16. § 5). He pro- bably recovered his liberty when Regulus invaded Africa; for he was consul a second time in B. c. 254, with A. Atilius Calatinus. In this year he was more successful. He and his colleague crossed over into Sicily, and took the important town of Panormus. The services of Scipio were rewarded by a triumph. (Polyb. i. 38; Zonar. viii. 14; Val. Max. vi. 9. § 11; Fasti Capit.) 7. L. Cornelius Scipio, also son of No. 5, was consul in b. c. 259, with C. Aquillius Floras. He drove the Carthaginians out of Sardinia and Corsica, defeating Hanno, the Carthaginian com- mander, and obtained a triumph in consequence. The epitaph on his tomb records that " he took Corsica and the city of Aleria." In the Fasti he appears as censor in b. c. 258, with C. Duilius, and his epitaph calls him " Consul, Censor, Aedilis." (Liv. Ep. 17; Oros. iv. 7; Eutrop. ii. 20; Flor. ii. 2; Zonar. viii. 11; Val. Max. v. 1. § 2; Orelli, Inscr. No, 552.) 8. P. Cornelius Scipio Asina, son of No. 6, was consul b. c. 221, with M. Minucius Rufus, and carried on war, with his colleague, against the Istri, who annoyed the Romans by their piracy. The Istri were completely subdued, and Scipio ob- tained the honour of a triumph. In b. c. 217 he was appointed interrex, for the purpose of holding the consular elections. He is mentioned again in b. c. 211, when he showed so little of the spirit of a Scipio as to recommend that the senate should recall all the generals and armies from Italy for the defence of the capital, because Hannibal was marching upon the city. (Eutrop. iii. 7; Oros. iv. 13; Zonar. viii. 20; Liv. xxii. 34, xxvi, 8.) 9. P. Cornelius Scipio, the son of No. 7, was consul, with Ti. Sempronius Longus, in the first year of the Punic War, b.c. 218. Scipio, having received Spain as his province, set sail with his army from Pisae to Massilia. On his arrival at the latter place, he found that Hannibal had already crossed the Pyrenees, and was advancing towards the Rhone; but as his men had suffered much from sea-sickness, he allowed them a few days' rest, thinking that he had abundance of time to prevent Hannibal's crossing the Rhone. But the rapidity of Hannibal's movements were greater than the consul had anticipated. The Carthaginian army crossed the Rhone in safety, while the Romans were at the mouth of the river; and when Scipio marched up the left bank of the river, he found that Hannibal had advanced into the interior of Gaul, and had already got the start of hira by a three days' march. Despairing, therefore, of over- 3b 3
 * The epitaph on the tomb of this Scipio is the