Scipio Africanus: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Roman general and politician (236/235–183235 – c. 183 BC)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=NovemberMarch 20182024}}

[[File:Escipión africano.JPG|thumb|upright=.7|left|[[Roman portraiture|Bronze bust]] dated mid-first century BC, formerly identified as Scipio Africanus, now thought to portray a priest of [[Isis]]]]

The 190s&nbsp;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.{{sfn|Gruen|1995|p=65}} 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.{{sfn|Gruen|1995|p=69}} Lucius Scipio adopted the cognomen ''Asiagenes''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Briscoe |first=John |url=http://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1868 |title=Cornelius Scipio Asiagenes, Lucius |date=7 March 2016-03-07 |work=Oxford Classical Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1868|isbn=978-0-19-938113-5 }}</ref> and at his triumph brought some 137,420 pounds of silver, 224,000 [[tetradrachm]]s, 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Gruen|1995|p=71|ps=. "[N]ew heights of extravagance".}}</ref>

Scipio was a man of great intellect and culture who could speak and read [[Greek language|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#Rome|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Barba |title=Barba – NumisWiki, The Collaborative Numismatics Project |publisher=Forumancientcoins.com |access-date=October 19, October 2012}}</ref>

Scipio is the hero of [[Petrarch]]'s [[Latin language|Latin]] [[epic poetry|epic]] ''[[Africa (Petrarch)|Africa]]''. 'The Continence [i.e. moderation] of Scipio' was a stock motif in [[exemplary literature]] and art,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=ng643.2 |title=Giulio Licinio &#124; The Continence of Scipio &#124; NG643.2 &#124; The National Gallery, London |publisher=Nationalgallery.org.uk |access-date=19 October 19, 2012}}</ref> as was the 'Dream of Scipio', portraying his [[allegorical]] choice between Virtue and Luxury.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=ng213 |title=Raphael &#124; An Allegory ('Vision of a Knight') &#124; NG213 &#124; The National Gallery, London |publisher=Nationalgallery.org.uk |access-date=19 October 19, 2012}}</ref> ''[[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]].

* {{cite book |author=Polybius |title=Histories |url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/home.html |year=1922–271922–1927 |orig-year=2nd century BC |series=Loeb Classical Library |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |translator-last=Paton |translator-first=W R |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|Polyb.}} }}

* {{Cite journal |last=Jacobs |first=John |date=2023-06-28 June 2023 |title=Review of: L'area archeologica del Sepolcro degli Scipioni a Roma: analisi delle strutture di eta imperiale e tardo antica |url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2023/2023.06.36/ |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |issn=1055-7660}}