Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major (235–183 BCE)
is best known as the victor over Hannibal and thus ending the Second Punic War. He was involved in this war, also called
the Hannibalic War, since its beginning, when he rescued his father Publius
Cornelius Scipio during the battle of Trebia. He was a survivor of the battle of Cannae and, despite his young age, wangled a command in Spain
after his father and his uncle Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus were defeated and
killed in battle by Hasdrubal Barca. He was so successful that he was
re-appointed, despite his detractors, to continue the war on African soil.
After the successful completion of his campaign and the war he was given a
triumph and the agnomen Africanus.
Later, he served as censor and took a secondary command under his brother Lucius Cornelius Scipio in the war against Antiochus III of Syria, after which his brother received the agnomen Asiaticus. He returned to Rome, only to be accused by his enemies of corruption and taking bribes – a favorite sport of Roman politics – and although he was not convicted, he withdrew into the country for the rest of his life.
The ancients on Scipio and Carthage:
Polybius: Books IX through XV.19
Livy: Books XVIII through XXX.
Cicero: On Friendship, de amicitia, features Laelius, Scipio's close friend and adjutant in the Hannibalic War. Scipio Africanus also appears in The Dream of Scipio, the largest fragment of Cicero's de republica. (both at Ancient/Classical History at About.com).
Jim Bloom has an essay Scipio
Africanus - A Military Biographical Sketch and a book review of Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon by B. H. Liddell Hart. Other books on the Second Punic War.
Wikipedia (handle with care) again mentions art: "The Continence of Scipio
was a stock motif in exemplary literature and art, as was the 'Dream of
Scipio', portraying his allegorical choice between Virtue and Luxury. 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 Nicholas Poussin." There is also a
drawing by Raphael, The Dream of Scipio.
The Continence of Scipio by Nicholas Poussin
The image at top is of a gold signet ring from Capua (late 3rd or early 2nd century B.C.) signed by Herakliedes, and bearing the portrait of Scipio Africanus. (from Wikipedia, open domain)
