honours in the republic. The name seems to be derived from _scipio_,
which signifies a _stick_, because one of the family had conducted
his blind father, and had been to him as a stick. The Scipios were a
branch of the Cornelian family. The most illustrious were:――Publius
Cornelius, a man made master of horse by Camillus, &c.――――A Roman
dictator.――――Lucius Cornelius, a consul, A.U.C. 456, who defeated
the Etrurians near Volaterra.――――Another consul, A.U.C. 495.――――Cnæus,
surnamed Asina, was consul A.U.C. 494 and 500. He was conquered
in his first consulship in a naval battle, and lost 17 ships. The
following year he took Aleria, in Corsica, and defeated Hanno the
Carthaginian general, in Sardinia. He also took 200 of the enemy’s
ships, and the city of Panormum in Sicily. He was father to Publius
and Cneus Scipio. Publius, in the beginning of the second Punic war,
was sent with an army to Spain to oppose Annibal; but when he heard
that his enemy had passed over into Italy, he attempted by his quick
marches and secret evolutions to stop his progress. He was conquered
by Annibal near the Ticinus, where he nearly lost his life, had not
his son, who was afterwards surnamed Africanus, courageously defended
him. He again passed into Spain, where he obtained some memorable
victories over the Carthaginians, and the inhabitants of the country.
His brother Cneus shared the supreme command with him, but their
great confidence proved their ruin. They separated their armies, and
soon after Publius was furiously attacked by the two Asdrubals and
Mago, who commanded the Carthaginian armies. The forces of Publius
were too few to resist with success the three Carthaginian generals.
The Romans were cut to pieces, and their commander was left on the
field of battle. No sooner had the enemy obtained this victory than
they immediately marched to meet Cneus Scipio, whom the revolt of
30,000 Celtiberians had weakened and alarmed. The general, who was
already apprised of his brother’s death, secured an eminence, where
he was soon surrounded on all sides. After desperate acts of valour
he was left among the slain, or, according to some, he fled into a
tower, where he was burnt with some of his friends by the victorious
enemy. _Livy_, bk. 21, &c.――_Polybius_, bk. 4.――_Florus_, bk. 2, ch.
6, &c.――_Eutropius_, bk. 3, ch. 8, &c.――――Publius Cornelius, surnamed
_Africanus_, was son of Publius Scipio, who was killed in Spain. He
first distinguished himself at the battle of Ticinus, where he saved
his father’s life by deeds of unexampled valour and boldness. The
battle of Cannæ, which proved so fatal to the Roman arms, instead of
disheartening Scipio, raised his expectations, and he no sooner heard
that some of his desperate countrymen wished to abandon Italy, and
to fly from the insolence of the conqueror, than with his sword in
his hand, and by his firmness and example, he obliged them to swear
eternal fidelity to Rome, and to put to immediate death the first
man who attempted to retire from his country. In his 21st year,
Scipio was made an edile, an honourable office which was never given
but to such as had reached their 27th year. Some time after, the
Romans were alarmed by the intelligence that the commanders of their
forces in Spain, Publius and Cneus Scipio, had been slaughtered, and
immediately young Scipio was appointed to avenge the death of his
father and of his uncle, and to vindicate the military honour of the
republic. It was soon known how able he was to be at the head of an
army; the various nations of Spain were conquered, and in four years
the Carthaginians were banished from that part of the continent.
The whole province became tributary to Rome; New Carthage submitted
in one day, and in a battle 54,000 of the enemy were left dead on
the field. After these signal victories Scipio was recalled to Rome,
which still trembled at the continual alarms of Annibal, who was at
her gates. The conqueror of the Carthaginians in Spain was looked
upon as a proper general to encounter Annibal in Italy; but Scipio
opposed the measures which his countrymen wished to pursue, and he
declared in the senate that if Annibal was to be conquered he must
be conquered in Africa. These bold measures were immediately adopted,
though opposed by the eloquence, age, and experience of the great
Fabius, and Scipio was empowered to conduct the war on the coasts of
Africa. With the dignity of consul he embarked for Carthage. Success
attended his arms; his conquests were here as rapid as in Spain; the
Carthaginian armies were routed, the camp of the crafty Asdrubal was
set on fire during the night, and his troops totally defeated in a
drawn battle. These repeated losses alarmed Carthage; Annibal, who
was victorious at the gates of Rome, was instantly recalled to defend
the walls of his country, and the two greatest generals of the age
met each other in the field. Terms of accommodation were proposed;
but in the parley which the two commanders had together, nothing
satisfactory was offered, and while the one enlarged on the
vicissitudes of human affairs, the other wished to dictate like a
conqueror, and recommended the decision of the controversy to the
sword. The celebrated battle was fought near Zama, and both generals
displayed their military knowledge in drawing up their armies and in
choosing their ground. Their courage and intrepidity were not less
conspicuous in charging the enemy; a thousand acts of valour were
performed on both sides, and though the Carthaginians fought in their
own defence, and the Romans for fame and glory, yet the conqueror
of Italy was vanquished. About 20,000 Carthaginians were slain,
and the same number made prisoners of war, B.C. 202. Only 2000 of
the Romans were killed. This battle was decisive; the Carthaginians
sued for peace, which Scipio at last granted on the most severe and
humiliating terms. The conqueror after this returned to Rome, where
he was received with the most unbounded applause, honoured with a
triumph, and dignified with the appellation of _Africanus_. Here
he enjoyed for some time the tranquillity and the honours which his
exploits merited, but in him also, as in other great men, fortune
showed herself inconstant. Scipio offended the populace in wishing
to distinguish the senators from the rest of the people at the public
exhibitions; and when he canvassed for the consulship for two of his
friends, he had the mortification to see his application slighted,
and the honours which he claimed bestowed on a man of no character,
and recommended by neither abilities nor meritorious actions. He
retired from Rome no longer to be a spectator of the ingratitude of
his countrymen, and in the capacity of lieutenant he accompanied his
brother against Antiochus king of Syria. In this expedition his arms
were attended with usual success, and the Asiatic monarch submitted
to the conditions which the conquerors dictated. At his return to
Rome, Africanus found the malevolence of his enemies still unabated.
Cato, his inveterate rival, raised seditions against him, and the
Petilli, two tribunes of the people, accused the conqueror of Annibal
of extortion in the provinces of Asia, and of living in an indolent
and luxurious manner. Scipio condescended to answer to the accusation
of his calumniators; the first day was spent in hearing the different
charges, but when he again appeared on the second day of his trial,
the accused interrupted his judges, and exclaimed, “Tribunes and
fellow-citizens, on this day, this very day, did I conquer Annibal
and the Carthaginians: come, therefore, with me, Romans; let us go
to the capitol, and there return our thanks to the immortal gods
for the victories which have attended our arms.” These words had
the desired effect; the tribes and all the assembly followed Scipio,
the court was deserted, and the tribunes were left alone in the seat
of judgment. Yet when this memorable day was past and forgotten,
Africanus was a third time summoned to appear; but he had fled before
the impending storm, and retired to his country house at Liternum.
The accusation was therefore stopped, and the accusers silenced,
when one of the tribunes, formerly distinguished for his malevolence
against Scipio, rose to defend him, and declared in the assembly,
that it reflected the highest disgrace on the Roman people, that the
conqueror of Annibal should become the sport of the populace, and
be exposed to the malice and envy of disappointed ambition. Some
time after Scipio died in the place of his retreat, about 184 years
before Christ, in the 48th year of his age; and so great an aversion
did he express, as he expired, for the depravity of the Romans, and
the ingratitude of their senators, that he ordered his bones not to
be conveyed to Rome. They were accordingly inhumated at Liternum,
where his wife Æmilia the daughter of Paulus Æmilius, who fell at the
battle of Cannæ, raised a mausoleum on his tomb, and placed upon it
his statue, with that of the poet Ennius, who had been the companion
of his peace and of his retirement. If Scipio was robbed during
his lifetime of the honours which belonged to him as the conqueror
of Africa, he was not forgotten when dead. The Romans viewed his
character with reverence; with raptures they read of his warlike
actions, and Africanus was regarded in the following ages as a
pattern of virtue, of innocence, courage, and liberality. As a
general, the fame and the greatness of his conquests explain his
character; and indeed we hear that Annibal declared himself inferior
to no general that ever lived except Alexander the Great, and Pyrrhus
king of Epirus; and when Scipio asked him what rank he would claim,
if he had conquered him, the Carthaginian general answered, “If
I had conquered you, Scipio, I would call myself greater than the
conqueror of Darius and the ally of the Tarentines.” As an instance
of Scipio’s continence, ancient authors have faithfully recorded
that the conqueror of Spain refused to see a beautiful princess that
had fallen into his hands after the taking of New Carthage, and that
he not only restored her inviolate to her parents, but also added
immense presents for the person to whom she was betrothed. It was
to the artful complaisance of Africanus that the Romans owed their
alliance with Masinissa king of Numidia, and also that with king
Syphax. The friendship of Scipio and Lælius is well known. _Polybius_,
bk. 6.――_Plutarch._――_Florus_, bk. 2, ch. 6.――_Cicero_, _Brutus_, &c.
――_Eutropius._――――Lucius Cornelius, surnamed _Asiaticus_, accompanied
his brother Africanus in his expeditions in Spain and Africa. He was
rewarded with the consulship, A.U.C. 564, for his services to the
state, and he was empowered to attack Antiochus king of Syria, who
had declared war against the Romans. Lucius was accompanied in this
campaign by his brother Africanus; and by his own valour, and the
advice of the conqueror of Annibal, he soon routed the enemy, and in
a battle near the city of Sardes he killed 50,000 foot and 4000 horse.
Peace was soon after settled by the submission of Antiochus, and the
conqueror, at his return home, obtained a triumph, and the surname
of Asiaticus. He did not, however, long enjoy his prosperity; Cato,
after the death of Africanus, turned his fury against Asiaticus,
and the two Petilli, his devoted favourites, presented a petition
to the people, in which they prayed that an inquiry might be made
to know what money had been received from Antiochus and his allies.
The petition was instantly received, and Asiaticus, charged to have
suffered himself to be corrupted by Antiochus, was summoned to appear
before the tribunal of Terentius Culeo, who was on this occasion
created pretor. The judge, who was an inveterate enemy to the family
of the Scipios, soon found Asiaticus, with his two lieutenants and
his questor, guilty of having received the first 6000 pounds weight
of gold, and 480 pounds weight of silver, and the others nearly
an equal sum, from the monarch against whom, in the name of the
Roman people, they were enjoined to make war. Immediately they were
condemned to pay large fines; but while the others gave security,
Scipio declared that he had accounted to the public for all the money
which he had brought from Asia, and therefore that he was innocent.
For this obstinacy Scipio was dragged to prison, but his cousin
Nasica pleaded his cause before the people, and the pretor instantly
ordered the goods of the prisoner to be seized and confiscated. The
sentence was executed, but the effects of Scipio were insufficient to
pay the fine, and it was the greatest justification of his innocence,
that whatever was found in his house had never been in the possession
of Antiochus or his subjects. This, however, did not totally liberate
him; he was reduced to poverty, and refused to accept the offer of
his friends and of his clients. Some time after he was appointed
to settle the disputes between Eumenes and Seleucus, and at his
return the Romans, ashamed of their severity towards him, rewarded
his merit with such uncommon liberality, that Asiaticus was enabled
to celebrate games in honour of his victory over Antiochus, for
10 successive days, at his own expense. _Livy_, bk. 38, ch. 55, &c.
――_Eutropius_, bk. 4.――――Nasica, was son of Cneus Scipio, and cousin
to Scipio Africanus. He was refused the consulship, though supported
by the interest and the fame of the conqueror of Annibal; but he
afterwards obtained it, and in that honourable office conquered the
Boii, and gained a triumph. He was also successful in an expedition
which he undertook in Spain. When the statue of Cybele was brought
to Rome from Phrygia, the Roman senate delegated one of their body,
who was the most remarkable for the purity of his manners and the
innocence of his life, to go and meet the goddess in the harbour
of Ostia. Nasica was the object of their choice, and as such he was
enjoined to bring the statue of the goddess to Rome with the greatest
pomp and solemnity. Nasica also distinguished himself by the active
part which he took in confuting the accusations laid against the
two Scipios, Africanus and Asiaticus.――――There was also another of
the same name, who distinguished himself by his enmity against the
Gracchi, to whom he was nearly related. _Paterculus_, bk. 2, ch. 1,
&c.――_Florus_, bk. 2, ch. 15.――_Livy_, bk. 29, ch. 14, &c.――――Publius
Æmilianus, son of Paulus the conqueror of Perseus, was adopted by
the son of Scipio Africanus. He received the same surname as his
grandfather, and was called _Africanus the younger_, on account of
his victories over Carthage. Æmilianus first appeared in the Roman
armies under his father, and afterwards distinguished himself as
a legionary tribune in the Spanish provinces, where he killed a
Spaniard of gigantic stature, and he obtained a mural crown at the
siege of Intercata. He passed into Africa to demand a reinforcement
from king Masinissa the ally of Rome, and he was the spectator of a
long and bloody battle which was fought between that monarch and the
Carthaginians, and which soon produced the third Punic war. Some time
after Æmilianus was made edile, and next appointed consul, though
under the age required for that important office. The surname which
he had received from his grandfather, he was doomed lawfully to
claim as his own. He was empowered to finish the war with Carthage,
and as he was permitted by the senate to choose his colleague, he
took with him his friend Lælius, whose father of the same name had
formerly enjoyed the confidence and shared the victories of the
first Africanus. The siege of Carthage was already begun, but the
operations of the Romans were not continued with vigour. Scipio
had no sooner appeared before the walls of the enemy, than every
communication with the land was cut off, and that they might not
have the command of the sea, a stupendous mole was thrown across
the harbour with immense labour and expense. This, which might have
disheartened the most active enemy, rendered the Carthaginians more
eager in the cause of freedom and independence; all the inhabitants,
without distinction of rank, age, or sex, employed themselves without
cessation to dig another harbour, and to build and equip another
fleet. In a short time, in spite of the vigilance and activity of
Æmilianus, the Romans were astonished to see another harbour formed,
and 50 galleys suddenly issuing under sail, ready for the engagement.
This unexpected fleet, by immediately attacking the Roman ships,
might have gained the victory, but the delay of the Carthaginians
proved fatal to their cause, and the enemy had sufficient time
to prepare themselves. Scipio soon got the possession of a small
eminence in the harbour, and, by the success of his subsequent
operations, he broke open one of the gates of the city and entered
the streets, where he made his way by fire and sword. The surrender
of above 50,000 men was followed by the reduction of the citadel,
and the total submission of Carthage, B.C. 147. The captive city
was set on fire, and though Scipio was obliged to demolish its very
walls to obey the orders of the Romans, yet he wept bitterly over
the melancholy and tragical scene; and in bewailing the miseries
of Carthage, he expressed his fears lest Rome, in her turn, in some
future age, should exhibit such a dreadful conflagration. The return
of Æmilianus to Rome was that of another conqueror of Annibal, and,
like him, he was honoured with a magnificent triumph, and received
the surname of _Africanus_. He was not long left in the enjoyment
of his glory, before he was called to obtain fresh honours. He was
chosen consul a second time, and appointed to finish the war which
the Romans had hitherto carried on without success or vigorous
exertions against Numantia. The fall of Numantia was more noble
than that of the capital of Africa, and the conqueror of Carthage
obtained the victory only when the enemies had been consumed by
famine or by self-destruction, B.C. 133. From his conquests in Spain,
Æmilianus was honoured with a second triumph, and with the surname
of _Numantinus_. Yet his popularity was short, and, by telling
the people that the murder of their favourite, his brother-in-law
Gracchus, was lawful, since he was turbulent and inimical to the
peace of the republic, Scipio incurred the displeasure of the
tribunes, and was received with hisses. His authority for a moment
quelled their sedition, when he reproached them for their own
cowardice, and exclaimed, “Factious wretches, do you think your
clamours can intimidate me; me, whom the fury of your enemies never
daunted? Is this the gratitude that you owe to my father Paulus who
conquered Macedonia, and to me? Without my family you were slaves. Is
this the respect you owe to your deliverers? Is this your affection?”
This firmness silenced the murmurs of the assembly, and some time
after Scipio retired from the clamours of Rome to Caieta, where,
with his friend Lælius, he passed the rest of his time in innocent
pleasure and amusement, in diversions which had pleased them when
children; and the two greatest men that ruled the state, were often
seen on the sea-shore picking up light pebbles, and throwing them
on the smooth surface of the waters. Though fond of retirement and
literary ease, yet Scipio often interested himself in the affairs of
the state. His enemies accused him of aspiring to the dictatorship,
and the clamours were most loud against him, when he had opposed the
Sempronian law, and declared himself the patron of the inhabitants
of the provinces of Italy. This active part of Scipio was seen with
pleasure by the friends of the republic, and not only the senate,
but also the citizens, the Latins, and neighbouring states conducted
their illustrious friend and patron to his house. It seemed also the
universal wish that the troubles might be quieted by the election
of Scipio to the dictatorship, and many presumed that that honour
would be on the morrow conferred upon him. In this, however, the
expectations of Rome were frustrated. Scipio was found dead in his
bed, to the astonishment of the world; and those who inquired for the
causes of this sudden death, perceived violent marks on his neck, and
concluded that he had been strangled, B.C. 128. This assassination,
as it was then generally believed, was committed by the triumvirs,
Papirius Carbo, Caius Gracchus, and Fulvius Flaccus, who supported
the Sempronian law, and by his wife Sempronia, who is charged with
having introduced the murderers into his room. No inquiries were made
after the authors of his death; Gracchus was the favourite of the
mob, and the only atonement which the populace made for the death of
Scipio was to attend his funeral, and to show their concern by their
cries and loud lamentations. The second Africanus has often been
compared to the first of that name; they seemed to be equally great
and equally meritorious, and the Romans were unable to distinguish
which of the two was entitled to a greater share of their regard and
admiration. Æmilianus, like his grandfather, was fond of literature,
and he saved from the flames of Carthage many valuable compositions,
written by Phœnician and Punic authors. In the midst of his greatness
he died poor, and his nephew Quintus Fabius Maximus, who inherited
his estate, scarce found in his house 32 pounds weight of silver,
and two and a half of gold. His liberality to his brother and to his
sisters deserves the greatest commendations, and, indeed, no higher
encomium can be passed upon his character, private as well as public,
than the words of his rival Metellus, who told his sons, at the death
of Scipio, to go and attend the funeral of the greatest man that
ever lived or should live in Rome. _Livy_, bk. 44, &c.――_Cicero_,
_de Senectute_, _Orator_, _Brutus_, &c.――_Polybius._――_Appian._
――_Paterculus_, bk. 1, ch. 12, &c.――_Florus._――――A son of the first
Africanus, taken captive by Antiochus king of Syria, and restored to
his father without a ransom. He adopted as his son young Æmilianus
the son of Paulus Æmilius, who was afterwards surnamed Africanus.
Like his father Scipio, he distinguished himself by his fondness
for literature, and his valour in the Roman armies.――――Metellus,
the father-in-law of Pompey, appointed commander in Macedonia. He
was present at the battle of Pharsalia, and afterwards retired to
Africa with Cato. He was defeated by Cæsar at Thapsus. _Plutarch._
――――Salutio, a mean person in Cæsar’s army in Africa. The general
appointed him his chief commander, either to ridicule him, or because
there was an ancient oracle that declared that the Scipios would
ever be victorious in Africa. _Plutarch._――――Lucius Cornelius, a
consul who opposed Sylla. He was at last deserted by his army, and
proscribed.――――The commander of a cohort in the reign of Vitellius.
=Scira=, an annual solemnity observed at Athens in honour of Minerva,
or, according to others, of Ceres and Proserpine. It received its
name either from Sciras, a small town of Attica, or from a native of
Eleusis, called Scirus.
=Sciradium=, a promontory of Attica, on the Saronicus sinus.
=Sciras=, a name of Ægina. Minerva was also called Sciras. _Strabo_,
bk. 9.
=Sciressa=, a mountain of Arcadia. _Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 5.
=Sciron=, a celebrated thief in Attica, who plundered the inhabitants
of the country, and threw them down from the highest rocks into
the sea, after he had obliged them to wait upon him and to wash his
feet. Theseus attacked him, and treated him as he treated travellers.
According to Ovid, the earth as well as the sea refused to receive
the bones of Sciron, which remained for some time suspended in the
air, till they were changed into large rocks called _Scironia Saxa_,
situate between Megara and Corinth. There was a road near them which
bore the name of Sciron, naturally small and narrow, but afterwards
enlarged by the emperor Adrian. Some suppose that Ino threw herself
into the sea, from one of these rocks. Sciron had married the
daughter of Cychreus, a king of Salamis. He was brother-in-law to
Telamon the son of Æacus. _Ovid_, bk. 7, _Metamorphoses_, li. 444;
_Heroides_, poem 2, li. 69.――_Strabo_, bk. 9.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 13.
――_Pliny_, bk. 2, ch. 47.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Hyginus_, fable 38.
――_Propertius_, bk. 3, poem 14, li. 12.――_Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 44.
――_Seneca_, _Quæstiones naturales_, bk. 5, ch. 17.
=Scirus=, a village of Arcadia, of which the inhabitants are called
_Sciritæ_.――――A plain and river of Attica, near Megara. _Pausanias_,
bk. 1, ch. 36.
=Scissis=, a town of Spain. _Livy_, bk. 21, ch. 60.
=Scodra=, a town of Illyricum, where Gentius resided. _Livy_, bk. 43,
ch. 20.
=Scolus=, a mountain of Bœotia.――――A town of Macedonia, near Olynthus.
_Strabo._
=Scombrus=, a mountain of Thrace, near Rhodope.
=Scopas=, an architect and sculptor of Ephesus, for some time employed
in making the mausoleum which Artemisia raised to her husband, and
which was reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world. One of
his statues of Venus was among the antiquities with which Rome was
adorned. Scopas lived about 450 years before Christ. _Pausanias_,
bk. 1, ch. 43, &c.――_Horace_, bk. 4, ode 8.――_Vitruvius_, bk. 9,
ch. 9.――_Pliny_, bk. 34, ch. 8; bk. 36, ch. 5.――――An Ætolian who
raised some forces to assist Ptolemy Epiphanes king of Egypt,
against his enemies Antiochus and his allies. He afterwards conspired
against the Egyptian monarch, and was put to death, B.C. 196.――――An
ambassador to the court of the emperor Domitian.
=Scopium=, a town of Thessaly.
=Scordisci= and =Scordiscæ=, a people of Pannonia and Thrace, well
known during the reign of the Roman emperors for their barbarity and
uncivilized manners. They were fond of drinking human blood, and they
generally sacrificed their captive enemies to their gods. _Livy_,
bk. 41, ch. 19.――_Strabo_, bk. 7.――_Florus_, bk. 3, ch. 4.
=Scoti=, the ancient inhabitants of Scotland, mentioned as different
from the Picts. _Claudian_, _de Tertio Consulatu Honorii_, li. 54.
=Scotīnus=, a surname of Heraclitus. _Strabo_, bk. 15.
=Scotussa=, a town of Thessaly at the north of Larissa and of the
Peneus, destroyed by Alexander of Pheræ. _Livy_, bk. 28, chs. 5 & 7;
bk. 36, ch. 14.――_Strabo_, bks. 7 & 9.――_Pausanias_, bk. 6, ch. 5.
――――Another in Macedonia. _Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 10.
=Scribonia=, a daughter of Scribonius, who married Augustus after he
had divorced Claudia. He had by her a daughter, the celebrated Julia.
Scribonia was some time after repudiated, that Augustus might marry
Livia. She had been married twice before she became the wife of the
emperor. _Suetonius_, _Augustus_, ch. 62.――――A woman who married
Crassus.
=Scriboniānus=, a man in the age of Nero. Some of his friends wished
him to be competitor for the imperial purple against Vespasian, which
he declined. _Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 4, ch. 39.――――There were
also two brothers of that name, who did nothing without each other’s
consent. _Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 4, ch. 41.
=Scribonius=, a man who made himself master of the kingdom of Bosphorus.
――――A physician in the age of Augustus and Tiberius.――――A man who
wrote annals, A.D. 22. The best edition of Scribonius is that of
Patavium, 4to, 1655.――――A friend of Pompey, &c.
=Scultenna=, a river of Gaul Cispadana, falling into the Po, now called
_Panaro_. _Livy_, bk. 41, chs. 12 & 18.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 16.