Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/763

SCIPIO. Oral. i. A^ Veil. Pat. ii. 9; Qmntil. xii. 10. § 10) ; and his speeches were admired, as we have seen above, down to a late period. The few frag- ments of them, which have been preserved by A. Gellius and others, are given by Meyer {Oral. Romayi. Fragm. pp. 176 — 193, 2d ed.). The ge- neral opinion entertained by the Romans of a sub- sequent age respecting Scipio is given in the most pleasing colours by Cicero in his work on the Re- public, in which Scipio is introduced as the prin- cipal speaker. (The life and character of Scipio are delineated with ability by Nitzsch, in his treatise FoJyhius, Kiel, 1842, and also in his work Die GraceJien unci Hire n'dchsten Vorg'dnger, Berlin, 1847 ; on the death of Scipio, see Scheu, De Morte Africani minoris ejusque audoribus, in Beier's edition of Cicero's Laelius, Leipzig, 1828 ; Gerlach, Der Tod des P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilia- nus, in his Historische Studien, p. 254, &c., Ham- burgh, 1841 ; Zimmerraann, Zeitschrift fur die Altejihumswissenschaft, 1841, No. 52.) 22. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica, that is, " Scipio with the pointed nose," was the son of Cn. Scipio Calvus, who fell in Spain in b. c. 211. [No. 10.] He is first mentioned by Livy in b. c. 204 as a young man who was not yet of sufficient age to obtain the quaestorship, but was neverthe- less judged by the senate to be the best citizen in the state, and was therefore sent to Ostia along with the Roman matrons to receive the statue of the Idaean Mother, which had been brought from Pessinus. In B. c. 200 he was one of the tri- umvirs, for the purpose of settling new colonists at Venusia ; he was curule aedile in B.C. 196, praetor in 194, and in this year as well as in the following fought with great success in Further Spain, which was assigned to him as his province. But, notwithstanding these victories, and the powerful support of his cousin, the great Africanus, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the consul- ship for B, c. 192, and did not obtain it till the following year, when he was elected with M'. Acilius Glabrio. In his consulship, B.C. 191, he fought against the Boii, defeated them in battle, and triumphed over them on his return to Rome. He defended his cousin, L. Scipio Asiaticus, when he was accused in b, c, 187, after his conquest of Antiochus. He was one of the many distinguished men, who sued for the censorship in b. c. 184, but was defeated by M. Porcius Cato. Hence Pliny speaks of him (H. N. vii. 34), as bis repulsa notalus a populo. In b. c. 183 and 182 he was engaged as one of the triumviri in settling a Latin colony at Aquileia. The last time he is mentioned is in B. c. 171, when he was one of the advocates appointed by the Spanish deputies to bring to trial the Roman governors who had oppressed them. Scipio Nasica is mentioned both by Cicero and Pomponius as a celebrated jurist, aud the latter writer adds, that a house was given to him by the siate in the Via Sacra, in order that he might be more easily consulted (Liv. xxix. 14, xxxi. 49, xxxiii. 25, xxxiv. 42, 43, xxxv. 1, 10,24, xxxvi. 1, 2, 37, &c., xxxviii. 58, xxxix. 40, 55, xl. 34, xliii. 2 ; Died. Excerpta^ p. 605, ed. Wess. ; Val. Max. vii. 5. $ 2 ; Cic. de Fin. v. 22, de Harusp. Resp. 13, de Orat. ii. 68, iii. 33 ; Pomponius, de Origine Juris in Dig. 1. tit. 2. s. 2. § 37, where he is erroneously called Caius ; Zimmem, Ge- schichte des Romischen Privatrcchis, vol. i. p. 273.) 23. P. CouNELHis Scipio Nasica Corculu.m, SCIPIO. 76! the son of No. 22, was twice consul, censor and pontifex maximus. He inherited from his father a love for jurisprudence, and became so celebrated for his discernment and for his knowledge of the pontifical and civil law, that he received the sur- name of Corculum (corculum a corde dicebant antiqui solertem et acutuin, Festus, s. v.). He married a daughter of Scipio Africanus the elder. He is first mentioned in B. c. 1 68, when he served with distinction under L. Aemilius Paulus in Ma- cedonia. He was consul for the first time in b. c. 162 with C. Marcius Figulus, but abdicated, to- gether with his colleague, almost immediately after they had entered upon their office, on account of some fault in the auspices. He was censor b. c. 159 with M. Popillius Laenas, when he enacted, together with his colleague, that no statues of public men should be allowed to be erected in the forum without the express sanction of the senate or the people. In his censorship the clepsydra was for the first time introduced at Rome. He was consul a second time in B. c. 155 with M. Claudius Marcellus, and subdued the Dalmatians. Pie was a firm upholder of the old Roman habits and manners, and a strong opponent of all inno- vations, of which he gave a striking instance in his second consulship, by inducing the senate to order the demolition of a theatre, which was near completion, as injurious to public morals. When Cato repeatedly expressed his desire for the de- struction of Carthage, Scipio, on the other hand, declared that he wished for its preservation, since the existence of such a rival would prove a useful check upon the licentiousness of the multitude. He was elected pontifex maximus in B. c. 150. The reputation of Scipio Corculum as a jurist has been already alluded to ; his oratory is likewise praised by Cicero ; and he is described by Aurelius Victor as a man " eloquentia primus, juris scientia consultissimus, ingenio sapientissimus." (Aurel. Vict, de Vir. III. 44, who confounds hira with his father ; Liv. xliv. 35, 36, 46, Epit. 47—49 ; Polyb, xxix. 6 ; Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 14 ; Cic. de A'at Deor. ii. 4, de Div. ii. 35, Brut. 20, 58, Cat. 14, Tusc. i. 9 ; Plut. Cat. Maj. 27 ; Appian, Fuv. G9, B. C. i. 28, but there is an anachronism in the last cited passage of Appian.) 24. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio, the son of No. 23, was a fierce and stiff-necked aristocrat, and is chiefly known by the repeated mention of him in Cicero's writings, as the leader of the senate in the murder of Tib. Gracchus. He is first mentioned in b. c. 149, when he was sent along with Cn. Scipio Hispallus [No. 28], to demand from the Carthaginians the surrender of their arms (Appian, Pun. 80). He was unsuc- cessful in his application for the aedileship, but was consul in b.c. 138, with D.Junius Brutus. In consequence of the severity with which he and his colleague conducted the levy of troops, they were thrown into prison by C. Curiatius, the tribune of the plebs. . It was this Curiatius who gave Nasica the nick-name of Serapio, from his resemblance to a dealer in sacrificial animals, or some other person of low rank, who was called by this name ; but though given him in derision, it afterwards became his dis- tinguishing surname (Liv. Epit. 55 ; Val. Max. ix. 14. § 3 ; Plin. //. N. vii. 10). In B. c. 1 33, when the tribes met to re-elect Tib. Gracchus to the tribunate, and the utmost confusion prevailed