694 SCIPIO thaginian generals, who were on ill terms with each other, in different parts of the peninsula. At the head of 25,000 foot and 2,500 horse, he made*a rapid march from the Iberus (Ebro) to New Carthage (Cartagena), the centre of Pu- nic power in Spain, in which were the Cartha- ginian treasure, magazines, and hostages. The city, remote from all succor, and ill defended by a garrison of 1,000 men, was soon taken. The captive Spaniards were dismissed with kindness, and in this manner Scipio began his work of conciliating the natives. He returned to Tarraco, and, strengthened by an alliance with several of the Spanish tribes, in 209 took the field against Hasdrubal, over whom he is said to have gained a great victory at Baecula, but failed to prevent him from inarching to the assistance of his brother Hannibal in Italy. In 207 Scipio, at the head of 45,000 foot and 8,000 horse, defeated a superior force of the enemy under Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco, and Mago, near a town called Silpia or Elinga, and put an end to the power of the Carthaginians in Spain. Scipio, anxious to carry the war into Africa, gained over Masinissn, the Numid- ian ally of the Carthaginians, who had come to Spain; and to win the support of Syphax, the king of the Masseesylians in Numidia, he crossed over with only two quinquiremes to negotiate with him personally. There he found Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco, present with a similar intention, and the Carthaginian prevailed principally through the charms of his daughter Sophonisba. On his return Sci- Sio found Spain in a general revolt, but put it own in a short campaign marked by the mer- ciless treatment of llliturgi, and the despera- tion of the inhabitants of Astapa, who fell to a man. He quelled a mutiny which had bro- ken out while he was confined by a severe ill- ness in the Roman camp on the Sucro (Jucar), and defeated the Spaniards, who had taken the same opportunity to revolt. In a short time the Carthaginians abandoned Spain entirely, and in 206 Scipio handed over the government to his successor, and returned to Rome. There he was received with enthusiasm, and was elected consul for the following year. He had now an opportunity of attacking the Punic power in Africa; but the senate would only allow him to go to Sicily, with the right of crossing into the Carthaginian territory if ad- vantageous, but denied him an army. Volun- teers, however, flocked to his standard, and in 204 he sailed with his army from Lilybseum, and landed near Utica, where he was joined by Masinissa. The Romans began the siege of Utica, but the approach of a vast Carthaginian and Numidian army compelled them to aban- don the project. During the winter he amused Syphax with negotiations in regard to peace, but early in 203 by a stratagem burned the camps and almost annihilated the armies op- posed to him. The Carthaginians collected another army, which suffered another total defeat, and thereupon they recalled Hannibal and Mago from Italy, and made a truce. * Han- nibal was not indisposed to peace, but was compelled to take the field, and the two armies met near Zama (202). A complete victory for the Romans ended the second Punic war and the power of Carthage. Scipio returned to Rome in 201, and was welcomed with extra- ordinary enthusiasm. The surname of Afri- canus was given him, but he declined the dis- tinction of statues in the public places, and took no part in the government for a few years. He was censor in 199, and consul a second time in 194, and several times received the title of princepa senatm. In 193 he was one of the three commissioners sent to medi- ate between Masinissa and the Carthaginians. In 190 he accompanied his brother Lucius (af- terward known as Asiaticus) as legatus in the war against Antiochus the Great of Syria. On their return to Rome in 189, after the close of the war, his brother was accused of taking bribes from Antiochus, and appropriating the public moneys to his own use. In 187, at the instigation of M. Porcius Cato, Lucius was re- quired by the tribunes to give an account of the sums he had received. He prepared to do so, but Africanus snatched the papers from his hands and tore them up before the senate. During the same year Lucius was tried, found guilty, and carried to prison, but was rescued by his brother. The tribune, Tiberius Gracchus, released Lucius from his sentence of imprison- ment, and his friends paid the fine. His adver- saries now ventured to attack Africanus himself. Scipio made no defence, but simply recounted his services to the state, and thus triumphed over his enemies. He* spent the remainder of his days on his estate at Liternum. The accounts of Scipio's life are confused and contradictory. Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, was his daughter. II. Pnbiins Cornelius Sriplo .Emilianns Afriranns Minor, a Roman general, born about 185 B. 0., died in 129. He was the son of L. yEmilius Paulus, the conqueror of Macedon, and was adopted by P. Scipio, the son of Afri- canus Major. Ho was with his father at the battle of Pydna in 168, in 151 went as mili- tary tribune to Spain, where he gained a high reputation, and in 150 was sent to Africa to ob- tain elephants from Masinissa. In 149, on the breaking out of the third Punic war, he accom- panied the army to Africa as military tribune, and saved it from the disasters which would naturally have resulted from the incapacity of Manilius. In 147 he was elected consul, and in the spring of 146 he took the city of Carthage, and ended the third Punic war. He returned to Rome, celebrated a triumph, and received the surname of Africanus. In 142 he was made censor, and endeavored to repress the growing luxury of the Roman people. In 139 he was tried on the charge of majestas, but was acquitted. After this he went on an em- bassy to Egypt and Asia, and in 134 he was elected to the consulship in order to carry on the war in Spain. Having brought the disor-
Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/718
This page needs to be proofread.