Scipio Africanus

Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (236–183 BC), also known as Scipio the African, Scipio Africanus-Major, Scipio Africanus the Elder, and Scipio the Great, is renowned as one of the greatest generals, not only of ancient Rome, but of all time. His main achievements were during the Second Punic War where he is best known for defeating Hannibal at the final battle at Zama, one of the feats that earned him the agnomen Africanus.

Biography

Early years

Publius Cornelius Scipio was born by Caesarian section into the Scipio branch of the Cornelia gens. His birth year is calculated from statements made by ancient historians (mainly Livy and Polybius) of how old he was when certain events in his life occurred, and must have been 235/236 B.C, usually stated as circa 236 BC.

The Cornelii were one of six major patrician families, along with the Manlii, the Fabii, the Aemilii, the Claudii, and the Valerii, with a record of successful public service in the highest offices extending back at least to the early Roman Republic. Several ancestors were consuls successively, and his great-grandfather, Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, had been patrician censor in 280 BC. At the time Scipio Africanus lived, the Scipiones were probably the most prominent branch of the Cornelii, at least in the hindsight of the historians, who have only glowing reports of his family and career. Contemporarily, though, the Lentuli were probably just as prominent (given the number of that family to participate in the Second Punic War, the Pontifex Maximus being, until 213 BC, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus). However, Africanus is still unquestionably one of the leading characters of Roman history.

Scipio Africanus (slave)

Scipio Africanus (1702 – 21 December 1720) was a slave born to unknown parents from West Africa. He was named after Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major, the third century BCE Roman general, famous for defeating the Carthaginian military leader Hannibal.

Life

Very little is known of his life. He was the servant of Charles William Howard, 7th Earl of Suffolk, who in 1715 married Arabella Morse and lived in the "Great House" in Henbury, Bristol. It is not known how he was acquired, but he died there aged, according to his headstone, eighteen. His master and mistress would die two years later.

Grave

He is remembered because of the elaborate grave, consisting of painted headstone and footstone, in the churchyard of St Mary's in Henbury, which is a grade II listed building. Both stones feature black cherubs and the footstone bears the unusual epitaph:

It is thought that 10,000 black slaves and servants were in Britain in the early 18th century, but this is one of the very few memorials to them. Curiously, there is no record of his burial in the church registers.

Scipio Africanus (disambiguation)

The name Scipio Africanus may refer to:

See also