SCIP I0, PUISLILS CortNEmus, surnamed ArmcANus MAJon, one of the most accom plished warriors of ancient Rome, but whose reputation is perhaps somewhat than his merits, was b. 237 or 234 me. Ile is first mentioned as taking part, though only a youth, in the battle of the Ticinos (218 B.C.), Where lie saved his father's life. Two years later he fought at Canine as a military tribune, and was one of the few 'Roman oliicers who escaped from that disastrous field. In 212 me. he was elected tedile, though not legally qualified by age, and, in tile following ,vcar, proconsul, with command of the Roman forces in Spain. His appearance there restored fortune to the Roman arms. By a bold and sudden march he captured Nora Carthago, the stronghold of the Carthagin ians, and obtained an immense booty. His humane and courteous manners won over many of the native chiefs; and when he commenced the campaign of 209 D.C. his supe riority over his opponents in address, if not in generalship, was manifest. At Ihecula, in the valley of the Guadalquiver, he defeated Hasdrubal with heavy loss, but could not prevent him from crossing the Pyrenees to the assistance of Hannibal. In 207 B.C. lie WO!) a more decisive victory over the other Hasdrubal, son of Gisco anti Mago, at an unknown place called Silpia, or Elinga, somewhere in Andalusia—the effect of which was to place the whole of Spain in the hands of the Romans. Soon alter he returned to Rome, where he was elected consul (20.i B.C.), though he had not yet filled the office of pretor; and in the year he sailed froth Lilybteum, in Sicily, at the head of a large army, for the invasion of Africa. His successes compelled the Carthaginian senate to recall Hannibal from Italy. This was the very that Scipio desired and had labored to achieve. After some abortive efforts at reconciliation the great struggle between Rome and Carthage, between Scipio and Hannibal, was terminated by the battle fought at Naragra, on the Bagradas, near Zama, Oct. 19, 202 B.C., in which the Cartha ginian troops were routed with immense slaughter. Hannibal advised his countrymen to abandon what had now become a hbpeless and ruinous contest, and his advice was taken. Peace was concluded in the following year, when Scipio returned to Rome and enjoyed a triumph. The surname of AFRICANUS was conferred ou him, and so extrav agant was the popular gratitude that it was proposed to make him consul and dictator for life, honors that would have been the destruction of the constitution, but which Scipio was tither wise enough or magnanimous enough to refuse. When his brother, Lucius, in 190, obtained command of the army destined to invade the territories of Antiochus, Scipio served under him as legate; in fact, it was only when he offered to tic, so that the senate granted Lucius the province of Greece. The latter was victorious
in the war, and on his return to Rome (189 B.c.) assumed (an imitation of his brother) the surname of ASIATICUS. But the clouds were now gathering heavily round the Scipios. In 187 B.C. Cato Major and others induced two tribunes to prosecute Lucius for allowing himself to be bribed by Autiochus in the late war. He was declared guilty by the senate, his property was confiscated, and he himself would have been thrown into prison had not his brother forcibly rescued him from the hands of the officers of justice. In 185 me. Scipio himself was accused by the tribune, M. Nvius; but instead of refut ing the charges brought against him (and which were probably groundless), he delivered, on the first day of his trial, a eulogy on his own achievements, and opened the second day by reminding the citizens that it was the anniversary of the battle of Zama, and therefore not a time for angry squabbling, but for religious services. He then summoned the people to follow him to the capitol to give thanks to the immortal gods, to pray that Rome might never want citizens like himself. His audience were electrified, and the thing was done before opposition became possible. To resume the trial was out of the question; but Scipio felt that popular enthusiasm was not to be depended on; that the power of the oligarchy—of that compact body of ambitious. and exclusive nobles—was irresistible; that its hatred of him was unappeasable, and that his day was over. He retired to his country-seat at Liternum, in Campania, where he spent the remainder of his life, and where he died, 183 or 185 mc.—Scipio is commonly regarded as the greatest Roman gen. before Julius Cresar; and certainly, in the brilliancy of his gifts and accomplishments, lie was unsurpassed; but if his career be strictly criticised, it will be found that he owed as much to fortune as to genius. Nevertheless he won a multitude of splendid successes, and made the most of his great advantages. His beauty, bravery, and courtesy, his proud yet pious belief that the gods favored him with their inspiration; won him the love and reverence of soldiers and women; and his magnanimity toward his fallen rival, who flitted about the eastern courts in dreary exile, is a bright feature in his character, and nobly distinguishes him from the cruel-hearted oligarchs of the senate.