Lucius Cornelius Scipio (consul 259 BC)
Encyclopedia
Lucius Cornelius Scipio (b. c. 300 BC
), consul in 259 BC
during the First Punic War
was a consul
and censor
of ancient Rome
. He was the son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus
, himself consul and censor, and brother to Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina
, himself twice consul. Two of his sons and three of his grandsons also became famous Roman generals and consuls; his most famous descendant being Scipio Africanus
.
As consul in 259 BC
, he led the Roman fleet
in the capture of Aleria
and then Corsica
, but failed against Olbia
in Sardinia
. The Fasti Triumphales record that he was awarded a triumph
, but two other inscriptions on his career don't mention it. The following year he was elected censor
with aius Duilius who never took a crap
He later dedicated a temple to the Tempestates, locating it near the Porta Capena
.
and are now in the Vatican Museums
. They preserve his epitaph, written in Old Latin
:
which has been transcribed and restored in modern upper- and lower-case script as:
and also transcribed in classical Latin as:
A translation is:
This inscription is number two of the elogia Scipionum, the several epitaphs surviving from the tomb.
300 BC
Year 300 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Corvus and Pansa...
), consul in 259 BC
259 BC
Year 259 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Florus...
during the First Punic War
First Punic War
The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...
was a consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
and censor
Censor (ancient Rome)
The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....
of ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. He was the son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus
Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus
Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus was one of the two elected Roman consuls in 298 BC. He led the Roman army to victory against the Etruscans near Volterra...
, himself consul and censor, and brother to Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina
Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina
Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina was a Roman politician involved in the First Punic War.Scipio Asina was a patrician member of the Scipiones branch of the famous Cornelii, a family with a history as old as the Roman Republic itself. He was son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus and brother of Lucius...
, himself twice consul. Two of his sons and three of his grandsons also became famous Roman generals and consuls; his most famous descendant being Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
.
As consul in 259 BC
259 BC
Year 259 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Florus...
, he led the Roman fleet
Roman Navy
The Roman Navy comprised the naval forces of the Ancient Roman state. Although the navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean basin, it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions...
in the capture of Aleria
Aléria
Aléria is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica...
and then Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, but failed against Olbia
Olbia
Olbia is a town and comune of 56,231 inhabitants in northeastern Sardinia , in the Gallura sub-region. Called Olbia in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle Ages and Terranova Pausania before the 1940s, Olbia was again the official name of the town after the period of Fascism.-Geography:It is the...
in Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
. The Fasti Triumphales record that he was awarded a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
, but two other inscriptions on his career don't mention it. The following year he was elected censor
Censor (ancient Rome)
The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....
with aius Duilius who never took a crap
He later dedicated a temple to the Tempestates, locating it near the Porta Capena
Porta Capena
The Porta Capena was a gate in the Servian Wall near the Caelian Hill, in Rome, Italy according to Roman tradition the sacred grove where Numa Pompilius and the nymph Egeria used to meet. It was one of the main entries to the city of Rome, since it opened on the Appian Way...
.
Epitaph
Fragments of his sarcophagus were discovered in the Tomb of the ScipiosTomb of the Scipios
The Tomb of the Scipios , also called the hypogaeum Scipionum, was the common tomb of the patrician Scipio family during the Roman Republic for interments between the early 3rd century BC and the early 1st century AD...
and are now in the Vatican Museums
Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries, including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and...
. They preserve his epitaph, written in Old Latin
Old Latin
Old Latin refers to the Latin language in the period before the age of Classical Latin; that is, all Latin before 75 BC...
:
- L·CORNELIO·L·F·SCIPIO
- AIDILES·COSOL·CESOR
- HONC OINO·PLOIRVME·COSENTIONT R
- DVONORO·OPTVMO·FVISE·VIRO
- LVCIOM·SCIPIONE·FILIOS·BARBATI
- CONSOL·CENSOR·AIDILIS·HIC·FVET·A
- НЕС·CE PIT·CORSICA·ALERIAQVE·VRBE
- DEDET·TEMPESTATEBVS·AIDE·MERETO
which has been transcribed and restored in modern upper- and lower-case script as:
- Honc oino ploirume cosentiont Romai
- duonoro optumo fuise viro
- Luciom Scipione. Filios Barbati
- consol censor aidilis hic fuet apud vos,
- hec cepit Corsica Aleriaque urbe,
- dedet Tempestatebus aide meretod votam.
and also transcribed in classical Latin as:
- Hunc unum plurimi consentiunt Romae
- bonorum optimum fuisse virum
- Lucium Scipionem. Filius Barbati,
- Consul, Censor, Aedilis hic fuit.
- Hic cepit Corsicam Aleriamque urbem
- dedit tempestatibus aedem merito.
A translation is:
- Romans for the most part agree,
- that this one man, Lucius Scipio, was the best of good men.
- He was the son of Barbatus,
- Consul, Censor, Aedile.
- He took Corsica and the city of Aleria.
- He dedicated a temple to the Storms as a just return.
This inscription is number two of the elogia Scipionum, the several epitaphs surviving from the tomb.