103-616: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus (185 BC – 129 BC), known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger , was a Roman general and statesman noted for his military exploits in the Third Punic War against Carthage and during the Numantine War in Spain. He oversaw the final defeat and destruction of the city of Carthage . He was a prominent patron of writers and philosophers,
206-697: A royal residence ) cities and capital towns usually bear a Mauerkrone with five towers, large towns one with four towers, smaller towns one with three", observed Arthur Charles Fox-Davies , in A Complete Guide to Heraldry , adding "Strict regulations in the matter do not yet exist" and warning that the usage was not British. Mural crowns were used, rather than royal crowns, for medieval and modern Italian comuni . A mural-crowned lady, Italia Turrita , personifies Italy. In Italy, comuni and some provinces and military corps have mural crowns on their coats of arms: gold with five towers for cities, and silver with nine-towered for others. The coat of arms of
309-458: A siege . They set up two camps under command of legates : Censorinus's had the primary role of protecting the beached Roman ships and Manilius's housed the Roman legions. Hasdrubal moved up his army to harass the Roman supply lines and foraging parties. The Romans launched another assault on the city but were repulsed again. Scipio Aemilianus, the adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus, who was serving as
412-457: A tribune – a middle-ranking military position – held back his men and was able to deploy them to beat off the pursuing Carthaginians, preventing heavy losses. The camp established by Censorinus was badly situated and by early summer was so pestiferous that it was moved to a healthier location. This was not as defensible, and the Carthaginians inflicted losses on
515-565: A Roman army, had himself crowned King Philip VI and sparked the Fourth Macedonian War . Scipio intended to stand in the 147 BC elections for the post of aedile , which was a natural progression for him. Aged 36 or 37, he was too young to stand as consul, for which by the Lex Villia the minimum age was 41. There was considerable political manoeuvring behind the scenes. Scipio and his partisans played on his successes over
618-430: A city. The mural crown became an ancient Roman military decoration . The corona muralis (Latin for "walled crown") was a golden crown, or a circle of gold intended to resemble a battlement , bestowed upon the soldier who first climbed the wall of a besieged city or fortress to successfully place the standard (flag) of the attacking army upon it. The Roman mural crown was made of gold, and decorated with turrets, as
721-403: A controversial law was passed ordering the establishment of a new settlement there, called Junonia . Conservatives argued against the law and after its passage spread rumours that markers delimitating the new settlement had been dug up by wolves – a very poor omen. These rumours, and other political machinations, caused the plan to be scrapped. In 111 BC legislation repeated
824-516: A fourth name to indicate his original nomen . His elder brother was adopted by a son or grandson of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus , another prominent commander in the Second Punic War, and his name became Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus . Lucius Aemilius Paullus took his two older sons with him on his campaign in Greece. Plutarch wrote that Scipio was his favorite son because he "saw that he
927-454: A group of 15 to 27 philosophers, poets, and politicians. Besides Roman satirists and comedy writers such as Lucilius and Terence , there were Greek intellectuals, such as the scholar and historian Polybius and the Stoic philosopher Panaetius . Hence, Scipio had a philhellenic disposition (love and admiration for Greek culture). Such disposition was criticised by Roman traditionalists who disliked
1030-554: A large army commanded by the previously unrecorded Carthaginian general Hasdrubal and, the treaty notwithstanding, counter-attacked the Numidians. The campaign ended in disaster at the Battle of Oroscopa and the army surrendered. Many Carthaginians were subsequently massacred by the Numidians. Hasdrubal escaped to Carthage, where, in an attempt to placate Rome, he was condemned to death. Carthage paid off its indemnity in 151 BC and
1133-523: A loyal protector of Hellenic city-states . The Roman military decoration was subsequently employed in European heraldry , where the term denoted a crown modeled after the walls of a castle, which may be tinctured or (gold), argent (silver), gules (red), or proper (i.e. stone-coloured). In 19th-century Germany, mural crowns ( Mauerkronen ) came to be adopted for the arms of cities, with increasingly specific details: "Residential (i.e. having
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#17328510982791236-462: A mural crown identified tutelary deities such as the goddess Tyche (the embodiment of the fortunes of a city, familiar to Romans as Fortuna ), and Hestia (the embodiment of the protection of a city, familiar to Romans as Vesta ). The high cylindrical polos of Rhea / Cybele too could be rendered as a mural crown in Hellenistic times, specifically designating the mother goddess as patron of
1339-452: A prosperous city, to the empires of Assyria , Media , and Persia , the greatest of their time, and to Macedonia itself, the brilliance of which was so recent, either deliberately or the verses escaping him, he said: And when Polybius speaking with freedom to him, for he was his teacher, asked him what he meant by the words, they say that without any attempt at concealment he named his own country, for which he feared when he reflected on
1442-500: A public address to the people". Gaius Gracchus also came under suspicion. However, "this great outrage, committed too upon the person of the greatest and most considerable man in Rome, was never either punished or inquired into thoroughly, for the populace opposed and hindered any judicial investigation, for fear that Gaius should be implicated in the charge if proceedings were carried on". Gaius Papirius Carbo also came under accusation. During
1545-471: A river which was difficult to cross, he was forced to make a detour along a longer route where there was no water. He marched at night when it was cooler and dug wells which had bitter water. He saved his men, but some horses and pack animals died of thirst. Then he passed through the territory of the Caucaei who had broken the treaty with Rome and declared that they could return safely to their homes. He returned to
1648-433: A strong enemy such as Carthage would keep the common people in check and avoid social division. Cato was a member of an embassy to Carthage, probably in 153 BC, and noted her growing economy and strength; Nasica was likely a member of the same embassy. Using the illicit Carthaginian military action as a pretext, Rome began preparing a punitive expedition. Modern scholars have advanced several theories as to why Rome
1751-457: A successful night attack and broke into the city with 4,000 men. Panicked in the dark, the Carthaginian defenders, after an initial fierce resistance, fled. Scipio decided that his position would be indefensible once the Carthaginians reorganised themselves in daylight and so withdrew. Hasdrubal, horrified at the way the Carthaginian defences had collapsed, had Roman prisoners tortured to death on
1854-439: A trial Lucius Licinius Crassus accused Carbo of being a party to the murder of Scipio. Velleius Paterculus wrote that Scipio was "a cultivated patron and admirer of liberal studies and of every form of learning, and kept constantly with him, at home and in the field, two men of eminent genius, Polybius and Panaetius. No one ever relieved the duties of an active life by a more refined use of his intervals of leisure than Scipio, or
1957-584: A verse about the episode: "Thus base Asellus did great Scipio taunt: Unlucky was his censorship and bad." Polybius relates a well-known anecdote of Scipio's reflections on the mutability of human affairs following the sack of Carthage: Scipio, when he looked upon the city as it was utterly perishing and in the last throes of its complete destruction, is said to have shed tears and wept openly for his enemies. After being wrapped in thought for long, and realizing that all cities, nations, and authorities must, like men, meet their doom; that this happened to Ilium , once
2060-460: Is the heraldic version. As it was among the highest order of military decorations, it was not awarded to a claimant until after a strict investigation. The rostrata mural crown, composed of the rostra indicative of captured ships, was assigned as naval prize to the first in a boarding party, similar to the naval crown . The Graeco-Roman goddess Roma 's attributes on Greek coinage usually include her mural crown, signifying Rome's status as
2163-491: The Community of Portuguese Language Countries . Romanian municipal coats of arms contain a mural crown, with one or three towers for villages and communes, five and seven towers for towns and municipalities. The eagle on the coat of arms of Austria wears a mural crown to signify its status as a republic. This is in contrast to the royal crowns that adorned the double-headed eagle (and the imperial crown positioned above it) in
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#17328510982792266-470: The Roman province of Africa , with Utica as its capital. The province became a major source of grain and other food. The Punic cities which had stood by Carthage to the end were forfeit to Rome as ager publicus , or, as in the case of Bizerte , were destroyed. Surviving cities were permitted to retain at least elements of their traditional system of government and culture. The Romans did not interfere in
2369-548: The Second Spanish Republic had a mural crown. In the early 20th century Portugal established strict rules for its municipal heraldry, in which each coat of arms contains a mural crown, with three silver towers signifying a village or an urban parish, four silver towers representing a town, five silver towers standing for a city and five gold towers for a capital city. The Portuguese rules are also applied to most municipal coats of arms of Brazil and some other members of
2472-466: The Carthaginians surrendering all of their weapons, the Romans pressed on to besiege the city of Carthage. The Roman campaign suffered repeated setbacks through 149 BC, only alleviated by Scipio Aemilianus , a middle-ranking officer, distinguishing himself several times. A new Roman commander took over in 148 BC and fared equally badly. At the annual election of Roman magistrates in early 147 BC
2575-459: The Carthaginians to pause long enough for most of the infantry to complete their retreat. That night Scipio led his cavalry back to rescue a trapped group of Romans. The Roman column retreated to its camp near Carthage, where a committee from the Senate had arrived to evaluate Scipio and Manilius' progress. Scipio's performance was prominent in their subsequent report. Scipio made contact with several of
2678-449: The Carthaginians' main camp near Nepheris, despite its strong position and fortifications. Arriving there, Manilius ordered an immediate assault, against Scipio's advice. This initially went well, but the Romans advanced into an untenable position. When they attempted to withdraw, the Carthaginians counterattacked, inflicting heavy casualties. Scipio led 300 cavalrymen in a series of limited and well-disciplined charges and threats which caused
2781-533: The Gracchian cause. Scipio made himself unpopular again. Appian related that Fulvius Flaccus, Papirius Carbo and Tiberius’ younger brother, Gaius Sempronius Gracchus , chaired a commission to implement the Gracchian law. There never had been a land survey and land owners often did not have land deeds. The land was resurveyed. Some owners had to give up their orchards and farm buildings and go to empty land or move from cultivated to uncultivated land or swamps. As anyone
2884-522: The North African coast. A symbolic peace treaty was signed by Ugo Vetere and Chedli Klibi , the mayors of Rome and modern Carthage, respectively, on 5 February 1985; 2,131 years after the war ended. As of 2020 the modern settlement of Carthage was a district of the city of Tunis. Mural crown A mural crown ( Latin : corona muralis ) is a crown or headpiece representing city walls , towers , or fortresses . In classical antiquity , it
2987-471: The Numantine War as a quaestor (treasurer) under the consul Gaius Hostilius Mancinus . The consul was pinned down by the enemy and, unable to escape, made a peace treaty. Tiberius negotiated the peace terms. The treaty was rejected by the senate as a disgrace. Plutarch wrote that "the relatives and friends of the soldiers, who formed a large part of the people" blamed this on Mancinus and insisted "that it
3090-517: The Numantine territory and was joined by Jugurtha , the son of the king of Numidia , with archers, slingers, and twelve elephants. Eventually, Scipio prepared to besiege Numantia. He asked the allied tribes in Hispania for specified numbers of troops. He built a circuit of fortifications which was nine kilometers long. The wall was three meters high and two and a half meters wide. He built an embankment of
3193-588: The Punic Wars is the historian Polybius ( c. 200 – c. 118 BC ), a Greek sent to Rome in 167 BC as a hostage. His works include a now-lost manual on military tactics , but he is best known for The Histories , written sometime after 146 BC. He accompanied his patron and friend, the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus , in North Africa during the Third Punic War; this causes
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3296-441: The Roman fleet with fireships . The Romans then made these attacks more difficult by building additional fortifications. Nevertheless, the Carthaginians repeatedly attacked the camps. In often confused fighting Scipio distinguished himself further by his role in thwarting these; the discipline which he imposed on his troops was in contrast with the behaviour of most of the rest of the Roman army. Manilius decided to strike against
3399-435: The Roman transport ships, it was Aemilianus who led out his men and drove off the assault party using a clever stratagem. During a Roman attack on Hasdrubal's forces near Nepheris he again prevented disaster by checking the Carthaginian counter-attack which hit the Roman army when it was in a disadvantaged position. In 147 BC he was elected consul , while still under the minimum age required by law to hold this office. Without
3502-515: The Romans by the Latin word Punicus (or Poenicus ) and is a reference to Carthage's Phoenician origin. "Punic" derives from this usage. Carthage and Rome had fought the 23-year-long First Punic War from 264 to 241 BC and the 17-year-long Second Punic War between 218 and 201 BC. Both wars ended with Roman victories; the Second when the Roman general Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal ,
3605-430: The Romans launched their final assault and, over six days, systematically destroyed the city and killed its inhabitants; only on the last day did they take prisoners, 50,000 of them, who were sold into slavery. The conquered Carthaginian territories became the Roman province of Africa , with Utica as its capital. It was a century before the site of Carthage was rebuilt as a Roman city . The main source for most aspects of
3708-422: The Romans' surprise. After an indecisive engagement, the Carthaginians mismanaged their withdrawal and lost many ships. The Romans then built a large brick structure in the harbour area that dominated the city wall. Once this was complete, Scipio led a strong force that stormed the camp of Carthage's field army and forced most of the towns and cities still supporting Carthage to surrender. In the spring of 146 BC
3811-453: The Senate and the People's Assembly of Rome declared war on Carthage. The Romans elected two men each year, known as consuls , as senior magistrates , who at time of war would each lead an army; on occasion their term of office was extended. A large Roman army landed at Utica in 149 BC under both consuls for the year, Manius Manilius commanding the army and Lucius Marcius Censorinus
3914-465: The Temple of Eshmoun and burnt it down around themselves when all hope was gone. At this point, Hasdrubal surrendered to Scipio on the promise of his life and freedom. Hasdrubal's wife, watching from a rampart, then blessed Scipio, cursed her husband and walked into the temple with her children to burn to death. 50,000 Carthaginian prisoners were sold into slavery. The notion that Roman forces then sowed
4017-554: The Third Punic War or its participants which have also been largely lost include those of Plutarch , Dio Cassius and the Greek Diodorus Siculus . Modern historians also use the account of the 2nd-century AD Greek Appian . The modern historian Bernard Mineo states that it "is the only complete and continuous account of this war". It is thought to have been largely based on Polybius's account, but several problems with it have been identified. These issues mean that of
4120-505: The Third Punic War. It was formerly believed that he also salted the city , but modern scholars have found no evidence for that. On his return to Rome he received a Triumph , having also established a personal claim to his adoptive agnomen of Africanus. According to Pliny the Elder he was also awarded the grass crown in Africa during the war. In 134 BC Scipio was elected consul again because
4223-408: The anti-Carthaginian faction in Rome, was incessantly encroaching on Carthaginian territory. After winning the Second Punic War, Rome had mandated that Carthage could not defend itself militarily without seeking Rome's permission first. Rome construed Carthage's defense of itself against Numidians as a violation of this agreement. In 149 BC Rome declared war and a force was sent to besiege Carthage. In
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4326-507: The camp from several directions and overran it. Fleeing Carthaginians were pursued by Rome's mounted Numidian allies and few escaped. The town of Nepheris was then besieged and surrendered after three weeks. Most of the fortified positions still holding out in Carthage's hinterland now opened their gates. Scipio's position as the Roman commander in Africa was extended for a year in 146 BC. In
4429-656: The citizens thought that he was the only man capable of defeating the Numantines in the Numantine War . The Celtiberians of the City of Numantia , which had strong defensive geographical features, held off the Romans for nine years. The army in Hispania was demoralized and ill-disciplined. Scipio concentrated on restoring discipline by forbidding luxuries the troops had become accustomed to, through regular tough exercises (all-day marches, building camps and fortifications and then demolishing them, digging ditches and then filling them up, and
4532-402: The city wall, which enabled up to 4,000 Romans to fire onto the Carthaginian ramparts from short range. Once this feature was complete, Scipio detached a large force and led it against the Carthaginian field army at Nepheris. The Carthaginians, commanded by a Greek named Diogenes , had established a fortified camp for their winter quarters. Late in 147 BC Scipio directed an assault on
4635-444: The city with salt is likely a 19th-century invention. Many of the religious items and cult-statues which Carthage had pillaged from Sicilian cities and temples over the centuries were returned with great ceremony. Rome was determined that the city of Carthage remain in ruins. The Senate despatched a ten-man commission and Scipio was ordered to carry out further demolitions. A curse was placed on anyone who might attempt to resettle
4738-492: The commission which did not have the confidence of the litigants. This was accepted and the consul Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was appointed to give judgment. However, seeing that the job was difficult he found a pretext to fight a war in Illyria. The people were angry at Scipio "because they saw a man, in whose favour they had often opposed the aristocracy and incurred their enmity, electing him consul twice contrary to law, now taking
4841-442: The consul unarmed and in bonds to the Numantines, but spared all the other officers for the sake of Tiberius." Scipio used his influence to help to save the men "but none the less he was blamed for not saving Mancinus, and for not insisting that the treaty with the Numantines, which had been made through the agency of his kinsman and friend Tiberius, should be kept inviolate." The Encyclopædia Britannica suggests that Scipio Aemilianus
4944-519: The customary procedure of drawing lots, he was assigned to the African theater of war. After a year of desperate fighting and stubborn heroism on the part of the defenders, he took the city of Carthage, taking prisoner about 50,000 survivors (about one-tenth of the city's population). Complying with the mandate of the Senate , he ordered the city evacuated, burnt it, razed it to the ground and plowed it over, ending
5047-401: The early stages of the war, the Romans suffered repeated defeats. Scipio Aemilianus was a military tribune (senior officer) and distinguished himself repeatedly: After a failed Roman attack into Carthage itself, it was Aemilianus who prevented a disaster by covering the army's retreat from the city. When the Carthaginians launched a surprise night-time attack on the camp of consul Censorinus , it
5150-457: The eldest son of his aunt Aemilia Tertia and her husband Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , the acclaimed commander who won the decisive battle of the Second Punic War against Hannibal . This made Scipio Africanus the adoptive grandfather of Scipio Aemilianus. On adoption, he became Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, assuming the name of his adoptive father, but keeping Aemilianus as
5253-461: The ensuing Battle of the Port of Carthage the Carthaginians held their own, but when withdrawing at the end of the day many of their ships were trapped against the city's sea wall and sunk or captured. The Romans now attempted to advance against the Carthaginian defences in the harbour area, eventually gaining control of the quay . Here, over several months, they constructed a brick structure as high as
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#17328510982795356-557: The fate of all things human. Polybius actually heard him and recalls it in his history. Scipio Aemilianus is portrayed as a young boy in the household of his adopted grandfather in the 1971 film Scipio the African . The name "Scipio" was used in the animated series, Code Lyoko in reference to the general's destruction of Carthage. He is also portrayed in the anime Drifters . His figure also appeared on Rise of Kingdoms games as one of commander that excellent at rally leading. Third Punic War The Third Punic War (149–146 BC)
5459-408: The fleet. The Carthaginians continued to attempt to appease Rome and sent an embassy to Utica. The consuls demanded that they hand over all weaponry, reluctantly the Carthaginians did so. Large convoys took enormous stocks of equipment from Carthage to Utica. Surviving records state that these included 200,000 sets of armour and 2,000 catapults . Carthage's warships all sailed to Utica and were burnt in
5562-445: The growing Hellenisation of Rome—which, they thought, was corrupting Roman culture and life through alien influences—and advocated adherence to old Roman traditions and ancestral virtues and mores. Yet, Scipio was also a supporter of such traditions and mores. Gellius wrote that when he was censor, Scipio made a speech "urging the people to follow the customs of their forefathers". He criticised several things which "were done contrary to
5665-465: The harbour. Once Carthage was disarmed, Censorinus made the further demand that the Carthaginians abandon their city and relocate 16 km (10 mi) away from the sea; Carthage would then be destroyed. The Carthaginians abandoned negotiations and prepared to defend their city. The city of Carthage itself was unusually large for the time: modern scholars give population estimates ranging from 90,000 to 800,000. Any of these would make Carthage one of
5768-501: The injunction against any resettlement. A century after the war, Julius Caesar planned to rebuild Carthage as a Roman city, but little work was done. Augustus revived the concept in 29 BC and brought the plan to completion. Roman Carthage had become one of the main cities of Roman Africa by the time of the Empire . Rome still exists as the capital of Italy; the ruins of Carthage lie 16 km (10 mi) east of modern Tunis on
5871-495: The leaders of Carthage's Numidian cavalry , then joined a second, better-planned expedition led by Manilius against Hasdrubal at Nepheris. Despite the greater forethought, the Romans made no progress, although one of the Numidians contacted by Scipio did defect to the Romans with 2,200 men. Manilius withdrew after the Romans ran out of food and Scipio led the Romans' new allies on a successful foraging expedition. The Romans elected two new consuls in 148 BC, but only one of them
5974-449: The like) and by enforcing regulations strictly. When he thought that the army was ready he encamped near Numantia. He did not proceed along the shorter route to avoid the guerrilla tactics the Numantines were good at. Instead, he made a detour though the land of the Vaccaei, who were selling food to the Numantines. He was ambushed several times but defeated the enemy. In one of these ambushes by
6077-401: The locals' private lives and Punic culture, language and religion survived, and is known to modern scholars as "Neo-Punic civilization". The Punic language continued to be spoken in north Africa until the 7th century AD. In 123 BC a reformist faction in Rome led by Gaius Gracchus was eager to redistribute land , including publicly held land. This included the site of Carthage and
6180-542: The most famous of whom was the Greek historian Polybius . In politics, he opposed the populist reform program of his murdered brother-in-law, Tiberius Gracchus . Scipio Aemilianus was the second son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus , the commander of the Romans' victorious campaign in the Third Macedonian War , and his first wife, Papiria Masonis. Scipio was adopted by his first cousin, Publius Cornelius Scipio ,
6283-461: The most honorable of all war trophies." Although the power of Carthage had been broken with her defeat in the Second Punic War, there was still lingering resentment in Rome. Cato the Elder ended every speech with, " Carthage must be destroyed. " In 150 BC an appeal was made to Scipio Aemilianus by the Carthaginians to act as a mediator between them and the Numidian prince Massinissa who, supported by
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#17328510982796386-471: The most populous cities in the Mediterranean area at the time. It was strongly fortified with walls of more than 35 km (20 mi) circumference. Defending the main approach from the land were three lines of defences, of which the strongest was a brick-built wall 9 metres (30 ft) wide and 15–20 metres (50–70 ft) high with a 20-metre-wide (70 ft) ditch in front of it. Built into this wall
6489-439: The normally reliable Polybius to recount Scipio's actions in a favourable light. In addition, significant portions of The Histories ' account of the Third Punic War have been lost. The account of the Roman annalist Livy , who relied heavily on Polybius, is much used by modern historians of the Punic Wars, but all that survives of his account of events after 167 BC is a list of contents. Other ancient accounts of
6592-531: The ordinary, [but] never strained their lungs or shouted …" It seems that he had a good sense of humour and Cicero cited a number of anecdotes about his puns. He is also a central character in Book VI of Cicero's De re publica , a passage known as the Somnium Scipionis or "Dream of Scipio". Culturally, Scipio Aemilianus was both philhellenic and conservative. He was the patron of the so-called Scipionic circle ,
6695-819: The people were angry with him still and rejoiced at his death." Plutarch wrote that "although Scipio Africanus died at home after dinner, there is no convincing proof of the manner of his end, but some say that he died naturally, being of a sickly habit, some that he died of poison administered by his own hand, and some that his enemies broke into his house at night and smothered him. And yet Scipio's dead body lay exposed for all to see, and all who beheld it formed therefrom some suspicion and conjecture of what had happened to it." In another book Plutarch wrote "no cause of such an unexpected death could be assigned, only some marks of blows upon his body seemed to intimate that he had suffered violence." The heaviest suspicions fell on Fulvius Flaccus who "that very day had reflected upon Scipio in
6798-417: The people what he thought about the death of Tiberius, he made a reply which showed his dislike of the measures advocated by him," this made him unpopular, "the people began to interrupt him as he was speaking, a thing which they had never done before, and Scipio himself was thereby led on to abuse the people." Gaius Papirius Carbo was a plebeian tribune and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus was a senator sympathetic to
6901-525: The political activity of Gracchus, the latter would not have been murdered - he was fighting the war in Hispania. Still, he disliked the actions of Gracchus. Plutarch wrote "[while] at Numantia, when he learned of the death of Tiberius, he recited in a loud voice the verse of Homer: [from the Odyssey I.47] "So perish also all others who on such wickedness venture." Plutarch also wrote that (after his return to Rome) "when Gaius and Fulvius asked him in an assembly of
7004-521: The premier Carthaginian general of the war, at the Battle of Zama , 160 kilometres (100 mi) south west of Carthage. Africanus imposed a peace treaty on the Carthaginians which stripped them of their overseas territories and some of their African ones. An indemnity of 10,000 silver talents was to be paid over 50 years. Hostages were taken and Carthage was prohibited from waging war outside Africa—and could wage war in Africa only with Rome's express permission. Many senior Carthaginians wanted to reject
7107-437: The previous two years and the fact that it was his adoptive grandfather, Scipio Africanus, who had sealed Roman victory in Africa in the Second Punic War. Public demand to appoint him as consul and so allow him to take charge of the African war, was so strong that the Senate put aside the age requirements for all posts for the year. Scipio was elected consul and appointed to sole command in Africa; usually theatres were allocated to
7210-553: The prosecution of the war. He asked the Senate to be sent to Hispania either as a military tribune or a legate, due to the urgency of the situation, even though it would have been safer to go to Macedon , where he had been invited to settle domestic disputes. The Senate was at first surprised. Ultimately, Scipio's decision made him popular, and many of those who had been avoiding their duty, ashamed by Scipio's example, began to volunteer as legates or to enroll as soldiers. Scipio served under Lucullus. Velleius Paterculus wrote that Scipio
7313-416: The public support for Scipio was so great that the usual age restrictions were lifted to allow him to be appointed consul and commander in Africa. Scipio's term commenced with two Carthaginian successes, but he tightened the siege and started to build a large mole to prevent supplies from getting into Carthage via blockade runners . The Carthaginians had partially rebuilt their fleet, and it sortied , to
7416-468: The pursuit with two or three comrades, covered with the blood of the enemies he had slain ..." Scipio Aemilianus was seventeen at the time. In 152 BC, the consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus urged the Senate to conclude a peace with the Celtiberians . The Senate rejected this proposal, and instead sent one of the consuls of 151 BC, Lucius Licinius Lucullus , to Hispania to continue the war. However, there
7519-418: The ramparts, searching among the numerous dead bodies. Dejection reigned in the camp, and the plain was filled with the cries of men calling out the name of Scipio. For from the very outset he had been admired by everybody, since, beyond any other one of his family, he had a nature adapted for leadership in war and public service. Well, then, when it was already late and he was almost despaired of, he came in from
7622-582: The rest into slavery, destroyed the city and kept fifty men for his triumph. For his success Scipio Aemilianus received the additional agnomen of "Numantinus". In 142 BC Scipio Aemilianus was a censor. During his censorship , he endeavoured to check the growing luxury and immorality of the period. In 139 BC, he was unsuccessfully accused of high treason by Tiberius Claudius Asellus , whom he had degraded when censor . The speeches he gave on that occasion (now lost) were considered brilliant. Scipio helped his relative Tiberius Gracchus who in 137 BC had served in
7725-470: The same dimensions as the wall around the adjoining marsh. He built two towers by the River Durius ( Douro ) to which he moored large timbers with ropes which were full of knives and spear heads and were constantly kept in motion by the current. This prevented the enemy from slipping through covertly. He managed to force Numantia into starvation. The Numantines surrendered. Some killed themselves. Scipio sold
7828-655: The side of the Italian allies against themselves" His enemies claimed that he was determined to abolish the Gracchian law and was about to start "armed strife and bloodshed". When the people heard these allegations they were in a state of alarm until Scipio died at home in his bed; according to Appian, without a wound. Modern historians believe "there is no strong evidence or credible argument to support any alternative hypothesis [from death by natural causes]". The ancient sources, however, record various different rumours of foul play. Appian wrote that it could not be known whether Scipio
7931-410: The site in the future. The former site of the city was confiscated as ager publicus , public land. Scipio celebrated a triumph and took the agnomen "Africanus", as had his adoptive grandfather. Hasdrubal's fate is not known, although he had surrendered on the promise of a retirement to an Italian estate. The formerly Carthaginian territories were annexed by Rome and reconstituted to become
8034-417: The spring he launched a full-scale assault from the harbour area, which successfully breached the walls. Over six days, the Romans systematically worked their way through the residential part of the city, killing everyone they encountered and setting the buildings behind them on fire. On the last day Scipio agreed to accept prisoners, except for 900 Roman deserters in Carthaginian service, who fought on from
8137-475: The three Punic Wars, the third is the one about which the least is reliably known. Other sources include coins, inscriptions, archaeological evidence and empirical evidence from reconstructions. In the mid-2nd-century BC Rome was the dominant power in the Mediterranean region , while Carthage was a large city-state in the north east of what is now Tunisia. The Carthaginians were referred to by
8240-414: The treaty notwithstanding. The campaign ended in disaster as the Battle of Oroscopa ended with a Carthaginian defeat and the surrender of the Carthaginian army. Anti-Carthaginian factions in Rome used the illicit military action as a pretext to prepare a punitive expedition. Later in 149 BC a large Roman army landed at Utica in North Africa. The Carthaginians hoped to appease the Romans, but despite
8343-786: The treaty, but Hannibal spoke strongly in its favour and it was accepted in spring 201 BC. Henceforth, it was clear that Carthage was politically subordinate to Rome. At the end of the war Masinissa , an ally of Rome, emerged as by far the most powerful ruler among the Numidians , the indigenous population which controlled much of what is now Algeria and Tunisia. Over the following 50 years, he repeatedly took advantage of Carthage's inability to protect its possessions. Whenever Carthage petitioned Rome for redress or permission to take military action, Rome backed Masinissa and refused. Masinissa's seizures of and raids into Carthaginian territory became increasingly flagrant. In 151 BC Carthage raised
8446-429: The two consuls by lot. He was granted the usual right to conscript enough men to make up the numbers of the forces there and the unusual entitlement to enroll volunteers. Scipio moved the Romans' main camp back to near Carthage, closely observed by a Carthaginian detachment of 8,000. He made a speech demanding tighter discipline and dismissed those soldiers he considered ill-disciplined or poorly motivated. He then led
8549-431: The usage of our forefathers," and found fault with adoptive sons being of profit to their adoptive father in gaining the rewards of paternity, and said: "A father votes in one tribe, the son in another, an adopted son is of as much advantage as if one had a son of his own; orders are given to take the census of absentees, and hence it is not necessary for anyone to appear in person at the census." Gellius wrote that after he
8652-415: The walls, in sight of the Roman army. He was reinforcing the will to resist in the Carthaginian citizens; from this point, there could be no possibility of negotiation or even surrender. Some members of the city council denounced his actions and Hasdrubal had them too put to death and took full control of the city. The renewed close siege cut off landward entry to the city, but a tight seaward interdiction
8755-405: Was Aemilianus who rallied part of the cavalry, led them out of a rear gate and attacked the Carthaginians in the flank, driving them back to the city and restoring the situation. While collecting supplies from the countryside, Aemilius was one of the few who managed to prevent his foraging party from being ambushed. When the Carthaginians mounted another surprise night-time attack on a fort protecting
8858-410: Was a barracks capable of holding over 24,000 soldiers. The city had few reliable sources of ground water but possessed a complex system to catch and channel rainwater and many cisterns to store it. The Carthaginians raised a strong and enthusiastic force to garrison the city from their citizenry and by freeing all slaves willing to fight. They also formed a field army at least 20,000 strong, which
8961-406: Was a crisis of recruitment due to rumors of incessant battles and heavy Roman losses. Additionally, Marcellus appeared to be afraid of continuing the war; this led to panic. Young men avoided enrollment as soldiers through unverifiable excuses. Men eligible to be legates (legion commanders) or military tribunes (senior officers) did not volunteer. Scipio Aemilianus was thought to have advised for
9064-421: Was all but impossible with the naval technology of the time. Frustrated at the amount of food being shipped into the city, Scipio built an immense mole to cut off access to the harbour via blockade runners . The Carthaginians responded by cutting a new channel from their harbour to the sea. They had built a new fleet and once the channel was complete, the Carthaginians sailed out, taking the Romans by surprise. In
9167-456: Was allowed to work undistributed land, many tilled land next to their own, blurring the demarcation between public and private land. Rome's Italian allies complained about lawsuits brought against them and chose Scipio Aemilianus to defend them. As the allies had fought in his wars, he accepted. In the senate Scipio did not criticise the Law, but argued that the cases should be heard by a court rather than
9270-562: Was an emblem of tutelary deities who watched over a city, and among the Romans a military decoration . Later the mural crown developed into a symbol of European heraldry , mostly for cities and towns, and in the 19th and 20th centuries was used in some republican heraldry. Early appearances of the mural crown occur in the Achaemenid Empire , where they resemble crenelations on Mesopotamian and Persian buildings. In Hellenistic culture,
9373-484: Was awarded a mural crown , which was a military decoration awarded to the soldier who first climbed the wall of a besieged city or fortress and successfully placed the military standard on it. Florus wrote that "having been challenged by [the Celtiberian] king to a single combat, carried off the spolia opima , the armor and arms stripped from the body of an opposing commander slain in single combat. These were regarded as
9476-406: Was by nature more prone to excellence than any of his brothers". He related that during mopping-up operations after the Battle of Pydna , Aemilius was worried because his younger son was missing. Plutarch also wrote that "The whole army learned of the distress and anguish of their general, and springing up from their suppers, ran about with torches, many to the tent of Aemilius, and many in front of
9579-442: Was censor, Scipio was accused before the people by Tiberius Claudius Asellus, a plebeian tribune, whom he had stripped of his knighthood during his censorship. He does not mention what the accusation was. Although under accusation, Scipio did not stop to shave and to wear white clothing and did not appear in the garb of those under accusation. He added that in those days noblemen started shaving in middle age. The satirist Lucilius wrote
9682-467: Was due to Tiberius that the lives of so many citizens had been saved". Those who disagreed with the violation of the treaty "cast forth those who had taken hand and share in the treaty, as for instance the quaestors and military tribunes, turning upon their heads the guilt of perjury and violation of the pact. In the present affair, indeed, more than at any other time, the people showed their good will and affection towards Tiberius. For they voted to deliver up
9785-769: Was eager for war. These include: a Roman fear of Carthaginian commercial competition; a desire to forestall a wider war which might have broken out with the death of Masinissa, who was aged 89 at the time; the factional use of Carthage as a political "bogeyman", irrespective of her true power; a greed for glory and loot; and a desire to quash a political system which Rome considered anathema. No consensus has been reached regarding these and other hypotheses. Carthaginian embassies attempted to negotiate with Rome, which responded evasively. The large North African port city of Utica , some 55 km (34 mi) north of Carthage, went over to Rome in 149 BC. Aware that Utica's harbour would greatly facilitate any assault on Carthage,
9888-478: Was fruitlessly besieged. A Carthaginian sortie from Hippo destroyed the Roman siege engines , causing the Romans to break off the campaign and go into winter quarters. Hasdrubal, already in charge of the Carthaginian field army, overthrew the civilian leadership of Carthage and took command himself. Carthage allied with Andriscus , a pretender to the Macedonian throne. Andriscus had invaded Roman Macedonia, defeated
9991-429: Was more constant in his devotion to the arts either of war or peace. Ever engaged in the pursuit of arms or his studies, he was either training his body by exposing it to dangers or his mind by learning." Polybius mentioned going to Africa with Scipio to explore the continent. Gellius wrote that Scipio "used the purest diction of all men of his time". Cicero cited him among the orators who were "a little more emphatic than
10094-539: Was murdered by Cornelia (the mother of the Gracchi brothers) and her daughter Sempronia (who was married to Scipio), who were worried that the Gracchian law might be repealed, or whether he committed suicide because he saw that he could not deliver on his promises. He added that "[s]ome say that slaves under torture testified that unknown persons were introduced through the rear of the house by night who suffocated him, and that those who knew about it hesitated to tell because
10197-425: Was not in sympathy with the optimates , the political faction which supported the aristocracy. Whatever the case, he was in disagreement with the militant actions of the movement led by Gracchus when he was a plebeian tribune , which pressed for a law to redistribute land to the poor. Plutarch wrote that "this disagreement certainly resulted in no mischief past remedy" and thought that if Scipio had been in Rome during
10300-426: Was placed under Hasdrubal, freshly released from his condemned cell. This army was based at Nepheris , 25 km (16 mi) south of Carthage. Appian gives the strength of the Roman army which landed in Africa as 84,000 soldiers; modern historians estimate it at 40,000–50,000 men, of whom 4,000 were cavalry . The Roman army moved to Carthage, unsuccessfully attempted to scale the city walls, and settled down for
10403-565: Was prospering economically but was no military threat to Rome. Nevertheless, there had long been a faction within the Roman Senate that had wished to take further military action against Carthage. For example, the dislike of Carthage by the senior senator Cato was so well known that since the 18th century (AD), he has been credited with ending all of his speeches with Carthago delenda est ("Carthage must be destroyed"). The opposing faction included Scipio Nasica , who argued that fear of
10506-411: Was sent to Africa: Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus ; Lucius Hostilius Mancinus commanded the navy as his subordinate. He pulled back the close siege of Carthage to a looser blockade and attempted to mop up the other Carthaginian-supporting cities in the area. He failed: Neapolis surrendered and was subsequently sacked , but Aspis withstood assaults from both the Roman army and navy, while Hippo
10609-577: Was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome . The war was fought entirely within Carthaginian territory, in what is now northern Tunisia . When the Second Punic War ended in 201 BC one of the terms of the peace treaty prohibited Carthage from waging war without Rome's permission. Rome's ally, King Masinissa of Numidia , exploited this to repeatedly raid and seize Carthaginian territory with impunity. In 149 BC Carthage sent an army, under Hasdrubal , against Masinissa,
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