Meghan McCabe
10/13/15
Latin 1 Honors
Hero Project
Scipio Africanus is best known for his defeat of Hannibal and the Carthaginians in the Battle of Zama, which ended the Second Punic War. Scipio Africanus was a Roman general and also a Roman Consul. He is renowned as one of the best Roman generals of all time. He is famous for fighting in the Second Punic War and the Battle of Ticinus.
Scipio Africanus was born in Rome on 236 B.C. He was born with the name Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, but is more commonly known as Scipio Africanus. Scipio’s patrician was one of Rome’s five greatest families. He was married to a woman called Aemilia, who was the daughter of a Roman consul Aemilius Paullus. Together they had two sons, Publius and Lucius.…show more content… in 202 B.C. he traveled to North Africa to fight Hannibal in the Battle of Zama. In 202 B.C. he finally faced Hannibal in the famous Battle of Zama. In this battle, Scipio had joined forces against Hannibal and the Carthaginians with a Numidian prince, Massinissa. Scipio’s plan was to arrange his men in three lines with the cavalry on the flanks. Scipio anticipated that Hannibal would bring elephants, so he made a plan to leave gaps in between the lines of his attack. This was to allow the elephants to pass through if they decided to charge, and not trample them. Scipio Africanus won this war by finding a way to disable Hannibal’s army by getting rid of his elephants. Scipio ordered all his men to sound their horns as loud as they could at the same time. This spooked the elephants and caused them to flee back into Hannibal’s army. The elephants suddenly running away caught Hannibal’s army by surprise and most of his army was trampled. This Roman victory was what ended the Second Punic…show more content… When he got back, he was awarded the title “Africanus” due to his victory in North Africa. In 199 B.C. Scipio Africanus was named Princeps Senatus, which was the titular head of the senate. Later, in 194 B.C. he was named Roman Consul for the second time. He supported a philhellenic policy, which was the love of Greek culture. Scipio argued against the Roman evacuation of Greece, while others wanted to evacuate because they believed the Syrians would invade it. In 193 B.C. Scipio served as an embassy to Africa and also the East.
In Rome, Scipio Africanus had many political enemies. His political enemies included Marcus Cato, a Roman senator. In 185 B.C. Scipio left Rome due to the charges of bribery and treason. He moved to Liternum, Campania. Literniam is now known as modern-day Patria, Italy. In Liternum he lived a simple life. Scipio lived on a country farm and cultivated the fields himself.
In 183 B.C. Scipio Africanus died at age 53. He died of illness in Liternum. Scipio Africanus was buried in Liternum not Rome. He refused to be buried in his family tomb along the Appian Way. He refused to be buried in Rome because he said to be disgusted by the gratitude of the Roman