Son of Publius Cornelius Scipio, whose life he saved in the battle of
the Ticinus. One of the few Roman generals who survived the fatal battle
of Cannæ, and chosen with Appius Claudius to command the remains of the
army. Went as Prætor or Pro-Consul to Spain at the age of 24, where he
took Carthagena, gained the battle of Bœcula, and recovered the whole
country. Forcing Hannibal, the victorious Carthaginian general, to carry
the theatre of war to Africa, he gained the celebrated victory of Zama,
which decided the long conflict between Rome and Carthage for dominion.
Received the surname of Africanus in consequence, but, vexed with the
ingratitude of his countrymen he withdrew to Liternum, where he died.
Like Mahomet and Cromwell, he believed himself the special instrument of
Heaven. He was undoubtedly the greatest man of his age, and one of the
first of the Roman worthies. The affectionate friend of the poet Ennius,
and the patron of literature. The Spaniards, for his virtues, would have
made him king.
[From the Capitol at Rome. Many busts of this great general are in
existence. They all represent him with the head and face close shaved,
according to the fashion of his day, when men shaved closely after the
age of forty. The authentic busts have the scar on the left side of
the head, and some have a scar on each side, and some on the wrong
side. No. 127 is from the bust in basalt belonging to the Rospigliosi
Palace. No. 125 is from the bronze found in the Villa of the Papyri at
Herculaneum, and now in the Naples Museum.]