Consul and Proconsul
According to Smith:
The senate had not much confidence in his abilities (Cic. Phil. xi. 7), and it was only through the offer of his brother Africanus to accompany him as a legate that he obtained the province of Greece and the conduct of the war against Antiochus.
The loser was therefore his co-consul Gaius Laelius who was not a rich man, and who had hoped to make his family fortunes in the East.
As consular commander of the forces sent against Antiochus III, Asiaticus was a bitter enemy of the Aetolians. He refused the peace negotiated with the Aetolians by his brother, thus proving him to be of a strong nature.
He was supreme commander at Magnesia and thus received full credit (at his brother's insistence) for the victory over Antiochus. Upon his return to Rome, he celebrated a full triumph and requested the title "Asiaticus" to signify his conquest of Western Asia Minor.
According to some biblical commentators, Asiaticus is the "commander" referred to in Daniel 11:18, where it says that "a commander will put an end to his insolence" (NIV).
Read more about this topic: Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus
Famous quotes containing the words consul and/or proconsul:
“I wouldn’t think of asking you to lie; you haven’t the necessary diplomatic training.”
—John Farrow. Consul in Valparaiso, The Sea Chase (1955)
“I repeat that in this sense the most splendid court in Christendom is provincial, having authority to consult about Transalpine interests only, and not the affairs of Rome. A prætor or proconsul would suffice to settle the questions which absorb the attention of the English Parliament and the American Congress.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)