Scipio Aemilianus

Legacy

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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 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:

A day will come when sacred Troy shall perish,

And Priam and his people shall be slain.

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 the fate of all things human. Polybius actually heard him and recalls it in his history.

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Scipio Aemilianus will forever be associated with the destruction of Carthage. Although he dutifully carried out the will of the Senate, the horror he expressed at its fate speaks to his humanity. He was a man of culture and refinement; he gathered round him such men as the Greek historian Polybius, the Stoic philosopher Panaetius, and the poets Lucilius and Terence—a group that came to be known as the Scipionic circle. At the same time he had all the virtues of an old-fashioned Roman, according to Polybius and Cicero, the latter of whom gives an appreciation of him in his De re publica, in which Scipio Aemilianus is the chief speaker. As a speaker he seems to have been no less distinguished than as a soldier. He spoke remarkably good and pure Latin, and he particularly enjoyed serious and intellectual conversation. After the capture of Carthage he gave back to the Greek cities of Sicily the works of art of which Carthage had robbed them. He did not avail himself of the many opportunities he must have had of amassing a fortune. Though politically opposed to the Gracchi, he cannot be said to have been a foe to the interests of the people. He was, in fact, a moderate man, in favor of conciliation, and he was felt by the best men to be a safe political adviser, but as often happens to moderate men in radical times he ended disliked by both parties.

Despite moderation in policy, his oratory was noted for its sharp witticisms, a number of which have been quoted in various sources (Astin). Astin suggests that while his biting comments were doubtless appreciated by the crowds, they could have also had the effect of making enemies out of political opponents.

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