Manius Pomponius Matho
Encyclopedia
Manius Pomponius M.f. M.n. Matho (fl.
236 BC; d 211 BC) was a Roman consul and general who was elected consul for the year 233 BC with Quintus Fabius Maximus
Verrucosses, later called Cunctator. He was also the maternal grandfather of the general and statesman Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
Major
During his consulship, Matho carried on war against the Sardinians, and was granted a triumph for his victory over them. However, this victory was incomplete, because the war was carried on by his brother Marcus, consul in 231 BC.
In 217 BC, he was apparently chosen magister equitum to the dictator, Lucius Veturius Philo, and was elected praetor for the following year, 216 BC. There seems no reason for believing that the Matho, praetor of this year, was a different person from the consul of 233 BC, as the Romans were now at war with Hannibal, and were therefore anxious to appoint to the great offices of the state generals who had had experience in war. The lot, however, did not give to Matho any military command, but the jurisdictio inter ewes Romanos et peregrines. After news had been received of the fatal battle of Cannae, Matho and his colleague, the praetor urbanus, summoned the senate to the curia Hostilia to deliberate on what steps were to be taken. (Liv. xxii. 33, 35, 55, xxiii. 20, 24.) At the expiration of his office, Matho received as propraetor the province of Cisalpine Gaul, in 215 BC
; for Livy says (xxiv. 10), in the next year, b. c. 214, that the province of Gaul was continued to him. Livy, however, not only makes no mention of Matho's appointment in 215 BC, but expressly states (xxiii. 25) that in that year no army was sent into Gaul on account of the want of soldiers. We can only reconcile these statements by supposing that Matho was appointed to the province but did not obtain any troops that year. He died in 211 BC, at which time he was one of the pontifices. (Liv. xxvi. 23.)
This section was extracted from William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2080.html
.http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2081.html
Matho is best known as the grandfather of the great Roman general Scipio Africanus
. Unfortunately, no historians cover Scipio's early life, and state whether Scipio Africanus ever served under his maternal grandfather before leaving for Hispania
. His daughter Pomponia
was the wife of Publius Cornelius Scipio
, consul in 218 BC (killed in 211 BC).
According to William Smith
, relying on Cicero, the name Matho was pronounced without the "h" and was sometimes written as Mato.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
236 BC; d 211 BC) was a Roman consul and general who was elected consul for the year 233 BC with Quintus Fabius Maximus
Quintus Fabius Maximus
Quintus Fabius Maximus most commonly refers to;*Quintus Fabius Maximus*A number of ancient Romans from the gens Fabia.The ancient Romans that share the name Quintus Fabius Maximus include:* Quintus Fabius Maximus, augur 203–196 BC....
Verrucosses, later called Cunctator. He was also the maternal grandfather of the general and statesman Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
Major
During his consulship, Matho carried on war against the Sardinians, and was granted a triumph for his victory over them. However, this victory was incomplete, because the war was carried on by his brother Marcus, consul in 231 BC.
In 217 BC, he was apparently chosen magister equitum to the dictator, Lucius Veturius Philo, and was elected praetor for the following year, 216 BC. There seems no reason for believing that the Matho, praetor of this year, was a different person from the consul of 233 BC, as the Romans were now at war with Hannibal, and were therefore anxious to appoint to the great offices of the state generals who had had experience in war. The lot, however, did not give to Matho any military command, but the jurisdictio inter ewes Romanos et peregrines. After news had been received of the fatal battle of Cannae, Matho and his colleague, the praetor urbanus, summoned the senate to the curia Hostilia to deliberate on what steps were to be taken. (Liv. xxii. 33, 35, 55, xxiii. 20, 24.) At the expiration of his office, Matho received as propraetor the province of Cisalpine Gaul, in 215 BC
215 BC
Year 215 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Albinus/Marcellus/Verrucosus and Gracchus...
; for Livy says (xxiv. 10), in the next year, b. c. 214, that the province of Gaul was continued to him. Livy, however, not only makes no mention of Matho's appointment in 215 BC, but expressly states (xxiii. 25) that in that year no army was sent into Gaul on account of the want of soldiers. We can only reconcile these statements by supposing that Matho was appointed to the province but did not obtain any troops that year. He died in 211 BC, at which time he was one of the pontifices. (Liv. xxvi. 23.)
This section was extracted from William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2080.html
Family
Matho was the brother of the consul Marcus Pomponius Matho, consul 231 BC who died in 204 BC. Either man, but probably the latter, was the father of the plebeian aedile Marcus Pomponius Matho, aedile in 206 BC, who was ordered to investigate the complaints of the Locrians against his kinsman Scipio AfricanusScipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
.http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2081.html
Matho is best known as the grandfather of the great Roman general Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
. Unfortunately, no historians cover Scipio's early life, and state whether Scipio Africanus ever served under his maternal grandfather before leaving for Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
. His daughter Pomponia
Pomponia
Pomponia is the female name for the gens Pomponius of Ancient Rome. This family was one of the oldest families in Rome. Various women bearing this name, of whom five are named below, lived during the Middle and Late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. The oldest known Pomponia was mother of a...
was the wife of Publius Cornelius Scipio
Publius Cornelius Scipio
Publius Cornelius Scipio was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic.A member of the Corneliagens, Scipio served as consul in 218 BC, the first year of the Second Punic War, and sailed with an army from Pisa to Massilia , with the intention of arresting Hannibal's advance on Italy...
, consul in 218 BC (killed in 211 BC).
According to William Smith
William Smith (lexicographer)
Sir William Smith Kt. was a noted English lexicographer.-Early life:Born at Enfield in 1813 of Nonconformist parents, he was originally destined for a theological career, but instead was articled to a solicitor. In his spare time he taught himself classics, and when he entered University College...
, relying on Cicero, the name Matho was pronounced without the "h" and was sometimes written as Mato.