Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum
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Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum (died 141 BC) was a Roman statesman and member of the gens
Cornelia.
Corculum was the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica
(himself consul in 191 BC), and was thus a first cousin once removed of the Roman general Scipio Africanus
. His mother is unknown, but is given by some sources as Caecilia Metella, possibly daughter or other relative of Quintus Caecilius Metellus (consul 206 BC)
whose descendants dominated the consulships in the Late Republic.
In 168 BC Corculum fought under Africanus's brother-in-law Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus
in Macedon
. He commanded one of the wings, as described by Livy.
, who was Corculum's brother-in-law, deliberately disturbed the auspices to ensure that he would have time to complete his military campaign and win a triumph
- which in fact happened).
Corculum was elected censor in 159 BC with Marcus Popillius Laenas
despite his abortive consulship. During his censorship he decreed that no statues of public officials may be erected on the forum without public approval of the Senate or the people.
During his second consulship in 155 BC, Corculum defeated the Dalmatia
ns and was granted a triumph.
He became pontifex maximus
in 150 BC (after a two year interregnum after the death of the previous pontiff Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 187 and 175 BC) and princeps senatus
in 147 BC. (Lepidus had served as both during his lifetime; Scipio Africanus had been chosen princeps senatus but was never a pontifex maximus).
During the period 159-149 BC, Corculum was a political opponent of Marcus Porcius Cato
and pleaded that Rome not destroy Carthage
. According to Plutarch
's conjecture and Appian
's later definite assertion, that was because Corculum feared that the destruction of Rome's main rival would lead to the decline of Roman morals and discipline. When Cato insisted "Carthago delenda est" (Carthage must be destroyed), Corculum responded that Carthage must be saved. However, even as princeps senatus, Corculum lost political influence when Carthage plunged into war with Massinissa of Numidia
, a war which was against the provisions of the fifty-year treaty signed that Rome considered permanent (but that Greek jurists considered had expired). The reality was that Rome wanted to destroy Carthage, seeing how rapidly the city had rebounded from severe fines and years of warfare, and thus encouraged the Numidians to repeatedly attack Carthaginian territory. Nevertheless, Scipio Corculum was discredited as a champion of Carthage and his political opponent Cato was triumphant. Corculum lived through the Third Punic War
(ended by his kinsman Scipio Aemilianus); Cato lived to see that war being declared.
As Corculum was succeeded as pontifex maximus in 141 BC by his own son, it is reasonable to assume he died that year.
, eldest daughter of Scipio Africanus
, with whom he was father of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
(who became consul in 138 BC and who succeeded his father as Pontifex Maximus
in 141 BC). No other children are known, nor is the date of the marriage or Cornelia's death. However, the marriage apparently took place around 184-183 BC, in the lifetime of her father Scipio Africanus. This marriage between second cousins was the first known marriage that took place within a Roman gens.
His son Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
became consul in 138 BC; his grandson Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica (IV) also became consul. The last consul in this line was his great-great-grandson Metellus Scipio (father-in-law of Pompey the Great). The last living descendant in the direct line was Cornelia Metella
, widow of Pompey the Great. Other descendants, if any, are unknown.
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...
Cornelia.
Corculum was the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica was a consul of ancient Rome in 191 BC. He was a son of Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus...
(himself consul in 191 BC), and was thus a first cousin once removed of the 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...
. His mother is unknown, but is given by some sources as Caecilia Metella, possibly daughter or other relative of Quintus Caecilius Metellus (consul 206 BC)
Quintus Caecilius Metellus (died 175 BC)
Quintus Caecilius Metellus was a son of Lucius Caecilius Metellus. He was Pontiff in 216 BC, Aedile of the Plebeians in 209 BC and 208 BC, Consul in 205 BC, Dictator in 203 BC and Ambassador at the Court of Philip V of Macedon in 185 BC.He served as a Legate in the army of Gaius Claudius Nero and...
whose descendants dominated the consulships in the Late Republic.
In 168 BC Corculum fought under Africanus's brother-in-law Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus
Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus
Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus was a two-time consul of the Roman Republic and a noted general who conquered Macedon putting an end to the Antigonid dynasty.-Family:...
in Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
. He commanded one of the wings, as described by Livy.
Political career
Corculum became consul for the first time in 162 BC but he and his colleague Gaius Marcius Figulus abdicated when something went wrong with the auspices. (Some sources suggest that the retiring consul, Tiberius Sempronius GracchusTiberius Gracchus Major
Tiberius Gracchus major or Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman politician of the 2nd century BC...
, who was Corculum's brother-in-law, deliberately disturbed the auspices to ensure that he would have time to complete his military campaign and win a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
- which in fact happened).
Corculum was elected censor in 159 BC with Marcus Popillius Laenas
Marcus Popillius Laenas (consul 173 BC)
Marcus Popillius Laenas was a Roman statesman.He was praetor in 176 BC. He did not go to his province of Sardinia because he did not want to upset the success that the propraetor, Titus Aebutius, was enjoying...
despite his abortive consulship. During his censorship he decreed that no statues of public officials may be erected on the forum without public approval of the Senate or the people.
During his second consulship in 155 BC, Corculum defeated the Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
ns and was granted a triumph.
He became pontifex maximus
Pontifex Maximus
The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
in 150 BC (after a two year interregnum after the death of the previous pontiff Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 187 and 175 BC) and princeps senatus
Princeps senatus
The princeps senatus was the first member by precedence of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the cursus honorum and owning no imperium, this office brought enormous prestige to the senator holding it.-Overview:...
in 147 BC. (Lepidus had served as both during his lifetime; Scipio Africanus had been chosen princeps senatus but was never a pontifex maximus).
During the period 159-149 BC, Corculum was a political opponent of Marcus Porcius Cato
Cato the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
and pleaded that Rome not destroy Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
. According to Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
's conjecture and Appian
Appian
Appian of Alexandria was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.He was born ca. 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he went to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as...
's later definite assertion, that was because Corculum feared that the destruction of Rome's main rival would lead to the decline of Roman morals and discipline. When Cato insisted "Carthago delenda est" (Carthage must be destroyed), Corculum responded that Carthage must be saved. However, even as princeps senatus, Corculum lost political influence when Carthage plunged into war with Massinissa of Numidia
Numidia
Numidia was an ancient Berber kingdom in part of present-day Eastern Algeria and Western Tunisia in North Africa. It is known today as the Chawi-land, the land of the Chawi people , the direct descendants of the historical Numidians or the Massyles The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later...
, a war which was against the provisions of the fifty-year treaty signed that Rome considered permanent (but that Greek jurists considered had expired). The reality was that Rome wanted to destroy Carthage, seeing how rapidly the city had rebounded from severe fines and years of warfare, and thus encouraged the Numidians to repeatedly attack Carthaginian territory. Nevertheless, Scipio Corculum was discredited as a champion of Carthage and his political opponent Cato was triumphant. Corculum lived through the Third Punic War
Third Punic War
The Third Punic War was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between the former Phoenician colony of Carthage, and the Roman Republic...
(ended by his kinsman Scipio Aemilianus); Cato lived to see that war being declared.
As Corculum was succeeded as pontifex maximus in 141 BC by his own son, it is reasonable to assume he died that year.
Family
Corculum was married to his second cousin Cornelia Africana MajorCornelia Africana Major
Cornelia Africana Major was the first daughter of Aemilia Tertia and Scipio Africanus.Scipio Nasica Corculum was her husband and second cousin. She had a single child. Judging by the year her son, Scipio Nasica Serapio, became consul in 138 BCE she probably married around 184-183 BCE.Cornelia...
, eldest daughter of 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...
, with whom he was father of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio , the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum and his wife Cornelia Africana Major, was a member of the gens Cornelia and a politician of the ancient Roman Republic. He was consul in 138 BC.He was also a member of the gens Cornelia, a family of...
(who became consul in 138 BC and who succeeded his father as Pontifex Maximus
Pontifex Maximus
The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
in 141 BC). No other children are known, nor is the date of the marriage or Cornelia's death. However, the marriage apparently took place around 184-183 BC, in the lifetime of her father Scipio Africanus. This marriage between second cousins was the first known marriage that took place within a Roman gens.
His son Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio , the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum and his wife Cornelia Africana Major, was a member of the gens Cornelia and a politician of the ancient Roman Republic. He was consul in 138 BC.He was also a member of the gens Cornelia, a family of...
became consul in 138 BC; his grandson Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica (IV) also became consul. The last consul in this line was his great-great-grandson Metellus Scipio (father-in-law of Pompey the Great). The last living descendant in the direct line was Cornelia Metella
Cornelia Metella
Cornelia Metella was the daughter of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica . She appears in numerous literary sources, including an official dedicatory inscription at Pergamon....
, widow of Pompey the Great. Other descendants, if any, are unknown.