Tiberius Sempronius Longus (c. 260 BC – 210 BC) was a Roman

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

 during the Second Punic War

Second Punic War

The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...

 and a contemporary 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...

. In 218 BC, Sempronius was sent to Africa with 160 quinquereme

Quinquereme

From the 4th century BC on, new types of oared warships appeared in the Mediterranean Sea, superseding the trireme and transforming naval warfare. Ships became increasingly bigger and heavier, including some of the largest wooden ships ever constructed...

s to gather forces and supplies, while Scipio was sent to Iberia

Hispania Tarraconensis

Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the Mediterranean coast of Spain along with the central plateau. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia, was the province of Hispania Baetica...

 to intercept Hannibal. It was at this time, striking from Lilybaeum

Marsala

Marsala is a seaport city located in the Province of Trapani on the island of Sicily in Italy. The low coast on which it is situated is the westernmost point of the island...

, on the island of Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, that Sempronius Longus captured Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 from the Carthaginian

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...

s.

Shortly thereafter, with Scipio wounded and pursued by Hannibal's forces after the Battle of Ticinus

Battle of Ticinus

The Battle of Ticinus was a battle of the Second Punic War fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and the Romans under Publius Cornelius Scipio in November 218 BC. The battle took place in the flat country of Pavia county on the right bank of the Ticino River not far north from its...

, the Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

 sent for Tiberius Sempronius Longus. Upon his arrival in December, and reportedly against Scipio's advice, Sempronius Longus led an ambitious attack at the Battle of the Trebia

Battle of the Trebia

The Battle of the Trebia was the first major battle of the Second Punic War, fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and the Roman Republic in December of 218 BC, on or around the winter solstice...

. His army charged into a trap and was enveloped

Pincer movement

The pincer movement or double envelopment is a military maneuver. The flanks of the opponent are attacked simultaneously in a pinching motion after the opponent has advanced towards the center of an army which is responding by moving its outside forces to the enemy's flanks, in order to surround it...

 by the forces of Hannibal's brother, Mago

Mago Barca

Mago, son of Hamilcar Barca, also spelled Magon, Phoenician MGN, "God sent" , was a member of the Barcid family, and played an important role in the Second Punic War, leading forces of Carthage against the Roman Republic in Hispania, Gallia Cisalpina and Italy...

. Although it was a crushing Roman defeat, Tiberius Sempronius Longus and a force of 10,000 infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

men fought their way through the rear Carthaginian lines and to safety.

In January of 217 BC Sempronius Longus returned to Rome to oversee the elections for the new consuls. He was succeeded by Gaius Flaminius Nepos

Gaius Flaminius

Gaius Flaminius Nepos was a politician and consul of the Roman Republic in the 3rd century BC. He was the greatest popular leader to challenge the authority of the Senate before the Gracchi a century later....

 and returned to his army at their winter encampment.

In 215 BC, Sempronius fought Hanno

Hanno the Elder

Hanno the Elder was a Carthaginian general who served under Hannibal during the Second Punic War. According to the historian Livy, his track record was terrible: in 215 BC he was defeated by Tiberius Sempronius Longus at Grumentum, in 214 BC he was defeated by Gracchus at Beneventum, two years...

 at Grumentum

Battle of Grumentum

The Battle of Grumentum was fought in 207 BC between Romans led by Gaius Claudius Nero, and Hannibal's Carthaginian army. The battle was a minor Roman victory, and Nero marched north where he defeated and killed Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal at Metaurus. The battle is described by Livy at 27.41-42....

. Sempronius' army killed 2,000 enemy men and captured 280 more, pushing Hanno out of Lucania

Lucania

Lucania was an ancient district of southern Italy, extending from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined Campania, Samnium and Apulia, and to the south it was separated by a narrow isthmus from the district of Bruttium...

 back to Bruttium and allowing the towns of Vercellium, Vescellium, and Sicilinum to be recaptured for Rome.

In 194 BC, his son, Tiberius Sempronius Longus

Tiberius Sempronius Longus (consul 194 BCE)

Tiberius Sempronius Longus was a Roman consul in 194 BC, and a contemporary of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. He was the son of the Tiberius Sempronius Longus who commanded Roman legions during the Second Punic War....

, became consul and supervised the migration of Roman colonists in Gaul.

External links

• Public domain database of Roman history