Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina (c. 260 BC – after 211 BC) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

politician and general who served as

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

in 221 BC, and as such campaigned against the Histri, a people in the northern

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

. Asina belonged to the Scipionic-Aemilian faction which dominated Roman politics at the beginning of the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

, and advocated for an aggressive policy against

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

. This stance led him to oppose the more prudent strategy of

Fabius Maximus Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, surnamed Cunctator ( 280 – 203 BC), was a Roman statesman and general of the third century BC. He was consul five times (233, 228, 215, 214, and 209 BC) and was appointed dictator in 221 and 217 BC. He was ...

. He was notably appointed

Interrex The interrex (plural interreges) was literally a ruler "between kings" (Latin ''inter reges'') during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent. History The office of ''interrex'' was supposedly created follow ...

in 216 BC, probably in order to manipulate the elections. Asina was also a founder of

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

Family background

Asina was a member of the

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same Roman naming conventions#Nomen, nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (p ...

Cornelia, one of the leading gentes throughout the Republic. Members of the gens had held 29 consulships before him. The Scipiones were one of the stirpes of the Cornelii that emerged during the fourth century, and by Asina's time it had become very influential. All his known relatives were consul in the third century: Asina's father Gnaeus Scipio Asina in 260 and 254, his grandfather

Scipio Barbatus Scipio may refer to: People Ancient Rome * Scipio Aemilianus, Roman general who destroyed Carthage in 146 BC * Scipio Africanus, Roman general who defeated the Carthaginian leader Hannibal in 202 BC * Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, brother of ...

in 298, his uncle Lucius Scipio in 259, and his cousins Publius Scipio in 218 and Gnaeus Scipio Calvus in 222, the year before Asina's own consulship. His father served during the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

, but his capture by the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

in 260 earned him the unsavoury

agnomen An ''agnomen'' (; plural: ''agnomina''), in the Roman naming convention, was a nickname, just as the ''cognomen'' was initially. However, the ''cognomina'' eventually became family names, so ''agnomina'' were needed to distinguish between simila ...

''Asina'' ("she-ass"), which was retained by his son. Gnaeus Scipio Asina was later exchanged against Carthaginian prisoners. He however had a more successful second consulship, as he captured

Panormos Panormos ( el, Πάνορμος, link=no) or Panormus, meaning "sheltered harbor", may refer to: Places Ancient places *Panormus (Achaea), a town of ancient Achaea, Greece *Panormus (Attica), a town of ancient Attica, Greece *Panormus (Caria), a t ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and was granted a triumph as a result.

Career

Consulship (221–220 BC)

Due to the loss of Livy's books covering the period between 293 and 218, nothing is known on Asina's career before his election to the consulship in 221. He was elected alongside the plebeian

Marcus Minucius Rufus Marcus Minucius Rufus (died August 2, 216 BC) was a Roman consul in 221 BC. He was also Magister Equitum during the dictatorship of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus known as ''Cunctator''. He was a political enemy of Fabius Maximus. He was against ...

Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' w ...

, who relied on Livy for his list of consuls, describes Asina as the consul prior, which means the

Centuriate Assembly The Centuriate Assembly (Latin: ''comitia centuriata'') of the Roman Republic was one of the three voting assemblies in the Roman constitution. It was named the Centuriate Assembly as it originally divided Roman citizens into groups of one hundred ...

elected him before Rufus. The years between 222 and 216 saw the domination of the Aemilian-Scipionic faction. Their members received seven of the eight patrician consulship available. Most of the plebeian consuls elected during this period were also their allies, such as M. Livius Salinator (219), Ti. Sempronius Longus (218), C. Flaminius (217), C. Terentius Varro (216), and therefore Minucius Rufus in 221. Asina and Rufus were sent in northeastern Italy, to wage a campaign against the Histri, a people living in the

Istrian peninsula Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwee ...

. Ancient authors tell that they were pirates that threatened navigation in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

, but the consuls' campaign was part of a planned strategy of securing the northern border of the Republic. The previous consuls had indeed campaigned against the

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

of the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

. This strategy may have been triggered by the fear of an incoming war with

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

, which prompted the Senate to remove the threat of being attacked from the back while dealing with the Punic forces.

Triumvir for the foundation of Placentia (218 BC)

In 218, Asina was a member of a commission of three men sent in northern Italy to consolidate the northern frontier with the foundation of the colony of Placentia (now Piacenza in

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

). His cousin Scipio Calvus and Publius Papirius Maso were the two other members of the commission. Another commission founded

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

at the same time.

Interrex (217 BC)

Asina played a role in the contentious consular elections of 217, which returned the consuls for 216: Aemilius Paullus and Terentius Varro, who were soon defeated at the catastrophic

Battle of Cannae The Battle of Cannae () was a key engagement of the Second Punic War between the Roman Republic and Carthage, fought on 2 August 216 BC near the ancient village of Cannae in Apulia, southeast Italy. The Carthaginians and their allies, led by ...

. The two main sources on the elections are Polybius and Livy, but their accounts are dubious. Both authors try to put the blame of the defeat on Varro and absolve Paullus. The latter was the natural grandfather of

Scipio Aemilianus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus (185–129 BC), known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a Roman general and statesman noted for his military exploits in the Third Punic War against Carthage and during the ...

, the patron and friend of Polybius, who therefore says that Varro took the decision to engage the force of Hannibal against Paullus. Livy's goal was different. Throughout his history he favours conservative politicians over populist agitators, and this led him to invent an opposition between Varro the reckless

novus homo ''Novus homo'' or ''homo novus'' (Latin for 'new man'; ''novi homines'' or ''homines novi'') was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his Roman gens, family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as R ...

, and Paullus, the consul supported by the senate. Livy tells that Varro forced the confrontation with Hannibal, while the senate preferred following the delaying

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...

defined by Fabius Maximus. In 217 BC, he was chosen as

to conduct consular elections. The election was marked by a contentious struggle between the

plebeians In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

and

patricians The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

Debate over the defence of Rome (211 BC)

In 211, the city of

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrusc ...

, which had defected to Hannibal, was besieged by the Roman army headed by Quintus Fulvius Flaccus. Hannibal tried unsuccessfully several times to lift the siege, and finally decided to march on Rome in order to force the army besieging Capua to rescue its capital. However, some Punic deserters informed Fulvius of the move, who then passed the information to the senate. A debate then took place on the strategy to adopt. Livy tells that Asina argued in favour of recalling the armies scattered over Italy for the defence of Rome. Fabius Maximus had the opposite view, saying it was just a deceiving tactic from Hannibal, who only wanted to lift the siege of Capua with no desire to take Rome, and therefore nothing should be done. Finally, Publius Valerius Flaccus (consul in 227) proposed a compromise of asking the generals in Capua whether they could send a part of their army to defend Rome. The latter opinion prevailed.Livy, xxvi. 8.

References

Bibliography

Ancient sources

, ''Chronica''
English translation
by Bouke Procee) *

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

, ''

Ab Urbe Condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an exp ...

'' ( English translation by Rev. Canon Roberts on

Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...

), ''Periochae'' (English translation by

Jona Lendering Jona Lendering (born 29 October 1964) is a Dutch historian and the author of books on antiquity, Dutch history and modern management. He has an MA in history from Leiden University and an MA in Mediterranean culture from the Amsterdam Free Unive ...

on Livius.org).

Modern sources

* T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association, 1951–1952. *J. A. Crook,

F. W. Walbank Frank William Walbank (; 10 December 1909 – 23 October 2008) was a scholar of ancient history, particularly the history of Polybius. He was born in Bingley, Yorkshire, and died in Cambridge. Walbank attended Bradford Grammar School and ...

, M. W. Frederiksen, R. M. Ogilvie (editors), ''

The Cambridge Ancient History ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' is a multi-volume work of ancient history from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The first series, consisting of 12 volumes, was planned in 1919 by Irish historian J. B. Bury ...

vol. VIII, Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 B.C.
', Cambridge University Press, 1989. * Henri Etcheto, ''Les Scipions. Famille et pouvoir à Rome à l’époque républicaine'', Bordeaux, Ausonius Éditions, 2012. *Francis X. Ryan, ''Rank and Participation in the Republican Senate'', Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998. *

Howard Hayes Scullard Howard Hayes Scullard (9 February 1903 – 31 March 1983) was a British historian specialising in ancient history, notable for editing the ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' and for his many published works. Scullard's father was Herbert Hayes S ...

, ''Roman Politics 220–150 B. C.'', Oxford University Press, 1951. *

Lily Ross Taylor Lily Ross Taylor (born August 12, 1886, in Auburn, Alabama - died November 18, 1969, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) was an American academic and author, who in 1917 became the first female Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. Biography Born in ...

and T. Robert S. Broughton, "The Order of the Two Consuls' Names in the Yearly Lists", ''Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome'', 19 (1949), pp. 3–14. *Briggs L. Twyman,
The Consular Elections for 216 B.C. and the Lex Maenia de Patrum Auctoritate
, in ''

Classical Philology Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

'', Vol. 79, No. 4 (Oct., 1984), pp. 285–294. *F. W. Walbank, A. E. Astin, M. W. Frederiksen, R. M. Ogilvie (editors), ''The Cambridge Ancient History
vol. VII, part 2, The Rise of Rome to 220 B.C.
', Cambridge University Press, 1989. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Scipio Asina, Publius 260 BC births Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown 3rd-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman generals Ancient Roman politicians Asina, Publius Roman patricians Senators of the Roman Republic