Talk:Scipio Aemilianus Africanus

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This is a very good essay on Scipio. I'm not happy with the sentence about Scipio's repentance being tardy. Two things: it wasn't Scipio's decision to annihilate Carthage (in fact the Senate sent a committee of ten to oversee the process); Polybius explicitly says it was not a repentance. I've just been doing some reading on this and Astin (A. E. Astin "Scipio Aemilianus", Oxford, 1967) includes a persuasive Appendix ("Scipio's Tears At Carthage") that argues that they were probably not tears of remorse. He concludes, "That Scipio was genuinely moved may be agreed without hesitation, as also that, doubltess amid a welter of emotions, of pride and triumph, or relief and joy, he felt sadness at the reminder that sooner or later all earthly things must pass . . ."

I'm not exactly sure how to replace the sentence, though. The drama of Scipio weeping is too good to leave out, but its meaning is hard to capture briefly. - Ward

Wasn´t there a story of him crying upon seing carthage destroyed and murmuming: .... someday Rome?

[edit] Poussin

The picture is in fact of a well-known story usually referred to as the "continence of Scipio". It concerns the capture of Cartago Nuova in Spain, when Scipio was "given" an attractive woman as a prize of war. He returned her to her fiance. It's a popular subject in 16-18th century art. Paul B 11:45, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

Note: The reference is however incorrect; the Scipio depicted in the "continence of Scipio" is Scipio Major, not Scipio Aemilianus. Michael A

Yes, I'll move the image to Mr Major's page. Paul B 12:39, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Original name

Was his original name "Publius Aemilius Paullus" or "Lucius Aemilius Paullus" or what? This should be listed here, I think. john k 23:47, 1 June 2006 (UTC)