Scipio (plural, Scipiones) is a Roman cognomen representing the Cornelii Scipiones, a branch of the Cornelii family. Any individual male of the branch must be named Cornelius Scipio and a female Cornelia. The nomen, Cornelius, signifies that the person belongs to the Cornelia gens, a legally defined clan composed of many familiae. The cognomen, Scipio, identifies the line, or branch within the clan. Other branches had other cognomina; during the Republic there were no Cornelii who did not belong to some branch of the ancient clan. As branches developed, each was identified by its own agnomen, such as Africanus. The formal names of the Cornelii were thus at least two names long; in the late Republic, three or more.
Individual names, or praenomina, offered but little more variation. Of 18 patrician praenomina, each clan preferred a limited repertory. The Cornelii Scipiones used only three: Gnaeus (CN.), Lucius (L.) and Publius (P.), as a glance at the list of males names below will confirm. In written records it was typically necessary to distinguish the individual with the name of a relative; for men, usually the father (patronymic).[1] The patronymic appeared typically as initials of the relative inserted after the nomen with F. for filius ("son") or N. for nepos ("grandson"): Lucius Cornelius P. f. Scipio, "Lucius Cornelius Scipio son of Publius."[2]
Although the Romans used Scipiones (in only a few known literary instances) as a plural to mean more than one Scipio, they customarily preferred Scipionarius or Scipioneus to refer to "a Scipio" or the plural of those words for "the Scipios." The poets however preferred the honorific Greek patronymic form, Scipiades or Scipiadas in the singular, Scipiadae in the plural (which scans better as poetry: Scípǐǎdáe), in deference to the well-known Scipionic predilection for Hellenica.[3]
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The proper noun, Scīpio, is identical to the Latin common noun (and only to that noun) for "staff" in the sense of sceptre or formal baton, a badge of governmental authority.[4] The word is native Latin, deriving from Indo-European *skei-p-, "cut" (a staff is a cutting from wood).[5] That the ancients understood the name to mean that is proved by a decree from Delos engraved on a stele about 193 BC, which thanks Publius Cornelius P. f. Scipio for his donation to the temple there and grants him a laurel crown. On the stele appear representations of the crown and a knotty staff.[6]
The Cornelii Scipiones first appear in Roman history in 396 BC in the context of the destruction of Veii by Marcus Furius Camillus, who on being appointed Dictator selected Publius Cornelius Scipio as his "Master of Knights"; that is, his cavalry commander.[7][8][9] Scipio subsequently served as military tribune, in essence a general. Already the Scipiones were a distinguished branch of one of the most powerful patrician families - the gens Cornelia. The use of the cognomen dates to the Roman Republic: the kings and their contemporaries had two names only, or earlier one. The first Scipio and the event leading to the branch name remain obscure.[note 1]
The family was one of the most distinguished of the republic. At least fifteen members became consuls, some re-elected many times, between 350 BC and 111 BC. Their family tomb, dated to the 3rd century BC and rediscovered in 1780, contained one of the earliest collections of Latin inscriptions, the elogia Scipionum ("inscriptions of the Scipios"), an important historical source for the Roman Republic.
The Cornelii Scipiones were one of the main politically active patrician families contesting for high office in the Roman Republic. Their rise was phenomenal; in the fourth century BC, they held only one consulship; in the third century BC, they held eight consulships (and produced six consuls including Scipio Africanus). By the late second century BC, the Scipiones were traditional political allies of the Paulii branch of the Aemilius family, and intermarried with them at least once. When the most distinguished branch became extinct in the male line circa 170 BC, it survived a further generation by adopting an Aemilius Paullus (the future Scipio Aemilianus) into the Scipionic stemline.
Before and during the Second Punic War, the Scipiones struggled to get their views heard in preference to that of conservatives such as Quintus Fabius Maximus (head of the gens Fabia). The Scipiones and their allies, including the Aemilii, were said to favor war and expansionism; the Fabii, with their allies the Manlii, favored conservatism. The political differences gradually widened to include military differences; the brothers Scipio (who fell in Spain) sought to carry the war into Carthaginian territory, an idea backed by Scipio Africanus a few years later. The Scipiones are also believed to have been behind the election of Gaius Terentius Varro, which led indirectly to the disastrous defeat at Cannae survived by Africanus, then a very young commander.
The conquests of grandfather and adoptive grandson marked the end of an era, and the decline or demise of the Middle Republic. The two Scipiones, by destroying Carthage militarily and physically (on orders from the Senate), ensured that Rome had no major threat to her expansion around the Mediterranean. Ironically, another Scipio (Scipio Nasica) had opposed any further war with Carthage, arguing that Rome needed a strong rival to keep her older values.
The Scipiones were also famous for their interest in the Hellenistic way of life. Scipio Africanus was criticized by many in the Senate for his love of luxury and his Greek style of wearing the toga. Yet it was he and his friends who introduced the idea of formally educating women and children in Greek. They also spearhearded a luxurious style of living, with Africanus building an immense house on the Forum itself (subsequently rebuilt by his son-in-law into the Basilica Sempronia). Scipio is said to have introduced orange trees (from Iberia) to Rome, and also brought many rare flowering plants to Rome from Africa.
Scipio Aemilianus was famous for his Scipionic Circle, a group of scholars and philosophers that he gathered around him in his house in Rome. He was a patron and friend of the historian Polybius, the grammarian Lucilius, the playwright Terence, and others.
Famous male Scipiones include:
Famous female Scipiones include:
The relationship of the following Scipios to all of the above is unknown: