Lucius Cornelius P.f. P.n. Scipio ( fl. 174 BC), Roman praetor in 174 BC, was the younger son of Scipio Africanus, the great Roman general and statesman by his wife Aemilia. He was the son and grandson of Roman consuls, but his own personal life and political career was vitiated by his dissolute habits and possibly by his continued ill-health.

Early life

Nothing is known about Lucius's early life, except that he was born during the Second Punic War. If his parents married circa 212 BC (possibly earlier or later), and if he had an elder brother, he was probably born around 210 BC or 209 BC when his father was already in Spain. In that case, he would have spent his entire childhood seeing little of his father who was winning Rome territories in Spain and then defeating Hannibal at Zama. Lucius is most notable for probably being the unnamed son who was captured by pirates circa 192 BC. This son was released without ransom by Antiochus III of Syria before the

Battle of Magnesia The Battle of Magnesia took place in either December 190 or January 189 BC. It was fought as part of the Roman–Seleucid War, pitting forces of the Roman Republic led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and the allied Kingdom of Pe ...

(190 BC). The fact that Scipio paid no ransom for his son's release would cause him political problems with the Senate two years later. It is possible that Lucius learned in Syria the dissolute habits and lifestyle which marked the rest of his life.

Later life

In 174 BC, he was elected

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

with the help of his father's former scribe, Gaius Cicereius, now a considerably wealthy freedman. However, in the same year, he was expelled by the Senate, in a low point for the Scipiones.Livy 41.27 His date of death is unknown, but he probably died between 174 BC and 170 BC. It is possible that his death, which left his brother with no male heirs, forced the brother Publius to adopt his own first cousin as his heir. This adoptive son would be

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scipio, Lucius Cornelius 3rd-century BC births 170s BC deaths

Lucius Cornelius P.f. P.n. Scipio Lucius Cornelius P.f. P.n. Scipio (fl. 174 BC), Roman praetor in 174 BC, was the younger son of Scipio Africanus, the great Roman general and statesman by his wife Aemilia. He was the son and grandson of Roman consuls, but his own personal life and ...

Cornelius, Lucius Cornelius P.f. P.n. Scipio 3rd-century BC Romans 2nd-century BC Romans