Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica (c. 154 – 111 BC) was a politician of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

. He belonged to the great patrician family of the

Cornelii Scipiones The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any oth ...

, and was the son of the pontifex maximus Nasica Serapio, who famously murdered

Tiberius Gracchus Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus ( 163 – 133 BC) was a Roman politician best known for his agrarian reform law entailing the transfer of land from the Roman state and wealthy landowners to poorer citizens. He had also served in the Roma ...

in 133 BC. Nasica was on track to a prestigious career like most of his ancestors, being

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 ...

in 118 BC, but he died during his

consulship A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

in 111 BC.

Family

He was the matrilineal great-grandson of Scipio Africanus. He was married to Caecilia Metella, daughter of

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus (c. 188 BC – 116 BC/115 BC) was a statesman and general of the Roman Republic during the second century BC. He was praetor in 148 BC, consul in 143 BC, the Proconsul of Hispania Citerior in 142 BC an ...

. He had two children: Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, who married a daughter of the famous orator

Lucius Licinius Crassus Lucius Licinius Crassus (140–91 BC) was a Roman orator and statesman. He was considered the greatest orator of his day, most notably by his pupil Cicero. Crassus is also famous as one of the main characters in Cicero's work '' De Oratore'', a d ...

, and a daughter who married Publius Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus. His son was praetor in 93 BC and the father of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

Ancient sources

* Gaius Plinius Secundus (

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

), '' Historia Naturalis'' (Natural History).

Modern sources

* Henri Etcheto,
Les Scipions. Famille et pouvoir à Rome à l’époque républicaine
', Bordeaux, Ausonius Éditions, 2012. 150s BC births Year of birth uncertain 111 BC deaths 2nd-century BC Roman consuls 1st-century BC Romans Nasica, Publius (consul 643 AUC) Roman patricians {{AncientRome-politician-stub