Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina (lived 3rd century BC) was a Roman general and statesman who fought in 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 ...

. Scipio Asina belonged to the patrician family of the Cornelii Scipiones. He was son of

Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus (c. 337 BC270 BC) was one of the two elected Roman consuls in 298 BC. He led the Roman army to victory against the Etruscans near Volterra. A member of the noble Roman family of Scipiones, he was the father of ...

and brother of Lucius Cornelius Scipio (consul 259 BC). His son was Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina, consul in 221 BC. Elected

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 thro ...

for the year 260 BC with Gaius Duillius, Scipio Asina had the honour of commanding the first Roman fleet launched onto the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. While patrolling the waters of the Messina strait between Italy and

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, Scipio Asina received the information that

Lipara Lipari (; ) is a ''comune'' including six of seven islands of the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi) and it is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, Southern Italy; it is admin ...

, in the Lipari Islands, was about to change to the Roman side. Eager to secure such an important port and to gain glory for himself, he rushed to the islands without considering security. It is unclear if the Carthaginians planned the whole affair, but the Roman fleet was trapped in the harbor by Hannibal Gisco. Without naval warfare experience, the crews panicked and escaped to land, leaving the ships unattended and Scipio Asina to be made prisoner by the Carthaginians.

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

, ''The Histories'', 1.21 Later, Gnaeus Cornelius was released from captivity, but it is unknown when and under what circumstances this happened. Apparently, the Romans did not see any particular guilt on the part of Scipio Asina in the defeat at Lipari. This is how historiography explains the fact that in 254 BC Gnaeus Cornelius became consul for the second time. Although there was hardly any fighting, the encounter is known as the

Battle of the Lipari Islands The Battle of the Lipari Islands or Battle of Lipara was a naval encounter fought in 260 BC during the First Punic War. A squadron of 20 Carthaginian ships commanded by Boödes surprised 17 Roman ships under the senior consul for the year ...

. His mishap earned him the pejorative surname ''Asina'' ("ass", literally "female donkey", in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

), given by political opponents. Neither the humiliation, nor his loss, ended his career; in 254 BC, Scipio Asina was elected consul for the second time and, with his co-consul Aulus Atilius Caiatinus, succeeded in the conquest of Panormus (

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, now capital of Sicily).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Scipio Asina, Gnaeus 3rd-century BC Roman consuls Asina, Gnaeus Roman commanders of the First Punic War Ancient Roman patricians Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown

See also

References