Publius Cornelius Scipio (consul 16 BC)

Summary

Publius Cornelius Scipio (born 48 BC) was a Roman senator active during the Principate. He was consul in 16 BC as the colleague of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.[1] He was also proconsular governor of Asia, probably around the years 8/7 BC.[2]

Ancestry edit

Little is known about Scipio's ancestry, beyond his father's praenomen Publius. The latest securely documented members of the Cornelii Scipiones was Metellus Scipio and his daughter Cornelia; there were still several Scipiones during the Principate, but how they are related is a subject of conjecture. The use of Publius, primarily used by the Scipiones Nasicae, could indicate that he was the grandson of Metellus Scipio, but he could have also been a son (or grandson) of Scipio Salvito.[3]

It was long believed the consul of 16 BC was the son of a hypothesized Publius Cornelius Scipio, the first husband of Scribonia, later the wife of Octavian.[4] Suetonius only mentions children from Scribonia's second marriage.[5]

Family edit

At least two people have been identified as his children by an unidentified woman:

Syme also suggests possible third child, the "Cornelia Scipionum gentis" wife of the long-lived Lucius Volusius Saturninus, consul in AD 3.[11] However, in another part of his book Syme notes this Cornelia is mentioned in an inscription as "L.f."[12] and suggests Scipio's possible daughter was the mother of Volusius' wife by Lucius Cornelius Lentulus consul of 3 BC.[13] Etcheto rejects this connection with the Corneli Lentuli, and considers that she was a direct heir of the Scipiones, but does not attempt to identify her father.[14]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Cooley, The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy, p. 457
  2. ^ Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, pp. 252, 405.
  3. ^ Etcheto, Les Scipions, p. 191.
  4. ^ The history of this mistake is set forth in John Scheid, "Scribonia Caesaris et les Cornelii Lentuli", Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, 100 (1976), pp. 485-491
  5. ^ Suetonius, Life of Augustus, 62: "Mox (Caesar) Scriboniam in matrimonium accepit, nuptam ante duobus consularibus, ex altero etiam matrem."
  6. ^ Velleius Paterculus, 2.100
  7. ^ Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, pp. 59, 252
  8. ^ Etcheto, Les Scipions, pp. 191, 192.
  9. ^ AE 1967, 458
  10. ^ Etcheto, Les Scipions, p. 192.
  11. ^ Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, p 59
  12. ^ CIL XV, 7441
  13. ^ Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, pp. 252f
  14. ^ Etcheto, Les Scipions, pp. 192, 193.

Bibliography edit

  • Alison E. Cooley, The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy, Cambridge: University Press, 2012.
  • Henri Etcheto, Les Scipions. Famille et pouvoir à Rome à l’époque républicaine, Bordeaux, Ausonius Éditions, 2012
  • R.A. Billows, "The Last of the Scipios", American Journal of Ancient History, 7 (1982), pp. 53–68.
  • Ronald Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986.
Political offices
Preceded byas Ordinary consul Consul of the Roman Empire
16 BC
with Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus
Succeeded byas Suffect consul