Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus (died c. 280 BC) was one of the two elected Roman consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

s in 298 BC. He led the Roman

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

army to victory against the Etruscans near Volterra

Volterra

Volterra, known to the ancient Etruscans as Velathri, to the Romans as Volaterrae, is a town and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy.-History:...

. A member of the noble Roman family of Scipiones

Scipio (cognomen)

Scipio 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...

, he was the father of Lucius Cornelius Scipio

Lucius Cornelius Scipio (consul 259 BC)

Lucius Cornelius Scipio , consul in 259 BC during the First Punic War was a consul and censor of ancient Rome. He was the son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, himself consul and censor, and brother to Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina, himself twice consul...

and Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina

Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina

Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina was a Roman politician involved in the First Punic War.Scipio Asina was a patrician member of the Scipiones branch of the famous Cornelii, a family with a history as old as the Roman Republic itself. He was son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus and brother of Lucius...

and great-grandfather of Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...

General of the third Samnite war

Barbatus rose to preeminence as a patrician officer of the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

during the crucial period of the Third Samnite War, when Rome finally defeated a coalition of neighboring states: the Etruscans

Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...

, Umbrians and Samnites

Samnium

Samnium is a Latin exonym for a region of south or south and central Italy in Roman times. The name survives in Italian today, but today's territory comprising it is only a small portion of what it once was. The populations of Samnium were called Samnites by the Romans...

assisted by the Gauls

Gauls

The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....

, thereby extending its leadership and sovereignty over most of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

Battle of Volterra, 298 BC

Prior to 298 BC war had already broken out between Rome and Etruria

Etruria

Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...

when the Etruscans decided to invade Rome in combination with some Gallic allies they had purchased. The planned attack was a violation of a former treaty with Rome. The Gauls

Gauls

reneged and the Etruscans found themselves facing a Roman army under consul

Consul

Titus Manlius

Titus Manlius Torquatus (consul 299 BC)

Titus Manlius T.f. Torquatus was a patrician Roman Republican consul for 299 BC, elected along with a plebeian co-consul Marcus Fulvius Cn.f...

who however died after a fall from his horse in a display of horsemanship. The election held to replace him made Marcus Valerius Corvus

Marcus Valerius Corvus

Marcus Valerius Corvus was a Roman general of the 4th century BC, characterized as a farmer who lived to be one hundred.-Biography:...

consul. He joined the army in Etruria and began to waste the country hoping to provoke the Etruscans to battle, which they refused.

In 298 BC Appius Claudius

Appius Claudius Caecus

Appius Claudius Caecus was a Roman politician from a wealthy patrician family. He was dictator himself and the son of Gaius Claudius Crassus, dictator in 337 BC.-Life:...

followed by Publius Sulpicius became interreges for reasons unknown. Sulpicius held an election, which brought Barbatus and Gnaeus Fulvius Maximus Centumatus into consular office. The Lucania

Lucania

Lucania was an ancient district of southern Italy, extending from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined Campania, Samnium and Apulia, and to the south it was separated by a narrow isthmus from the district of Bruttium...

ns spoke before the Senate saying that the Samnites

Samnium

were devastating their country and asking for the protection of Rome in exchange for a treaty and hostages. The Senate assented after a few moments' deliberation and dispatched heralds to tell the Samnites to withdraw. Encountering the Samnite army they were told that if they spoke in Samnium they would never leave there alive; consequently, the Senate declared war on Samnium. In a casting of lots

Sortition

In politics, sortition is the selection of decision makers by lottery. The decision-makers are chosen as a random sample from a larger pool of candidates....

as to which consul would take which war Barbatus won command of the army in Etruria while Centumatus undertook the initial campaign in the Third Samnite War.

The Etruscans attacked immediately before Volterra

Volterra

Volterra, known to the ancient Etruscans as Velathri, to the Romans as Volaterrae, is a town and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy.-History:...

. A day-long battle brought no victory but in the night the Etruscans withdrew to their fortified cities leaving their camp and equipment to the Romans. Encamping his army at the Etrurian border Barbatus led a lightly armed force in the devastation of the countryside.

Battle of Tifernum, 297 BC

In the next year the Etruscans sued for peace. The newly elected consuls for 297 BC, Quintus Fabius Maximus

Fabius Maximus Rullianus

Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus , son of Marcus Fabius Ambustus, of the patrician Fabii of ancient Rome, was five times consul and a hero of the Samnite Wars. He was brother to Marcus Fabius Ambustus ....

and Decius Mus led both armies against Samnium, Barbatus going as lieutenant general (legatus

Legatus

A legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...

) under Maximus. As they advanced into Samnium laying waste to the country the Samnites were hoping to catch them in an ambush in a valley at Tifernum (Samniticum).Of the three settlements of ancient Italy named Tifernum, two were in Umbria

Umbria

Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...

, while the third, of location unknown exactly, is believed to have been at the source of the Tifernum (Biferno

Biferno

The Biferno is a river of Molise, in southern Italy. Its source is in the comune of Bojano and during the first few kilometres of its course it receives the waters of numerous streams which flow from the Matese mountains...

) river at the foot of Mount Tifernus (Matese

Matese

The Matese is a chain of mountains in central Italy, central-southern Apennines.-Geography:...

Mountain), a Samnite stronghold. Stationing a force there to entice the Romans they hid their main force in the hills behind. Fabius saw through the ruse and brought his army up in quadrangular formation before the "hiding place" of the Samnites, who then came down to fight a conventional battle, line-to-line.

Unable to obtain a victory, Fabius withdrew the spearmen of the First Legion from the line and sent them under the command of Barbatus stealthily around the enemy flank into the hills behind, whence the latter had earlier descended. They were ordered to coordinate an attack from behind with an especially vigorous cavalry charge to the front of the Samnite line. The plan went entirely wrong: the charge came too soon and was repulsed. A counterattack was beginning to break the Roman line when Barbatus' men appeared on the hills and were mistaken for the second Roman army under Mus, a disaster for the Samnites if true. They abandoned the field posthaste leaving behind 23 standards and 3400 slain, while 830 were taken prisoner. In fact Publius Decius Mus was far away in south Samnium.

Campaigns under Claudius and Flamma, 296 BC

Having routed the Samnite army both consuls proceeded to the systematic reduction of Samnium over a period of five months until the next election. Mus travelled over the country conducting operations from 45 camps successively while Maximus utilized 86. After elections the new consuls ordered them to continue the war in Samnium for six months, each with the rank of proconsul

Proconsul

A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...

. The Samnite army under Gellius Egnatius

Egnatius

Gellius Egnatius was the leader of the Samnites during the Third Samnite War, which broke out in 298 BC. By the end of the second campaign the Samnites appeared completely defeated, however in the following year Gallius Egnatius marched into Etruria, and roused the Etruscans to a close co-operation...

, unable to remain in Samnium, offered its services to Etruria, which were accepted; under Egnatius' leadership the Umbria

Umbria

ns were brought in and Gallic mercenaries were hired. Calling a meeting of all the chief men in Etruria Egnatius declared that war for freedom was better than peace with servitude and announced his intention to attack Rome. The Etruscans assented.

Receiving intelligence of the new dangerous circumstances the Senate dispatched Appius Claudius

Appius Claudius Caecus

Appius Claudius Caecus was a Roman politician from a wealthy patrician family. He was dictator himself and the son of Gaius Claudius Crassus, dictator in 337 BC.-Life:...

into Etruria in command of the First and Fourth Legions and 12,000 allied troops. Several inconclusive engagements were fought. The second consul for 296, Lucius Volumnius Flamma

Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens

Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens was a Roman politician, the first consul from a plebeian gens: see novus homo.-Background:According to Roman tradition, membership of the Roman Senate, the city's magistracies, the offices of consul and various religious positions were restricted to patricians...

, was assisting the two proconsuls in the reduction of Samnium when the Lucania

Lucania

ns defected, influenced by an appeal from the ordinary people of Samnium. Flamma claimed to have received a letter from Claudius asking for military assistance, a claim which was later denied by Claudius. Sending Maximus (presumably still with Barbatus) to the reduction of Lucania he departed for Etruria.

Claudius was ill-pleased to see him and had ordered him away when all the officers of his own army met to insist that he be retained. The men took a voice vote of such magnitude that it alarmed the nearby enemy camp and they prepared for battle. The Romans went out to fight immediately, with Claudius giving in to a situation he had to accept. The Romans attacked so fiercely with Claudius, it is said, fighting in the front ranks along with the men and continually invoking the goddess of war, Bellona

Bellona

-Places:United States of America*Bellona Foundry and adjacent Bellona Arsenal, 19th century United States Army and Confederate munitions factory and depot in VirginiaItaly*Bellona, Campania, a comune in the Province of CasertaSolomon Islands...

, with hands upraised to heaven, that they routed the combined enemy force and drove them from their camp, killing 7300 and taking 2120 prisoners.Livy does not name the battle or give its location within Etruria.

Meanwhile the reduced forces of Maximus and Mus failed to restrain the Samnites, who raised another army with which they invaded and plundered Campania

Campania

Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

. Arriving there by forced marches Flamma learned that the Samnite army was encamped at the river Volturnus

Volturnus

In Roman mythology, Volturnus was a god of the waters, probably derived from a local Samnite cult. His festival, Volturnalia, was held on August 27.The Volturno river in Campania is named in his honour....

on its way back to Samnium. In the Battle of the Volturnus of 296 BC Flamma's army waited in ambush outside the gates of the Samnite camp. Flamma had sent in native spies the night before, who ascertained that the Samnites would make a dawn march. At dawn Flamma allowed part of the Samnite army to march out, splitting their forces, before he launched an attack that had such a momentum it was soon being fought in the camp. 7400 Roman prisoners taken previously by the Samnites freed themselves and joined in the fighting. At the end of the day the Romans had killed 6000, taken 2500 prisoners including four military tribunes and the commander, Statius Minacius, and captured 30 standards. They redistributed the Samnite booty to claimants and gave the unclaimed property to the soldiers. Samnite hopes in the south had been dealt a fatal blow.

News was received at Rome however that Gellius Egnatius had raised another army in the north consisting of Samnites, Etruscans, Umbrians and Gauls. The Senate in a mood of despair prepared to mobilize the last of the Roman forces. They ordered a draft of all males, including adolescents, the elderly and the sons of freedmen. For the first time they began to debate the permanent depopulation of Samnium (a measure that was never carried out).

The turning point, 295 BC

The elections of 295 BC were now upon the city. Flamma was recalled to conduct them. Maximus and Mus were elected, with Appius Claudius in the office of praetor

Praetor

Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...

. Maximus insisted on commanding in Etruria without the casting of lots that normally apportioned duties to consuls and after an intense public debate the Senate granted his request. He proceeded to Etruria, relieved Claudius of his command and sent him home on the grounds that he was a do-nothing commander who had allowed his men to sit in camp without even the exercise of marches for patrols and training. Thanks to Claudius, Maximus was soon recalled to account for his conduct of the Etrurian campaign and receive any further orders. Barbatus suddenly appears again in the account, indicating that he had been under Maximus' command all along. Maximus assigns Barbatus as propraetor of the Second Legion stationed temporarily at Clusium

Clusium

Clusium was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the site. The current municipality of Chiusi partly overlaps this Roman walled city. The Roman city remodeled an earlier Etruscan city, Clevsin, found in the territory of a prehistoric culture, possibly also Etruscan or proto-Etruscan...

. He then departs for Rome.

Patrician censor

At the time of his death Barbatus was the patrician censor

Censor (ancient Rome)

The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....

of 280 BC. His censorate is notable because it is the first one of which we have a reliable record, though the position was quite old by that time.

Epitaph

His sarcophagus was discovered in the Tomb of the Scipios

Tomb of the Scipios

The Tomb of the Scipios , also called the hypogaeum Scipionum, was the common tomb of the patrician Scipio family during the Roman Republic for interments between the early 3rd century BC and the early 1st century AD...

(the only one to survive complete there), and is now in the Vatican Museums

Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries, including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and...

. It preserves his epitaph, written in Old Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

Saturnian

Saturnian (poetry)

Saturnian meter or verse is an old Latin and Italic poetic form, of which the principles of versification have become obscure. Only 132 complete uncontroversial verses survive. 95 literary verses and partial fragments have been preserved as quotations in later grammatical writings, as well as 37...

meter:

CORNELIVS·LVCIVS·SCIPIO·BARBATVS·GNAIVOD·PATRE

PROGNATVS·FORTIS·VIR·SAPIENSQVE—QVOIVS·FORMA·VIRTVTEI·PARISVMA

FVIT—CONSOL CENSOR·AIDILIS·QVEI·FVIT·APVD·VOS—TAVRASIA·CISAVNA

SAMNIO·CEPIT—SVBIGIT·OMNE·LOVCANA·OPSIDESQVE·ABDOVCIT

which has been stated in modern upper- and lower-case script as the verse:

Cornelius Lucius Scipio Barbatus Gnaivod Patre Prognatus

Fortis Vir Sapiensque

Quoius Forma Virtutei Parisuma Fuit

Consol Censor Aidilis Quei Fuit Apud Vos

Taurasia Cisauna Samnio Cepit

Subigit Omne Loucana Opsidesque Abdoucit.

and also transcribed in classical Latin as:

Cornelius Lucius Scipio Barbatus, Gnaeo patre

prognatus, fortis vir sapiensque, cuius forma virtuti parissima

fuit, Consul, Censor, Aedilis, qui fuit apud vos; Taurasiam, Cisaunam,

Samnium cepit, subigit omnem Lucaniam, obsidesque abducit.

A translation is:

Cornelius Lucius Scipio Barbatus, sprung from Gnaeus his father, a man strong and wise, whose appearance was most in keeping with his virtue, who was consul

Consul

, censor

Censor (ancient Rome)

The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....

, and aedile

Aedile

Aedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order. There were two pairs of aediles. Two aediles were from the ranks of plebeians and the other...

among you - He captured Taurasia, Cisauna, Samnium

Samnium

- he subdued all Lucania

Basilicata

Basilicata , also known as Lucania, is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, having one short southwestern coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania in the northwest and Calabria in the southwest, and a...

and led off hostages.

There is a rough-hewn area above the epitaph, where it appears that some text has been erased. This has traditionally been interpreted as evidence of an earlier, shorter epitaph, which was replaced by the surviving text at a later date. More recently, however, a detailed analysis of the epitaph has suggested that the surviving text is the original inscription, but that the first part of the epitaph has been deleted.
A summary of this analysis states:

The most compelling arguments that suggest the removal of part of the same verse text we now have relate to the shape and character of the erasure itself. In effect, a fine sarcophagus, which was inscribed with a long and carefully executed text, is marred by a rough erasure. If the erasure was made before the new text was cut, why was more trouble not taken to smooth and prepare the stone? Moreover, why does our text start at a distance of a third of a line from the margin? It would have been easy for the mason to produce a better surface so that he could have started at the margin. The whole execution of the inscription itself is very fine and clearly not the work of an amateur. The overall impression is that no expense was spared in the layout of a large tomb and the manufacture of a magnificent sarcophagus for its first occupant.

If a short, earlier text had indeed been inscribed, there would have been no reason to write it in small letters at the very top of the ample space available on the front of the sarcophagus. It would surely have been placed more in the middle and in larger letters... Barbatus’ erasure suggests that the letters were the same size and the lines the same length as the extant text. The erasure comprises exactly the length of two of the Saturnian verses below. All these considerations strongly suggest that part of this same text was erased.
The question remains as to what was erased by a later family member... Whatever was rubbed out must have been controversial or unsatisfactory from the family’s point of view

Since the tomb was closed in the late Republic, the erasure must date to the middle Republic, and since the tombs were private, the erasure must have been done at the request of an authoritative male family member. In her review of the epitaph, Harriet Flower notes that "The Scipios are also known for their continued search for earlier ancestors. This was done partly by invention and partly by substitution of the cognomen Scipio for earlier ones of branches that later died out... It is possible, therefore, that Barbatus'...[epitaph contained some claim to be the first Scipio, and that this]...became an obstacle to later family members who were eager to find earlier ancestors and other founders, who could compete with the claims of rival families. Such a reconstruction, while it can not be proved, is at least plausible and in accord with the other available evidence."

General of the third Samnite war

Battle of Volterra, 298 BC

Battle of Tifernum, 297 BC

Campaigns under Claudius and Flamma, 296 BC

The turning point, 295 BC

Patrician censor

Epitaph

See also