Sempronia (sister of the Gracchi)
Encyclopedia
Sempronia was a Roman noblewoman living in the Middle and Late Roman Republic, who was most famous as the sister of the ill-fated Tiberius Gracchus
(died 133 BC) and Gaius Gracchus
(died 121 BC), and the wife of a Roman general Scipio Aemilianus.
consul and censor Tiberius Gracchus Major
and his wife Cornelia Africana
. Her younger brothers were the famed Roman politicians Tiberius Gracchus
and Gaius Gracchus
. Her maternal grandparents were the great Roman general Scipio Africanus
and his wife Aemilia Paulla, and her maternal great-uncle was another distinguished Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus
. Her father had a formidable reputation as a general (having won a triumph in Sardinia), and was known as a strict censor who was yet tremendously popular.
Sempronia was born in Rome around 170 BC
, and was raised and educated there by her mother. Her father died suddenly in 154 BC
, and it is probable that she was engaged while he was still alive to her mother’s maternal first cousin Scipio Aemilianus Africanus
who was her first cousin by adoption (by her maternal uncle). At her father's death, her young brothers were apparently partly raised and educated in Scipio's household; he was wealthy, rich, and cultivated a circle of literary-minded Romans and foreigners known to history as the Scipionic Circle. When Sempronia was age 17 or 18, and probably by 151 BC
(when Scipio the Younger left for Spain), she appears to have married Scipio Aemilianus. He became a famous Roman general and a somewhat less successful Roman politician.
who had tried to arrange a settlement for Numantia
and bring an entire Roman army out of captivity. Scipio denounced the treaty in the Senate, and although Gracchus was saved from punishment, he bore a grudge against Scipio and his allies henceforth. He allied himself with Scipio's political rival Appius Claudius Pulcher
, who was Princeps Senatus
and censor in 136 BC
and other influential men allied to him by marriage, and became tribune of the plebs to implement a radical reform program that threatened to undermine the socio-economic and political order.
In 133 BC
, this brother Tiberius Gracchus and some of his followers were clubbed to death in Rome. The conservative mob which attacked them was led by a close relative, Sempronia and Scipio’s cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
, who was Pontifex Maximus
. Scipio was then away in Spain successfully besieging Numantia
, and on his return, he is said to have commented that Tiberius had tried to make himself king of Rome, and thus implied that Gracchus's death was justified by the mos maiorum. At the time, Scipio was credited for having arranging the murder, or at the very least, having connived at it.
Scipio was indirectly responsible for his brother-in-law's death, or at least, for his failure to prosecute those responsible for the murder of Roman citizens in the vicinity of the Senate. This fact, together with his want of tact in speaking to the people henceforth, led his popularity among the Roman voters to fall. However, he was still an influential and effective speaker in the Senate.
, Scipio had told allies of Gracchus, notably the tribune Gaius Papirius Carbo
, that he intended to formally denounce Tiberius Gracchus's reforms (notably the agrarian proposals). Carbo, then a tribune of the plebs, had been a long-time supporter of Tiberius Gracchus, and at that time he was a bitter enemy of Scipio. Scipio returned home and went to bed early, planning to make his crucial speech the next day in the Senate. The following morning, he was found dead in his bed.
There had been no history of illness; no post mortem was allowed, and his body was hastily cremated, rather than interred as customary among the Scipios. Rumours spread that he was murdered, and naturally, his estranged wife Sempronia and her mother Cornelia Africana
were suspected to be involved. However, the way Scipio died is unknown, and there is no evidence to prove that Sempronia was involved. What was suspicious was the way in which the Senate responded to the sudden death of a great general.
Modern scholars suggest that if Scipio was murdered, it was probably Carbo
, who was responsible. The Roman historian and senator Cicero
, writing several decades later using sources who were close to the late Scipio, named Carbo as the guilty person, but was less certain as to whether Sempronia gave Carbo access to Scipio.. Those believing that Scipio was murdered point to the similar mysterious death of another cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
who, even though Pontifex Maximus, had been sent off to Asia Minor by the Senate, and who died mysteriously in Pergamum in 132 BC
.
, his property being confiscated by a vindictive Senate. Her mother Cornelia Africana died later that year, leaving her property by special exemption to her infant granddaughter Sempronia (below). Sempronia is known to have been alive in 102-101 BC, when she was forced to testify in court by a person claiming to be Tiberius Gracchus's illegitimate son, which claim she indignantly denied.
Tiberius Gracchus
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populares politician of the 2nd century BC and brother of Gaius Gracchus. As a plebeian tribune, his reforms of agrarian legislation caused political turmoil in the Republic. These reforms threatened the holdings of rich landowners in Italy...
(died 133 BC) and Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populari politician in the 2nd century BC and brother of the ill-fated reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus...
(died 121 BC), and the wife of a Roman general Scipio Aemilianus.
Background
Sempronia was the oldest surviving child and only surviving daughter of RomanRoman 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...
consul and censor Tiberius Gracchus Major
Tiberius Gracchus Major
Tiberius Gracchus major or Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman politician of the 2nd century BC...
and his wife Cornelia Africana
Cornelia Africana
Cornelia Scipionis Africana was the second daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the hero of the Second Punic War, and Aemilia Paulla. She is remembered as the perfect example of a virtuous Roman woman....
. Her younger brothers were the famed Roman politicians Tiberius Gracchus
Tiberius Gracchus
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populares politician of the 2nd century BC and brother of Gaius Gracchus. As a plebeian tribune, his reforms of agrarian legislation caused political turmoil in the Republic. These reforms threatened the holdings of rich landowners in Italy...
and Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populari politician in the 2nd century BC and brother of the ill-fated reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus...
. Her maternal grandparents were the great Roman general 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...
and his wife Aemilia Paulla, and her maternal great-uncle was another distinguished Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus
Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus
Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus was a two-time consul of the Roman Republic and a noted general who conquered Macedon putting an end to the Antigonid dynasty.-Family:...
. Her father had a formidable reputation as a general (having won a triumph in Sardinia), and was known as a strict censor who was yet tremendously popular.
Sempronia was born in Rome around 170 BC
170 BC
Year 170 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Mancinus and Serranus...
, and was raised and educated there by her mother. Her father died suddenly in 154 BC
154 BC
Year 154 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Opimius and Albinus/Glabrio...
, and it is probable that she was engaged while he was still alive to her mother’s maternal first cousin Scipio Aemilianus Africanus
Scipio Aemilianus Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus , also known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a leading general and politician of the ancient Roman Republic...
who was her first cousin by adoption (by her maternal uncle). At her father's death, her young brothers were apparently partly raised and educated in Scipio's household; he was wealthy, rich, and cultivated a circle of literary-minded Romans and foreigners known to history as the Scipionic Circle. When Sempronia was age 17 or 18, and probably by 151 BC
151 BC
Year 151 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lucullus and Albinus...
(when Scipio the Younger left for Spain), she appears to have married Scipio Aemilianus. He became a famous Roman general and a somewhat less successful Roman politician.
Rift with her husband Scipio Aemilianus
Certain historical accounts state that Sempronia and Scipio had a very unhappy marriage. They did not show any affection towards each other, and Scipio complained of her lack of beauty and her sterility. It is known that Sempronia had no children in her marriage. Nothing is known of her private life or character, but presumably both were irreproachable. Those same historical accounts state that the couple disagreed over Scipio's treatment of his young cousin and former ward Tiberius GracchusTiberius Gracchus
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populares politician of the 2nd century BC and brother of Gaius Gracchus. As a plebeian tribune, his reforms of agrarian legislation caused political turmoil in the Republic. These reforms threatened the holdings of rich landowners in Italy...
who had tried to arrange a settlement for Numantia
Numantia
Numantia is the name of an ancient Celtiberian settlement, whose remains are located 7 km north of the city of Soria, on a hill known as Cerro de la Muela in the municipality of Garray....
and bring an entire Roman army out of captivity. Scipio denounced the treaty in the Senate, and although Gracchus was saved from punishment, he bore a grudge against Scipio and his allies henceforth. He allied himself with Scipio's political rival Appius Claudius Pulcher
Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 143 BC)
Appius Claudius Pulcher was a Roman politician of the 2nd century BC.-Life:Son of Gaius Claudius Pulcher , he was appointed consul in 143 BC, and, to obtain a pretext for a triumph, attacked the Salassi, an Alpine tribe...
, who was Princeps Senatus
Princeps senatus
The princeps senatus was the first member by precedence of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the cursus honorum and owning no imperium, this office brought enormous prestige to the senator holding it.-Overview:...
and censor in 136 BC
136 BC
Year 136 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Philus and Serranus...
and other influential men allied to him by marriage, and became tribune of the plebs to implement a radical reform program that threatened to undermine the socio-economic and political order.
In 133 BC
133 BC
Year 133 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scaevola and Frugi...
, this brother Tiberius Gracchus and some of his followers were clubbed to death in Rome. The conservative mob which attacked them was led by a close relative, Sempronia and Scipio’s cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio , the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum and his wife Cornelia Africana Major, was a member of the gens Cornelia and a politician of the ancient Roman Republic. He was consul in 138 BC.He was also a member of the gens Cornelia, a family of...
, who was Pontifex Maximus
Pontifex Maximus
The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
. Scipio was then away in Spain successfully besieging Numantia
Numantia
Numantia is the name of an ancient Celtiberian settlement, whose remains are located 7 km north of the city of Soria, on a hill known as Cerro de la Muela in the municipality of Garray....
, and on his return, he is said to have commented that Tiberius had tried to make himself king of Rome, and thus implied that Gracchus's death was justified by the mos maiorum. At the time, Scipio was credited for having arranging the murder, or at the very least, having connived at it.
Scipio was indirectly responsible for his brother-in-law's death, or at least, for his failure to prosecute those responsible for the murder of Roman citizens in the vicinity of the Senate. This fact, together with his want of tact in speaking to the people henceforth, led his popularity among the Roman voters to fall. However, he was still an influential and effective speaker in the Senate.
Mysterious death of Scipio Aemilianus
In 129 BC129 BC
Year 129 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tuditanus and Aquillius...
, Scipio had told allies of Gracchus, notably the tribune Gaius Papirius Carbo
Gaius Papirius Carbo (consul 120 BC)
Gaius Papirius Carbo was an Ancient Roman statesman and orator. He was associated with Gaius Gracchus in carrying out the provision of the agrarian law of Tiberius Gracchus. When tribune of the people , Carbo carried out a law extending the secret ballot for the enactment and repeal of laws...
, that he intended to formally denounce Tiberius Gracchus's reforms (notably the agrarian proposals). Carbo, then a tribune of the plebs, had been a long-time supporter of Tiberius Gracchus, and at that time he was a bitter enemy of Scipio. Scipio returned home and went to bed early, planning to make his crucial speech the next day in the Senate. The following morning, he was found dead in his bed.
There had been no history of illness; no post mortem was allowed, and his body was hastily cremated, rather than interred as customary among the Scipios. Rumours spread that he was murdered, and naturally, his estranged wife Sempronia and her mother Cornelia Africana
Cornelia Africana
Cornelia Scipionis Africana was the second daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the hero of the Second Punic War, and Aemilia Paulla. She is remembered as the perfect example of a virtuous Roman woman....
were suspected to be involved. However, the way Scipio died is unknown, and there is no evidence to prove that Sempronia was involved. What was suspicious was the way in which the Senate responded to the sudden death of a great general.
Modern scholars suggest that if Scipio was murdered, it was probably Carbo
Gaius Papirius Carbo (consul 120 BC)
Gaius Papirius Carbo was an Ancient Roman statesman and orator. He was associated with Gaius Gracchus in carrying out the provision of the agrarian law of Tiberius Gracchus. When tribune of the people , Carbo carried out a law extending the secret ballot for the enactment and repeal of laws...
, who was responsible. The Roman historian and senator Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
, writing several decades later using sources who were close to the late Scipio, named Carbo as the guilty person, but was less certain as to whether Sempronia gave Carbo access to Scipio.. Those believing that Scipio was murdered point to the similar mysterious death of another cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio , the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum and his wife Cornelia Africana Major, was a member of the gens Cornelia and a politician of the ancient Roman Republic. He was consul in 138 BC.He was also a member of the gens Cornelia, a family of...
who, even though Pontifex Maximus, had been sent off to Asia Minor by the Senate, and who died mysteriously in Pergamum in 132 BC
132 BC
Year 132 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Rupilius...
.
Sempronia in later years
Sempronia lived quietly after her husband's death with her mother. Her younger brother who had become Tiberius's heir (after his three sons all died young) also died in 121 BC121 BC
Year 121 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Opimius and Allobrogicus...
, his property being confiscated by a vindictive Senate. Her mother Cornelia Africana died later that year, leaving her property by special exemption to her infant granddaughter Sempronia (below). Sempronia is known to have been alive in 102-101 BC, when she was forced to testify in court by a person claiming to be Tiberius Gracchus's illegitimate son, which claim she indignantly denied.