The funny thing is that most people do remember Hannibal, the guy with the elephants and the crossing of the Alps. Most people don't remember one of his most important Roman counterparts, (general) Scipio Africanus - or by his full name: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major - or even which war Hannibal and Scipio Africanus were fighting in - which by the way was the Second Punic War.
Scipio Africanus belonged to a Roman aristocratic family which delivered a long line of Roman consuls. My idea is to use this blog to expand the knowledge around this family and their contribution to the Roman Republic. Were they average or more special? Was Scipio Africanus a one day fly or was his exceptional (military) success more common?
These are some of the questions I would like to answer.
I do restrict myself period wise. The first Scipio we know of was consul in 298 BC. So, I start in 298 BC all way down (or up depending which way you look at it) Roman history till the beginning of the Roman empire and the disappearance of the Scipiones from the sources around 50 BC. Fortunately, we have 7 generations of Scipiones to follow.
