ABSTRACT
Publius Cornelius Scipio, known as Scipio Africanus or Scipio the Elder, was born to one of the most illustrious families of the Roman Republic; his father, who gave the boy his name, and his mother, Pomponia, were respected citizens of the patrician dynasty of the gens Cornelii. At Scipio’s birth, Rome had begun to show its power beyond the boundaries of Italy, and the young nation was starting to strive for hegemony west and east of the known world. Coinciding with expansion outward was Rome’s still-stable inner structure; nevertheless, the influence of the Greek culture had begun a softening, or rounding, of the Roman character.
