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Text | Historic Exploration
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The foreign expansion of the Roman Republic had a profound impact on its politics, economy, and culture.
From the mid-3rd century BC to the mid-2nd century BCE, the pace of Roman expansion moved from the Italian peninsula to the Mediterranean world, and with it great political, economic, and cultural changes in Roman society.
Scipio's influence in its expansion was not limited to the military activities described above, but also had a profound impact on Rome's politics, economy, and culture.
Political influence
In the course of their expansion, Scipio repeatedly broke with the traditional constraints of the Roman Republic and was appointed to the rank of senior official, albeit only as a stopgap measure in response to emergencies.
However, it also became a precedent for breaking the tradition, posing a potential threat to the traditional Roman political system and having a certain impact on the political chaos in the later period of the Roman Republic.
In 210 BCE, Scipio Afrika was appointed governor of Spain at the age of twenty-four, not yet old enough to participate in this election.
According to Roman tradition at the time, in principle, the appointment to a high official position was preceded by a lower official position, and at the same time, with the exception of some legion commanders and some lower official positions, one had to serve ten years of military service before taking up other political positions.
Scipio Afrika was only about twenty-four years old at the time, and his earliest battle was the Battle of Trebia in 218 BC.
At the time of the election he had not completed ten years of service, and at the time he was just an ordinary officer in the army, not enough to be a candidate for the post, so Scipio Afrika would have been ineligible according to Roman tradition.
But due to the favor of the Senate and the support of the people, he was elected exceptionally.
Scipio Afrika was elected partly because no one dared to run for this office at the time, and in this case, he volunteered to stand for election.
On the other hand, it was due to the fame of Scipio the Elder and the support of the Senate and the support of the people.
In 205 BCE, at the age of thirty, he was elected consul. His election once again broke with Roman tradition, and since then there have been many cases of unusually elected officials in Rome.
It is likely that Linturus was elected consul without serving as treasurer, Flaminius was elected directly from the treasurer to consul when he was about thirty years old, and Sidgyus, an archon elected in 197 BCE, was elected consul without serving as an administrator.
This is partly related to the lack of talent after Rome experienced continuous wars at that time, and to a certain extent, it also reflects the incompatibility of Rome's traditional political order with large-scale overseas expansion.
In 180 BCE, when competition for official office was raging, the law against bribery was followed by the passage of the Lex Annalis (Length of Service Law) proposed by Villius.
The law stipulates that the minimum age for serving as a treasurer is thirty years, thirty-nine years for a deputy consul, and forty-two years for an archon.
Scipio Emilius also broke the law twice and was elected as a high-ranking official.
His election set another precedent for future Roman politics, that a consul supported by the people could be chosen by breaking the law with the general support of the people, which provided a new way for some later ambitious politicians to compete for political power.
The first was during the Third Punic War, in 147 BCE, when he was unusually elected consul at the age of thirty-eight, breaking the age limit of no less than forty-two years for a consul.
The second was during the Spanish Wars, when he was elected consul in 134 BC by breaking legal restrictions.
There are two versions of his election, one is the account of Appian, who broke the limit of not being able to hold the same office twice within ten years and was re-elected as consul.
The second is Cicero's statement, in which he mentions Scipio Emilius as being elected in absentia in his "Dream of Scipio" in his "On the Republic".
There are problems with both of these claims. It is more likely that Scipio Emilius did not run for consulship and was once again elected by the people.
The two exceptional elections were made in a very similar way, as they were facilitated by the People's Assembly by repealing the law for one year and passing it again the following year.
Both of these were temporary measures in the event of an emergency in a foreign war, but the impact was far-reaching.
Economic impact
After the Third Punic War, Rome conquered Corinth and Neumantia in succession, consolidating its dominance in the Mediterranean world.
With the expansion of the outside world, Rome's territory continued to expand, and land, wealth, and slaves continued to pour into Rome, and Rome's power increased rapidly in the expansion, but with it new problems arose.
The most direct economic effect of the long period of foreign expansion was the enormous wealth that brought Rome a large amount of silver, gold, land, and slaves.
The first was the war reparations, and after the victory in the Second Punic War, Rome received an indemnity of 10,000 talans in the treaty with Carthage.
Rome received about 5,000 tarrants of silver in the Second Macedonian War, and about 15,000 tarrants in the Syrian War.
This was followed by a large amount of booty, and after the Second Punic War, Scipio Afrika brought back a large amount of grain from Africa, which was divided equally among the citizens of Rome at a Roman theater festival.
In addition, he brought 133,000 jin (Roman jin) of silver to the treasury and distributed 400 asas to each soldier, and Scipio Aemilius displayed his rich booty in a triumphal ceremony.
Again, the war brought a large number of slaves to the Romans, and the captives of the defeated side in the war became slaves of Rome.
Finally, a long period of foreign expansion gave Rome a large amount of land.
After the Second Punic War, Spain became a Roman province, and after the Third Punic War, Carthage became a Roman province of North Africa, and many lands were classified as public lands and tribute was paid to Rome.
The influx of a large amount of wealth stimulated the development of the Roman economy, the conquered land became the property of the Roman state, and the citizens of Rome also shared a lot of wealth, especially the generals of the Roman army and the members of the senate class shared the most fat, and the provinces also became a new source of wealth for the Roman aristocracy, the commodity economy and the usury industry developed rapidly, and the knightly class gradually rose.
However, Rome's economy gradually showed a series of social and economic problems, such as population decline, bankruptcy of small farmers, lack of military resources, land annexation, and widening gap between rich and poor.
Cultural influences
The Scipio family has always been enthusiasts of Greek culture and an important promoter of the spread of Greek culture in Rome.
In the process of foreign expansion, their pro-Hellenistic sentiments had an important influence on Rome's eastern policy, and at the same time objectively promoted the spread of Greek culture in Rome.
Scipio Afrika was a great admirer of Greek culture, and he was also an important representative of Hellenism at the time, which had an extremely important influence on his foreign policy and political activities, and he was also a powerful promoter of the spread of Greek culture in Rome.
During the Second Punic War, Rome found itself in a difficult situation and turned to the Book of Sibel, which showed that if they could bring the Great Mother Goddess from Pesinus to Rome when a foreign enemy invaded Italy, they could defeat the enemy.
The Great Mother Goddess is a worship from Asia Minor, and its image is a black stone.
Rome sent an envoy to the temple of Delphi to offer sacrifices and divination, and was ready to invite the Great Mother to Rome, and after making a plan, it also needed to be greeted by one of Rome's finest young men.
It is quite possible that with the support of Scipio Afrika, the Romans elected Scipio Nasika as the one to greet the Great Mother Goddess.
After the victory in the war, Rome also built a temple dedicated to the Great Mother Goddess.
With the support of Scipio Africa, Greek culture spread more widely in Rome.
Scipio Aemilius not only loved Greek culture, but also attracted and protected a number of famous scholars, promoting the spread and development of Greek culture in Rome.
The traditional view is that the "Circle of Scipio" refers to the pro-Greek scholars centered on Scipio Aemilius, who sought to revise the traditional Roman culture by combining with Greek thought and culture, resulting in a Greco-Roman intellectualism with a unique interest and influence in Roman society.
But Professor Astiin argues that, firstly, it is doubtful that the "Circle of Scipio" has been exaggerated as a unique Hellenistic society, to which all Roman literati or pro-Greek scholars belonged, and secondly, Scipio Aemilius's pursuit of Greek culture did not affect his political activities and character traits.
Professor Astin has no problem skeptical about the rigor of the term "Scipio's circle", but this does not mean that Scipio Aemilius was not related to some Hellenistic scholars.
It should be noted that the Scipio family's admiration and Xi of Greek culture was based on the traditional Roman society and centered on Roman society.
While learning Xi Greek culture, they also adhered to the traditions of Roman society. Despite his love of Greek culture, Scipio Afrika still retained the Roman tradition of bravery and martial arts.
Scipio Nasca destroyed a soon-to-be-built theater in Rome in 151 BC on the grounds that it would undermine Roman society.
Educated in both Greece and Rome from an early age, Scipio Aemilius continued to emphasize strict Roman discipline in military affairs, and the first thing he did when he took over as consul to command the Third Punic War in Africa, and later when he led his army to Spain, was to clean up military discipline, and he himself adhered to the traditional Roman moral code.
On the whole, Scipio's family's favor and admiration for Greek culture prompted them to accept the influence of Greek culture, adopt a Hellenistic way of life, and actively interact with Greek scholars, thus promoting the integration of Greek and Roman cultures, and profoundly influencing the later social and cultural development of Rome.
Summary:
In the process of foreign expansion, the Scipio family brought victories to Rome and also had an important impact on Roman social life.
Politically, Scipio Afrika and Scipio Aemilius were elected by the people several times, setting a precedent for the people to elect officials in a law-breaking way, and providing a new way for politicians in the later republics to engage in power struggles.
Economically, the most direct impact is to bring a large amount of land and wealth, but also to cause economic problems such as land annexation and bankruptcy of small farmers, which in turn intensifies the long-standing social contradictions and triggers a series of new social problems.
Culturally, the Scipio family was very fond of Greek culture, and they had a systematic Xi and detailed understanding of Greek culture, and they visited Greece several times.
They also got acquainted with many Greek scholars and scholars who loved Greek culture, and provided them with protection, which objectively promoted the spread of Greek culture in Rome.
Bibliography:
[1] Appian, A History of Rome, trans. Xie Defeng, Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1978.
[2] Polybia, The Decline of the Roman Empire, trans. Weng Jiasheng, Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 2013.
[3] Cicero: On the Republic, trans. Wang Huansheng, Shanghai: Shanghai People's Publishing House, "Classics of the Day", 2006.
[4] A study on the rise and fall of the Hannibal family[D]. Zhao Shushan, Minzu University of China, 2011
[5] Hannibal's Wars[M]. Wang Naixin, Dalian Maritime University Press, 1994
[6] A study on Roman military rations during the Second Punic War[D]. Yong Zhang, Liaoning University, 2022
[7] A study on the relationship between Rome and Carthage[D]. Hongying Liu, Central China Normal University, 2006
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