Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio
Born	Unknown
Died	46 BC
Occupation	Statesman, military commander

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio (died 46 BC), commonly known as Metellus Scipio, was a Roman politician and military commander who played a prominent role in the political and military opposition to Julius Caesar during the Roman Civil War. He served as consul in 52 BC alongside his son-in-law Pompey the Great, and subsequently commanded the senatorial forces in the eastern provinces and in Africa. He was defeated by Caesar at the Battle of Thapsus in 46 BC and died while attempting to escape.

Family and Adoption

Metellus Scipio was the natural son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, a member of the distinguished Scipio family. He was adopted into the Caecilius Metellus family by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, the Roman statesman and general who had served as consul in 80 BC. Through this adoption he acquired the name by which he is generally known in Roman history, combining the names of his natural and adoptive families.

His daughter Cornelia Metella had been married to Publius Licinius Crassus, the son of Marcus Licinius Crassus, who died in the disastrous Roman campaign against the Parthian Empire in 53 BC. In 52 BC, she married Pompey the Great. The marriage strengthened the political alliance between Pompey and Metellus Scipio, and helped secure Scipio's advancement to the consulship.

Political Career

Metellus Scipio became a prominent figure in the political struggles of the late Roman Republic. He was probably praetor in 55 BC and subsequently served as an interrex during the political disorder of 53 BC. His candidacy for the consulship of 52 BC became entangled in the violence and electoral corruption which had disrupted Roman public life.

Pompey was appointed sole consul in 52 BC, following the death of Publius Clodius Pulcher and the ensuing political crisis. After marrying Cornelia, Pompey secured the election of his father-in-law as his colleague. Metellus Scipio entered the consulship in July of that year.

During his consulship, Scipio supported measures associated with Pompey's political programme and the restoration of senatorial authority. His political position increasingly became identified with the senatorial faction opposed to Caesar.

The Civil War

In January 49 BC, as the dispute between Caesar and the Senate reached its decisive stage, Metellus Scipio supported the demand that Caesar relinquish his military command. He was associated with the senatorial proposal that Caesar should disband his army within a specified period, on pain of being declared an enemy of the state. This motion became one of the decisive steps towards the outbreak of civil war.

After Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the Senate's forces were reorganized under Pompey's leadership. Metellus Scipio was assigned the province of Syria, where he assumed command of the Roman forces. Caesar later accused him of exploiting the province for personal enrichment and of treating its inhabitants harshly. Caesar's account is openly hostile, and should be read as the testimony of a participant in the civil war rather than as an impartial description.

In 48 BC, Scipio brought two legions from Syria to Greece to join Pompey's army. At the Battle of Pharsalus, he commanded the centre of the Pompeian battle line. The defeat of Pompey ended the principal campaign in Greece, and Scipio escaped with other surviving Republican commanders to Africa.

The African Campaign

Following the defeat at Pharsalus, Metellus Scipio joined Cato the Younger and other Republican leaders in Africa. With the support of Juba I of Numidia, the Republican forces assembled a substantial army. Scipio eventually became their supreme commander, succeeding Publius Attius Varus, who had previously directed the Pompeian resistance in Africa.

Caesar landed in Africa in late 47 BC and began a campaign against Scipio and his allies. The Republican army initially resisted successfully, and several engagements took place before the opposing forces met in a decisive battle near Thapsus in April 46 BC.

At the Battle of Thapsus, Caesar's forces decisively defeated the Republican army. Scipio's forces were overwhelmed, and the defeat effectively destroyed the organized Republican military resistance in Africa. Cato the Younger, who had remained at Utica, committed suicide rather than surrender to Caesar. Juba also faced defeat and death, while other Republican commanders attempted to escape.

Death

After the defeat at Thapsus, Metellus Scipio attempted to escape by sea, apparently intending to continue the struggle elsewhere. His vessel was intercepted, and rather than fall into the hands of Caesar's forces, he took his own life in 46 BC.

According to the tradition preserved by the ancient sources, when Caesar's soldiers sought him out, Scipio maintained his composure and declared that the commander was well. The reported words, Imperator se bene habet ("The commander is well"), became associated with his death and were remembered as an expression of Roman military dignity in defeat.

Assessment

Metellus Scipio's importance in Roman history arose principally from his political position and his leadership of the senatorial opposition to Caesar. His adoption connected two of the Republic's most distinguished aristocratic families, while his marriage alliance with Pompey gave him a prominent place in the political crisis of 52 BC.

His military career was ultimately unsuccessful. He commanded the Pompeian centre at Pharsalus and subsequently led the Republican forces in Africa, where Caesar defeated him at Thapsus. Nevertheless, his role in the final campaigns of the Republic made him one of the principal figures in the last organized military resistance to Caesar's ascendancy.

External links

• Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio, Quintus – Oxford Classical Dictionary.
• Metellus in the ancient sources – Attalus.
• Plutarch, Life of Pompey – University of Chicago.
• Plutarch, Life of Caesar – University of Chicago.