Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus

185 BCE – 129 BCE(lived 56 years)

Scipio Aemilianus (185–129 BCE), adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus, ended the Punic story. Elevated to command during the faltering siege of Carthage, he rebuilt discipline, tightened the blockade, and in 146 BCE stormed the Byrsa, leveling the city. A senatorial decree forbade habitation of the site; the new province of Africa Proconsularis followed. In this timeline, Aemilianus delivers the war’s final answer: Rome would not just defeat Carthage’s armies, it would erase the city and claim permanent supremacy.

Biography

Born in 185/184 BCE to Lucius Aemilius Paullus (victor of Pydna) and adopted into the house of Scipio, Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus combined illustrious bloodlines with austere habits. He fought as a youth in Macedonia, befriended the historian Polybius, and moved comfortably in a circle of Greek intellectuals while demanding old-fashioned Roman discipline in the ranks. By the mid-second century, his name linked cultural polish with military steel.

Key figure in Punic Wars

Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus's Timeline

Key events involving Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus in chronological order

-149

Third Punic War Begins

In 149 BCE, Rome initiated the Third Punic War with a diktat that stripped Carthage of self-defense. Surrender arms, submit to inspections, even abandon your city—terms that turned negotiation into provocation. Utica bent; Carthage refused; black ships gathered off the North African coast [4][16].

military

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-149 — -146

Siege of Carthage

From 149 to 146 BCE, Rome besieged Carthage. Assaults stalled, generals rotated, and then Scipio Aemilianus tightened the noose—trenches, towers, and blockades against the Byrsa and Megara. Orange flames licked night skies over the Gulf of Tunis as the final assault neared [4][16].

military

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-146

Destruction of Carthage and Senatorial Decree

In 146 BCE, Carthage fell. Appian tells us Scipio Aemilianus wept as flames climbed the Byrsa, then received the Senate’s order: obliterate what remained and forbid habitation. Beams cracked, ash went black, and a rival city vanished by policy as much as fire [4].

legal

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-146

Africa Proconsularis Established

In 146 BCE, Rome reorganized former Carthaginian lands as Africa Proconsularis. Utica’s quays now hosted Roman officials; maps in Rome gained a new purple border. The scratch of styluses replaced the clamor of Carthage as taxation, courts, and garrisons made absence into administration [4][16].

administrative

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Total Events

-149

First Event

-146

Last Event

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