Cornelia (mother of the Gracchi)
Cornelia was the second daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, a Roman general prominent in the Second Punic War, and Aemilia Paulla. Although drawing similarities to prototypical examples of virtuous Roman women, such as Lucretia, Cornelia puts herself apart from the rest because of her interest in literature, writing, and her investment in the political careers of her sons. She was the mother of the Gracchi brothers, and the mother-in-law of Scipio Aemilianus.
Cornelia pushes away Ptolemy's crown, by Laurent de La Hyre
Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, by Noël Hallé (1779, Musée Fabre)
Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, by Joseph-Benoît Suvée (1795, Louvre)
Engraving after Vincenzo Camuccini, Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, Presents Her Children to a Capuana Woman, 1870/1909
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus was a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the greatest military commanders and strategists of all time, his greatest military achievement was the defeat of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. This victory in Africa earned him the honorific epithet Africanus, literally meaning "the African", but meant to be understood as a conqueror of Africa.
Bust likely of Scipio Africanus (formerly identified as Sulla), originally found near his family tomb
A Carthaginian coin depicting Hasdrubal Barca (245–207 BC), one of Hannibal's younger brothers, wearing a diadem
Bronze bust dated mid-first century BC, formerly identified as Scipio Africanus, now thought to portray a priest of Isis
The entrance to the Tomb of the Scipios