Scipio Africanus ?

Great thread everybody. Why I love this board.

 

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Very nice coin indeed, and I love the history that comes with it!

 

Not Scipio, but related......

The destruction of Illiturgis had two purposes according to Livy. One, was to avenge the lives of the soldiers that had been betrayed by the inhabitants. The other purpose was to show that Rome did not take kindly to those who betrayed them and would punish them accordingly. The young Scipio Africanus was the only one who asked to undertake the re-subjugation of Spain and in particular the cities that had betrayed Rome.

In 206 BC, Scipio marched for five days with an army to the city of Illiturgis, where he planned to seize control of the land and destroy every building and inhabitant for their wrongdoings against Rome. When Scipio arrived, the city was heavily fortified by both its natural and man made defenses, however the garrison there was smaller than what would normally be required to safeguard the city. Knowing that the Roman army would arrive, the city shut its gates to everyone on the outside. This gave the Romans the perception that the inhabitants were fearful of their treason. When the battle began, Scipio had only sent a small amount of his forces with ladders to assault the city. This assault failed and encouraged the citizens of Illiturgis to fight on. In that engagement, the people of Illiturgis had suffered heavy losses to their already small forces, while the Romans suffered relatively little losses, which is what Scipio had wanted. After this, Scipio rallied his men in an encouraging speech where he demanded that the Spaniards be punished in the most severe manner for their crimes. Launching a fresh assault with his entire force, the Romans eventually took the city walls, and then the city itself.[6]

Africanus was angry at the city for not only betraying Rome, but for also killing the Romans who took refuge there. His anger was so great that he was not content with merely destroying the city. Therefore, he ordered that every single individual, including the women and children, be put to death. While this is seen as controversial in today's world, it was seen as justifiable (albeit barely) in Roman times.[7] (A more usual measure - harsh enough in itself - would have been to kill the men and sell the women and children into slavery.)

Read more from the source here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illiturgis


Two coins from the destroyed village. (not mine, I don't have one yet.)

I wonder what the Romans did with the coins left behind. A few still survive.

 

This might take just a tiny bit of enthusiasm out of that oft-quoted old expression "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

 

One of my favorite coins. Interesting threads.