|
|
|
|
|
SophonisbaSophonisba is a name of a historical person whose story was frequently represented in English literature, particularly that of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. She was a celebrated beauty who lived approximately 203 BC, the daughter of Asdrubal of Carthage. She married Syphax, a prince of Numidia, and she became a captive of the Roman ally Masinissa when Rome conquered Numidia. Masinissa fell in love with her and married her. The Romans were unhappy with this match, and Scipio Africanus urged Masinissa to leave Sophonisba. Masinissa feared the Romans more than he loved Sophonisba, in the end, and so he went to Sophonisba and swore his love to her. He told her that he could not free her from capitivity or shield her from Roman wrath, and so he asked her to die like a true Carthaginian princess. With great composure, she drank a cup of poison that he offered her. Her story is told in Livy 30, and in Sallust.
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|