Cornelia
(Second Century BC)

Cornelia
Cornelia (standing) indicates her "jewels" after her visitor (sitting) has shown hers.

It is unlikely that one will find a woman held in higher esteem by the Roman people than Cornelia, daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major, the conqueror of Hannibal in the Second Punic War.

Anecdote...

Most of Cornelia's children died young, but two, Tiberius and Gaius, grew up to become the famous reformers of Rome's agrarian laws. When the two were still young boys, Cornelia once received at her house a wealthy Roman lady, who proudly showed off her jewelry to her hostess. She then challenged Cornelia to show off her own jewels. Cornelia gestured toward her sons, who had just entered the room. "These are my jewels," she said.

[After her death a statue
Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi. was erected in her memory, bearing the simple inscription: "Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi." (Gracchi is the plural of Gracchus, the surname of Cornelia's husband, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus.) ]


Biographical Note...

Roman aristocrat, daughter of Scipio Africanus, wife of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. Cornelia bore 12 children, however only three lived to adulthood. She refused to remarry after her husband's death, devoting herself to her children, whom she educated well and inspired with a sense of civic duty and a desire for glory.


More Information...

FIND OUT MORE about the reform of Rome's agrarian laws. And go here to read more about Cornelia.