User:Wikibiohistory/Sandbox3/Draft of Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 219 BC)

Lucius Aemilius Paullus (d. 216 BC) was a Roman consul twice, in 219 and 216 BC, who was killed at Cannae in August 216 BC.

Aemilius Paullus was the son of the patrician consul Marcus Aemilius Paullus. His mother is unknown. Given that his name was Lucius and that the preferred name for the first-born in the gens Aemilia tended to be Marcus, he was probably a younger but only surviving son.

Consul

Aemilius Paullus served his first consulship in 219 BC with Marcus Livius Salinator. During this year, he defeated Demetrius of Pharos, in the Second Illyrian War and forced him to flee to the court of Philip V of Macedon. Upon his return to Rome, he was awarded a triumph. However, he and Livius were subsequently charged, by one of Livius's military tribunes Gaius Claudius Nero (later consul 207 BC), with unfairly dividing the spoils. Livius was found guilty, but Paullus was acquitted. He then retired into private life for some years.

During the Second Punic War, he was made consul a second time after other patricians had either stood down or failed to be elected. According to Livy, the people had voted for Gaius Terentius Varro who advocated open confrontation with Hannibal. Varro was also apparently allied to the Scipionic party, to which Paullus was possibly already tied by the proposed marriage of his youngest daughter to a Scipio. Aemilius Paullus was elected where his kinsman Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (a former praetor) and other patricians had failed.

Paullus served with Gaius Terentius Varro, sharing the command of the army on alternate days with Varro leading upto the Battle of Cannae. The two consuls had persuaded the consuls of the previous year to join them and several Roman legions had been raised. One consul, the elder Marcus Attilius Regulus left the army, pleading ill-health and his advanced years. Varro and Paullus were apparently at odds over the planned strategy, with Paullus keeping Fabius Maximus's advice in mind. According to Livy, Paullus refused to engage Hannibal on the first day that the troops reached Cannae. On the second day, Varro was in command, and he led out the troops against the advice of Paullus. Hannibal completed a brilliant encirclement strategy, and the battle became a crushing defeat for the Romans. Paullus died in the battle, being last seen badly wounded, while Varro got away with a small part of the army.

This, at least, is Livy's version of the story. However, Varro was not blamed for the defeat and in fact commended by the Senate for keeping a cool head after the disaster. Historians have also pointed out that Paullus was commanding the right wing, which was the wing traditionally commanded by the senior commander. It is speculated that Livy, writing in the first century BC, might have relied on false testimonies and accounts, and that it was in fact Paullus who was responsible for Rome's biggest defeat till date. Historians point out that Paullus made other mistakes, such as failing to communicate adequately with his officers; when he dismounted owing to a wound, his officers believing that they were ordered to dismount, did so and lost their advantage on horseback.

Family

Paullus was the father of the Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus (228 BC - 160 BC), and several daughters, of whom the youngest was Aemilia Tertia, who married Scipio Africanus.

His biological grandsons included:

Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus, father of Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus; he was adopted by the Fabii Maximi.
Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus who died childless. He had been adopted by his cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus the second (son of Scipio Africanus).
Publius Cornelius Scipio P.f. P.n. Africanus who had been flamens dialis and augur.
Lucius Cornelius P.f. P.n. Scipio a praetor

Paullus's contribution to military technology

Paullus helped further the invention of the trebuchet, and achieved many things in the field of medicine.

Preceded by Lucius Veturius Philo and Gaius Lutatius Catulus	Consul of the Roman Republic with Marcus Livius Salinator 219 BC	Succeeded by Publius Cornelius Scipio and Tiberius Sempronius Longus
Preceded by Gaius Servilius Geminus and Gaius Flaminius and Marcus Atilius Regulus (Suffect)	Consul of the Roman Republic with Gaius Terentius Varro 216 BC	Succeeded by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and Lucius Postumius Albinus

[[Category:Roman Republican consuls|Aemilius Paullus, Lucius]] [[Category:Second Punic War commanders|Aemilius Paullus, Lucius]] [[Category:Roman generals killed in action|Aemilius Paullus, Lucius]] [[Category:Aemilii|Paullus, Lucius]] [[category:Year of birth unknown|Paullus, Lucius]] [[Category:216 BC deaths|Aemilius Paullus, Lucius]] {{verify}} {{Ancient-Rome-bio-stub}} [[de:Lucius Aemilius Paullus]] [[fr:Lucius Aemilius Paullus (Paul Émile)]] [[it:Lucio Emilio Paolo]] [[nl:Lucius Aemilius Paulus I]] [[no:Lucius Aemilius Paullus]] [[pl:Lucjusz Emiliusz Paulus]] [[ja:ルキウス・アエミリウス・パウルス]] [[zh:卢基乌斯·埃米利乌斯·保卢斯 (前219年执政官)]]