It was said of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus Princeps Senatus that despite his being a patrician he had to fight as hard as any novus homo to achieve a public career. The same could well end up being true about Lucius Scipio.

Lucius Cornelius Scipio was born in 85BC, the younger son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiagenus and a Junia Silana (he has an estranged older brother, Publius), into a life of aristocratic privilege. A way of life that was cut short with his father’s disastrous consulship in 83. Scipio Asiagenus (a descendant of his namesake, Africanus’ disgraced brother) was stiff-necked and incompetent and chose the wrong side in the civil war of the forces of Marius and Sulla. He led his forces badly and repeatedly so, and was proscribed by the victorious Sulla but managed to escape with his young family to Massilia, but without the vast majority of his fortune. He died a natural death shortly after; Lucius never missed him.

The family lived modestly in Massilia, a remote corner of Greece tucked away in southern Gaul, supported by Junia’s relatives, most notably Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (Junia’s mother – Scipio’s grandmother – and Lepidus’ father were siblings), the consul in 78 (until his futile attempt at rebellion – another black mark against the family, even though they had no part in it), and Decimus Junius Silanus (Junia’s cousin on her father’s side), the consul of 62. Scipio was a wilful child and, being unable to stand up to his temper, his mother often let him do just as he wished, which meant exploring the city and its outlying land to his heart’s content; this led to his mastery of Greek and a number of Gallic tribal languages at a prodigious rate and his easy ability to interact with people from backgrounds very different to his own. In other areas he displayed a fierce intellect (although by no means extraordinary) and an even fiercer sense of ambition.

The Scipones eventually returned to Rome in 70, when all those who had supported Lepidus, and a number of the descendents of Sulla’s proscribed were allowed to return and had their citizenship restored; though they were all still barred from seeking public careers (Scipio’s patrician status was untouchable by law). Decimus Silanus found and initially paid for a house for them, and over the next number of years the two families became close. Which would have consequences later.

During the Civil War of 67 against the forces of the restored Troy, Publius, seeing a Trojan victory as a way to restore their fortunes set out east to join the rebellion. Scipio was sceptical of Troy’s chances from the outset and would have elected to join the armies of the Republic (if any of the Republican generals would have had him – which they wouldn’t), but felt he could not actively fight against his brother and so remained in Rome. As it turned out Publius, displaying his usual tardiness, arrived too late, and rather than return to Rome he settled in Athens, married a plutocrat’s daughter and gave up any hopes he retained of returning the Cornelii Scipioni to the summit of the cursus honorum.

Not so Lucius Scipio. He belatedly embarked upon a Forum career as best he could, for he could represent none save for his own clients (and they were initially few in number) given the restrictions hanging over him. He proved to be an eloquent orator and had a fair command of the intricacies of Roman law. It was during this time that he met his closest friend, Lucius Furius Medullinus, and explored Rome in the same way as he had explored Massilia and the Roman Gallic Province in his childhood; and found that he could mix in just as well in the Subura as he had in the slums and wharves of one of Gaul’s chief ports. He also attempted to carve out a military career; and met with the same reluctance among the governor-generals of Rome as he had among the advocates of the city. He was tainted with the shame and idiocy of his father, he was not wealthy, because he could not have a public career he could be of no political help later on, and on top of all that his ambition was all too obvious. What to him was the greatest insult was that rather than fearing he might instigate a rebellion or mutiny (which he could have understood) was that legionary commanders feared that he could not be entrusted with any responsibility because he was too eager achieve and because they believed that he would turn out to be just as hopeless as Scipio Asiagenus. However, this did prove to be something of a double-edged sword: when Marcellus did managed to get himself a cadetship or a military tribunate he was allowed a great deal of freedom so long as he was inconspicuous and under no one’s feet. So for example he could interact with the legionaries themselves on a more personal basis and has more battlefield experience than many of his peers, for whilst they were entrusted with carrying messages and relaying orders during battle he could join the frontline – though in no position of command – and there acquitted himself exceedingly well – though again because of his status he has no military decorations.

But what he has had to devote the majority of his time to was the recovery of the family wealth; and in that field he has met with some success, so that by 55BC he has a fortune large enough for him to be able to enter the Senate… should a law ever be passed giving him the right to do so.

In terms of personal appearance Scipio takes after his maternal families, the Junii Silani and the Aemilii Lepidi (and more distantly, the Julii), rather than the homely Cornelii. Very tall for a Roman, with darkly golden hair and impenetrable dark blue eyes he is classically handsome but with a hard edge. This hardness, veering on ruthlessness, could be attributed to his history but more likely is an intrinsic characteristic of his personality; like his temper, it is something that he can – and does – mask, but which is never far from the surface. He is the expert at attuning his personality to the company which he is keeping but still retains control. He has a somewhat unsavoury reputation among some of Rome’s most elite (and particularly female) circles, which may or may not be deserved.

All in all he’s probably someone you’d like on your side when the chips are down (and he’d only be on your side if he thought there was something in it for him [or for Rome – yes, shocking I know, but he does think about dear old Rome]) but you wouldn’t trust with your worst enemy’s fish, let alone your wife or the family silver!