Le trattative di pace del 203-201 a. C. : Scipione e il Senato

This paper aims to analyze the peace treaties which ended the second Punic war, with a particular focus on the role played by Scipio in Africa in the last years of war. Scholars have usually highlighted the great freedom of action which Scipio benefited in Africa, a position which was gained thanks to his military prestige and the political importance of his faction in the Senate. For the events of these years, they have consequently followed the version proposed by Livy in these passages where the text of Polybius is missing. In the following pages this theory will be attacked. First of all, the great discrepancies between the text of Polybius and that of Livy will be highlighted; secondly, it will be shown how the text of Appian is the one which can easily fill the gaps left by Polybius. Starting from these assumptions, a new interpretation of the role of Scipio and of his relationship with the Senate will be provided.