Scipio Africanus on the Ruins of Carthage, from Historical Curiosities for the Leisurely Reader / German, c. 1815-17.

Artist: Unknown (German)
Series (header): Historische Denkwürdigkeiten für gemütliche Leser — Historical Curiosities for the Leisurely Reader
Plate title (below image): Scipio Africanus auf den Ruinen von Carthago — Scipio Africanus on the Ruins of Carthage
Object type: Hand-coloured etching
Paper: Wove; margins backed on verso
Dimensions: Sheet 245 × 324 mm; platemark 183 × 255 mm; image (within printed frame) 152 × 218 mm
Place/Date on print: c. 1815-17

Inscriptions:

• Header: Historische Denkwürdigkeiten für gemütliche Leser. — Historical Curiosities for the Leisurely Reader.
• Plate title: Scipio Africanus auf den Ruinen von Carthago. — Scipio Africanus on the Ruins of Carthage.
• Source line (lower right): Vide Beckers Weltgeschichte Tom. III. pag. 170. — See Becker’s World History, vol. III, p. 170.**
• Within image (sheet held by seated figure): Oppositions Blatt — Opposition paper.
• Caption (four lines, diplomatic text): Scipio ward bewegt, als er von Ferne die dunkelrothe, himmelansteigende Lohe der untergehenden Stadt sah, die 700 Iahre lang das Meer beherrscht hatte, und nun in einer 17tägigen Feuersbrunst in Asche sank. Mit einem ahnenden Blick auf das künftige Schicksal Roms, hörte man ihn die Homerischen Verse aussprechen: Einst wird kommen der Tag, da die heilige Ilios hinsinkt, Priamus selbst und das Volk des lanzenkundigen Königs. Translation: Scipio was moved when, from afar, he saw the dark-red blaze of the dying city rising to the sky—a city that for seven hundred years had ruled the sea and now, in a seventeen-day conflagration, sank to ash. With a foreboding glance toward the future fate of Rome, he was heard to speak the Homeric verses: “A day will come when holy Ilion [Troy] sinks down—Priam himself and the people of the spear-famed king.”

Description (observational)

Rectangular image printed within a ruled frame. At left, a man in a blue uniform coat with fringed epaulettes and a bicorne sits on a squared stone among architectural fragments, resting his head on one hand and holding a sheet inscribed Oppositions Blatt. Behind him, a classical temple and city burn, flames and smoke rising high. At right, three men in cocked hats and long coats approach; two wear swords, and the rearmost carries a musket and a German pipe. Foreground strewn with stones and debris. Caption and source note printed below.