The Dream of Scipio (Latin, Somnium Scipionis) is a dream-vision by the Roman philosopher Cicero in which Scipio Aemilianus Africanus meets his grandfather by adoption, Scipio Africanus Major (236 BC - 184 BC), hero of the Second Punic War against Hannibal's Carthage. The Dream of Scipio forms a digression within the sixth book of Cicero's De re publica, (English: On the Republic), his treatise on the laws and polity of the Roman republic. Comparisons have been drawn between this concluding section of Cicero's work and the Myth of Er which appears in Plato's 'Res publica', to which, it is said, 'De re publica' was a response. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes: The Dream, 1883 A dream is the experience of images, sounds/voices, words, thoughts or sensations during sleep, with the dreamer usually unable to influence the experience. ... The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... Marcus Tullius Cicero (standard English pronunciation ; Classical Latin pronunciation ) (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin orator and prose stylist. ... Nicholas Poussins painting of Scipio reluctant to carry out the genocide of the Carthaginians by Senate order. ... Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major (Latin: P·CORNELIVS·P·F·L·N·SCIPIO·AFRICANVS) (236 - 183 BC) was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic. ... The Second Punic War was fought between Carthage and Rome from 218 to 202 BC. It was the second of three major wars fought between the former Phoenician colony of Carthage, and the Roman Republic, then still confined to the Italian Peninsula. ... Hannibals feat in crossing the Alps with war elephants passed into European legend: a fresco detail, 1510, Capitoline Museums, Rome Hannibal (from Punic, literally Baal is merciful to me, 247 BC – 183 BC) was a politician, statesman and considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. ... A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ... Marcus Tullius Cicero (standard English pronunciation ; Classical Latin pronunciation ) (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin orator and prose stylist. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... The Myth of Er is an analogy used in Platos Republic. ... Plato (Greek: Πλάτων Plátōn) (ca. ... Plato. ... De re publica is a work by Cicero, written in six books 54-51 BC, in the format of a Socratic dialogue, that is to say: Scipio Africanus Minor (who had died a few decades before Cicero was born) takes the role of wise old man, that is an obligatory...

In the brief but compressed work Scipio travels through the planetary spheres. Digressions upon cosmology, dream-interpretation, prophecy, time-cycles, geography and doctrine upon the nature of the soul are included in it as well as advancing Pythagorean thought and the idea of the Music of the Spheres. Somnium Scipionis was studied by the Roman philosopher Macrobius (395 - 423); his Commentary upon Scipio's Dream was valued throughout the Middle Ages. The Dream of Scipio was known to the early Christian era philosopher Boethius. Chaucer was also acquainted with it, referencing the work explicitly in his Parliament of Foules. A planet is generally considered to be a relatively large mass of accreted matter in orbit around a star that is not a star itself. ... A sphere is a perfectly symmetrical geometrical object. ... Cosmology, from the Greek: κοσμολογία (cosmologia, κόσμος (cosmos) world + λογια (logia) discourse) is the study of the universe in its totality and by extension mans place in it. ... Prophecy, in a broad sense, is the prediction of future events. ... A watch Attempting to understand time has long been a prime occupation for philosophers, scientists and artists. ... The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit (Hebrew:rooah or nefesh) — particular to a unique living being. ... Musica universalis or music of the spheres is a medieval philosophical concept that regards the proportions in the movements of the celestial bodies - the sun, moon and planets - as a form of musica (the medieval Latin name for music). ... Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, Roman grammarian and philosopher, flourished during the reigns of Honorius and Arcadius (395-423). ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (AD 480 - 524 or 525) was a Christian philosopher of the 6th century. ... Chaucer: Illustration from Cassells History of England, circa 1902 Chanticleer the rooster from an outdoor production of Chanticleer and the Fox at Ashby_de_la_Zouch castle Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. ... The Parlement of Foules (also known as the Parliament of Fowls, Parlement of Briddes, Assembly of Fowls or Assemble of Foules) is a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343?-1400) made up by approximately 700 lines. ...

The sixteen-year old composer Mozart wrote a short opera entitled Il sogno di Scipione (K126) based upon Scipio's inter-planetary journey through the cosmos. W. A. Mozart, 1790, portrait by Johann Georg Edlinger, see also: face only Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music and is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in world history. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

External link

• The Somnium Scipionis (in Latin)