Scipio Africanus (slave)

He was named after Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (236/235–183 BC), the famous Roman general who defeated the Carthaginian military leader Hannibal.

[1] He is remembered because of the elaborate grave, consisting of painted headstone and footstone, in the churchyard of St Mary's in Henbury.

[3] Both stones feature black cherubs and the footstone bears the epitaph: I who was Born a PAGAN and a SLAVE Now Sweetly Sleep a CHRISTIAN in my Grave What tho' my hue was dark my SAVIORS sight Shall Change this darkness into radiant light Such grace to me my Lord on earth has given To recommend me to my Lord in heaven Whose glorious second coming here I wait With saints and Angels Him to celebrate It is thought that 10,000 black slaves and servants were in Britain in the early 18th century, but this is one of the very few memorials to them.

[4] Sometime between 16 and 17 June 2020 the headstone was smashed in two, with a message left nearby in chalk suggesting that the vandalism was in retaliation for the pulling down of the statue of Edward Colston by Black Lives Matter protestors, as well as the proposed removal of the gravestone of music hall blackface artist G H Elliott:[2][5] Now look at what you made me do.

[7] The Bristol-based reggae band Black Roots wrote a song about Scipio Africanus which they performed live at Trinity Hall, Bristol on Channel 4's 10-part series Rockers Roadshow, produced by Mike Wallington and hosted by Mikey Dread in the 1980s.