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Ingratitude Was All These People Got For Doing the Right Thing

Khalid Elhassan August 28, 2023 32 min

Ingratitude - Ignaz Semmelweis washing his hands in chlorinated lime water before operating — Ignaz Semmelweis washing his hands in chlorinated lime water before operating. NPR

Ingratitude for Saving His Country

Ingratitude - Scipio Africanus — Scipio Africanus. Ancient Rome

Scipio opened the campaign with a surprise attack in 209 BC that captured New Carthage (modern Cartagena), the Carthaginian seat of power in Hispania. At a stroke, he secured ample supplies, as well as a great harbor and base for further operations. He then campaigned across Hispania, where he won more victories. By 206 BC, Scipio had seized all of Hispania from the Carthaginians. He returned to Rome as its most successful general to date, and was elected consul in 205 BC. By then, Hannibal was isolated in southern Italy, cutoff from supplies and reinforcements. Scipio ignored him, boldly took the war directly to Carthage, and invaded North Africa in 204 BC.

The Carthaginians recalled Hannibal from Italy to lead their armies at home, setting the stage for a climactic showdown between Rome’s and Carthage’s greatest generals. It came at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, which Scipio decisively won. He returned to a hero’s welcome by the general public, and ingratitude and hate from his fellow patricians. They persecuted him with trumped up charges of treason, bribery, and corruption in order to sully his reputation. The ingratitude left Scipio disillusioned and bitter. He withdrew from public life and retired to his estates in Campania, where he remained until his death.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.