Battle of Zama

The Second Punic War (218-202 BCE) began when the Carthaginian general Hannibal attacked the city of Saguntum, a Roman ally, reached its height with the Carthaginian victory at Cannae (216) and ended with the Battle of Zama. At Zama, in North Africa, fifty miles south of the city of Carthage, the Roman general Scipio Africanus met Hannibal’s forces... [continue reading]

Although Hannibal’s forces were defeated on the field at the Battle of Zama (202 BCE) the groundwork for this defeat was laid throughout the Second Punic War through the Carthaginian government’s refusal to support their general and his troops on campaign. As they had done with his father, Hamilcar Barca, in the First Punic War, the Carthaginian... [continue reading]

By the late fourth century BCE Rome had conquered much of modern day Italy and was a maturing power in the Mediterranean. In the First Punic War (264-241) Rome defeated Carthage and acquired Sicily as its first overseas province. The late third century saw Rome again at war against Carthage and the two powers vied for control of the Mediterranean on... [continue reading]