Battle of Zama

202 BCE: lanes for the elephants

A Roman army commanded by Publius Cornelius Scipio, with Numidian forces under Masinissa, fought Hannibal's Carthaginian army in North Africa in 202 BCE.

Anticipating the elephants — more than 80 of them, by Polybius's count — Scipio aligned gaps through his successive maniples. Some elephants turned and ran back into Carthaginian-aligned Numidians; others were driven through the Roman lanes or off the field.

The cavalry comes back

Roman and Numidian cavalry under Gaius Laelius and Masinissa routed the opposing cavalry, then returned from the pursuit and struck Hannibal's veteran infantry from the rear. That decided the battle.

Polybius reports more than 1,500 Romans killed against more than 20,000 Carthaginians killed and almost as many captured. He also describes ground between the infantry lines so clogged with bodies, weapons and blood that Scipio had difficulty bringing his later lines forward.

Peace the following year

Carthage sent envoys to Scipio, and Hannibal urged the assembly to accept. When a Carthaginian senator objected, Hannibal pulled him down from the speaking platform, then apologized that he had left home at fourteen and returned past forty-five without learning civilian political customs.

The terms cost Carthage its elephants and all but ten triremes, required 100 hostages aged 14 to 30, restored territory to Masinissa and imposed 10,000 talents over 50 years. Rome formally concluded the peace in 201 BCE.

The battlefield has never been securely located. Polybius places Hannibal's earlier camp near Zama, Livy names Scipio's camp near Naraggara, and modern proposals cover a broad area of present-day Tunisia.