Battle of Zama

Overview

The Battle of Zama was fought in 202 BC in what is now Tunisia between a Roman army commanded by Scipio Africanus and a Carthaginian army commanded by Hannibal. The battle was part of the Second Punic War and resulted in such a severe defeat for the Carthaginians that they capitulated, while Hannibal was forced into exile. The Roman army of approximately 40,000 men was outnumbered by the Carthaginians who fielded either 40,000 or 50,000; the Romans were stronger in cavalry, but the Carthaginians had 80 war elephants.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Zama ended the Second Punic War by delivering a decisive defeat to the Carthaginian army under Hannibal. The scale of the Carthaginian collapse — some 20,000 casualties against Roman losses of approximately 1,500 — was sufficient to compel Carthage to capitulate rather than continue the conflict. Hannibal, who had led Carthaginian forces through years of the war and inflicted major defeats on Roman armies in Italy, was driven into exile as a direct consequence. The engagement thus resolved the central strategic contest of the war: whether Carthage or Rome would hold dominant power in the western Mediterranean. With Carthaginian resistance extinguished at Zama, Rome secured the position it would build upon throughout the remainder of the ancient period.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)