For the 5th Day of White History Month we celebrate Scipio Africanus and his triumph over Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. One of the greatest military generals of all time, Scipio rallied Rome after their most devastating loss in history to ultimately achieving victory over their greatest rival, Carthage.

In 218 BC, Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca crossed the Alps leading an army of 30,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry and 37 war elephants. As a child he had been sworn to eternal enmity with Rome by his father, veteran of the First Punic War. This mountain crossing bypassed Roman defenses and allowed him to defeat Roman forces in two surprise attacks at Lake Trasimene and the River Trebia, where a total of 50,000 Roman soldiers were killed. Now Hannibal was marching south across Italy unchecked and Rome was in the worst crisis it had ever seen.

One Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus suggested delaying Hannibal, cutting off his supplies and not giving battle until Hannibal's army was depleted, so-called Fabian Tactics. Another General Gaius Terentius Varro considered Fabian's plan cowardly and called to raise the largest army Rome had ever raised and crush Hannibal on the field once and for all. Varro won the debate which lead to the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC. 86,400 Romans on the field facing 50,000 Carthaginians. The overconfident Romans over committed in the center, reacting to a false gap left by Hannibal to lure them in. Critically, the Romans lost the cavalry battle and when the false-gap was reinforced 80,000 Romans found themselves completely encircled. Then the slaughter began which lasted into the night, with men in the center committing mass-suicide to escape. Rome was utterly devastated, the majority of their veterans, elites, equestrians, all had been slaughtered in a single day.

The mood in Rome was desperate, many in the senate thought they should sue for peace, the rest turned to one of the very few men who had survived Cannae, A 19-year-old Publius Cornelius Scipio. Scipio sought revenge not just for Cannae but his father who had died from a battle against Hannibal. Scipio managed to convince the Senate to fight on, that peace would mean an end to Roman Civilization and that their defeat only meant they should strike now, when Hannibal would least expect it. Age restrictions had to be waved to allow Scipio to take command. His plan was to take the fight to Carthage and draw Hannibal out of Italy with an invasion of Africa. Initially the senate wouldn't grant the necessary forces, afraid of Hannibal marching on Rome, but when Scipio put out the call for volunteers he raised enough men for 2 legions, so the senate relented and granted 4 more.

The Battle of Zama was fought in 202 BC, 100km/60 miles south of the city Carthage. Scipio had brought 30,000 infantry and 6,000 Cavalry while Hannibal had 50,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and 80 war elephants. The war elephants proved ineffective against Roman discipline, while the Roman cavalry advantage proved decisive. After 16 years of brutal total warfare Hannibal had been decisively defeated, but not captured or killed. He would go on to fight for Rome's enemies until his death, including for Antiochus the Great in his war against Rome over Greece. Scipio was given the moniker Africanus meaning "conquer in Africa" and it was said no Scipio could be defeated in Africa.

Thus in 147 BC it was his grandson, Scipio Aemilianus who was called to return to Carthage in the final struggle between their civilizations. To carry out the behest of Cato the Elder, one of the few members of the old Roman aristocracy to survive the second Punic war; "Carthago delenda est."