In the year 202 BC, a Roman army commanded by Scipio Africanus met a Carthaginian force led by Hannibal near what is now Tunisia. This clash marked the end of the Second Punic War and forced Carthage to surrender. The Roman side numbered around 30,000 men while their opponents fielded between 40,000 and 50,000 soldiers. Despite being outnumbered, Rome held an advantage in cavalry strength. Carthage countered with 80 war elephants, a weapon rarely seen on such a scale since earlier campaigns.
Hannibal had invaded mainland Italy in 218 BC and fought there for sixteen years. By 210 BC, Publius Cornelius Scipio took command of Roman forces in Iberia and cleared the peninsula of Carthaginians within five years. He returned to Rome and was elected consul in 205 BC despite being only thirty-one when the minimum age was forty-two. His army landed near Utica the following year and began pressing against Carthaginian defenses. Numidian allies under Masinissa joined the Romans after defeating Syphax, another Numidian leader who supported Carthage.
Armies And Formations
The Roman army at Zama consisted of four legions, each reinforced to 6,200 infantry and equipped with 300 cavalry. Modern historians estimate the total force at 25,000 to 30,000 men, including perhaps 2,500 cavalry. Most male Roman citizens served as infantry while wealthier minorities provided cavalry units. Standard legions included 1,200 javelin-armed skirmishers known as velites alongside heavy infantry wearing body armor and carrying large shields.
Carthaginian forces relied heavily on foreign recruits since citizen participation occurred only during direct threats to the city. Their first line comprised veterans from Mago's failed expedition to northern Italy, mostly Iberians, Gauls, and Ligurians. Light infantry skirmishers numbered 12,000 and included Balearic slingers and Moor archers. The second line contained either poorly trained recruits or survivors whose morale had crumbled. Hannibal placed his third line of battle-hardened Italian veterans behind these two fronts, estimated between 12,000 and 20,000 strong. Carthage fielded approximately 4,000 cavalry divided between Numidian allies on the left and African horsemen on the right.