Battle of Zama

The Romans under Scipio Africanus the Elder defeated the Carthaginians under Hannibal in the Battle of Zama (202 BCE). The Second Punic War's final and most important battle ultimately put an end to both Hannibal's leadership of the Carthaginian army and Carthage's hopes of mounting a meaningful resistance to Rome. To lure Hannibal from Italy and lure him to a place where the two most renowned generals of their periods could square off, Scipio Africanus had to march on the city of Carthage proper and attack modern-day Tunis.

Hannibal gave the command for his elephants to charge first, which started the fight. The Carthaginian cavalry formations were mostly run through by the elephants when the Romans startled them with an exceptionally loud horn burst. The infantry battle between the Romans and Carthaginians dragged on until Hannibal sent in his Italian veterans, who started to break the Roman line before the cavalry came back. Unfortunately for Hannibal, when the mounted forces finally arrived, they let themselves be surrounded. It was not surprising that this was the final occasion that elephants faced off against Roman soldiers in the battle for a very long time given how brilliantly they had performed in both this fight and Beneventum.

Date: 19 October 202 BC
Location: Zama, Carthage (near today's Siliana, Tunisia)
Combatants: Roman Republic and Kingdom of Numidia against Carthage
Result: Roman victory and End of the Second Punic War