Western Civilization - Ancient History

The Battle of Zama

The two met near Zama, about a hundred miles south of Carthage. Both sides had about 25,000 men. For once, the Romans had the better cavalry, for Scipio had brought with him his superb Spanish horesement. But Hannibal, on home ground in Africa now, had his elephants.

These were war elephants, specially trained, and Hannibal staked the battle on them. He ranged his elephants, perhaps a hundred or so, in front of his infantry. When the battle began, he sent them en masse against the Roman lines, like a cavalry charge.

It must have been terrifying to the Romans, but Scipio had prepared them. He knew of Hannibal's plans and had his own plan in place. He had his troops spread in normal battle formation. When the elephants charged, the men re-formed into columns, leaving wide alleys between.

To aid the elephants, the men were instructed to shout, bang metal on metal, and general make as much noise as possible, causing the beasts to shy away from the noise and into the alley ways. And as they went passed, archers shot at their riders. With great faith in their commander, the Roman troops executed the plan perfectly. The elephants passed right through the Roman lines. While the beasts eventually got turned back around, the massed charge on which Hannibal had depended, was utterly ineffective.

Now the real battle began. Scipio used much the same tactics at Zama as Hannibal had at Cannae. He allowed his infantry to give way while his cavalry executed a flanking maneuver. The cavalry was almost immediately successful. The Carthaginian infantry fought hard, though, and the battle lasted most of the day. In the end, Hannibal was defeated so completely that he immediately returned to Carthage and advised the city to surrender.