Scipio Africanus

Timeline

1. c. -236–-211Rome · LazioScipio came from the Cornelii family, both his father and uncle dying in the war against Hannibal. After the catastrophe at Cannae left Rome in grave peril, the young Scipio was given emergency command in 211 BCE, leading an army to Spain to confront Carthaginian forces and beginning his war-turning career.
2. -210–-206Iberia · AndalusiaScipio opened the campaign in Spain with a surprise capture of New Carthage, then defeated Hasdrubal and other Carthaginian generals, largely clearing Iberia of Carthaginian power. This cut Hannibal's supplies and reinforcements in Italy, laying the groundwork for Rome's strategic counteroffensive.
3. -204–-201North Africa, Zama · TunisiaScipio landed in North Africa and, allied with Numidian king Masinissa, forced Carthage to recall Hannibal. At the Battle of Zama in 202 BCE, Scipio defeated Hannibal with flexible tactics, ending the Second Punic War in a Roman victory. He thereby received the title Africanus and became a hero revered throughout Rome.
4. -190–-183Rome, Liternum · LazioAfter the war Scipio took part in eastern campaigns against the Seleucid Empire and served as consul twice. In his later years he was prosecuted on charges of embezzling war booty brought by political enemies such as Cato; though the crowd's cheers secured his release before a verdict, he angrily went into voluntary exile at Liternum, where he died in 183 BCE—the same year as Hannibal—and was posthumously rehabilitated with a state funeral.