Scipio+Africanus

Scipio Africanus was born in 236 BCE and was a major general in the Second Punic War and was considered a statesman of the roman republic. He died in 183bce, Scipio was known for defeating Hannibal in the Battle of Zama. Scipio was a great military tactician, this skill was especially displayed during Battle of Llipa as well as the Battle of Zama. Scipio is now considered one of the great Roman military men of their history because he never lost a battle.

**Early Years **

Publius Cornelius Scipio, also known as Scipio Africanus, was born in the year 236 BCE. Scipio was educated as a patrician, which means that he was raised as a very high-class citizen that was involved with public service in the highest offices. His wife was named Pomponia and she came from a family of common people. Scipio also had a younger brother named Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus. Most historians believe that Scipio’s success as a military leader began when he was 17 when he lead the Roman army in the battle of Ticinus in 218 BCE. Scipio's act to help his father in battle is a similar comparison to Hannibal because Hannibal's father died and he came into replace his father. This is a similar situation to Scipio because he came to aid his father's cause. The young Scipio was only 17 years old when he began his military carrer against the Carthegian army. His father, Scipio the elder, was surrounded and wounded amidst the heavy battle of Ticinus in 218 BCE. In a demonstration of filial piety he risked his own life, without the consent of many in the army, by running in and rescuing his father from his death. After this first triumph in battle, he volunteered to take command or the army in Spain that wasn’t a coveted position at the time in 211 BCE. This change of heart was trigered by the death of his father and uncle in a battle against the Carthegian army at the Ebro river in Spain. Scipio left for Spain with an army of 11,000 with a goal of conquering the opposing army at the Ebro. With influence from the surrounding cultures and need for a more flexible and easy moving army, Scipio changed his battle tactics to eliminate the old, inconveniant weaponry. Following a success at the Ebro, he planned to attack New Carthage along the coast of Spain in 209BCE. He was succesful at Carthage. The nest year, Scipio the army of Hasdrubal Barca, Hannibal's brother, at a location near the city of Baecula. He was able to force their army from Iberia and consequently finished his goal of destroying all of the Carthegian forces under command of Hasdrubal in 206 BCE.In In 205 BCE he had plans to invade africa and aid a Numidian army that had been planning a rovolt against the army of Hannibal. His request was denied by the senate. As a result he spent the year of 204 training a private army to invade. After hearing of Scipio's plan, Hannibal became interested and sent spies to find out about the plan. When the spies came, they got caught by Scipio but unlike the reaction of most men, he treated them with humility. "Scipio's unusually generous treatment of his spies so impressed Hannibal that he arranged to meet the young Roman Commander". When they met, Scipio negotiated unreasonable deals resulted in war. In 199 BCE, a few years after this hostility, he was elected Princeps Senatus marking the beginning of his political leadership.  The victory at Carthage and defeat of Hasdrubal in Spain gave the military and the people of Rome a sense of pride and national identity. This pride and confidence that they had become the greatest army in the war led to ideas of expansion and an even more powerful empire. These ideas were not shared by the elected officials who, in an empire, would lose most if not all of their power. With the rise in military power under Scipio and other Romans leaders, a sort of military class of men grew in the Roman culture. These militants posed a threat to the elected officials as well. They took commands and held allegiance to their military comanders, not so much from the state. If they were to become too much of an overriding majority of the population, those military leaders and commanders would assume the possition of power to those men.
 * Military Service**

media type="youtube" key="_NGm8ViJV8s" height="364" width="445"(Explains Second Punic War)

Scipio offered himself to take over the new Roman army which was created to send into Hispania. Even though Scipio was only 17 years old, his personality and ability to make a great impression with his words, Scipio was the only person that would take the position because the other candidates for this job thought it would be a sure loss, and death for them. . During this capture of the headquarters, Scipio was a great humanitarian to the hostages and prisoners which made it seem like the Romans were liberators and not conquerors. As the battle went one, Scipio’s great tactical skills in war lead to him and his armies never losing a battle. After this campaign, Carthage began to open up diplomatic negotiations with the Roman’s. Soon after they began these negotiations, Hannibal and his army returned to Carthage an they suspended the negotiations and prepared for war with Rome. They thought this was a good idea for Carthage because there army consisted of 58,000 infrantry and 6,000 cavalry. Scipio’s army only had 34,000 infantry and 8700 Cavalry. The Romans were clearly outnumbered. Scipio and Hannibal’s tactical plan was to make a stand between Carthage and Utica in 202 BCE. This battle was called the Battle of Zama. Hannibal’s plan in this battle was very basic and simple, It was a massive forward attack with war elephants that was intended to use the infantry as the main line and have the calvary aid them. Scipio’s plan to counter this attack was to line up his army perpendicular to the enemy, this plan was made to counter the war elephants. They had set up well disguised traps to try and slow down or even stop the elephants. The elephants got so confused that they turned back and headed back into the Carthaginian line of soldiers. The remaining battle was very bloody and violent, and the final blow to Carthage was when the Roman cavalry attached them from behind. This was considered a victory for Scipio, and Carthage was defeated.