Carthage was Rome's great rival for the mastery of the western Mediterranean, and its battles are above all the battles of the Punic Wars. At their heart stands Hannibal, who won the most famous victory of the ancient world and still lost the war. This guide gathers the great battles of Carthage.
The great battles of Carthage
Cannae, 216 BC · Hannibal's double envelopment, the worst defeat in Roman history.
The Metaurus, 207 BC · Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal is beaten and killed, turning the war.
Zama, 202 BC · Scipio defeats Hannibal and ends the Second Punic War.
Hannibal's war with Rome
In the Second Punic War, Hannibal marched over the Alps into Italy and inflicted a string of catastrophes on Rome, culminating at Cannae in 216 BC, where his double envelopment destroyed the largest army Rome had ever fielded, the worst defeat in Roman history.
Yet Rome refused to surrender. The tide turned at the Metaurus in 207 BC, where Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal was defeated and killed, and finally at Zama in 202 BC, where Scipio Africanus beat Hannibal himself and ended the war. Carthage never recovered, and was destroyed in the Third Punic War.
Why these battles matter
The Punic Wars decided who would rule the ancient Mediterranean, and Cannae remains the textbook example of a battle of annihilation, studied by soldiers ever since. To meet the generals who fought them, see our guide to the greatest commanders of Carthage.