Scipio Africanus

Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus was a Roman general and statesman who was one of the main architects of Rome's victory against <a href="/facts/Ancient_Carthage/5BFU7yB5">Carthage</a> in the <a href="/facts/Second_Punic_War/0XfszHUd">Second Punic War</a>. Often regarded as one of the greatest military commanders and strategists of all time, his greatest military achievement was the defeat of <a href="/facts/Hannibal/a3az4Rj6">Hannibal</a> at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Zama/B6TaT2vE">Battle of Zama</a> in 202 BC. This victory in Africa earned him the honorific epithet Africanus, literally meaning 'the African', but meant to be understood as a conqueror of <a href="/facts/Africa_(Roman_province)/MIYYrhIF">Africa</a>.
Scipio's conquest of <a href="/facts/Carthaginian_Iberia/FchKU9o4">Carthaginian Iberia</a> culminated in the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Ilipa/TBu8PLUC">Battle of Ilipa</a> in 206 BC against Hannibal's brother <a href="/facts/Mago_Barca/6YtyLM1g">Mago Barca</a>. Although considered a hero by the Roman people, primarily for his victories against Carthage, Scipio had many opponents, especially <a href="/facts/Cato_the_Elder/cFSyAE4N">Cato the Elder</a>, who hated him deeply. In 187 BC, he was tried in a <a href="/facts/Show_trial/zYRV8LyR">show trial</a> alongside his brother for bribes they supposedly received from the Seleucid king <a href="/facts/Antiochus_III_the_Great/sr8gWutT">Antiochus III</a> during the <a href="/facts/Roman%25E2%2580%2593Seleucid_War/8vQtadez">Roman–Seleucid War</a>. Disillusioned by the ingratitude of his peers, Scipio left Rome and retired from public life at his villa in <a href="/facts/Liternum/vDPagxUU">Liternum</a>.

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Scipio Africanus