umed. At Zama the two greatest generals the war had developed
met in its final battle. Hannibal's tactics were worthy of his reputation
but his army was crushed by the flight of the Carthaginian mercenaries at
a critical moment, and by the Roman superiority in cavalry(8).
*Peace: 201 B. C.* For Carthage all hope of resistance was over and she
had to accept the Roman terms. These were: the surrender of all territory
except the city of Carthage and the surrounding country in Africa, an
indemnity of 10,000 talents ($12,000,000), the surrender of all vessels of
war except ten triremes, and of all war elephants, and the obligation to
refrain from carrying on war outside of Africa, or even in Africa unless
with Rome's consent. The Numidians were united in a strong state on the
Carthaginian borders, under the Roman ally Masinissa. Scipio returned to
Rome to triumph "over the Carthaginians and Hannibal," and to receive,
from the scene of his victory, the name of Africanus.
V. THE EFFECT OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR UPON ITALY
The destruction of the Carthaginian empire left Rome mistress of the
western Mediterranean and by far the greatest power of the time. But this
victory had only been attained after a tremendous struggle, the greatest
probably that the ancient world ever witnessed, a struggle which called
forth in Rome the patriotic virtues of courage, devotion, and
self-sacrifice to a degree that aroused the admiration of subsequent
generations, which drained her resources of men and treasure and which
left ineffaceable scars upon the soil of Italy.
One of the main factors in deciding the issue was the Roman command of the
sea which Carthage never felt able to challenge seriously. Another was the
larger citizen body of Rome, and the friendly relations between herself
and her federate allies. This, with the system of universal military
service, gave her a citizen soldiery which in morale and numbers was
superior to the armies of Carthage. As long as Hannibal was in Italy Rome
kept from year to year upwards of 100,000 men in the field. Once only,
after the battle of Cannae, was she unable to replace her losses by the
regular system of recruiting and had to arm 8000 slaves who were promised
freedom as a reward for faithful service. On the other hand, Carthage had
to raise her forces from mercenaries or from subject allies. As her
resources dwindled the former became ever more difficult to obtain, while
the
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