October 202 BC
The elephants and the cavalry
The battle opens with skirmishing between the Numidians on the Roman right. Hannibal then sends his elephants against the Roman infantry. The velites run forward to throw javelins and fall back, and the Romans blow their trumpets and bang their weapons on their shields. Several elephants on the Carthaginian left turn and run back through their own Numidian cavalry, and Masinissa charges the disordered horsemen and drives them from the field.
The battle between Scipio and Hannibal at Zama, engraving by Cornelis Cort after Giulio Romano, 1550 to 1578Wikimedia Commons, Cornelis Cort after Giulio Romano, CC0 (The Battle Between Scipio and Hannibal at Zama MET DP874322.jpg)
Most of the other elephants charge the Roman infantry, and many run down the lanes between the maniples, where the velites strike at their flanks. Those that come out behind the Roman lines are hunted down. Some reach the hastati and cause heavy losses. Others turn against the Roman cavalry on the left and then run back through the Carthaginian cavalry, and Laelius charges and sweeps it from the field. Both Roman cavalry forces ride off in pursuit.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 15, 12.
- Livy, History of Rome, book 30, 33.
- Adrian Goldsworthy, The Fall of Carthage (2006).
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