The Second Punic War: The Year 208 BCE

Summary Gaius Valerius Flaccus is consecrated as flamen Dialis against his will and successfully claims a seat in the Senate; Unrest in Etruria; The consuls, Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Titus Quinctius Crispinus, are ambushed by Hannibal’s Numidian cavalry during a careless reconnaissance mission; Marcellus is killed, Crispinus dies of his…

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The Second Punic War: The Year 207 BCE

Summary For the first time during the Second Punic War, the Roman coastal colonies are required to provide soldiers; Hasdrubal Barcas arrives in Cisalpine Gaul, but fails to capture the Latin colony of Placentia; The consul Gaius Claudius Nero confronts Hannibal near Grumentum; The Romans intercept couriers with a message…

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The Second Punic War: The Year 206 BCE

Summary The Romans try to restore agricultural production in Latium and other parts of Italy; The consuls Lucius Veturius Philo and Quintus Caecilius Metellus occupy Lucania, containing Hannibal in a corner of Southern Italy; In Spain, Publius Cornelius Scipio wins his finest victory of the war by defeating the Carthaginians…

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The Second Punic War: The Year 203 BCE

Summary Publius Cornelius Scipio annihilates the armies of Hasdrubal and Syphax in a night attack near Utica; Scipio again defeats Hasdrubal and Syphax at the Battle of Great Plains; The Carthaginians finally decide to recall Hannibal from Southern Italy; Gaius Laelius and Masinissa defeat King Syphax and capture him; Masinissa…

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The Second Punic War: The Years 202-201 BCE

Summary Publius Cornelius Scipio wins a decisive victory over Hannibal at the Battle of Zama; The Romans dictate incredibly harsh peace terms to the Carthaginians, which are nevertheless accepted; End of the Second Punic War; Scipio receives the agnomen ‘Africanus’. It was clear that the Second Punic War was drawing…

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The Second Punic War: The Year 214 BCE

Summary The new consuls are Quintus Fabius Maximus and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, ‘the shield and sword of Rome’; Hannibal fails to capture Puteoli, Nola and Tarentum; The Romans recapture Casilinum and threaten Capua; Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus defeats the Carthaginian commander Hanno at the Battle of the river Calor near Beneventum;…

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The Second Punic War: The Year 213 BCE

Summary The Romans recapture Arpi in Apulia; Hannibal fails to achieve anything significant in Italy; The proconsul Marcus Claudius Marcellus attacks Syracuse in a combined land and naval assault; With the aid of the mathematician and engineer Archimedes, the Syracusans repel the attack; The Romans keep Syracuse under siege while…

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The Second Punic War: The Year 212 BCE

Summary Young Publius Cornelius Scipio is elected curule aedile; Publius Licinius Crassus becomes the new pontifex maximus; The praetor urbanus suppresses foreign religious cults; Trial of the publicanus Marcus Postumius from Pyrgi for deceiving the State; Tarentum is betrayed to Hannibal, but the Romans cling on to the citadel and…

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