The Roman Conquest of Africa: 146BC Historical Fall of Carthage | Total War Battle

In the mid-2nd century BC, Rome was the dominant power in the Mediterranean region. Carthage was a strong city-state in the northeast of what is now Tunisia. They had great influence on the trade in the Mediterranean and so were of concern for the Romans. The First and Second Punic Wars were fought between Rome and Carthage, primarily for control over trade routes and territories in the Mediterranean. Both wars ended with Roman victories. The Romans imposed a peace treaty on the Carthaginians, which stripped them of their overseas territories and Carthage was prohibited from waging war outside Africa and could wage war in Africa only with Rome's permission. The Numidian king Macinissa, who was an ally of Rome, emerged as by far the most powerful ruler among the Numidians. The Numidian king repeatedly took advantage of Carthage's inability to protect its possessions and he raided lands into Carthaginian territory. Whenever Carthage petitioned Rome for permission to take military action, Rome backed Macinissa and refused. In 151 BC, Carthage raised a large army commanded by the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal and counterattacked the Numidians. The campaign ended in disaster at the Battle of Oroscopa and the army surrendered. Having broken the agreement with Rome, Carthage paid off its indemnity in 151 BC and was prospering economically but still was no military threat to Rome. Carthage was becoming richer and richer and this was a cause of concern in Rome and so the Senate and the People's Assembly of Rome declared war on Carthage. In 149 BC, a large Roman army landed at Utica with Manius Manilius commanding the army and Lucius Marcius Censorinus the fleet. The size of the Roman army was estimated at around 45,000 men. The Carthaginians continued to attempt to appease Rome and sent an embassy to Utica. The Romans demanded that they hand over all weaponry and reluctantly the Carthaginians did so. Once Carthage was disarmed, Censorinus made the further demand that the Carthaginians abandon their city and relocate 16 kilometers away from the sea. Carthage would then be destroyed. The Carthaginians abandoned negotiations and prepared to defend their city. The city of Carthage itself was an unusually large city for the time with a population estimated at 700,000. It was strongly fortified with walls of more than 35 kilometers in circumference. The Carthaginians raised a strong and enthusiastic force to garrison the city from their citizenry and by freeing all slaves willing to fight. They also formed a 30,000 man strong field army which was placed under the command of Hasdrubal. This army was based at Neferis, 25 kilometers south of the city. After the Roman army of some 45,000 men landed in Utica, they moved to Carthage. The Romans soon began the attack from both land and sea. After the attacks, they were repulsed on both fronts. Not being as easy as the Romans had hoped, they settled down for a siege. Hasdrubal then moved up his army from Neferis and harassed the Roman supply lines and foraging parties. The Romans then built two very large battering rams and partially broke down a section of the wall. The Romans then stormed the breach. After some intense fighting, they were pushed back by the Carthaginians. The Romans would have been in difficulty except for the actions of Scipio Aemilianus. Rather than join the attack as ordered, Scipio held back and spaced his men along the partially demolished wall and so was able to cover the Romans retreat. The Romans held out the siege and did not try any more attacks for weeks. The Carthaginians then attacked the Roman fleet with fireships. They inflicted heavy losses on the Roman fleet. Separately, a night attack was launched against Manilius' camp. A dangerous outcome for the Romans was again averted by Scipio's prompt action. The Romans made repetitions of these attacks more difficult by building additional field fortifications. The next year, the Romans elected two new consuls but only one of them was sent to Africa, Calpurnius Piso. He pulled back the close siege of Carthage to a looser blockade and attempted to mop up the other Carthaginian supporting cities in the area but failed. Meanwhile, Hasdrubal, commander of the Carthaginian field army, overthrew the civilian leadership of Carthage and took command himself. A Numidian chief came over to the Carthaginians with 800 cavalry. Carthage then allied with Andriscus, a pretender to the Macedonian throne who invaded Roman Macedonia, defeated a Roman army, was crowned King Philip VI and sparked the Fourth Macedonian War. In 147 BC, despite being younger than the required age, the public demanded the Senate to appoint Scipio as consul and so allowed him to take charge of the African War. Meanwhile, Mancinius seized an unexpected opportunity to capture a sally port and forced 3,500 men into the city, 3,000 of whom were lightly armed and armoured sailors. Scipio arrived at Utica that evening to take up his post. He sailed overnight for Carthage and arrived just in time to evacuate Mancinius' hard-pressed force as it was expelled by a Carthaginian counter-attack. Now at Carthage, Scipio then led a night march with a strong force that targeted an area that the Romans considered to be a weak point in Carthage's main wall. A gate was seized and 4,000 Romans pushed into the city. The Carthaginians defended initially and put up a fierce resistance, but they soon fled, panicked in the dark. However, Scipio decided that his position would be indefensible once the Carthaginians reorganised themselves in daylight and so withdrew. Hasdrubal, horrified at the way the Carthaginian defences had collapsed, had Roman prisoners tortured to death on the walls in view of the Roman army. From this point, there could be no possibility of negotiation or surrender. Some members of the city council denounced his actions and Hasdrubal had them put to death and took full control of the city. Scipio's renewed close siege cut off landward entry to the city, but blocking off the port was all but impossible with the naval technology of the time. Frustrated at the amount of food being shipped into the city, Scipio started to build a big wall to cut off access to the harbour. By this point, the Carthaginians had built a new fleet of 50 warships. They sailed out, taking the Romans by surprise. In the battle that followed, the Carthaginians held their own. Their lighter craft proved difficult for the Roman ships to deal with. However, the Roman fleet was much larger and the Carthaginian ships became pinned against the city's seawall with no room to manoeuvre. The Romans sank or captured many of them and some survivors were able to escape back into the harbour. After the defeat of the Carthaginian navy at night, Carthaginians swam across the harbour and set fire to several siege engines and many legionaries panicked and fled. Now having complete naval control, the Romans now attempted to advance against the Carthaginian defences in the harbour area. The Romans eventually gained control of the quay. Scipio's position as the Roman commander in Africa was extended for a year in 146 BC and in the spring he launched the final assault. Having recently taken control of the harbour area, the attack came from here and Hasdrubal, expecting it, set fire to the nearby warehouses. The main assault force reached the city's main square where the legions camped overnight. Having regrouped, the Romans systematically worked their way through the residential part of the city killing everyone they encountered and setting the buildings on fire behind them. There was fierce combat in the streets of Carthage. It took six more days to clear the city of resistance and on the last day Scipio agreed to accept prisoners. The last holdouts fought on from the temple of Eshmu. They knew all hope was gone. At this point Hasdrubal surrendered to Scipio on the promise of his life and freedom. Hasdrubal's wife, watching from a rampart, then blessed Scipio, cursed her husband and walked into the temple with her children to burn to death. After the sack of Carthage, a commission of 10 senators arrived ordering Scipio to destroy whatever remained of Carthage and decreed nobody was allowed to settle there or rebuild. The siege had been costly on both sides. It is estimated that over 10,000 Romans died during the course of the siege from battle and disease. Tens of thousands of Carthaginian soldiers were killed during the siege and it is estimated that as many as 200,000 civilians were killed. Scipio was awarded the name Africanus. The formerly Carthaginian territories were annexed by Rome and reconstituted to become the Roman province of Africa with Utica as its capital. A century later, the site of Carthage was rebuilt as a Roman city by Julius Caesar and would become one of the main cities of Roman Africa by the time of the Empire.