ZAMA
Date : October 19, 202BC
Combatants : Republican Romans and Numidians (Scipio) vs Carthaginians and Gauls (Hannibal)
Why is it important? The victory that finished the Second Punic Wars and established Rome as the dominant empire around the Mediterranean
Location and territory : The battle took place at Zama Regia, near Siliana 130 km south-west of the capital Tunis. Hannibal was first to march and reach the plains of Zama Regia, which were suitable for cavalry maneuvering. This also gave an upper edge in turn to Scipio who relied heavily on his Roman heavy cavalry and Numidian light cavalry. The terrain was essentially flat, with a small river to the rear and right of the Roman lines. There were hills to the rear of both armies and to the left side of the Romans. The Roman right was a clear area.
Historical context
Crossing the Alps, Hannibal reached the Italian peninsula in 218 BC and won several major victories against the Roman armies. Having failed to defeat Hannibal or drive him from Italy, the Romans tried a different strategy.
Following their decisive victory in Spain at the Battle of Ilipa in 206 BC, Iberia was secured by the Romans. In 205 BC, Scipio returned to Rome, where he was elected consul with a unanimous vote. Scipio, now powerful enough, proposed to end the war by directly invading the Carthaginian home land.
The Senate initially opposed this ambitious plan, persuaded by Fabius Maximus that the enterprise was far too hazardous. However, Scipio and his supporters eventually convinced the Senate to agree, and Scipio was given the authority to attempt the invasion.
Initially he received no levy troops, and he sailed to Sicily with a group of 7,000 volunteers. Later, he obtained the authorization to employ the regulars stationed in Sicily, which consisted mainly of the remnants of the 5th and 6th Legion, exiled to the island as a punishment for the humiliation they suffered in the Battle of Cannae (another one for the list of famous battles I'll be covering).
Scipio kept on reinforcing his troops with local defectors. He landed at Utica, and defeated the Carthaginian army at the Battle of the Great Plains in 203 BC. The panicked Carthaginians felt that they had no other alternative than to offer peace to Scipio, who, having the authority, granted it with modest terms.
According to the terms of the treaty signed between Scipio and Carthage, Carthage could keep its African territory, but would lose its overseas empire. Masinissa was to be allowed to expand Numidia into parts of Africa. Also, Carthage was to reduce its fleet and pay a war indemnity.
The Roman senate ratified the agreement. The Carthaginian senate then recalled Hannibal from Italy in 203 BC. Meanwhile, the Carthaginians breached the armistice agreement by capturing a stranded Roman fleet in the Gulf of Tunis and stripping it of supplies. The Carthaginians no longer believed a treaty advantageous, and rebuffed it under much Roman protest. The scene was set.
Troops
Carthage : 45,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, 80 elephants
Rome : 34,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry (some sources say 9,000)
The Carthaginian army consisted of local citizens and veterans from his Italian campaigns, as well as his war elephants.
The Roman army of legionaries was supplemented by heavy Roman and Numidian light cavalry.
Deployment
Hannibal deployed his troops facing northwest, while Scipio deployed his troops in front of the Carthaginian army facing southeast.
Hannibal put his experienced cavalry on the flanks, and aligned his troops in three straight lines behind his eighty war elephants. The first line consisted of mixed infantry of mercenaries from Gaul, Liguria, and Baleria. In his second line he placed the Carthaginian and Libyan citizen levies, while his veterans from Italy were placed in the third line.
Hannibal intentionally held back his third infantry line, in order to offset Scipio's tactic of pinning the Carthaginian center and enveloping his opponent's lines, as he had previously done at the Battle of Ilipa.
Livy states that Hannibal deployed 4000 Macedonians in the second line, which is normally rejected as Roman propaganda, though it is suggested that there might have been a seed of truth in the story if the Carthaginians had recruited a trivial number of mercenaries from Macedonia who had gone without official blessing.
Scipio deployed the Roman army in three lines: hastati, principes and triarii. The stronger right wing was composed of the Numidian cavalry and commanded by Masinissa while the left wing was composed of the Italian cavalry under the command of Laelius. The greatest concern for Scipio was the elephants. He came up with an ingenious plan to take care of them.
Scipio knew that elephants could be ordered to charge forward, but they could only continue their charge in a straight line (if only this were the case in wargaming!). Scipio predicted that intentionally opening gaps in his troops would result in the elephants simply continuing between them, without harming any of his soldiers. Scipio therefore created the lanes between the army regiments across the depth of his troops and hid them with maniples of skirmishers. The plan was that when the elephants charged these lanes would open allowing them to pass through the legionaries' ranks and be dealt with at the rear of the army.
Hannibal and the Carthaginians had relied on cavalry superiority in previous battles (e.g. Battle of Cannae), but Scipio, recognizing the importance, held the cavalry advantage at Zama. This was due in part to his raising of a new cavalry regiment in Sicily and careful courting of Masinissa as an ally.
Hannibal probably hoped that the combination of the war elephants and the depth of the first two lines would weaken and disorganize the Roman advance. This would have allowed him to complete a victory with his reserves in the third line and overlap Scipio's lines. Though this formation was indeed well-conceived, it failed to produce a Carthaginian victory.
An interesting side note : the two commanders are said to have met face-to-face before the battle!
The Battle
Hannibal unleashed his elephants and skirmishers against the Roman troops in order to break the cohesion of their lines and exploit the breaches that could be opened.
The attack was confronted by the Roman velites.
In addition, Scipio ordered the cavalry to blow loud horns to frighten the elephants, which partly succeeded, and several rampaging elephants turned towards the Carthaginian left wing and disordered it completely.
Seizing this opportunity, Masinissa led his Numidian cavalry and charged at the Carthaginian left wing, also composed of Numidian cavalry, and was unknowingly lured off the field. Meanwhile, the rest of the elephants were carefully shepherded through the lanes and taken to the rear of the Roman army, where they were dealt with (presumably by the triarii).
Scipio's plan to neutralize the threat of the elephants had worked. Scipio's troops then fell back into traditional Roman battle formation. Laelius, the commander of Roman left wing, charged against the Carthaginian right. The Carthaginian cavalry, acting on the instructions of Hannibal, allowed the Roman cavalry to chase them so as to lure them away from the battlefield so that they wouldn't attack the Carthaginian armies in the rear.
Scipio now marched with his center towards the Carthaginian center, which was under the direct command of Hannibal. Hannibal moved forward with only two lines and the third line of veterans was kept in reserve. After a close contest, the first line of Hannibal was pushed back by the Roman hastati.
Hannibal ordered his second line not to allow the first line in their ranks. The bulk of them managed to escape and to position themselves on the wings of the second line on Hannibal's instructions. Hannibal now charged with his second line. A furious struggle ensued and the Roman hastati were pushed back with heavy losses. Scipio reinforced the hastati with the second line principes.
With this reinforcement the Roman front renewed their attack and defeated Hannibal's second line. Again, the second line was not allowed to merge with the third line and was forced to the wings along with the first line. Carthaginian cavalry carried out Hannibal's instructions well and there was no sign of Roman cavalry on the battlefield.
Once they were far enough away, they turned and attacked the Roman cavalry but were routed in the end. At this point there was a pause in the battle as both sides redeployed their troops. Scipio played for time as he redeployed his troops in a single line with the hastati in the middle and the principes in the inner wings and the triarii on the outer wings.
Hannibal waited for Scipio to attack. The resulting clash was fierce and bloody, with neither side achieving local superiority. However, Scipio was able to rally his men.
The battle finally turned into Roman favor as the Roman cavalry returned onto the battlefield and attacked the Carthaginian line from behind. The Carthaginian infantry was encircled and annihilated (Cannae, anyone....?). Thousands of Carthaginians, including Hannibal, managed to escape the slaughter though. Hannibal experienced a major defeat that put an end to all resistance on the part of Carthage. In total, as many as 20,000 men of Hannibal’s army were killed at Zama, while 20,000 were taken as prisoners. The Romans on the other hand, suffered as few as 2,500 dead.
After the Battle
Soon after Scipio's victory at Zama, the war ended, with the Carthaginian senate suing for peace. Unlike the treaty that ended the First Punic War, the terms Carthage acceded to were so punishing that it was never able to challenge Rome for supremacy of the Mediterranean again. Terms of the treaty bankrupted Carthage of any chance at military might in the future, although their economic recovery was quick because they no longer had to pay for mercenaries to fight for them.
One provision of the treaty was that the Carthaginians were not allowed to make war without Roman consent. This allowed the Romans to establish a casus belli for the Third Punic War when the Carthaginians defended themselves from Numidian encroachments which the Romans probably encouraged.
When Rome waged the Third Punic War on Carthage 70 years later, the Carthaginians had little power, and could not even defeat the by-then very aged Masinissa in Africa. They could, however, organize a defense of their home city, which, after an extended siege, was captured and completely destroyed. Only 55,000 survived.
Watch this rather good video of the battle!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unKuRvO12Sg
A longer video but good background
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvvIHgse3Ak
Wargaming Zama
This is one of THE classical battles and many of you may have played it out already. Therefore take these suggestions in the spirit they are intended.
Terrain should be essentially flat.
War elephants - many rules allow for elephants to move around with the turning circle of a small Italian car. To better simulate Scipio's tactic, you may want to make elephants less mobile and allow them only limited movement unless straight ahead. This will allow the Romans to use the channel tactic more effectively.
In addition a one-try-only rule to allow panicking elephants with a random scatter dice (so they can harm the Romans, Carthaginians or the nearby goats). This can be based on if they take hits or the Roman player can roll for 'trumpets' (only once). Roll d6 for each elephant on the table when they get within charge distance. On a 6 they panic - then use a scatter dice or similar to see where they go. Panicked elephants will go in a straight line at top speed for 2 turns until they are brought under control or they contact something - which is then counted as a normal charge (irrespective of who they charge). Of course if heading for the Roman lines - why stop?!
The Roman cavalry should outnumber the Carthaginian cavalry by a factor of around 2:1.
You may want to allow a rule that means the cavalry are lured from the field then return. This could be construed that Roman cavalry MUST attack their horsey opposition to the exclusion of any other target until either sides' cavalry is eliminated. Only then can the Roman cavalry return to the main battle.
Apart from that - a classic format battle. Line up and get stuck in!