Roman Conquests: North Africa

This Volume Tells How the Romans Extended Their Power Across the Mediterranean to Dominate the North African HinterlandDescribes the Campaigns that Carried the Fight into the Homeland of their Mortal Carthaginian Foes, Leading to the Defeat of the Legendary Hannibal at Zama and Ultimately to the Destruction of Carthage ItselfAlso Covers the Ensuing War Against the Wily Jugurtha of Numidia. In Which the Legions had to Cope with Numidian Guerrilla Tactics and the Famed Numidian Light Cavalry`For who is so worthless or indolent as not to wish to know by what means...the Romans have succeeded in subjecting nearly the whole inhabited world to their sole government - a thing unique in history? Or who again is there so passionately devoted to other spectacles or studies as to regard anything as of greater moment than the acquisition of this knowledge.' Polybius, 2nd Century BCIn the third century BC Rome was locked in a struggle for survival against her rival across the Mediterranean, Carthage. Hannibal's famous invasion of Italy pushed Rome to the point of utter defeat. This volume describes the campaigns by which the Romans turned the tables and carried the fight into the enemy's homeland, leading to the final defeat of Hannibal at Zama (202BC) and ultimately to the vindictive destruction of Carthage itself in the Third Punic War.Nic Fields goes on to describe the subsequent wars against an erstwhile ally, Jugurtha of Numidia. The guerrilla warfare of the Numidians and their famed light cavalry tested the legions and their commanders to the limit, but eventual success made Rome the master of the North African hinterland. With a cast of characters including Hannibal, Scipio Africanus, the wily Jugurtha, Metellus, Marius and Sulla, this is a fascinating account of a crucial phase in Rome's glorious, bloody, march to empire.Like the other volumes in this series, this book gives a clear narrative of the course of these wars, explaining how the Roman war machine coped with formidable new foes and the challenges of unfamiliar terrain and climate. Specially-commissioned colour plates by Graham Sumner, bring the main troop types vividly to life in meticulously-researched detail.