Scipio Africanus was named after his father, Publius Cornelius Scipio, however he gained his name Scipio Africanus after the defeat of Hannibal and his raging troops. It was as early as the age of 17 when Scipio Africanus stepped foot in the roman army under the General Publius Cornelius Scipio, his father. It was the battle of Ticinus. At this battle he was the savior of his father, he father was terribly wounded and on the verge of death till Scipio Africanus came and saved him, the battle was lost and Rome were ready to give up. Scipio Africanus changed this, he went to the leading politicians of the Rome and at sword point strictly demanded that Rome wont give up and that they will continue in faithful service to Rome. He father passed not long after and this is when he became leader of the new army he lead them into the war of Hispania to fight the Carthaginian army under Hasdrubal’s command, who is Hannibal’s brother. However Scipio Africanus was lucky because Hasdrubal was busy with troops in Africa. Scipio Africanus was known for his incredible combat skills and awareness during war, he lead the roman troops to victory several times through his pride and honor of Rome.
He gather supplies, Scipio's kindness toward prisoners and hostages in Hispania helped in portraying the Romans as Saviors as opposed to conquerors.
In 205 BC, Scipio was unanimously elected to the consulship at the age of 31. Scipio intended to go to Africa, but due to the envy of others in the Senate, he was not given any additional troops beyond the Sicilian garrison. Despite this resistance, Scipio gathered resources from clients and supporters in Rome and among the Italian communities; this allowed him to muster a volunteer force of 30 warships and 7000 men. he turned sicily into a camp for training his army.
The Roman sensate Fabius Maximus still feared Hannibal's power, and viewed any mission to Africa as dangerous and wasteful to the war effort. He destroyed the combined armies of the Carthaginians and Numidians by approaching quietly and setting fire to their camp, where the combined army became panicked and ran away, when they were mostly killed by Scipio's army.
Hannibal did have a trained soldiers who had fought in Italy, as well as eighty war elephants. Hannibal had strength of 58,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry, compared to Scipio's 34,000 infantry and 8,700 cavalry. The two generals met on a plain between Carthage and Utica on October 19, 202 BC, at the Battle of Zama. The first Punic war ended with, the breach of protocols and a continuous breach in contemporary military custom due to
