Cause Of Rome's Second Punic War

The Second Punic War began in 218 B.C. and lasted until a peace treaty was signed between Rome and Carthage in 201 B.C. (Morey, 1901). In Rome’s attempts to try and restrain Carthage’s expansion in western Europe they lost tens of thousands of troops to Carthage’s commander, Hannibal, as he marched from Spain into Italy and then across the Roman territories. This appeared to be the course of the fate of Rome until Hannibal’s reinforcements were kept from reaching him and he was drawn out of Italy by the Roman consul Scipio and his ally Masinissa, a disputed king Numidia, together taking forces into Africa (Morey, 1901, para. 19-20). This culminated in a decisive battle in Zama in 202 B.C. that lead to the treaty between Rome and Carthage.