Roman army of the mid-Republic to the charge followed by close melee combat, had no effective response. Nevertheless, in the years following Cannae (216-203 BC), the record of Roman cavalry in operations against Hannibal in southern Italy was creditable, scoring a number of successes in cavalry encounters although never depriving the enemy of overall cavalry superiority. The Romans finally succeeded in closing the light cavalry gap with the Carthaginians by winning over the Numidian king Massinissa, previously an ally of Carthage. This enabled the Romans to field at least an equal number of Numidians at the battle of Zama (202 BC), who, outnumbering the Roman/Italian
Carthago delenda est seafaring Phoenician city-state of Carthage in North Africa (modern day Tunisia), they suffered a number of humiliations and damaging reverses in the course of these engagements, especially at the Battle of Cannae (216 BC). This grew into an attitude of seeking vengeance and total victory, which was expressed by these phrases. The city of Carthage was indeed finally razed by the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus after the Third Battle of Carthage in 146 BC, and its entire remaining population was sold into slavery. It thus never again posed a threat to Rome—at least until taken over by the Vandals, who