Editing Third Punic War (section)

==Course of the war==
{{more|Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War)}}

=== 149 BC ===
{{more|Battle of Lake Tunis|Battle of Nepheris (149&nbsp;BC)}}

The Roman army moved to Carthage, unsuccessfully attempted to scale the city walls, and settled down for a [[Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War)|siege]]. They set up two camps under command of [[Legatus|legates]]: Censorinus's had the primary role of protecting the beached Roman ships and Manilius's housed the Roman legions. Hasdrubal moved up his army to harass the Roman supply lines and foraging parties.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=341}} The Romans launched another assault on the city but were repulsed again. Scipio Aemilianus, the adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus, who was serving as a [[tribune]]{{snd}}a middle-ranking military position{{snd}}held back his men and was able to deploy them to beat off the pursuing Carthaginians, preventing heavy losses.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=314}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=342–343}}

[[File:Catapulta by Edward Poynter.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=a colourful oil painting showing men hauling on a large siege engine |{{center|''Catapulta'' by [[Edward Poynter]], 1868; modern depiction of a Roman siege engine during the [[Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War)|siege of Carthage]]}}]]

The camp established by Censorinus was badly situated and by early summer was so pestiferous that it was moved to a healthier location. This was not as defensible, and the Carthaginians inflicted losses on the Roman fleet with [[fireship]]s.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=314}} The Romans then made these attacks more difficult by building additional fortifications.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=343}} Nevertheless, the Carthaginians repeatedly attacked the camps. In often confused fighting Scipio distinguished himself further by his role in thwarting these; the discipline which he imposed on his troops was in contrast with the behaviour of most of the rest of the Roman army.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=343–344}}

Manilius decided to strike against the Carthaginians' main camp near Nepheris, despite its strong position and fortifications. Arriving there, Manilius ordered an immediate assault, against Scipio's advice. This initially went well, but the Romans advanced into an untenable position. When they attempted to withdraw, the Carthaginians counterattacked, inflicting heavy casualties. Scipio led 300 cavalrymen in a series of limited and well-disciplined charges and threats which caused the Carthaginians to pause long enough for most of the infantry to complete their retreat. That night Scipio led his cavalry back to rescue a trapped group of Romans.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|pp=314–315}} The Roman column retreated to its camp near Carthage, where a committee from the Senate had arrived to evaluate Scipio and Manilius' progress. Scipio's performance was prominent in their subsequent report.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=344–345}}
Scipio made contact with several of the leaders of Carthage's [[Numidian cavalry]], then joined a second, better-planned expedition led by Manilius against Hasdrubal at Nepheris. Despite the greater forethought, the Romans made no progress, although one of the Numidians contacted by Scipio did defect to the Romans with 2,200 men. Manilius withdrew after the Romans ran out of food and Scipio led the Romans' new allies on a successful foraging expedition.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=315}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=345–346}}

=== 148 BC ===
The Romans elected two new consuls in 148&nbsp;BC, but only one of them was sent to Africa: [[Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (consul 148 BC)|Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus]]; [[Lucius Hostilius Mancinus (consul 145 BC)|Lucius Hostilius Mancinus]] commanded the navy as his subordinate. He pulled back the close siege of Carthage to a looser [[blockade]] and attempted to mop up the other Carthaginian-supporting cities in the area. He failed: [[Nabeul|Neapolis]] surrendered and was subsequently [[looting|sacked]], but [[Kelibia|Aspis]] withstood assaults from both the Roman army and navy, while [[Bizerte|Hippo]] was fruitlessly besieged. A Carthaginian [[sortie]] from Hippo destroyed the Roman [[siege engine]]s, causing the Romans to break off the campaign and go into winter quarters. Hasdrubal, already in charge of the Carthaginian field army, overthrew the civilian leadership of Carthage and took command himself. Carthage allied with [[Andriscus]], a pretender to the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian]] throne. Andriscus had invaded Roman Macedonia, defeated a Roman army, had himself crowned King Philip&nbsp;VI and sparked the [[Fourth Macedonian War]].{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=346}}{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|pp=315–316}}

=== 147 BC ===
{{more|Battle of the Port of Carthage|Battle of Nepheris (147&nbsp;BC)}}
[[File:Vitrine 3e guerre punique.jpg|thumb|left|alt=a glass display case containing stones and a pot|Arrowheads, remains of a dagger and stones for slingshots exhibited at the [[National Museum of Carthage]]]]

Scipio intended to stand in the 147&nbsp;BC elections for the post of {{lang|la|[[aedile]]}}, which was a natural progression for him. Aged 36 or 37, he was too young to stand as consul, for which by the {{lang|la|[[Lex Villia Annalis|Lex Villia]]}} the minimum age was 41. There was considerable political manoeuvring behind the scenes. Scipio and his partisans played on his successes over the previous two years and the fact that it was his adoptive grandfather, Scipio Africanus, who had sealed Roman victory in Africa in the Second Punic War. Public demand to appoint him as consul and so allow him to take charge of the African war, was so strong that the Senate put aside the age requirements for all posts for the year. Scipio was elected consul and appointed to sole command in Africa; usually theatres were allocated to the two consuls by lot. He was granted the usual right to [[conscript]] enough men to make up the numbers of the forces there and the unusual entitlement to enroll volunteers.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=346–347}}{{sfn|Astin|1967|pp=61–69}}

Scipio moved the Romans' main camp back to near Carthage, closely observed by a Carthaginian detachment of 8,000. He made a speech demanding tighter discipline and dismissed those soldiers he considered ill-disciplined or poorly motivated. He then led a successful night attack and broke into the city with 4,000 men. Panicked in the dark, the Carthaginian defenders, after an initial fierce resistance, fled. Scipio decided that his position would be indefensible once the Carthaginians reorganised themselves in daylight and so withdrew.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=348–349}} Hasdrubal, horrified at the way the Carthaginian defences had collapsed, had Roman prisoners tortured to death on the walls, in sight of the Roman army. He was reinforcing the will to resist in the Carthaginian citizens; from this point, there could be no possibility of negotiation or even surrender. Some members of the city council denounced his actions and Hasdrubal had them too put to death and took full control of the city.{{sfn|Le Bohec|2015|p=440}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=349}}

[[File:Carthage view.jpg|thumb|alt=A black and white aerial photograph of an urban area by the sea with a water-filled, torus-shaped inlet.|{{center|A World War II [[United States Army Air Forces]] aerial reconnaissance photograph of the remains of the naval base of the city of Carthage. The remains of the mercantile harbour are in the centre and those of the military harbour are bottom right. (North is to the bottom-right)}}]]

The renewed close siege cut off landward entry to the city, but a tight seaward [[interdiction]] was all but impossible with the naval technology of the time. Frustrated at the amount of food being shipped into the city, Scipio built an immense [[Mole (architecture)|mole]] to cut off access to the harbour via [[blockade runner]]s. The Carthaginians responded by cutting a new channel from their harbour to the sea. They had built a new fleet and once the channel was complete, the Carthaginians sailed out, taking the Romans by surprise. In the ensuing [[Battle of the Port of Carthage]] the Carthaginians held their own, but when withdrawing at the end of the day many of their ships were trapped against the city's [[sea wall]] and sunk or captured.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=349–350}}{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=2}} The Romans now attempted to advance against the Carthaginian defences in the harbour area, eventually gaining control of the [[quay]]. Here, over several months, they constructed a brick structure as high as the city wall, which enabled up to 4,000 Romans to fire onto the Carthaginian [[Rampart (fortification)|ramparts]] from short range.{{sfn|Le Bohec|2015|p=441}}{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=346}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=351}}

Once this feature was complete, Scipio detached a large force and led it against the Carthaginian field army at Nepheris. The Carthaginians, commanded by a Greek named [[Diogenes (Third Punic War)|Diogenes]], had established a fortified camp for their winter quarters. Late in 147&nbsp;BC Scipio directed an [[Battle of Nepheris (147 BC)|assault on the camp]] from several directions and overran it. Fleeing Carthaginians were pursued by Rome's mounted Numidian allies and few escaped. The town of Nepheris was then besieged and surrendered after three weeks. Most of the fortified positions still holding out in Carthage's hinterland now opened their gates.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=351}}{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|pp=317–318}}

=== 146 BC ===
Scipio's position as the Roman commander in Africa was extended for a year in 146&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=347}} In the spring he launched a full-scale assault from the harbour area, which successfully breached the walls.{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=3}} Over six days,{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=4}} the Romans systematically worked their way through the residential part of the city, killing everyone they encountered and setting the buildings behind them on fire.{{sfn|Le Bohec|2015|p=441}} On the last day Scipio agreed to accept prisoners, except for 900 Roman [[deserter]]s in Carthaginian service, who fought on from the Temple of [[Eshmoun]] and burnt it down around themselves when all hope was gone.{{sfn|Miles|2011|pp=3–4}} At this point, Hasdrubal surrendered to Scipio on the promise of his life and freedom. Hasdrubal's wife, watching from a rampart, then blessed Scipio, cursed her husband and walked into the temple with her children to burn to death.{{sfn|Le Bohec|2015|p=442}}

50,000 Carthaginian prisoners were sold into slavery.{{sfn|Scullard|2002|p=316}} The notion that Roman forces then [[Salting the earth|sowed the city with salt]] is likely<ref>Sedgwick, Henry Dwight (2005). ''Italy in the Thirteenth Century'', Part Two. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. p. 324. {{ISBN|978-1-4179-6638-7}}.</ref> a 19th-century invention.{{sfn|Ridley|1986|pp=144–145}}{{sfn|Ripley|Dana|1858–1863 |p=497}}{{sfn|Purcell|1995|p=140}} Many of the religious items and cult-statues which Carthage had pillaged from Sicilian cities and temples over the centuries were returned with great ceremony.{{sfn|Purcell|1995|pp=141–142}}