Explanation: In the First Punic War, the Roman Republic utterly smashed its nemesis, Carthage. In the Second Punic War, things might’ve gone similarly, except for a brilliant Carthaginian general - Hannibal - who spent almost two decades terrorizing the Romans in their own heartland, using a number of novel stratagems to outwit and outmatch the numerically superior Roman forces, and crush them in open battle.

During this time, a young Roman aristocrat, our dear Scipio (later given the name Africanus for his victories), entered into military service. Learning from Hannibal’s strategies and tactics, and with a razor-sharp mind of his own, Scipio managed to flip the script and used Hannibal’s own tactics against other Carthaginian forces, eventually culminating in a battle between Scipio and Hannibal himself, a battle which Scipio won.

Learn from your enemies, kids - it could save your Republic one day!

You see Scipio Africanus as a hero for defeating Hannibal.

I see Scipio Africanus as a villain for defeating Hannibal.

We are not the same.

(This message was brought to you by Quintus Fabius Maximus Carthage. It’s totally sponsored by Carthage)

Historians regularly point out that Scipio’s victory over Hannibal was a little bit too poetic in nature, as if designed to fit into a wider cultural narrative.

Not to say there never was a Scipio Africanus or anything, but what we know about him and Hannibal is heavily skewed by what the Romans thought was narratively fullfilling.