Battle of Zama

The crushing, concluding battle in which Scipio Africanus won a great triumph against Hannibal's troops at Zama. Both sides suffered great losses, though the Carthaginians were certainly routed. This battle led to Hannibal being put in a position of power within the Carthaginian government, where he made himself very unpopular charging the elites with very high taxes to pay back the indemnity in a timely fashion. Fear of persecution forced Hannibal into escaping Carthage.
 * This led to the drawing up of a very punitive treaty for the Carthaginians,
 * in which they were saddled with a large indemnity tax,
 * all but ten of their ships from their fleet were destroyed,
 * and they were forbidden to wage war without the permission of the Romans.