With Carthage on the ropes after the Battle of Cape Ecnomus, the Romans landed on the Cape Bon Peninsula, a mere forty miles from Carthage, and began ravaging the rich countryside. Confident of victory, Regulus, the Roman consul in command, offered such harsh terms to the Carthaginians that they chose to continue fighting rather than submit to such a humiliating peace. All seemed lost until Xanthippus, a Spartan mercenary soldier who had recently arrived in Carthage, advised the Carthaginian generals of their mistakes and was subsequently promoted to drill the Carthaginian levies in Spartan fashion. Under his strict regime, the Carthaginian army was transformed overnight, and Xanthippus led them to battle against the Romans at Tunis. At the Battle of Tunis, the Carthaginians under Xanthippus inflicted a spectacular defeat on the Roman legionaries by using their new training, their superior cavalry, and their large corps of war elephants. Five hundred Romans, including Regulus, were captured, and only two thousand made their escape, leaving over twelve thousand Roman legionaries dead on the field. With their victory in Africa, Carthage was reinvigorated to fight another day. The First Punic War would continue.
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Episode 52 - The Fall of Carthage
Episode 51 - Carthago Delenda Est
Episode 50 - End of an Era
Episode 49 -Zama: Battle of Giants
Episode 48 - End of the Road
Episode 47- Last Gasp at the Metaurus
Episode 46 - No Easy Way Out
Episode 45 - The Mediterranean on Fire: Sicily
Episode 44 - The Mediterranean on Fire: Spain
Episode 43 - Capua: Hannibal's Albatross
Episode 42 - The Day After Cannae
Episode 41 - Cannae: Rome's Darkest Day
Episode 40 - The Delayer: Part II
Episode 39 - The Delayer: Part I
Episode 38 - The Dark Waters of Trasimene
Episode 37 - First Blood
Episode 36 - Making a Way
Episode 35 - Into Gaul
Episode 34 - The Die is Cast
Episode 33 - The Lion's Brood
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