Battle of Cirta

The Battle of Cirta was a battle during the Second Punic War between the forces of the Roman Republic under Publius Cornelius Scipio and Carthage's main ally, Syphax.

On Scipio's orders, two of his ablest commanders, Laelius and Masinissa, followed Syphax's retreat to the town of Cirta, wherein Syphax garnered fresh forces to meet the two generals in the open. He proceeded to organise them on the Roman model, hoping to copy the continuous success of Scipio on the battlefield; he had a force large enough to take on the Romans but nearly all of his soldiers were raw and unexperienced. The first encounter was between the two opposing cavalry units, and though the battle was initially hard-fought, when the Roman infantry line reinforced the intervals of their cavalry, the raw troops broke and fled. Syphax, seeing his force crumbling, sought to inspire his men into regrouping by riding forward and exposing himself to danger. In this gallant attempt he was unhorsed and made prisoner, and failed to rally his troops.

The Roman force pushed on to Cirta, and gained control of the town merely by showing their African leader in chains. Scipio's foothold in Africa was all but assured, and with the Carthaginian general Hannibal soon returning from Italy, the Battle of Zama would soon follow.