202 BC
Battle of Zama
The setting
Zama, near Carthage (Tunisia)
Open inland plain
Reveal the outcome
Recorded sideRoman Republic
Recorded resultvictory
Decisive Roman victory; end of the Second Punic War
How the atlas explains it
Scipio left lanes in his formation so Hannibal's elephants charged harmlessly through instead of crushing his line. With superior (Numidian) cavalry he drove off the Carthaginian horse, then wheeled it back to hit Hannibal's infantry from behind — turning Hannibal's own Cannae method against him.
What followed
Broke Carthaginian power for good and made Rome the dominant force in the western Mediterranean.