The Battle of Zama

This vivid fresco (16th c.) dramatizes Hannibal’s defeat by Scipio Africanus at Zama (202 BC), the final clash of the Second Punic War. Roman soldiers confront Carthaginian war elephants in a chaotic melee of spears, shields, and collapsing beasts. The scene glorifies Roman valor and strategic brilliance, casting imperial conquest as both heroic and divinely ordained.