Why Publius Cornelius Scipio was called ‘Africanus’?

            Publius Cornelius Scipio was born into one of the great aristocratic families of Rome. Even as a boy, he proved his bravery when, seeing his father wounded and cut off by the enemy during a battle, he charged forward, and saved him. Scipio began his career as a military tribune. In 210, the Romans decided to send an army to Spain against the Carthaginians, but it is said that no senior general would undertake the task, and that young Scipio offered himself as a candidate. He was determined to hold the Carthaginian armies at bay, and prevent them from sending reinforcements to Hannibal in Italy. He was also determined to turn back the tide of war, and to drive the enemy out of the Peninsula.

            Scipio first defeated the Carthaginian commander Hasdrubal Barca in Spain, and then the other two Carthaginian armies still there, making Roman control of Spain complete. However, his greatest achievement was undoubtedly his victory over the Carthaginian leader Hannibal in the great Battle of Zama in Africa, in 202 BC, ending the Second Punic War. For this he won the surname Africanus.