IV.

Third Punic War

In the 2nd century bc, however, Carthage continued to be commercially successful and, though only a minor power, a source of irritation to Rome. The Romans were further incited by the speeches of the censor Cato the Elder, who demanded Delenda est Carthago (“Carthage must be destroyed”). A minor Carthaginian breach of treaty gave the pretext for the Third Punic War (149-146 bc), in which the Romans, led by Scipio the Younger, captured the city of Carthage, razed it to the ground, and sold the surviving inhabitants into slavery.