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 against the Carthagians by the speeches of the censor Cato the Elder, who persistently demanded Delenda est Carthago (“Carthage must be destroyed”). A minor Carthaginian breach of the earlier treaty gave the Romans a pretext for starting the Third Punic War (149-146 bc). Under Scipio the Younger, they captured the city of Carthage, razed it to the ground, and sold the surviving inhabitants into slavery.