ThirdPunicWar (149–146bce)

Defeated and disarmed after 201bce, Carthage became a client‐state of Rome, its remaining North African territories coveted by its powerful neighbor Numidia. The city's ruling elite cultivated Rome's favor with gifts of free grain and other provisions; many aristocrats also maintained friendly ties with aristocrats at Rome. Efforts by Masinissa, the long‐lived Numidian king and Roman ally, to annex parts of Carthage's territories were (contrary to the general view) rebuffed by Rome until after 167bce. After that, however, the Roman Senate approved several land‐grabs by Masinissa. In 152/151 a goaded Carthaginian government declared war on Numidia – violating the treaty of 201, which prohibited war against a Roman ally. Carthage's shattering defeat in 150 failed to avert the attack by Rome urged by the aged and influential senator Cato the Elder. The Third Punic War deliberately aimed at the destruction of Carthage.