Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePainting1567

The Battle of Zama

Cornelis Cort after Giulio Romano · 1567

A 1567 engraving after Giulio Romano depicting the Battle of Zama, where Hannibal was finally defeated by Rome.

This print depicts Hannibal's final defeat at Zama, shaping how Europe pictured the end of his war with Rome.

Ask Hannibal Barca about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Engraving of a battle scene with war elephants, armored soldiers on horseback and on foot, a howdah carrying archers and trumpeters, and a banner reading S.P.Q.R. Many figures lie fallen in the foreground. Latin inscription lines appear at the bottom.
Cornelis Cort after Giulio Romano, The Battle of Zama, engraving, 1567. Rijksmuseum / British Museum / Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This print, engraved by Cornelis Cort after a design by the Italian artist Giulio Romano, was made in 1567. It shows the Battle of Zama, with war elephants, armored soldiers, and Roman standards marked S.P.Q.R. amid fallen fighters. Copies are held today by the Rijksmuseum, the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Why it matters

Zama was the battle that ended Hannibal's war against Rome, and this widely circulated Renaissance print helped fix how Europeans pictured that defeat for generations. It shows how prints, easily copied and spread, shaped popular imagination of ancient history long before photography, carrying the visual legacy of both Hannibal and the Roman general who defeated him.

Look closer

  • What does the print choose to show in the foreground, and what effect does that have on the viewer?
  • Why might an image made over 1,700 years after the battle still have been so influential?
  • What can and can't a print like this tell us about what the real battle was like?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hannibal Barca on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Hannibal Barca sources

Meet the AI Hannibal Barca →
Title page of a 1763 Latin edition of Polybius's Histories: Greek title at top, then 'Polybii Historiarum Quae Supersunt cum Notis Variorum, Tomus Tertius', with 'Excerpta Valesii, Fragmenta et Indices', a crowned emblem, and 'Vindobonae, apud Joann. Paul. Krausium, MDCCLXIII' at bottom.Book

Secondary source

The Histories

Polybius · c. 150 BCE

Scan of a printed page from a 1493 Venetian edition of Livy's Roman history, in Latin black-letter type with two woodcut illustrations. The left column reads 'LIBRO' and the right 'DECA' running heads. The top right woodcut shows figures in a scene with a bearded man and a woman.Book

Primary source

History of Rome

Titus Livius · 27-9 BC

Book

Secondary source

Life of Hannibal

Cornelius Nepos

Blue cloth book cover with a white library barcode label at the upper left. The label reads University of Toronto and a number, 31761 01797616 8. No title or author is visible.Book

Secondary source

The Hannibalic War and The Punic Wars (Libyca)

Appian of Alexandria · c. AD 150

Black-and-white photograph of a marble bust of a bearded man wearing a decorated headband, gazing to his left, with a draped cloak over his shoulder. A small numbered label, 6137, is on the base.Sculpture

Secondary source

Capuan bust of Hannibal

1st century BC - 4th century AD

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Hannibal Barca now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions