A Comm for Historymemes

Explanation: In the First Punic War, the Roman Republic utterly smashed its nemesis, Carthage. In the Second Punic War, things might've gone similarly, except for a brilliant Carthaginian general - Hannibal - who spent almost two decades terrorizing the Romans in their own heartland, using a number of novel stratagems to outwit and outmatch the numerically superior Roman forces, and crush them in open battle.

During this time, a young Roman aristocrat, our dear Scipio (later given the name Africanus for his victories), entered into military service. Learning from Hannibal's strategies and tactics, and with a razor-sharp mind of his own, Scipio managed to flip the script and used Hannibal's own tactics against other Carthaginian forces, eventually culminating in a battle between Scipio and Hannibal himself, a battle which Scipio won.

Learn from your enemies, kids - it could save your Republic one day!

You see Scipio Africanus as a hero for defeating Hannibal.

I see Scipio Africanus as a villain for defeating Hannibal.

We are not the same.

(This message was brought to you by ~~Quintus Fabius Maximus~~ Carthage. It's totally sponsored by Carthage)

Historians regularly point out that Scipio's victory over Hannibal was a little bit too poetic in nature, as if designed to fit into a wider cultural narrative.

Not to say there never was a Scipio Africanus or anything, but what we know about him and Hannibal is heavily skewed by what the Romans thought was narratively fullfilling.