5. The surrender of Carthage, 149 BCE
When the Roman army arrived in North Africa, the Carthaginians quickly surrendered, delivering their weapons to the invaders and asking for terms. It also placed the commander of its armies, Hasdrubal, under arrest. The Romans made known their demands, which included the abandonment of the city of Carthage, and its inhabitants relocated to a new settlement. The city was then to be destroyed. Although some within the city supported complete surrender to the Romans, a larger faction advocated for resistance, and the disarmed Carthaginians rapidly rearmed themselves, preventing the Romans from entering the city.
The ensuing siege, which lasted three years, led to the deaths of about 450,000 Carthaginians. After Scipio Aemilianus became Roman consul, he pursued the siege doggedly, and the terms given to the survivors were harsh. About 50,000 Carthaginians survived the siege, only to enter enslavement under the Romans, and the city was razed to the ground. The siege and razing of Carthage was the first hostile act in what became the Roman Empire, as Roman expansionism across Northern Africa began. A new city, Roman Carthage, was created on the site, itself eventually sacked by Muslim forces in the 7th century CE.