The battle was joined and Hannibal was confronted by a young man later considered to be one of the greatest military geniuses of all time: Publius Cornelius Scipio. e Romans pressed their might under Scipio’s leadership, and they defeated Hannibal at the battle of Zama, not far from his home city of Carthage, in 202 BCE. ere was a brief truce, and negotiations commenced, but they failed.