winning the Second Punic War, Rome had mandated that Carthage could not defend itself militarily without seeking Rome's permission first. Rome construed Carthage's defense of itself against Numidians as a violation of this agreement. In 149 BC Rome declared war on Carthage, and a force was sent to Africa (modern Tunisia), Carthage's homeland. In the early stages of the war, the Romans suffered repeated defeats. Scipio Aemilianus was a military tribune (senior officer) and distinguished himself repeatedly. In 147 BC he was elected consul, while still under the minimum age required by law to hold this office. Without the customary procedure of drawing lots, he was assigned to the African theater of war. After a year of desperate fighting and stubborn heroism on the part of the defenders, he took the city of Carthage, taking prisoner about 50,000 survivors (about one-tenth of the city's population). Complying with the mandate of the Senate, he ordered the city evacuated, burnt it, razed it to the ground and plowed it over, ending the Third Punic War. On his return to Rome he received a Triumph, having also established a personal claim to his adoptive agnomen of Africanus. According to Pliny the Elder he was also awarded the grass crown in Africa during the war. Numantine War (143–133 BC) In 134 BC Scipio was elected consul again because the citizens thought that he was the only man capable of defeating the Numantines in the Numantine War. The Celtiberians of the City of Numantia, which had strong defensive geographical features, held off the Romans for nine years. The army in Hispania was demoralized and ill-disciplined. Scipio concentrated on restoring discipline by forbidding luxuries the troops had become accustomed to, through regular tough exercises (all-day marches, building camps and fortifications and then demolishing them, digging ditches and then filling them up, and the like) and by enforcing regulations strictly. When he thought that the army was ready he encamped near Numantia. He did not proceed along the shorter route to avoid the guerrilla tactics the Numantines were good at. Instead, he made a detour though the land of the Vaccaei, who were selling food to the Numantines. He was ambushed several times but defeated the enemy. In one of these ambushes by a river which was difficult to cross, he was forced to make a detour along a longer route where there was no water. He