 In his last years, he was known for strenuously urging his countrymen to prosecute the Third Punic War and to destroy Carthage.In 157 BC, he was one of the deputies sent to Carthage to arbitrate between the Carthaginians and Massinissa, king of Numidia.The mission was unsuccessful and the commissioners returned home, but Cato was so struck by Carthage's growing prosperity that he was convinced that the security of Rome depended on its annihilation.