Number of legions at Zama

[Michael Collins]

I'll retract my last comment.  Syphax's army was in winter quarters, and not a mobile field force.

I'll have a look at details later, but using Appian to confirm Polybius seems tenuous at best.  The obvious example is that Appian states 50k in Hannibals army at Zama, while Polybius states 40k.

Nick,
Polybius doesn`t actually state 40,000 for the army - that`s a figure that many folk tend to derive from "...twenty thousand killed and nearly the same number of prisoners." (Polybius 15.14). Which may not be the entire army; as the cavalry had supposedly routed and there may have been a lot of infantry who made for the hills. That is, if you believe in Polybius` account in the first place hmmmmm... and you want the stats to add up for Polybius` grand battle of Zama?