By 201 B.C., the end of the Second Punic War (the war where Hannibal and his elephants crossed the Alps), Carthage no longer had her empire, but she was still a shrewd trading nation. By the middle of the second century Carthage was thriving and it was hurting the trade of those Romans who had investments in North Africa.
Marcus Cato, a respected senator, began to clamor "Carthago delenda est!" "Carthage must be destroyed!"

Quote:
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/p...rdpunicwar.htm