This was the battle ending the second Punic War, that gave Rome an overwhelming upper hand in the western mediterranean.
With a PoD or 201 or 200 BC, can we plausibly end up with a Roman/Republic Empire that peaks at only 25% or 50% of its historical land area?
If so, how?
The thing about the Romans is that although it was established in a "fit of absentmindedness" and was not the dream of a single founding conqueror like Alexander or Napoleon, the Romans had a certain set of *habits* and *capabilities* that seem to make it very difficult for them to be contained by other powers or contain themselves, at least in areas suitable for their kinds of agriculture.