Petrarch could have chosen between Julius Caesar and Cornelius Scipio for a great Roman hero to write about and decided on Scipio. Caesar's life did not represent Christian values that he wanted to convey to the reader. Cornelius Scipio, the hero of the poem, received the agnomen (nickname) of "Africanus" for defeating Hannibal and the Carthaginians. The title for the poem "Africa" is based on the nickname of the hero. The adopted grandson of the poem's hero is Scipio Aemilianus, also known as Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus "Africanus" – receiving his like agnomen for destroying Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War.