Carthage: The Second Punic War

The first Punic War lasted from 264-241 BC. It was fought mainly at sea, off the coast of Sicily. This was the first time Rome had built a navy. Rome besieged many of the Carthaginian cities on Sicily, and when Carthage attempted to raise the siege with its navy, the Romans utterly destroyed them.

The Romans won the Second Punic war for a variety of reasons. These included the role and strategy of the Roman Senate and the failure of the Carthaginian government to support Hannibal. Rome’s strong control of the sea as well as Carthage's failure to rebuild their navy contributed greatly. The actions of Fabius Maximus and Scipio Africanus brought about the decline of Hannibal's momentum in Italy and his final defeat. Thus, there was no single reason as to why Rome were victorious against Carthage.

The first Punic war started as the Romans moved over the sea and marched on Sicily to gain lands there. The war began 264 BCE and finished 241 BCE. There were a lot of battles especially with the Battle of Agrigentum being a massive learning curve for the Carthage army as it was routed by the Romans.

Fought between Carthage and Rome, the punic wars may have been the worst wars in Roman history. The first punic war probably would have been lost by Rome but they had an adaptive Navy. The Carthaginian Navy was very dangerous and have strong ships. The Roman navy invented devices to attach their ships to the Carthaginian ships and steal their ships with Rome's strong army. This advantage helped Rome to win the first punic war. The second punic war was fought in the western and eastern mediterranean. Hannibal's army defeated Rome multiple times but the Roman general Scipio finally assinates Hannibal and Rome crushes their most hated enemy. The third punic war was the last of the punic. In the third punic war the Roman army made it inside Carthage City and raided their valuables killed their people and salted their land to prevent agriculture. The Third Punic war ended wars for a while in Rome and made the imperial era possible. After the punic wars Rome's power economy and morals were higher than ever and their amount of conquered land was higher than ever as

Carthage was a commercial empire which capital was located at the North of Africa where now is the country of Tunisia. The territory of the Carthaginian Empire included islands of the Mediterranean like parts of Sicily and territories in Spain, making it a threat to the Roman ambitious of conquering the Mediterranean. Although both countries were comparable in military power and economic strength the two nations had different military advantages: Carthage had a strong naval power while Rome had almost no naval power, but had a stronger ground force. This situation led to an inevitably conflict between Rome and Carthage which spanned three wars (called Punic Wars). The First Punic War started around 264 BC and ended at 241 BC,

The Punic Wars consisted of three major wars. It involved a conflict that was fought between ancient Carthage and Rome. All three Punic Wars that were fought were between the same two forces, which were Carthage and Rome. It took place almost over nearly a century ago. The Punic War began in 264 BC and it ended in 146 BC with some destruction of Carthage. The word Punic came from the word Phoenician, and the reason the Punic War broke out was because Rome interfered in a dispute on the island of Sicily that was controlled by the Carthaginians. Sicily is an island that is located in the Mediterranean.

History has given the world many great military minds. In recent times the world has seen such men as Dwight D. Eisenhower, George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, and Erwin Rommel. From ancient times, schools teach about Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Scipio Africanus, and Germanicus. But few have accomplished the feats of Hannibal Barca in the Second Punic War. His major accomplishment, marching his army through the Pyrenees and the Alps and into what is now Italy, is a military accomplishment worth honoring. During his march, Hannibal defeated the Romans in three decisive battles; Trebia, Trasimene, and his most decisive and well fought victory at Cannae. When Hannibal finally arrived in Italy, he maintained an Army there for

During the early republic, the Roman state grew exponentially in both size and power. Though the Gauls sacked and burned Rome in 390 B.C., the Romans rebounded under the leadership of the military hero Camillus, eventually gaining control of the entire Italian peninsula by 264 B.C. Rome then fought a series of wars known as the Punic Wars with Carthage, a powerful city-state in northern Africa. The first two Punic Wars ended with Rome in full control of Sicily, the western Mediterranean and much of Spain. In the Third Punic War (149–146 B.C.), the Romans captured and destroyed the city of Carthage and sold its surviving inhabitants into slavery, making a section of northern Africa a Roman province. At the same time, Rome also spread its influence

The Punic Wars was a series of three wars fought between Romans and the Carthage, this war was important because it was probably the largest war that had ever taken place. The Carthage traveled with elephants all the way from North Africa to Rome in an attempt to wipe them out, it resulted in hundreds dying on both sides. It was also called the Punic wars because the Romans called the Carthaginians: Punici, or Poenici. The First Punic War was 264-241 BC, which happened as the effect of the Battle of Messana.

The government of Carthage was similar to Rome as it had a council of elders which could be compared to the Roman senate, however, the essence remained different, with a few wealthy and prominent families controlling most of the power. All of this had worked in the favor of Carthage and her power was tremendous. Carthage had made many treaties with chief countries of the world, including Egypt and Spain, she traded with Tyre and Arabia and Carthage desired the Greek cities of Sicily and Italy. The Roman Empire.net (n.d.) maintains that Carthage's location in relation to the Mediterranean sea gave her an advantage in becoming a naval power, with the first sea expeditions rooted in trade.

The outcomes of the second Punic War was a profound turning point for Roman history. Immediately, the acquisition of the empire. Rome had acquired many new territories and the Republic had to figure out administrative, financial, foreign political systems to rule. “It seems self-evident, but it is worth stressing that these territories were indeed conquered lands, and Rome had to keep large numbers of men in the army in order to secure them.” (Bagnall). This meant that the army continued to have a huge influence and play a strong role in Roman society. Greece was the only power left until the First Macedonian War. The war with Hannibal was considered by the Romans to have mythic terms. Romans eventually saw this as Rome’s heroic age. Villains

Over the course of one-hundred years the Mediterranean antiquity was rocked by an ancient cold war between the North African seafaring state of Carthage, and the newly rising city of Rome located on the Italian Peninsula. In the course of two major wars and one extended three year long siege of Carthage itself Rome would conquer its last major foe and turn the Mediterranean into a Roman lake.

This began the Punic wars. There were three Punic wars. Rome and Carthage were the two strongest contenders of the central Mediterranean Sea of that time. In each of these wars Carthage lost. These wars lasted off and on from 246 BC to 149 BC, with Carthage eventually being destroyed.

Carthage’s navy was devastated after the end of the First Punic War. Also, the mercenaries Carthage hired in the first war revolted against them. While Carthage was victorious, their military and economy were further crippled. Rome saw this vulnerability, and took the opportunity to seize the island of Sardinia knowing that the Carthaginian navy would be too weak to mount any sort of resistance. When Carthage protested this action, Rome threatened the recently defeated state with war. Knowing that they were too weak after the results of the first war, Carthage was forced to submit. This affront only continued to fuel the rage of the Carthaginian people and, more importantly, Hamilcar Barca. Revenge was the life goal of Hamilcar, but he knew that Carthage needed more power in order to once again wage war against Rome (Goldsworth).

The outcome of the second Punic War turned Rome into the single most powerful force in the western Mediterranean. Indirectly, it also forced Rome to grow politically and militarily as it learned to deal with acquisitions and powerful opponents beyond the Italian peninsula.