How did Rome’s creation myth influence its character? Essay

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.

Hannibal was very successful in the numerous battles but he knew he would not take Rome. Hannibal turned to politics to gain the support of Rome's allies, but he did not receive enough. While Hannibal was moving through Italy Rome was preoccupied on another front. They had enter their Macedonian wars and were spread thin. For several years the two empire engaged in open battles, raids, and skirmishes. By 202 B.C., Hannibal's resources were depleted and he had no choice but to return and hold a defensive position against Rome. Rome regained a large amount of land through the peace treaty and Carthage lost the advantages they once

Rome, a vast empire that could not control itself, due to how much it had grown, was in a dire need for someone to rule it. Three powerful men would rise to the occasion and answer the call. Everybody thought that the split of power was going to work out, but what they didn’t know was it would lead to a civil war. “An unstable Republic and a near civil war brought three men to set aside their differences and even contempt for one another to join forces and dominate the government of Rome, even controlling elections, for nearly a decade,” (First 1). First we’ll look into the men in the trimunative, then the fight for power, and finally the financial status of the Empire.

During the early stages of the Republic Rome was completely surrounded by hostile neighbors called Etruscan's. The Romans were constantly attacked by these people and ironically in defense they conquered these people. This theme of Romans conquering land in defensive wars will continue on even after the Republic. One of the reasons that the Romans defeated the Etruscan's was the Roman army. They improved upon the phalanx that they borrowed from the Greek by adding cavalry to it, and eventually they would replace the spears with swords. However the flexibility and adaptability of the Roman army certainly helped them during their wars.

One trait every army must have to be successful is the willingness and drive to dominate. The Roman army took these traits to a whole different level. The Romans were very extreme in battle as well. They often enjoyed humiliating other city-states by burning them to the ground. In 264 B.C.E. a battle between other Greek city-states forced Rome and Carthage, who dominated the western part of the Mediterranean, into conflict. The First Punic War was for the control of Sicily.4 This battle lasted twenty-three years.4 The Romans were losing a lot of men, but they continued to battle on.4 Finally, the persistence paid off.4 The Romans learned how to fight by sea and cut off the Carthaginian supply line into

The military prowess of Roman commanders and legionaries proved to be successful enough to turn a small community into an ancient super power. There are many discussions to be had about the tactics and success of the Roman army, some of which are: their style of fighting, the attitude toward the fight, and the fruits of their war.

Rome’s main military opposition was Carthage, a kingdom located on the northern coast of Africa. Carthage and Rome fought in a series of three wars known as the Punic Wars. The second Punic War, fought from 218-202 BC was led by Hannibal on the Carthaginian side and Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus with Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus on the Roman side. The Battle of Lake Trasimene 217 BC was a major battle in the Second Punic War. Under Hannibal, the Carthaginian army defeated the Romans, who were lead by the consul Gaius Flaminius. This battle helped the Carthaginians to bring the Romans close to defeat, Hannibal was able to execute his father Hamilcar’s strategy perfectly in this battle. In the Battle of Cannae, the Carthaginians were just as lucky. Rome’s larger army, under Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro, was efficiently and easily defeated by the Carthaginian forces. Though Carthage surprised Rome with many victories, the Punic War ended in 202 BC with the The Battle of Zama. Scipio lead the Roman army and defeated the Carthaginian army led by Hannibal. Though Hannibal's army had more men than Scipio's, and he had eighty elephants, Rome showed their superiority and skill in ending the Second Punic War with this battle. Many years after this, another kingdom of North Africa, Numidia, fostered a connection with Rome. King Jugurtha of this region was able to benefit from the Roman soldiers through bribery and connections with them.

Throughout the Roman Republic’s existence, Rome’s ability to field consistently large forces and the development of logistic chains embodied political leaders and the public with a sense of invulnerability that thrived despite numerous initial defeats in Rome’s many wars, perhaps none more so than during the Second Carthaginian War. After facing Hannibal at Trebia and Lake Trasimene, Roman forces had been outwitted and handily defeated, prompting the Romans to send out yet another force into the field to hunt down Hannibal as he “ravaged large parts of the Italian countryside.” The Greek historian Polybius suggests that roughly 80 thousand men were formed into legions led by Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paullus in 216 BC, and headed

Many of the states of Italy that Rome had conquered a century before now joined Hannibal. This was a threat to Rome, so the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio took a Roman army to north Africa and then Hannibal went back to defend Carthage. In the battle at Zama, near Carthage, in 202 BC the Romans finally defeated Hannibal.

With the introduction of the hoplite phalanx to the Roman army, came a multitude of wars and long drawn out campaigns that the Romans were involved in throughout the republic period. One such campaign or campaigns that set the Roman republic as the uncontested superpower in the Mediterranean was the Punic Wars. Rome fought three wars against Carthage between 264 and 146 BCE. These wars constituted major events in the history of Rome and the Mediterranean basin (Marcel Le Glay 2009) p. 73. Though these wars were fought for reasons such as competing economics, revenge (most notably the Carthaginian general Hannibal), and a fear that could be related in today’s terms of opposing forces such as (the United States and Soviet Union feared each other during the Cold War) the fact is in the end Rome defeated the Carthaginians, not only were the Carthaginians defeated, but the city of Carthage was demolished and the people massacred or sold into slavery so as not to threaten the Romans ever again. In the fall of the city, in obedience to the Senate’s orders the inhabitants were reduced to slavery or forced to emigrate, the town was burnt and soil was

Even with his fast cavalry and strong infantry Hannibal knew that he did not have resources like Rome. In fact, he was always outnumbered in every battle. Yet despite of being outnumbered, his strategies helped the Carthaginians win most of the battles in the second Punic war. For example, in the battle of Lake Trasimene, Hannibal trapped the Romans in an ambush without an escape route. What he did was to draw the Romans in close ranks, then sneak attack them with his infantry, and block the way out with his fast cavalry. This lead to the death of 30,000 Roman soldiers plus a high ranking Roman general named Flaminius. In this battle, the casualties of Hannibal’s forces were only 2,500 soldiers.

The military might of Rome was second to none in its prime. Victorious battle after battle did nothing but

As the story goes, Rome was founding in 753 B.C. by two brothers Remus and Romulus who were raised by wolves. The two brothers started fighting over the leadership of the land. Eventually Romulus killed Remus and took control own his own. The city was only a small settlement

In 216 BC at the hilltop village of Cannae, in Apulia the Roman army stood to fight Hannibal and suffered the greatest losses in a single day in Roman history. As the sun rose the next day it shone on the bodies of the Romans who had been so cleverly trapped and slaughtered. Not far from there, Marhabal, a cavalry commander under Hannibal, tells Hannibal that in five days he “shall dine as victor on the Capitol hill”. Marhabal’s prediction was not just hyperbolic, but it was ludicrous. Not only would it have taken much longer than five days to reach and capture Rome, but Hannibal and his army had no means to even attempt it. Hannibal understood this and when he denied Marhabal’s proposal, Marhabal responded, “[y]ou know how to win a victory, but not how to use one”.

The military might of Rome was second to none in its prime. Victorious battle after battle did