Pros And Cons Of The Punic Wars

There were three Punic or Carthaginian Wars is Roman history. These were between 264 and 146 BC. These wars were the first great wars of Roman expansion outside Italy. The enemy of Rome had a large empire that stretched along the coast of North America and southern Spain and some parts of Sicily. This empire was known as Carthage. The purpose of these wars was to decide which power would become the dominant force around the Mediterranean Sea.

To compare Rome and Carthage, the strength and resources available to both are close enough to make the war last a long time. Carthage was wealthy, yet not as organized as Rome. Carthage ruled the sea with its fearful navy, Rome had the terrifying army. Carthage might have had the superior leaders, but Rome had more loyal citizens ready to jump into the fray. The Carthaginians could be best described as a people that loved to win, where the Romans would be better defined as people that hated to lose. (Kornell, 2012).

Rome conquered the territory of present Italy and was ready to join the battle with Carthage. Although the Italian Greeks and Romans did not have high-speed vessels – pentera - like the Carthaginians did, but their forces on the ground were equal. Carthage had a well-trained mercenary army, cavalry and elephants. However, the army was unreliable. Mercenaries served as long as they were paid. The Roman guard

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.

After these events the Carthaginian Empire decided to use their Navy as one of the strategies to win the war. What they didn’t know is that the Romans had built many ships and armed them with a

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.

Carthaginians were forced to withdraw. In 256 BC Rome established a base in North Africa under the power of the Roman general, Marcus Atilius. For thirteen years the wars were fought in Sicily. In 255 Carthage rebuilt its Army with cavalry and war elephants and went on to attack Rome. they also used a gladius, pilum and plumbata to fight. A gladius is a sword. a pilum is a javelin. It was 6 foot 7 inches and it had an iron shank about 0.28 inches in diameter and 24 inches long with pyramidal head. The plumbata were mainly throwing weapons. There were also naval battles and the ships of rome were damaged in a storm. The war resumed in 254 to 241 when the Romans had 200 warships and gave them undisputed control of the sea. A year later Carthage surrendered.

Even in the century before the official replacement of the Roman republic by the empire, Rome expanded immensely as a result of the Punic wars. Rome fought the Punic Wars between 264 and 146 BCE against the nearby trade empire Carthage over the nearby island of Sicily, a

Yet when Carthage took Sicily, Rome responded by building 330 ships to fight for their land, starting the First Punic War. Carthage was defeated by Rome in 241 BCE, and had to give up Sicily. Carthage went to war with Rome again when the Carthaginian general Hannibal attacked the city of Saguntum, Rome’s ally. This was the start of the Second Punic War. Hannibal was defeated at the Battle of Zama, meaning Carthage lost against Rome once more. The Third Punic War began when Carthage refused Rome’s demands to have Carthage dismantled and rebuilt further inland. The Roman general Scipio Aemilianus surrounded Carthage with armed forces for three years until it fell and the Romans burned it to the ground. Around 122 BCE, Julius Caesar decided to re-build Carthage, and five years after his death, the city rose again. Power and importance shifted back to Carthage, until the fall of the

From 264 BC to 146 BC, a series of wars broke out between Carthage and Rome. These wars were probably the largest that had ever taken place in this time period, and were called The Punic Wars. The reason for the conflict was the existing Carthaginian Empire and expanding Roman Republic came into contact with one another. During this time new strategic weapons and plans were being used. The Romans successfully defeated the Carthaginians with a wide use of tactics and sophisticated weapons.

Hostilities eventually broke out between these two powers, but Rome had one problem. They were not good seafarers and did not have a navy that could match that of the Carthaginians. However based on some Greek triremes that the Romans some how had they built replicas with bridges on them so that Romans could more easily board other ships. The Romans quickly built a navy that could rival that of Carthage within a few years based on this model. This once again showcases Roman innovation, because not only could they quickly borrow technology from their neighbors, but they could also improve upon it. This allowed them to win the First Punic War. The rivalry between these two powers would not end until the destruction of Carthage during the Third Punic

Carthage, however, was able to establish a new base of influence in Spain beginning in 237 BC. This was due to their leadership of the powerful general Hamilcar Barca. In later years, leadership fell under Hamilcar’s son-in-law Hasdrubal. Hamilcar Barca made his younger son Hannibal swear a blood oath against Rome when Hannibal was a younger boy. Upon Hasdrubal’s death in 221 BC, Hannibal took command of the Carthaginian forces in Spain. Two years later, Hannibal marched his army across the Ebro River into Saguntum declaring war on Rome. Hannibal and his troops, 90,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry, marched from Spain across the Alps and into Italy. They won battles over Roman troops at Tiinus, Trebia, and Trasimene. Hannibal’s invasion of Rome reached its peak at Cannae in 216 BC. He used his cavalry to surround a Roman army twice the size of his own and inflict massive casualties. Rome, however, stood right back up to the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians lost hold in Italy as Rome won victories in Spain and North Africa under the general Publius Cornelius Scipio. In 203 BC, Hannibal’s forces were forced to abandon the struggle in Italy in order to defend North Africa. Hannibal’s losses in the Second Punic War put an end to Carthage’s empire in the western Mediterranean. This left Rome in complete control of Spain and allowing Carthage to retain its territory in North Africa. Carthage was forced to give up

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

the strongest of the two in this field. This superiority was met by a large scale Roman construction of the navel fleet after their land forces captured one of the Carthaginian ships. Soon this was reflected in the fightings, and in 256 Carthage was besieged, but the Romans were defeated. Then for some years Carthage was the most successful who was commanded by Hamilcar. However, at the battle at the Aegates Islands in 241, the Carthaginians were beaten so badly that they requested peace. This agreement involved leaving

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.