Punic War Research Paper

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.

The Second Punic War started with a treaty between Carthage and Rome, stating that the border between the two was the Ebro River. A Greek city under Roman protection was on the Carthaginian side of the river. Hamilcar’s son, Hannibal, attacked the city and rebuked the Roman embassies. The citizens of the city pleaded for Rome’s help, but none ever arrived. The Romans sent an emissary to Rome to tell the Carthaginians, “Surrender Hannibal to Rome or face war.” The Carthaginian leader replied, “Choose what you will.” The emissary chose war, and the Second Punic War had begun.

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

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.

The Punic Wars were waged between Rome and Carthage, a city-state founded on the Gulf of Tunis by the Phoenicians in the 9th century BCE (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 2015). The name Punic Wars comes from the fact that Rome was ultimately the victor and therefore, the recorders of history. Punic is derived from the Latin Punicus, for an inhabitant of Carthage (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Carthage was a powerful economic and territorial rival of Rome, with a strong presence in the Western Mediterranean. The Second Punic War, (218-201 BCE), began when the Carthaginians expanded into the Iberian Peninsula. Hannibal, the commander of the Carthaginian forces in Spain, attacked Saguntum,

The three Punic Wars were a series of wars fought between the two great powers at the time, which were Carthage and Rome. They fought between 264 BCE and 146 BCE. Rome was a small city that led to a great empire. They were the power of the whole Italian peninsula. While on the other hand Carthage started off as a small port and grew to become the richest and most powerful city. They were the great power of the Mediterranean peninsula. They had a powerful navy, a mercenary army. Rome at the time has a bigger army but a not so great navy. The First Punic War started when Rome found out that Carthage was in Sicily. The first Punic war was won by Rome. The Second Punic War was started by a Carthaginian general named Hannibal. He invaded Italy and

The Romans also fought some wars against Macedonia in Eastern Europe at the same time. The war came to the end when Scipio Africanus defeated the Carthaginians. In the aftermath of the Second Punic War, Rome controlled most of the eastern and western Mediterranean. Carthage’s territory was reduced to just a small area in northern Africa. Also, Carthage was forced to pay a large indemnity (an amount of money paid by the losing side in a war to the winning side to pay for damages) and give up its fleet.

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

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.

The two biggest powers of the Mediterranean where always destined to come head to head once again after the First Punic War (264 to 241 BC). There was no clear victor and the terms set by the Romans were extremely harsh. Even though the main cause of the second war was the war on Saguntum you must go back all the way to the ending of the First War. The war on Saguntum was seen by Polybius to be just the first incident in the war. In this essay I will look into the causes of the Second Punic War with the intention of backing up Polybius argument that the war on Saguntum was just the first incident and not a cause as Livy views it. I will be doing this with close analysis of our ancient sources. Three main causes will be

Eventually, Rome reasserted her dominance and defeated the Carthage Army, ending the Second Punic war. The leader of the Roman army Scipio imposed the following terms of peace:

Between the years 218 – 201 B.C. the two superpowers of their era, the Roman Empire and the Carthaginian Empire waged war with each other to determine who would control the Mediterranean (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014; Nepos, n.d.). Subsequently, this conflict known as the second Punic War would lead to the Roman Empire’s dominance in the region and would act as a stepping stone to her further expansion and growth into one of the great empires of history (Mark, 2011a). Moreover, in my discussion post for this unit, I will briefly discuss the cause of the conflict, the conflict itself and the outcomes for both participants.

The second Púnic war (herein after referred to as, “the War”) came to a close in 201 BCE, following Scípio’s victory over Hánnibal at the battle of Záma. After seventeen years of warfare, and at a great loss of life on both sides, Rome defeated Cárthage and came out on top as the new superpower in the Mediterránean region. The outcome of this war brought consequences to Cárthage and created opportunities for Rome (Morey, 1901).