After so many battles, such as against the Latins, Etruscans, and the Samnites, Rome was at her strongest than ever before. The Romans had such great power, that they wanted more than just the conquering of Italy (Morey, 1901). In the ambition for more, the Romans encountered the city of Carthage – which was a growing city building upon their strength that Rome wished acquire (Morey, 1901). In the following we will take a look at how the city of Carthage began, the power that each city contained, and how such ambitions led to Rome becoming a great naval power.
The rise of the Carthaginians
According to Morey (1901), Carthage came “to be the capital of a great commercial empire on the northern coast of Africa.” Carthage was first known as the
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The Romans delayed in whether deciding to help out or not, but soon realized that if they didn’t, Carthage would be called and acquire part of the island (Morey, 1901). It was due to their late arrival, that a Carthaginian garrison had been already admitted in the city and conquered most of the surrounding cities of the island (Morey, 1901). The Romans, though, achieved the possession of Messana (Morey, 1901). The king of Syracuse along with the Carthaginians attempted to remove the Romans out of Sicily (Morey, 1901). But the Romans showed their greater strength at land against both, the king and the Carthaginians, and which led the king to overturn their alliance in favor of the Romans (Morey, 1901).
The Romans then knew that in order to win the battle against the Carthaginians, they would need a stronger navy to fight at sea (Morey, 1901). So the Romans constructed 100 replica vessels of a Carthaginian vessel that had wrecked in the coast of Italy, within 60 days (Morey, 1901). At the same time, Roman soldiers were being trained to row the vessels, and train to encounter the Carthaginians “hand-to-hand” while at sea (Morey,
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
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
This exhausting conflict was, according to Caven, a ‘contest in three rounds’ in which the Romans fought first for control of Sicily, then for the leadership of the western Mediterranean and finally to determine the survival or extinction of Carthage.
So the war had begun, on both side there is a bit of advantage. The Romans have the advantage of being on the offense giving them a foot hole in Carthage. The Carthaginians also had an advantage. When the Carthaginians realized it was time for war they began preparing for siege. The got an advantage because the Roman army contracted disease during this time so Carthage had enough time to
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
I'm comparing this to Like the U.S and the quality of technology the country has in their military and how that was key to japans surrender in WWII with the creation of the nuclear bomb (Real scary stuff). Quality plays a big role in how strong someone could be, boats put together poorly will lack integrity and functionality versus those made well and effectively. Rome did not have the same amount of wealth and resources as Carthage but still had plenty to be able to compete with Carthage, it was said they were able to build 100 quality ships in just 60 days. Resources don't let you get stuff done that fast without a quality body, the quality leadership of Rome is what allowed them to do this. Rome had quality people that were able to stay together, strong and focused, giving them the ability overcome disadvantages. Knowing that Rome was superior in Hand to Hand combat versus naval fights made them adapt their new fleets to be able to allow their soldiers to board the enemy's fleet using what was called drawbridges. Combining this with Rome's ability to mass produce quality ships is what gave rise to Rome's naval
How did the ancient city of Carthage almost become Rome’s equal? Also, how was this state of the city at this time come about in the ancient world? Carthage being a port city and Rome also being so close to the Mediterranean, gave both cities great business and imperial opportunities. In fact, both cities flourished because of their geographical locations to a certain extent. These opportunities and the desire to obtain them would eventually lead the two cities into war and conflict.
After 650 b.c., they expanded into north-central Italy and came to control Rome and most of Latium. The Etruscans found Rome a village but launched a building program that turned it into a city. The Romans borrowed ideas from the Etruscans, such as Etruscan dress—the toga and short cloak. The Roman army also borrowed its organization from the Etruscans. After their conquest of Italy, the Romans found themselves face to face with a strong power in the Mediterranean—the state of Carthage. The Phoenicians had founded Carthage around 800 b.c. on the coast of North Africa. By the third century b.c., Carthage had an enormous trading empire in the western Mediterranean, including the coast of northern Africa, southern Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, and western Sicily. With its control of western Mediterranean trade, Carthage was the largest and richest state in the
Carthage gained her power through the wealth of trade and commere, bringing the northern African colonies and cities of Sicily under control, solidified her dominance in the Mediterranean. Through wealth comes strength and the ability to obtain more wealth by expanding one’s territory, which brought Carthage to desire the Greek cities of Italy also (Morey, 1901). The very cities bordering Rome, leading to the beginning of hostilities between Carthage and Rome.
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.
The Punic Wars were a series of conflicts between Rome and Carthage for control of the Mediterranean. They are called the Punic Wars because the word “Punic” is derived from the Roman word for Phoenician, in reference to the Carthaginians’ ancestry. Carthage was founded by settlers from Phoenicia on the fertile land of North Africa. The Phoenicians were known as brave and skillful sailors and merchants. By the third century BC, Carthage became a substantially strong power of the Western Mediterranean. It was considered the richest city in the world. All maritime trade between East and West Mediterranean went through it. Hundreds of ships transported goods from all over the world. The city, built up with tall buildings, had 700 thousand inhabitants. The Greek colonies in Sicily and Southern Italy were the only serious competition to Carthage. There was a continuous struggle between them for the possession of the island for 100 years, since the end of the fifth century BC. Four times the Carthaginians conquered the island. However, they could not take the city of Syracuse.
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).
After defeating Carthage in 146 BCE, the roman’s seized large sections of the north African coastline, the conquest and assimilation had slowly begun. More than 100 years after the conquest. To the east and west of modern