Roman Punic War

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 Punic Wars were a series of wars between the two most powerful forces in the Mediterranean at the time, Rome and Carthage. The First Punic war started over a group of Italian pirates conquering Sicily (which was controlled by Carthage), and they turned to Rome to help them get rid of Carthaginian rule. The war lasted 20 years and cost one-fifth of the male population in Rome. In total, there were one million soldiers involved in the war, a feat that wouldn’t happen again for hundreds of years. The war was a back and forth with Carthage slowly losing on land while Rome managed to carry out a series of naval engagements. This was Rome’s first experience with a navy, but once they started winning battles, Carthage surrendered.

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.

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.

Rome was growing and it was becoming incredibly wealthy after the Punic wars, but the republic was facing serious problems during this time. Many Roman politicians took bribes and they would encourage the forming violent mobs to aid them in rising to power. Soldiers returning home from the wars were unable to find employment because wealthy landlords were utilizing slaves to get work done instead of hiring Romans. During this period of time the republic was part of several civil wars. Many of the Romans wanted a strong leader to take them to glory; therefore, the way was paved for Julius Caesar.

In Rome, the Patricians, the wealthy elite, sat at the top of the pyramid. They are followed by the Senators, as mentioned before had political power, but under the supervision of the consuls. The Equestrian class or equites were determined on a man could maintain a steady income. The freeborn Roman citizens or the Plebians sat below the equites. The last tier on the pyramid were slaves and soldiers. The Romans practiced both Judaism and Christianity. The women of both countries had no power of any kind nor were they considered citizens, so they were not allowed to run for office or serve in the military. Instead, they carried out the traditional family lifestyle of cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children (Cartwright, 2016).

The first Punic War left Carthage greatly weakened. Rome now occupied Sicily, while the Mercenary War left Carthage vulnerable in Africa as well. The Carthaginian response was to send Hamilcar Barca, their undefeated general from Sicily, to Spain (c.238-7 BC), where he was to greatly revive Carthage's fortunes.

The ancient Rome Empire raises their empire by coquetting many lands by fighting and coquetting them. One on the things that made Rome special was their expansion of the territory. What was different of other empires is, when they conquer a foreign land, they let them keep their traditions and their own culture. Instead of teaching them religion and make them be a Roman, they made them swear fealty to Rome. Roma wanted to spread their territory and their trading zone. One example of this was the war of the Roman and the Carthaginians in 264 BC. After many battles of this war better know as the Punic Wars, finally the romans defeated the Carthaginians. It took 100 years to put and end to this war.

This war was costly to both sides but Carthage suffered more seriously owing to the corruption and incompetence of her government (which embezzled funds which should have gone to the military and consistently refused to send much needed supplies and reinforcements to generals in the field), the mostly mercenary army (who often simply refused to fight), and an over-reliance on the brilliance of Hamilcar Barca. Further, however, they seriously underestimated their enemy. While Carthage would largely ignore the war, leaving the fighting to Hamilcar and his mercenaries, Rome would be building and equipping more ships and training more men. Even though Rome had never had a navy before the First Punic War, they emerged in 241 BCE as masters of the

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

Throughout history, many dominant and powerful civilizations have risen up and fallen down. It is interesting because each civilization had its own unique features and values. Some empires were prosperous and lengthy, while some came crashing right down. One of the most important parts of a civilization is defending and preserving the empire. Throughout history, many different civilizations used a variety of strategies to defend and preserve their empire. Three civilizations that took interesting approaches on preserving their empires were the Roman, Byzantine, and Egyptian Empires.

The Romans and the Carthaginians had been at peace for nearly 50 years, but some members of the Roman Senate were convinced that Carthage was still a threat. The Romans were looking for a reason to start another war with the Carthaginians, and they gave them one on a silver platter. "In 149 B.C., after Carthage technically broke its treaty with Rome by declaring war against the neighboring state of Numidia, the Romans sent an army to North Africa, beginning the Third Punic War." (Punic Wars) Three years later the Romans burned Carthage to the ground, and sold the 50,000 remaining survivors into slavery. Scipio Aemilianus led the destruction, and he ended all of his speeches with "Carthago delenda eat", meaning Carthage must be destroyed. (World History Book page

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.