Second Punic War Research Paper

The first Punic War lasted from 264-241 BC. It was fought mainly at sea, off the coast of Sicily. This was the first time Rome had built a navy. Rome besieged many of the Carthaginian cities on Sicily, and when Carthage attempted to raise the siege with its navy, the Romans utterly destroyed them.

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’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.

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.

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.

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 between Rome and Carthage went on for over a century. The wars started in 264 B.C. and ended with the Romans destroying Carthage in 146 B.C. The conflict between the countries came from the clash of economic interests. The wars were the first big wars of Roman expansion outside Italy. Carthage had a big empire along the coast of North America, southern Spain, and a few parts of Sicily. The purpose of these wars was to decide which power would become the dominant force around the Mediterranean Sea. The first war was the beginning of the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean sea, and lasted more than twenty years. The second was

The first war started the feud between the Roman Republic and the Punic Empire trying to seize control of the two islands of Corsica and Sicily. The Carthage Empire was forced out of Corsica by the Romans who seized control of the towns of Messana and Syracuse. Carthage returned to the island of Sicily only to be expelled again by the Roman forces. After being defeated twice, Carthage was prepared to surrender but since the Roman terms for the surrender were too severe, Carthage built a small army around cavalry and retaliated, pushing the Romans to sea. The war halted for a year after Carthage regained control of Sicily and resumed when the Romans sent out a fleet of 200 warships which attacked the Carthage stronghold, forcing them to surrender (First Punic

The outcomes of the second Punic War was a profound turning point for Roman history. Immediately, the acquisition of the empire. Rome had acquired many new territories and the Republic had to figure out administrative, financial, foreign political systems to rule. “It seems self-evident, but it is worth stressing that these territories were indeed conquered lands, and Rome had to keep large numbers of men in the army in order to secure them.” (Bagnall). This meant that the army continued to have a huge influence and play a strong role in Roman society. Greece was the only power left until the First Macedonian War. The war with Hannibal was considered by the Romans to have mythic terms. Romans eventually saw this as Rome’s heroic age. Villains

From Rome's perspective the outcome of the Second Punic war can only be described as bittersweet. On the one hand Rome became master of the Mediterranean, with secure lands encircling the entire sea and new resource rich territory in Hispania (Morey, 1901). On the other hand, much of the fertile areas of the Italian homeland were destroyed completely (Morey, 1901). From the perspective of Carthage the outcome of the Second Punic war was less uncertain.

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 Second Punic wars lasted for 17 years, from 218 – 201 BC. Rome declared war on Carthage when Carthage refused to recall the General, Hannibal after his capture of Saguntum, on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC (Morey, 1901).

Carthage and Rome originally cooperated but fell out over control of Sicily. Rome won this conflict. The rivalry for control of the Western Mediterranean continued into a rush until Rome became one of the great world powers after its winning of the struggle. Hence Carthage and Rome became enemies when they fought over the control over Sicily in the First Punic war (264-241 BC). Carthage had territories in western Sicily. In eastern Rome and Carthage fought each other in the First, Second and Third Punic Wars (264-241 BC, 218-201 BC and 149-146 BC).

The Punic Wars deal with the clashing of Rome and Carthage over what they thought as “controlling the world”. Both of these cities were considered to be very powerful cities in the Mediterranean region. The people who originally settled in Carthage, were referred to as ‘Ponecian’ by the Romans, which is also the origin of the English word for ‘Punic’ (Hansen and Curtis 170). Thus, ancient Roman writers refer to these wars as the Punic Wars which means “War with Carthage”.

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).