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Summary: The First Punic War

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During the first Punic war (264-241 BC), Sicily became the stake of these two powers: one maritime, Carthage and the other continental: Rome, which had subdued South Italy, and coveted that rich island, the greater part of which belonged to the Carthaginians. After some disappointments due to their inexperience in maritime construction and the art of sailing, the Romans, whose strength of character was no longer to be demonstrated, decided fighting the Carthaginians at sea and devising an original technique transforming a naval battle into land combat: the development of the "corvus", an iron grapple falling on the deck of enemy ships, immobilizing them and allowing the legionaries on board to attack the enemy and their ship in close combat.

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