The Powers Of The Mediterranean

As the Greek and Roman empires ascended immensely throughout the western world, new ideas changed the way the Mediterranean Society handled things, which were spread across the globe. “The rise of the series of city-states of classical Greece began in the ninth century B.C.E. and during the late sixth century B.C.E, Rome’s development as a republic began as Etruscan society declined”(Bentley et al, 2008 p.132, 145). The development of these empires encouraged cultural circulation, blending the culture of the two empires into the land it conquered. As Greece and Rome gained more territory within the Mediterranean society, they began to progress toward a more civilized order of humanity. How were they alike? How were they different? How did

The Mediterranean region encompasses the Mediterranean Ocean and the surrounding land outside of it. Medieval Europe is a time period, sometimes referred to as the ‘dark ages’, where because of various reasons, many cultural changes occurred. From the decline of the West Roman Empire and its empirical structures (circa 647 C.E.) and the creation of the political system, feudalism, new societies emerged with new cultural elements such as an almost complete loss of education and literacy, while other cultural aspects remained such as the social status of women and the importance of religion, mainly Christianity.

As a result of military power both civilizations have had long standing conflicts with enemies. The First Punic War Started between Rome and Carthage over rights to Sicily, both wanted the island for commercial

Two of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world were the civilizations of Greece and Rome. These two civilizations were especially significant from the time periods prior to the Roman Republic. These two civilizations both affected Europe and the Mediterranean regions including the rest of the world around them. Though the two civilizations differed in location, they also had many aspects that were very similar. One of these includes the government, with both showing the beginnings of the representative government. Another aspect between these civilizations was the military with similar strategies, tactics, and organizational similarities.

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.

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 ancient Greek and Roman civilizations of Europe began to progress toward a more civilized order of society. As there were no previous establishment to base their ideals on, it was understandable that there were some difficulties in their progression as a society. Although the ancient Greek and Roman governments fell, both had similar paths of creation, conquest, and destruction.

The Roman empire and the Persian empire were both world powers for a reason. Both empires used very similar and different strategies to achieve all the power they accumulated over time. They both had very different views on everything from religion to human rights. Both empires both grew around the general same area, the Mediterranean Sea. They both used massive military force when conquering other empires and lands.

In the early 3rd century B.C., Rome and Carthage were expanding their empires and met at the city of Sicily. At the time the Roman military consisted of well regulated infantry and cavalry, but hardly any naval forces ready for combat. The Carthaginian military was the opposite.

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

There were changes to the Mediterranean World, but also continuities from the Roman Empire in 100 CE, to the Abbasid Empire in 800 Ce, to Feudal Europe in 1000 CE. Christianity and Islam, architecture, and the status of women all changed, even though some parts of them remained the same. Christianity and Islam developed and spread. New architectural advancements were added to the already existing Roman innovations, and the status of women improved overall.

Hostilities eventually broke out between these two powers, but Rome had one problem. They were not good seafarers and did not have a navy that could match that of the Carthaginians. However based on some Greek triremes that the Romans some how had they built replicas with bridges on them so that Romans could more easily board other ships. The Romans quickly built a navy that could rival that of Carthage within a few years based on this model. This once again showcases Roman innovation, because not only could they quickly borrow technology from their neighbors, but they could also improve upon it. This allowed them to win the First Punic War. The rivalry between these two powers would not end until the destruction of Carthage during the Third Punic

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

Very few civilizations have had as profound an influence on the world as those of ancient Greece. The Greeks laid the foundations for fields varying from philosophy to political theory to war tactics. However, this influence was not just due to their intelligence or success, but their widespread presence in the Mediterranean. Greek culture was spread throughout their known world in two distinct manners, the foundation of apoikia in the Archaic Age (8th century to 500 B.C. ) and imperialists by poleis, primarily Athens of the Classical Age (490 - 323 B.C ). Though the culture of a mother city (mētropolis) may have spread through two very different manners of “colonization.” The word is not used in the literal sense, but rather hereafter used to mean “spreading of culture”, as the former can hardly be described using the contemporary definition of colonization and the latter was through Athenian empire-building. These developments had a significant impact on ancient Greece and our modern perception thereof. Like most of the ancient world, we can best analyze these methods of colonialism through extant artifacts. I will analyze an inscription of the foundation oath of Cyrene, which recounts the decision and manner in which the island of Thera sent its citizens to the form a new polis, and the fragments of the Lapis Primus, a marble monolith that documented tributes to Athens when the city was at the peak of its imperial age, evidencing the magnitude of their power and influence in the Greek region.

They were originally motivated to travel across the seas in search of precious metals such as silver which were being heavily traded in Spain at the time as well as copper and tin, in addition gold jewellery of Egyptian origin has been found in the region. The Phoenicians also founded the city of Lixus in northern Morocco. The name Carthage originates from the Phoenician name of ‘Qart Hadasht’ which means New City, the population however remained largely Libyan. The mixture of African Berbers and Phoenicians eventually simply became known as Carthaginians. The state became a separate and independent kingdom from that of Phoenicia in Lebanon. By 600 BC conflicts had begun between the north African city state of Carthage and the European Empire of the Greeks who were also heavily involved in trade by