The Punic War

The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires the world has ever seen. The power and size they managed to obtain has been a constant subject of interest for historians and all those who are interested in history. Julius Caesar’s ascension to power marked the time from where the Romans steadily expanded their territory and by the time the Roman Republic dissolved and the Roman Empire emerged, the Empire had become so big that the Romans had then to face the problem of maintaining their empire. The Roman Empire maintained its power by

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 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 three Punic wars between Carthage and Rome took place over nearly a century, beginning in 263 B.C. and ending with the destruction if Carthage in 146 B.C. When the conflict began, Rome was a small city-state. By the end of it, Rome ruled the Mediterranean, with conquered lands stretching from Spain to Greece. However, this conquest came with a price. At the end of the Punic Wars, abuse of power, unemployed men roaming around the city, and corruption started the downfall of the Roman Republic.

The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC. In a period of 120 years, there were three big fights between the two hyper powers in the ancient time. The two powers in question were the Romans and the Carthaginians, two forces that really wanted to control the lands and seas of the Mediterranean. These battles are known as the first, the second and the third Punic war. “This war started as the Romans moved over the sea and marched on Sicily to gain lands there,” (Peter Fitzgerald, nd).according to the same sources, the second Punic War was a bit shorter. This war held from 218 BC and 201 BC. It is to notice from that war the Carthaginian leader; Hannibal caused the serious damages to the Romans.

The Punic Wars, a century-long conflict between Rome and Carthage started in 264 B.C. and continued until 146 B.C. when Carthage gets destroyed. Carthage, a Phoenician colony, came to be a superpower of the Mediterranean and posed a threat to the Romans. The First Punic War focuses on gaining control over the islands of Sicily and Corsica. The two powerful countries entered into a dispute between the Sicilian cities of Messana and Syracuse and established their presence on the island. Neither superpower would quickly hand over Sicily, so this local conflict transformed into a 23-year war that concluded with Rome gaining the advantage at sea forcing Carthage to admit defeat. Rome did not quit after gaining control over Sicily; they eventually forced the Carthaginians to surrender Sardinia. After their defeat in the First Punic War, Carthage started to harvest hatred for the Romans and this hostility for Rome would lead to General Hannibal, the leader of the Punic forces, to begin a campaign of vengeance. Hannibal marched his troops across the Alps in the most treacherous conditions in order to conduct a surprise attack on the Romans and invade Italy, which would be a starting factor of the Second Punic War in 218 B.C. The Carthaginians swept through the Romans in Ticinus, Trebia, and Lake Trasimene and Hannibal’s reputation grew as did his army. At this point in the war, he dictated the rules. This chain of events led to the Battle of Cannae in 216 B.C. (History.com, 2009).

The Third Punic War was not a defensive war like the Second Punic war, but a war to end all Punic wars. The Third Punic War began in 149 B.C, but the destruction of Carthage was on the mind of the Romans before the declaration was ever declared (Baronowski 19). Cata was a consul member in Rome and he ended all his speeches in "Carthago delenda est, (Carthage must be destroyed)," in order to show his view was firm that Carthage is an enemy of Rome even though Carthage has not taken military action. In 152 the Roman Senate have decided that the destruction of Carthage was necessary, but they “sought an attractive pretext” in order to justify the war. The Romans found a pretext in the Carthaginian-Numidian War which was Numidia attacking a weakened

During the early republic, the Roman state grew exponentially in both size and power. Though the Gauls sacked and burned Rome in 390 B.C., the Romans rebounded under the leadership of the military hero Camillus, eventually gaining control of the entire Italian peninsula by 264 B.C. Rome then fought a series of wars known as the Punic Wars with Carthage, a powerful city-state in northern Africa. The first two Punic Wars ended with Rome in full control of Sicily, the western Mediterranean and much of Spain. In the Third Punic War (149–146 B.C.), the Romans captured and destroyed the city of Carthage and sold its surviving inhabitants into slavery, making a section of northern Africa a Roman province. At the same time, Rome also spread its influence

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

Roma omnia vincit: by 44BC. Rome had conquered a vast array of land from Gaul to Numidia to Syria. Although not completely joined up for instances most of Anatolia was not under the Roman State. The question was a topic of much debate in the 1980s, after Harris published his ‘War and Imperialism in Republican Rome’. Promoting a view that Roman expansion was aggressive, while the main thought was that Rome had gained provinces via defensive measures; Sherwin-White rebuffed Harris’ claims but partly for them being too extreme in thought. The debate resulted in three points of view: economic imperialism: an aggressive policy that believes Rome is intentionally seeking to dominate other states. Defensive imperialism: unintentional empire, a result from major wars such as the Macedonian war and the Punic wars. Rome entered the wars either to help allies or protect herself. This was part of Badian’s thesis against the Marxist polemic. The essay will incorporate the theories but will weigh up if Rome was aggressive or defensive in approach to acquiring an empire. The sources that will be used are Harris and White predominantly as the two are of opposing views. Ancient evidence will mostly come from literary sources such as Polybius, Sallust and Livy to name three and bearing in mind biases that they may have. For instance, Polybius was a Greek and a hostage so at times there may be an anti-Roman feel to his prose. The essay will indicate that the evidence and practises of

In 264 a.c. Rome and Carthage came into conflict over Sicily. Carthagefeared that Rome would take the island. Rome, in turn, believed that Carthage planned to close the Strait of Messina r a narrow passageway

The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 to 146 BCE. At the time, they were the largest wars that had ever taken place.

Regardless of the Romans interesting warfare, they are about to triumph over Carthage. This is easily credited to the Roman’s ability to adapt and use their intelligence to their advantage. When it came to the warfare in the sea, which Romans struggled in, they were able to acquire a ship, take it apart, learn to recreate it even better than the original Carthagian ships. They also were able to use their power and connections with other territories to get them to become their army. Rome was also able to gain Sardinia from Carthage when they knew that Carthage couldn’t do anything about. Rome was also really smart in having their troops stationed in different places which helped in their warfare during the Punic wars. Also, by using Quintus Fabius Maximus’s strategy to limit where Hannibal and his men could go. Even though it may seem weak and as if he was “delaying” the war, it also showed that he was smart enough to want to weaken the enemy before going to battle again. This also kept Hannibal and his army in a small area.

he Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.) was born out the growing rivalry between the empires of Rome and Carthage (Morey, 1901, p. 64). When the Carthaginian territory in Spain began to extend northward, Rome became concerned that an attack was imminent. This concern prompted Rome to seek a treaty with Carthage establishing a border along the Iberus river in norther Spain. Carthage respected the treaty until the death of Hasdrubal. Afterward the son of Hamilcar Barca, named Hannibal immediately broke the treaty by capturing the city of Saguntum. A Roman envoy was sent to Carthage to demand the surrender of Hannibal. Carthage refused and the Second Punic War began (Morey, 1901, p. 64).

Between the years 218 – 201 B.C. the two superpowers of their era, the Roman Empire and the Carthaginian Empire waged war with each other to determine who would control the Mediterranean (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014; Nepos, n.d.). Subsequently, this conflict known as the second Punic War would lead to the Roman Empire’s dominance in the region and would act as a stepping stone to her further expansion and growth into one of the great empires of history (Mark, 2011a). Moreover, in my discussion post for this unit, I will briefly discuss the cause of the conflict, the conflict itself and the outcomes for both participants.