The Punic Wars According To Polybius

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.

Rome and Carthage shared many aspects when the two first clash. Carthage had two chief magistrates referred to as Suffetes, which compared to the political power of the Roman consuls, a council of elders named the “hundred,” which was similar to the Roman senate, and there was a Carthaginian assembly, the consistency resembled the Roman comitia (Morey, 1901). This is where the similarities end for Carthaginian, ruled by a few wealthy families, the Carthaginians did not integrate their subjects into the state, and they did not have the great loyalty of its citizens that Rome enjoyed. By placing its army under the command of a single permanent leader, Carthage created an overwhelming advantage to Rome, which had its armies controlled by the ever-changing civil magistrates and consuls (Morey, 1901).

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.

Fought between Carthage and Rome, the punic wars may have been the worst wars in Roman history. The first punic war probably would have been lost by Rome but they had an adaptive Navy. The Carthaginian Navy was very dangerous and have strong ships. The Roman navy invented devices to attach their ships to the Carthaginian ships and steal their ships with Rome's strong army. This advantage helped Rome to win the first punic war. The second punic war was fought in the western and eastern mediterranean. Hannibal's army defeated Rome multiple times but the Roman general Scipio finally assinates Hannibal and Rome crushes their most hated enemy. The third punic war was the last of the punic. In the third punic war the Roman army made it inside Carthage City and raided their valuables killed their people and salted their land to prevent agriculture. The Third Punic war ended wars for a while in Rome and made the imperial era possible. After the punic wars Rome's power economy and morals were higher than ever and their amount of conquered land was higher than ever as

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.

Believe it or not, Carthage and Rome started off as friends. The main reason they started fighting each other was because of a small island territory off the coast of Italy called Sicily. Despite Carthage's constant disputes with its neighboring regions, Carthage and Rome were historically friendly towards one another. Over the years, the two cities formed and signed treaties solidifying trading rights. Ultimately the First Punic war was launched in 264 B.C., when Rome got in the middle of a dispute on the Carthaginian controlled island of Sicily (Punic Wars)

By 148 BC, Rome controlled the Mediterranean Sea and designated this body of water as “Mare Nostrum, or “our sea,” but in 214 BC, at the beginning of the Macedonian Wars, Rome faced several rivals in their seas. In the Western Mediterranean, Rome faced a powerful enemy in Carthage, which it defeated in the Punic Wars from 264 to 146 BC. The successors to Alexander the Great’s Empire dominated the Eastern Mediterranean. After the Macedonian Wars, which spanned four wars from 214 until 148 BC, however, Rome defeated these states and only the Polemic regime in Egypt remained free of Roman control. Roman tactics,

The Punic Wars were a series of three wars that were fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC. Carthage, during the mid- 3rd century, was a large city located on the coast of modern Tunisia. Carthage was a powerful city-state with a vast commercial network. Rome rivalved with Carthage due to Rome having power, wealth, and population. The Romans were highly interested in expansion. The main cause of the Punic Wars was the conflicts of interests between the existing Carthaginian Empire and the expanding Roman Republic. By the Roman Empire winning these wars over Carthage, this gave Rome a preeminent status.

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 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).