The Punic Wars

The Punic Wars were a series of wars between the two most powerful forces in the Mediterranean at the time, Rome and Carthage. The First Punic war started over a group of Italian pirates conquering Sicily (which was controlled by Carthage), and they turned to Rome to help them get rid of Carthaginian rule. The war lasted 20 years and cost one-fifth of the male population in Rome. In total, there were one million soldiers involved in the war, a feat that wouldn’t happen again for hundreds of years. The war was a back and forth with Carthage slowly losing on land while Rome managed to carry out a series of naval engagements. This was Rome’s first experience with a navy, but once they started winning battles, Carthage surrendered.

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

The Roman Empire was said to be one of the most powerful and largest empires in all of history. The Roman Empire had a monstrous army and was always on the hunt for new land. Also, the Romans built a strong wall around the border to prevent Barbarian invasions. In order to defend and preserve the empire, the Romans were very militaristic. They used a variety of procedures to preserve the empire. The Romans fought in numerous wars to defend their empire, and they were very successful. An example of the Romans fighting to defend their empire was the Punic Wars. The Punic Wars were fought between Rome and Carthage. The Romans felt that the Carthaginians were an imminent danger to their empire, so they thought quickly to destroy them. Throughout the Punic Wars, the Roman army faced very tough military forces, including

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.

The Second Punic War (218-201 BC) was an opportunity for the city of Carthage to avenge itself from the loss of the First Punic War (264-241 BC) against Rome over two decades earlier. Similarly, the Second Punic War is comparable to World War II (1939-1945) when Germany attacked Britain and surrounding Europe as an opportunity to avenge itself from the loss of World War I (1914-1918) over two decades earlier. By the First Punic War, Carthage controlled most of North Africa, Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia. Near the time of the Second Punic War, Rome controlled Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and most of Italy. Whoever controlled the land around the Mediterranean regulated trade routes, commerce, politics, religion, and more.

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 results of the Second Punic War can really be summed up in terms of control. Both control in terms of territory, and control in terms of dominance within the territory. At the end of this war, Rome was left with control of all of Italy, Spain, and had began a push into Africa where they had forced a Carthaginian surrender. The territory itself was important but what Rome had done was more important. Rome had effectively rid themselves of any and all major external threats.

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).

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).