preview

Why Is Carthage Equal To The First Punic War?

Decent Essays

In order to determine how Carthage gained power almost equal to Rome, today under examination are the circumstances that lead up to the First Punic war and the results of that war.

Carthage's origins are lost in mythological stories, but has it's roots in Phoenicians from Tyre. Her power was largely commercial and trade supremacy and had conquered many of the Greek cities of Sicily and northern colonies of Africa. While Rome had triumphed over much of central and southern Italy.
Carthage's rise to power in some part was due to the appointment of a permanent commander over the army in stark contrast to Rome's constantly changing consuls. The government of Carthage was similar to Rome as it had a council of elders which could be compared to the Roman senate, however, the essence remained different, with a few wealthy and prominent families controlling most of the power. All of this had worked in the favor of Carthage and her power was tremendous. Carthage had made many treaties with chief countries of the world, including Egypt and Spain, she traded with Tyre and Arabia and Carthage desired the Greek cities of Sicily and Italy.

The Roman Empire.net (n.d.) maintains that Carthage's location in relation to the Mediterranean sea gave her an advantage in becoming a naval power, with the first sea expeditions rooted in trade. When Mago came to power …show more content…

Carthage possessed wealth and had naval supremacy. Since Carthage never incorporated any colonies that it conquered consequently, it lacked a body of loyal citizens. While Rome sustained a larger, accumulation of devoted citizens having bestowed many of their colonies with full citizenship. Carthage relied on wealth and commercial resources and Rome seemed to thrive under catastrophe with Romans showing cohesion in times of

Get Access