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
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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
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 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.
His mercenaries took the front, the second was formed with carthaginian territories and the last line were hannibal's most reliable troops. In the very front of the army were hannibal's elephant corps. Then the elephants charged. The elephants were meant to confuse and terrify the enemy. Scipio knew this plan and order his trumpeters of the army to blow the horn which caused startling noises to terrify the elephants. After this tactic the roman cavalry charge the infantry, which also caused
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.
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
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
Rome and Carthage were bitter rivals. The strife and the inevitable war between these two states were growing stronger due to them both wanting control over the Mediterranean Sea. For instance, after Rome had won the victory over Sicily, Carthage had deemed vengeance against Rome. The primary conflicts between these two states regarded the Roman victories over Carthage. Rome was known for its preeminent status, and was mostly involved with the military domain while Carthage was elaborated in the trading empire, they grew to be envious and had declared war against Rome.”The Romans were furious with indignation because the vanquished had dared to take the offensive against their conquerors; the Carthaginians bitterly resented what they regarded as the tyrannical and rapacious conduct of Rome.” Hamilcar was one of the generals who had led the first Punic war in 264 to 241 BC. The Punic wars were essential because Carthage was Rome’s prominent rival, which led to the establishment of wealth, and territory that authorized Rome to expand into a
How did the ancient city of Carthage almost become Rome’s equal? Also, how was this state of the city at this time come about in the ancient world? Carthage being a port city and Rome also being so close to the Mediterranean, gave both cities great business and imperial opportunities. In fact, both cities flourished because of their geographical locations to a certain extent. These opportunities and the desire to obtain them would eventually lead the two cities into war and conflict.
As one of the strongest maritime armies of their time, the Carthaginians controlled land that the Romans wanted. Thus, the Punic Wars spanned over a century between Rome and Carthage. The Romans initiated the first Punic War in Sicily, Hannibal declared war on Rome which marked the start of the second Punic War. The Carthaginians broke their treaty with Rome when they declared war on a neighboring state which resulted in the third Punic War. The Romans ultimately claimed victory in all three wars which resulted in a large transfer of power. The Roman and Carthaginian dispute illustrates a change in power, and this caused historians to question how the Punic Wars affected Roman history. Because the Carthaginians formed one of the most powerful empires based on trade, the Romans obtained land and power from the Carthaginians, and as a result, the Romans succeeded in the Punic Wars which resulted in
The Punic Wars The Punic Wars were three wars fought between Rome and its rival, Carthage. Carthage Carthage was a city-state thought to have been founded in roughly 814 B.C. by Phoenician settlers. By around 265 B.C., Carthage was a very powerful city-state, rivalling Rome's power. Though at first, its relationships with Rome had been quite peaceful, Rome later went to war against Carthage in 264 B.C., resulting in the First Punic War.
With the introduction of the hoplite phalanx to the Roman army, came a multitude of wars and long drawn out campaigns that the Romans were involved in throughout the republic period. One such campaign or campaigns that set the Roman republic as the uncontested superpower in the Mediterranean was the Punic Wars. Rome fought three wars against Carthage between 264 and 146 BCE. These wars constituted major events in the history of Rome and the Mediterranean basin (Marcel Le Glay 2009) p. 73. Though these wars were fought for reasons such as competing economics, revenge (most notably the Carthaginian general Hannibal), and a fear that could be related in today’s terms of opposing forces such as (the United States and Soviet Union feared each other during the Cold War) the fact is in the end Rome defeated the Carthaginians, not only were the Carthaginians defeated, but the city of Carthage was demolished and the people massacred or sold into slavery so as not to threaten the Romans ever again. In the fall of the city, in obedience to the Senate’s orders the inhabitants were reduced to slavery or forced to emigrate, the town was burnt and soil was
The First Punic War started in 264 BC and lasted to 241 BC. In the first half of the 3rd century BC Carthage held many territories that made it easy to control and dominate the western Mediterranean Sea. However, when they
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