Rome versus Carthage

 BCE  Rome vs. Sicily, Syracuse, Carthage  Rome wins and seizes Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia

 BCE  Hannibal takes ambitious journey from Spain with 36,000 troops and 37 elephants over Alps  Conquers most of Italian peninsula with remaining 26,000 troops and 1 elephant  Four great battles with heavy Roman losses, but Hannibal can never take Rome itself  Cannae: 50,000/86,000 Romans killed in one day

 14 years later, final battle at Zama (202 BCE), Rome finally defeats Hannibal  Carthaginians forced to pay reparations to Rome, dismantle navy, forfeit commercial empire

 BCE  Rome suspicious of a reviving Carthage  50 years after Hannibal’s defeat, Rome finds an excuse to finish off Carthage after Roman delegation insulted City burned, men slaughtered, 50,000 women sold into slavery, earth sown with salt so no crops could grow again

 Control of Italian Peninsula by 270 BCE  Carthage defeated, giving Rome control of North Africa and Carthage’s provinces in Spain  Macedonia and Greece conquered and become provinces  Pergamum (eastern Turkey) = first Roman possession in Asia  Gaul (France) conquered

 Rome becomes dominant power in Mediterranean  Tremendous growth of Rome  Creation of a professional army to meet military needs (end of citizen army)  Roman army becomes important political force  Republic institutions weakened  Roman citizens come to expect wealthy and luxury  Military spirit declines over time