The Punic wars 264 BC to 146 BC

Conflict with carthage Rome had spread its power throughout Italy, BUT, it had no overseas territory or power Carthage had the power over the Mediterranean and many islands at this time. They were great sailors.

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The first punic war began in 264BC Rome wanted Sicily and thus the war began. The war lasted 20 years and much of it was fought on sea. The Greeks helped the Romans build hundreds of ships. Since the Romans fought better on land, they invented the corvus: Hamilcar Barca (lightening) led the Carthaginian army with little support from Carthage.

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Second Punic war 218 bc to 202 bc Barca son swore to defend his fathers honor. He became one of the greatest military leaders in world history…Hannibal of Carthage He dedicated his life to destroying Rome He took over a city friendly with Rome and Rome declared war He chose to not invade Rome by sea. With 90,000 foot soldiers, 12,000 Calvary, and 40 elephants, he marched through Spain and France and through the alps. He surprised the Romans and won a string of victories. For 16 years he fought the Romans with little help from Carthage.

Punic War Continued Hannibal showed mastery with infantry and cavalry for which he was famous. Once he surrounded 70,000 Romans and only 14,500 survived to be taken prisoner at the end of the day. It is the greatest number of casualties suffered in a single battle by any western army before or since. In the long run, he never received enough reinforcements to threaten Rome itself despite his army surviving in Italy for over a decade. * Rome realized the only way to beat Hannibal was to go to Carthage and fight. They won! Hannibal fought with other enemies of Rome after this until he was one day surrounded by Roman soldiers and took poison.

Third Punic war Carthage lost all overseas territories and had to pay Rome war debt for 50 years. At the end of that time, they went and fought another enemy. Since they didn’t asks Rome's approval to fight, Rome considered them a threat and declared war! The Romans were merciless, they lay waste to Carthage (burned it to the ground), destroying it completely in three years, and sold the entire population into slavery. These wars created the training ground Rome needed to be the undisputed Mediterranean power and to keep them in power for years to come. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Republic_Empire_map.gif#file