The Punic Wars

Latium During the period of the first kings around 509 BC there were actually very many cities in Italy –and Rome was just one of them. The Italian Peninsula is located right in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea. –Rome is located right in the heart of Italy on a large plain known as Latium.

After the establishment of the Republic, the Romans began to conquer southern Italy. They used a good idea to help them. –They told everybody that if any city needed help fighting a war, the Romans would be happy to help them. –Soon a city did ask for help, when its neighbors were attacking it. –The Romans sent troops and fought off the neighbors. –But when the war was over, the Romans announced that they were going to leave Roman soldiers in this city, to keep the city safe. But when there are Roman soldiers living in the middle of your city, you pretty much have to do whatever the Roman Senate says! –In this way the Romans took over all of southern Italy.

Carthaginian Empire Former Phoenician trading post Commercial city Had western Mediterranean empire Felt threatened by Rome’s rise to dominance in Italy

The Punic Wars From the earliest days of the Republic, Rome had been on friendly terms with Carthage, a city- state in northern Africa. –Since Rome was largely agricultural and interested mainly in Italy, it had no reason to bother with Carthage, which was largely a sea power. –As late as 279 BC the two cities had signed a treaty against Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, who posed a threat to both. However, a breakdown in treaties and alliances led to tensions between the two friends. Eventually these tensions led to war.

Origins of First Punic War –These two mighty empires came into contact in the middle of the third century BC when Rome's power had reached the southern tip of Italy. –The two peoples had been in sporadic contact before, but neither side felt threatened by the others. –The Romans were perfectly aware of the Carthaginian heritage: they called them by their old name, Phoenicians. –In Latin, the word is Poeni, –which gives us the name for the wars between the two states, »the Punic Wars.

These conflicts, so disastrous for Carthage, were inevitable. Between Carthage and Italy lay the huge island of Sicily; –Carthage controlled the western half of Sicily, –but the southern tip of the Italian peninsula put the Romans within throwing distance of the island. When the city of Messina revolted against the Carthaginians, –the Romans intervened, –and the first Punic War erupted.

The First Punic War: BC –it was concentrated entirely on the island of Sicily. –In 264 BC, Rome invaded the island of Sicily at the behest of the Mamertines, group of Italian mercenaries living in Messana, often fighting like pirates. pillaging exploits had recently been put to an end by Carthage’s growing control of the island. –Syracuse was traditionally an enemy of Carthage, but could not tolerate continued unruly forays from the Mamertines into their territory, or the possibility of Rome taking over the island, so they allied with Carthage.

First Punic War To protect their supply lines to the island, Rome was forced to embark on an ambitious ship building project. – Once Roman naval technology matched that of Carthage the tables turned, as Carthage could not match production levels of Rome. The First Punic War ended with Rome as the victor and new master of the island of Sicily.

Mercenary War Immediately following the war, Carthage's mercenaries revolted over a pay dispute and occupied a number of important Punic cities in North Africa and Sardinia, beginning the Mercenary War. –Miraculously, Carthage was able to defeat the mercenaries in North Africa, –meanwhile Rome used the Mercenary revolt as an excuse to invade and conquer the islands of Sardinia and Corsica –Thus by 238 BC, Carthage had lost all of her islands in the Central Mediterranean

Security Paranoia –The Romans greatly feared the Carthaginians and wanted build as large a buffer zone as possible between them and the Carthaginians. –The Carthaginians were furious over Rome taking the islands »even Roman historians believed it was a rash and unethical act. –The Carthaginians began to shore up their presence in Europe. »They sent first the general Hamilcar and then his son-in-law, Hasdrubal, »to Spain to build colonies and an army that would match the Roman legions. »Both Hamilcar and Hasdrubal made allies among the native Iberians, »and their armies, recruited from Iberians, grew ominous as Carthaginian power and influence crept up the Iberian peninsula.

Second Punic War After the death of Hamilcar Barca, his son Hannibal became leader of the Carthaginian army in Spain. It is an understatement to say he was a military genius not seen since Alexander –The Second Punic War began when Carthage destroyed the Iberian City of Saguntum, a nominal ally of Rome. –The famous general Hannibal was determined to annihilate Rome. Lacking naval power, Hannibal took a large army including elephants through France and over the Alps into Italy.

and Hannibal decisively defeated Rome in a number of battles, –including the two worst military defeats of its history, –the Battle of Lake Trasimene, and the Battle of Cannae. Roman allies in the south of Italy literally ran to Hannibal's side; –the whole of Sicily allied itself with the Carthaginians. –In addition, Philip V, who controlled most of the mainland of Greece, –began his own war against Roman possessions in 215 BC. The arrival of Hannibal’s army in Italy sparked off numerous rebellions against Roman rule

Fabian Strategy Eventually Rome appointed a dictator: –Quintus Fabius Maximus They relied on employing the strategy of avoiding direct conflict with Hannibal in Italy –Known as the Fabian Strategy Meanwhile, Hannibal was thwarted in his attempts to invade Rome. –He tried to incite revolt among the tribes of Italy, but most feared Rome's wrath should Carthage lose, –and they remained with Rome for the most part.

Fabian Strategy Publius Cornelius Scipio Rome eventually sent an army to Spain, and defeated the Carthiginian army there; that, coupled with a naval victories over Carthage in 211, cut off Hannibal's supply lines.

In 206, after Scipio drove the Carthaginians out of Spain, his troops invaded Africa. His sweep through northern Africa forced Hannibal to go home and defend Carthage. In 202, Scipio finally defeated Hannibal, at the Battle of Zama.

In 201, a treaty was signed, which was very punitive. Carthage had to surrender her navy, all territorial claims in Spain, and had to pay reparations in the amount of 10,000 talents over 50 years. 10,000 talents is worth about 150,000 year's wages

Death and Legacy Hannibal survived the Battle of Zama, Helped rebuild Carthage, but eventually had to run away. He fled from court to court offering his services to anyone who would fight Rome. Finally in 183 B.C. Romans found him in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and forced him to surrender. As they guarded him, he secretly took poison and ended his life. Hannibal shows the necessity of political goals being more important than military accomplishment.

Legacy –This was the defining historical experience of the Romans. They had faced certain defeat with toughness and determination and had won against overwhelming odds. –For the rest of Roman history, the character of being Roman would be distilled in the histories of this desperate war against Carthage. –The Second Punic War turned Rome from a regional power into an international empire: it had gained much of northern Africa, Spain, and the major islands in the western Mediterranean. –Because Philip V of Macedon had allied himself with Hannibal and started his own war of conquest, – the second Punic War forced Rome to turn east in wars of conquest against first Philip and then other Hellenistic kingdoms.

The Third Punic War: BC In the years intervening, Rome undertook the conquest of the Hellenistic empires to the east. –In the west, Rome brutally subjugated the Iberian people who had been so vital to Roman success in the second Punic War. –However, they were especially angry at the Carthaginians who had almost destroyed them. – The great statesman of Rome, Cato, is reported by the historians as ending all his speeches, no matter what their subject, with the statement, "I also think that Carthage should be destroyed."

Carthage Returns? –Carthage had, through the first half of the second century BC, recovered much of its prosperity through its commercial activities, although it had not gained back much power. –The Romans, deeply suspicious of a reviving Carthage, demanded that the Carthaginians abandon their city and move inland into North Africa. The Carthaginians refused They were a commercial people that depended on sea trade,

Rome Attacks –The Roman Senate declared war, and Rome attacked the city itself. –After a siege, the Romans stormed the town and the army went from house to house slaughtering the inhabitants in what is perhaps the greatest systematic execution of non-combatants before World War II. Carthaginians who weren't killed were sold into slavery. –The harbor and the city was demolished, and all the surrounding countryside was sown with salt in order to render it uninhabitable.

The end result of the Punic Wars… Was the domination of the known world… By the Romans