Ancient History/Rome/Punic Wars

In the late-third and early-second century BCE, the Republic fought a series of wars against Carthage; initially a fight between two Mediterranean superpowers, the wars would culminate in Roman hegemony of the Western Mediterranean, and result in the end of the Carthaginian Empire, the city of Carthage itself finally being destroyed at the end of the Punic Wars in 146 BCE. The wars were vast in scale and significantly impacted every part of Roman society, the Second Punic War lingering as the last time the city of Rome would be threatened by a non-Roman military until the 5th century CE.

Roman-Carthaginian Relations

Before the outbreak of the First Punic War, the Romans and Carthaginians maintained diplomatic relations characterized by a mutual distrust. The Romans, fearing that the Carthaginians, whose empire dominated the coasts of Spain and had control of land up to Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily, would take land in Italy, frequently stipulated that the Carthaginians were not to take any land on the Italian Peninsula.^[1] The Roman capture of much of the coastal area of Italy and the construction of a small fleet of warships to patrol the peninsula's coast were likely decisions made in response to that fear.^[1]

Carthage Before the War

The power in Carthage was held chiefly by a merchant aristocracy, helmed by two elected leaders not unlike the Roman consuls, but who notably did not wield military power, that being delegated instead to separate generals. Carthage itself was originally a colony of the Phoenicians; for this reason, despite the fact that they had become an empire in their own right long before the time of their diplomacy with the Romans, the Romans referred to the Carthaginians as Phoenicians, or Punicus in Latin. This Punic Heritage is what gives the Punic Wars their name.

According to Polybius, a Greek historian, at the outset of the war, the Carthaginian navy was superior to the Roman one, whereas their tradition of land military was very weak, and they instead relied upon mercenaries for that aspect of conflict. ^[2] Generally, most sources about the Punic Wars tend to reflect non-Carthaginian perspective, since most Carthaginian sources will have been destroyed by the end of this chapter.

↑ ^a ^b Cary, M.; Scullard, H. H. (1975). A history of Rome down to the reign of Constantine (3rd ed ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-17440-1. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
↑ Hood, David (1970). The Rise of Rome: How to Explain It. D.C. Heath and Company. pp. 13–22.

[:0-1] Cary, M.; Scullard, H. H. (1975). A history of Rome down to the reign of Constantine (3rd ed ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-17440-1. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

[2] Hood, David (1970). The Rise of Rome: How to Explain It. D.C. Heath and Company. pp. 13–22.

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