What happened during the Roman Punic Wars?

Answer 1

During the first Punic war, the ultimate goal was to get the Carthaginians out of Sicily. The Romans tried overtaking them town by town but this proved too difficult, so the Romans decided to cut off their supplies from Africa by sea. Since the Carthaginians were much better sailors than Romans, the Romans devised a device called a corvus to turn sea battles in land battles, where they had the advantage. In 256BC Roman decide to invade the Carthaginian homeland in Africa but do not manage to defeat the Carthaginians before the end of the campaigning season. In the meantime, the Carthaginians hire a Spartan general to train their army and they crush the Roman in the spring. After this, many Roman troops and much of the Roman fleet are lost in storms at sea, but the Romans rebuild and attack the Carthaginian with their new fleet in 242BC. The Carthaginians are caught unawares and are decisively defeated and forced to leave Sicily.

Answer 2

The first part of this war trilogy lasted 23 years involving ancient Rome and Carthage, the two Mediterranean super powers of their time. After grueling battles, the Roman Republic emerged as victor and forced their opponent to adhere to strict treaty conditions and heavy financial penalties.

Answer 3

Rome defeated Carthage, disarmed it, and laid a heavy 50-year indemnity on Carthage designed to parylise it for two generations.

Being exceptionally good traders, Carthage offered to pay the indemnity off after 10 years, raising Rome's fears and desire to exterminate the risk forever, achieved in the Third Punic War.

Answer 4

A lot happened in the First and Second Punic War, which lasted 23 years and 18 years respectively.

The first Punic War was fought in Sicily. Due to the rough terrain of the island, the war quickly turned from a land war to a mainly naval war, though land battles were still fought. Rome did not have a navy to speak of and built her first large navy. Her inexperienced sailors were not a match for the highly skilled ones of Carthage. Thus, the Romans equipped their ships with the corvus, a boarding bridge with a heavy spike at the bottom, to make up for her disadvantage. Instead of the complicated manoeuvre of heading the front of the ship towards the side of enemy ship to ram it, the Romans could flank it, pin it to the corvus and board it, which was easier. This proved successful and the Romans won most naval battles. After some naval victories off Sicily, Rome sent an expedition to Tunisia, Carthage's territory, but this front was inconclusive.

A storm destroyed most of the ships which were bringing back the soldiers. Carthage won the next naval battle. However, the war continued to be long stalemate. The Roman state could not build a new fleet. Therefore, the roman rich financed it. Meanwhile, the peace faction in Carthage has demobilised her fleet. When Carthage heard of Rome's new fleet, she quickly built new ships to ensure numerical superiority. However, this fleet was undermanned, the sailors were poorly trained and the ships were laden with supplies and reinforcements for the army in Sicily. It was a poor fighting force. It was defeated by the new roman fleet. This was the last battle of the war. Carthage had run out of ships to supply her army in Sicily. She recalled this army and sued for peace. The war had dragged on for too long.

In the second Punic war Hannibal provoked the war and invaded Italy from Spain, but could not attack Rome because he lost his siege machines while crossing the Alps in the winter. Instead, after routing the Roman armies twice, he moved on to southern Italy. He had been joined the recently conquered Gauls of northern Italy who had rebelled against Rome and joined him, more than doubling the size of his army. He routed the Romans a third time in the south. After this many of Rome's Italian allies in the south went over to him. Hannibal's limited expeditionary force needed Rome's Italian allies to join him to enlarge his army as the combined manpower of Rome and her Italian allies was far superior in numbers. However, he failed to make gain of allies in the south decisive. He established his base at Italy's second largest city, Capua (near Naples and nearer Rome) which went over to him. However, he failed to seize or retain two local key strategic towns, armies bringing reinforcements form further south were routed twice, and the Romans besieged Capua. Hannibal had to leave the area and move further south. Meanwhile, three Roman armies were heading south to retake it and Hannibal was not able to stop them.

Hannibal needed reinforcements. His tactics had turned more defensive as he had lost many of his best infantry and half of his cavalry. His brother Hasdrubal brought reinforcements and siege machines from Spain. However, he was intercepted and routed in central Italy before he reached Hannibal. Hannibal's campaign came to a dead end. He withdrew to the easily defensible mountain of Calabria (the toe of Italy) and was stuck there for the last four years of his Italian Campaign.

Meanwhile there was war in Spain as well. The Romans fought an unsuccessful first campaign. In their second campaign the Carthaginians were defeated in southern Spain. Carthage lost her territories there to Rome. This meant that Hannibal could no longer been sent supplies and reinforcements from Spain and that Carthage lost her main source of wealth: the Spanish silver mines. After taking Spain, Rome sent a force to Tunisia, Carthage's territory. Hannibal was recalled to fight there. He was defeated in the last battle of the war.

Answer 5

The three Punic Wars cemented Rome's hegemony over the Mediterranean world by defeating the rival city/state of Carthage. The First Punic War curbed Carthage's expansion into territory that was considered within the Roman sphere of influence. The Second Punic War forced Carthage into a position of subservience to Rome. The Third Punic War wiped Carthage off the face of the earth. The walls were pulled down; the city was burned, the survivors were sold into slavery, and the land was sowed with salt so that crops would not grow there for a generation, as traditionally happened at ancient Troy. When Carthage was repopulated, it was by Romans and Roman allies. At which time, Carthage became, along with Egypt, the source of grain for the City of Rome and much of the Empire.

Answer 6

The three wars spanning 120 years between Rome and Carthage ended with Rome winning all three, and gaining control of the Western Mediterranean.