Why was it important to the Romans to control the Mediterranean lands?

Answer 1

It was important to the Romans to control Mediterranean lands because, the more land they would rule and they would have more power. The Romans would also be able to build more monuments.

Although the empire grew out the conquests in the Mediterranean and Gaul, it is not that this happened because it was important for Rome to control the Mediterranean lands. It was a process that unfolded over time and was the product of a series of separate events, rather than a grand design of conquest.

Originally the Romans expanded into Italy. They then fought the First Punic War against the Carthaginians over the control of Sicily and as a result of the war also gained control of Sardinia and Corsica. This, apart from concerns about the Illyrians on the coast of the Adriatic Sea (next door to Italy), could have been the end of Roman expansion.

Things changed when Hannibal, a Carthaginian general, sparked the Second Punic War and attacked Italy from his power base in Spain. By winning this war, Rome gained control of the western basin of the Mediterranean. The conquest of Greece was the result of Rome getting drawn into the conflicts between Greek states, rather than a desire to conquer it. Western Turkey came under Roman control because it had Greek states who were Roman allies. These expansions were not part of a previous design, or a Roman decision to conquer the Mediterranean. It was the result of how things developed. By this time, Rome was the main power in the Mediterranean and did not necessarily need to conquer the whole of the lands around this sea to maintain hegemony.

Further expansion started when the king of Pontus, in northeast Turkey, started a war against Rome and tried to get the Greek states to rebel against Rome. This lead to the Mithridatic Wars which Rome won, taking over the rest of Turkey. Successive expansion was due to concerns about political instability in the lands near the new borders of the empire. Syria was decaying and was torn by civil war. The Romans annexed Syria to ensure political stability in the area. Civil war, this time among the Jews, was the reason for Roman intervention in Judaea. Rome sided with one faction and sieged Jerusalem to give power to her ally. Rome did not annex Judaea, but turned it into a client state.

Answer 2

The Roman Empire did not really grow out of a need to control the lands of the Mediterranean. It did not grow out of a grand design of conquest and expansion. It grew out of a chain of separate events and situations.

Rome fought three wars against Carthage. The first war developed into a fight over the control of Sicily. The second one was an attack on Rome, but its outcome and that of the third one was that Rome gained control of the western basin of the Mediterranean. The expansion into the eastern Mediterranean started with the annexation of mainland Greece which was due to political instability in Greece. This annexation aimed at ending this instability, which had drawn Rome into wars in the area to defend her Greek allies in wars between Greek states.

The expansion into Turkey started with the bequeath to Rome of a kingdom in western Turkey by its king. Three wars were waged against Rome by a king in eastern Turkey which Rome won. As a result Rome annexed parts of Turkey and set up client states in other parts. Concerns about political instability in Syria and Judea, which had become neighbours of the empire, led to the setting up of client states there as well.

Rome gained control of the Mediterranean as a result of various factors, such a wars waged again her, her being drawn into the squabbles of other peoples, and concerns about the instability of areas bordering the empire when Rome was already in control of the Mediterranean, even though she had not conquered the whole of it.

Apart for the First Punic War, the only other wars which were actually about establishing control over an area were the Three Illyrian wars on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea (next to Italy) after which, Rome established a protectorate in Dalmatia (the coastal part of Croatia). Rome wanted control of the Adriatic Sea to stop piracy from Dalmatia.

Answer 3

It was important to the Romans to control Mediterranean lands because, the more land they would rule and they would have more power. The Romans would also be able to build more monuments.

Although the empire grew out the conquests in the Mediterranean and Gaul, it is not that this happened because it was important for Rome to control the Mediterranean lands. It was a process that unfolded over time and was the product of a series of separate events, rather than a grand design of conquest.

Originally the Romans expanded into Italy. They then fought the First Punic War against the Carthaginians over the control of Sicily and as a result of the war also gained control of Sardinia and Corsica. This, apart from concerns about the Illyrians on the coast of the Adriatic Sea (next door to Italy), could have been the end of Roman expansion.

Things changed when Hannibal, a Carthaginian general, sparked the Second Punic War and attacked Italy from his power base in Spain. By winning this war, Rome gained control of the western basin of the Mediterranean. The conquest of Greece was the result of Rome getting drawn into the conflicts between Greek states, rather than a desire to conquer it. Western Turkey came under Roman control because it had Greek states who were Roman allies. These expansions were not part of a previous design, or a Roman decision to conquer the Mediterranean. It was the result of how things developed. By this time, Rome was the main power in the Mediterranean and did not necessarily need to conquer the whole of the lands around this sea to maintain hegemony.

Further expansion started when the king of Pontus, in northeast Turkey, started a war against Rome and tried to get the Greek states to rebel against Rome. This lead to the Mithridatic Wars which Rome won, taking over the rest of Turkey. Successive expansion was due to concerns about political instability in the lands near the new borders of the empire. Syria was decaying and was torn by civil war. The Romans annexed Syria to ensure political stability in the area. Civil war, this time among the Jews, was the reason for Roman intervention in Judaea. Rome sided with one faction and sieged Jerusalem to give power to her ally. Rome did not annex Judaea, but turned it into a client state.

Answer 4

Rome's expansion around the Mediterranean was not due to a desire to control the Mediterranean. It was due to a series of separate events and processes, rather than a design of conquest.

Rome fought three wars against Carthage. The first one was a dispute over Sicily between these two big powers of the western Mediterranean. The second one was a war of revenge against Rome by the Carthaginian general Hannibal and in the third one Rome wanted to destroy her rival. The result of these wars was Rome's control of the western Mediterranean, but this control was not the cause or reason for them. At that point, Rome was already the superpower in the Mediterranean.

Rome's annexation of Greece occurred because she had made alliances with some Greek states. She was dragged into four wars there because of pleas for help form her allies during disputes with other Greek states. Fed up with this situation of continuous troubles, Rome decided take over.

A king in western Turkey who was a Roman ally bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. This is how Rome reached Turkey. Rome then expanded into the rest of Turkey and into Syria because the king of Pontus, in northeaster Turkey, fought three wars against Rome, which Rome finally won with the result that she took over the mentioned areas.

After the second war with Carthage Rome was already the biggest power in the Mediterranean and she did bot need to worry about control over it. She was sucked into expansion in the eastern Mediterranean by events there.

Answer 5

The Roman Empire did not really grow out of a need to control the lands of the Mediterranean. It did not grow out of a grand design of conquest and expansion. It grew out of a chain of separate events and situations.

Rome fought three wars against Carthage. The first war developed into a fight over the control of Sicily. The second one was an attack on Rome, but its outcome and that of the third one was that Rome gained control of the western basin of the Mediterranean. The expansion into the eastern Mediterranean started with the annexation of mainland Greece which was due to political instability in Greece. This annexation aimed at ending this instability, which had drawn Rome into wars in the area to defend her Greek allies in wars between Greek states.

The expansion into Turkey started with the bequeath to Rome of a kingdom in western Turkey by its king. Three wars were waged against Rome by a king in eastern Turkey which Rome won. As a result Rome annexed parts of Turkey and set up client states in other parts. Concerns about political instability in Syria and Judea, which had become neighbours of the empire, led to the setting up of client states there as well.

Rome gained control of the Mediterranean as a result of various factors, such a wars waged again her, her being drawn into the squabbles of other peoples, and concerns about the instability of areas bordering the empire when Rome was already in control of the Mediterranean, even though she had not conquered the whole of it.

Apart for the First Punic War, the only other wars which were actually about establishing control over an area were the Three Illyrian wars on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea (next to Italy) after which, Rome established a protectorate in Dalmatia (the coastal part of Croatia). Rome wanted control of the Adriatic Sea to stop piracy from Dalmatia.