Why was the the first Punic war was fought over the island of Sicily?

Answer 1

Sicily was very important to Carthage, but it was not very important to Rome before the First Punic War (see below). Rome sent an army to Sicily to help the Mametines, mercenaries who had seized the city of Messana (Messina) in eastern Sicily, on the strait, just two miles from the mainland. They also forced the Greek city of Syracuse, in eastern Sicily, which was the most powerful city in the island, to become a Roman ally. This alarmed Carthage, which mobilised for war against Rome. At this point the war developed into a fight over Sicily. This is how thing developed and was not the result of pre-war aims. The Romans probably did not realise that they were going to let themselves in for 23 years of war.

Carthage had a large trading network around the western basin of the Mediterranean and also traded goods from this part of this sea to the eastern Mediterranean. Sicily was important to them because partly because of its strategic location. It lies between the western and eastern Mediterranean, which helps to control the routes between them. Tunisia, which is where Carthage was, also had a similar strategic position, but Sicily was further north and closer to Italy, southern France and the Balearic Islands. Carthage’s five ports in western Sicily (in eastern Sicily there were Greek city-states) also provided a link with Sardinia and Corsica, which belonged to Carthage. Moreover, Sicily had good agricultural land.

The importance of Sicily for the Romans at the outset of the war is not clear. The reasons for sending an army to Sicily are not clear either. In retrospect the clarity of Rome's alarm about Carthage and her allies in Sicily were well founded. Rome had never ceased to be an aggressive power in Italy. The success of Carthage ws a threat to Rome. Rome ended that threat in the first Punic War which lay seed for the second one when Hannibal began his campaign against Rome from his strong hold in Spain. Rome controlled central and southern Italy, including Calabria, which is next door and only two miles from Sicily. However, she did not have trading networks around the western Mediterranean, hardly had a navy to speak of and did not look beyond Italy. Therefore, Sicily did not have a great strategic importance for them at that time. We are told that the senate was reluctant to get involved in Sicily. Many senators did not want to intervene to help the Mamertine mercenaries because they had seized the city of Messana unlawfully and mistreated its population. The debate in the senate reached impasse. The matter was then passed to the vote of the assembly of the soldiers, which could vote on war and peace. It voted for war. We are not told clearly why. It has been speculated that the soldiers were keen on war booty or that commercial interests influenced the vote as Sicily had rich agricultural land. When Rome won the war it benefited from the island strategic position and her agricultural riches. By then it also had a large navy and she started to look beyond Italy.

Answer 2

rome is growing and wants the islands but carthage wants to remain in control of the mediterranean