How did the victory in the punic wars change roman society?

Answer 1

The Punic Wars took place between the years of 264 and 146 BC. The name chosen comes from the Latin word Punici, the Roman name for Carthaginians. These wars had a tremendous impact on world history, especially the Roman society. After the Punic Wars, the Roman Republic grew. It expanded into many provinces, and far away lands.

Answer 2

Because the Romans won the Punic Wars against Carthage, their empire remained at the top of the "Mediterranean food chain". If Rome had lost, Carthage and other city-states in the Mediterranean would have fought for power and the Roman Empire would not have been in the position of power and control that it was. Because the Romans won, they established almost total control over the Mediterranean, controlling the lesser city-states and forming itself into the greatest empire our world has seen.

Addition:

Rome's army was based on farmers, who lost out badly from the wars - they were away from their land and unable to stop the encroachment of the rich landowner into the common land, on which they depended to feed their plough oxen, and to provide other products on which they depended. Also, the Carthaginians and others, sold into slavery, provided abundant cheap labour for the rich farmers and their expanded land holdings, out-competing the small-farmers.

Much of the Roman farming class went into recession and had to move to the cities. This led to the Gracchi brothers trying to reverse this trend which began conflict leading to the Civil Wars. Then, to meet the Germanic invasion, it became necessary to recruit the unpropertied classs into the army, and as they had no farms to go back to, they relied on their generals to provide them with land, giving the (rich propertied) generals a power base which added to the pressures leading to civil war.

Answer 3

Further expansion led to the downfall of the republic as it became unable to control the empire. The provinces became power bases for their governors who acted independently of Rome. The professional soldiers had became loyal to their commanders who could use army units to pursue their political goals. With a weak central government corruption went out of control both in Rome and in the provinces. This also created popular dissatisfaction with the governing senatorial oligarchy. These factors were the background of the civil wars which led to the end of the republic.

In the long run further expansion helped to alleviate poverty in the city of Rome. After the second Punic wars Roman and Italian soldiers, who were small peasants, lost their farms because prolonged military service had led to their neglect or because they had been ravaged during the war. Masses of these people migrated to Rome to eke out a living. This led to the need for creating Roman colonies (settlements) to give land to the landless. Gaius Sempronius Graccus established a colony in Carthage in 122 BC.

The Marian reform of the army eliminated property qualifications to join the army and created a professional army. The poor flocked to the army, got a career and a pay and would get either a lump sum of a plot of land when discharged. This land was provided by the creation of Roman colonies around the newly conquered areas of the empire. The first one to give land to the veterans was Sulla, who settled them near Pompeii. Julius Caesar refounded Carthage as a Roman city, which over time became one of the largest cities in the empire, and created a colony in Gaul. The emperors created many colonies in many imperial provinces.

Answer 4

Rome was a single city. It had other cities as allies.

The Roman army was recruited from its farming class. While they were away during the wars, the large landowners took over the common land on which the farmers depended. They also took on slaves arising from the war as agricultural labourers, displacing Romans. This class was badly damaged by this, and eventually non-propertied men became the backbone of the army. These became reliant on their generals who gathered influence from these clients. All this was a major element leading to the civil wars.

Answer 5

The farming class had become depleted by the wars, and the unpropertied class became the backbone of the army. After service, they had no farm to return to and looked to their generals to get them land, giving the generals a large client base which they used to further their political ambitions, leading to the Civil Wars.