Why were the Carthaginians so successful in battle?

Answer 1

By becoming a naval power to match the Carthaginians, by developing superior land power, and by establishing allies.

Rome had already established allies when she expanded into Italy before the three Punic Wars with Carthage. She had forced the peoples she had defeated into military alliances in which they had to provide soldiers for the Romans at their own expense. This had boosted Rome's military power long before the mentioned wars.

In the Frist Punic war Rome, first the first time, built a large military fleet which matched the Carthaginian one in size, but not in quality of shipbuilding and skills of the rowers. Carthage and their Phoenician motherland had been a major naval power (both merchant and military) for a long time and their shipbuilding and naval skills were second to none. The Romans were inexperienced. What made the final difference was that when both the Carthaginian and Roman states were financially exhausted and could not afford a new fleet, rich Roman citizens paid for a new fleet. This fleet won the last naval battle and destroyed the last Carthaginian fleet. Rome had control of the sea and Carthage had to sue for peace.

In the Second Punic War the land power of Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, was actually far superior to that of the Romans. He fought a campaign in Italy and utterly routed the Roman armies in a number of battles, causing the death of hundreds of thousands of Roman and allied soldiers. What tipped the balance in favour of Rome were four main factors:

1) The Romans adopted a strategy of attrition which involved avoiding open battle and trying to wear Hannibal down by harassing his through guerrilla tactics. This caused Hannibal's war effort to get bogged down in southern Italy, far from Rome.

2) Hannibal had lost his siege machines when he crossed the Alps to reach Italy. Without this he could not attack Rome. His brother Hasdrubal tried to bring siege machines and reinforcements from Spain, but he was intercepted and his army was routed before he linked up with Hannibal. Not receiving the siege machines was the beginning of the end for Hannibal.

3) At this point the Carthaginian senate refused to support Hannibal and to send him supplies or reinforcements. Many people in Carthage were against the war.

4) The Romans found in Scipio Africanus a general who could match Hannibal's military genius. He defeated the Carthaginians in Spain in the battle of Ilipa. Spain fell under the Romans, depriving the Carthaginians with their main source of wealth (from silver mines) and with the supply of the bulk of their soldiers (who were recruited in Spain) and meant that Hannibal could not receive help from Spain. Scipio Africanus then landed in Africa to attack Carthage and defeated Hannibal in the battle of Zama.

In the Third Punic War Rome declared war to destroy Carthage. Carthage had been demilitarised under the terms of the peace treaty. When Carthage finished to pay the war indemnities after 50 years, she considered herself free from the treaty and raised an army to fight the raids by the neighbouring Numidian kingdom. Rome was worried about a resurgence of Carthaginian military power. It was easy for Rome to defeat and destroy Carthage because she had lost all her possessions in the western Mediterranean and she was confined to her original lands in northern Tunisia

Answer 2

They were well-led and hired th best mercenaries to fight for them.

Answer 3

They fought three wars over a 120 year period and lost all three.

Answer 4

They ambushed the Roman force which was not properly deployed for battle.