Punic Wars

Scipio Africanus was born on June 20, 236 BC.

In the second war, Hannibal, a Carthaginian general, successfully invaded Italy by leading an army - complete with elephants - across the Alps.

His brother also was in the invasion.

The power and wealth which imperial expansion created led to corruption. This expansion had not been planned and the government was ill equipped to dealt with the changes it brought about. The governors of the provinces (conquered territories) acted as if their provinces were personal fiefs. Tax collection in the provinces was tendered to private individuals who "farmed" the taxes through extortion to line their pockets.

Wealth was only one of the problems. Another problem were reforms of the army which led military commanders being able to raise armies which were loyal to them. Some of these men could use military violence or the threat of it to obtain what they wanted. Others used their armies to fight civil wars.

Another problem was poverty, which reached such levels that it became a political hot potato. One of the reasons for the civil wars was the conflict between populares and optimates. The former was a political faction which championed the cause of the poor and wanted reforms to help them. The latter was a faction which favoured the aristocracy and was opposed to the reforms.

After winning the Wars, Rome was strong enough to turn east into Greek territories.

The first Punic war, like all the Punic wars, were between Rome and Carthage.

Unlike the previous battles of the second Punic War, where the Carthaginian cavalry greatly outnumbered the Roman cavalry (it made up 2/3 of Carthaginian army while the Roman cavalry accounted for only 1/3) at Zama the Roman cavalry was larger (6,000 versus 4,000). Scipio Africanus (the Roman commander) had the support of the Numidian cavalry (from Algeria, next door to Carthage) which defected from the Carthaginians to the Romans.

Scipio Africanus arranged gaps between the lines of its heavy infantry which acted as lanes through which the Carthaginian war elephants could pass without harming the Roman soldiers and had them hidden with the light infantry. Hannibal set his elephants and light infantry against the Romans. Scipio ordered his cavalry to blow horns to frighten the elephants. Some of them turned back towards the Carthaginian left wing and threw it into disarray. Scipio got his cavalry to attack this wing. The other elephants were directed towards the gaps and were taken to the rear of the Roman infantry, which then closed its ranks.

The Carthaginian cavalry lured the Roman cavalry into chasing them to take them away from the battlefield so that they would not attack the Carthaginian rear. The Roman left wing attacked the Carthaginian right wing and Scipio marched the centre towards the Carthaginian one. Hannibal kept his third line (composed of veterans from the campaign in Italy) as reserve. The Romans first and second line had the better over their Carthaginian equivalents. There was a pause and both armies regrouped. Scipio, who was waiting for the return of his cavalry, delayed the resumption of the battle. When it resumed it was a stalemate. However, in the meantime the Roman cavalry had routed the Carthaginian one. Then it returned to the battle and attacked the rear of the Carthaginian infantry, which was encircled and slaughtered. 20,000 Carthaginians died and 20,000 were taken as prisoners. The Romans only lost 2,500 men.

A land based power, Rome had to develop a navy to match Carthage's.

Control of the Western Mediterranean; control of the Western Mediterranean.

The flash-point of the Second Punic War was Spain. Hannibal was the leader of the Carthaginian territories in Spain which belonged to his family. He seized a city in Spain which was an ally of Rome. Rome tried to negotiate, but these failed and she declared war. The war was expected to be fought in Spain. Rome sent a naval expedition to Spain. The surprise was threefold:

1) The Romans did not expect Hannibal to attack Italy.

1) The speed of the march was astonishing. By the time the Roman fleet reached Massalia (Marseilles) for a stopover, Hannibal had already reached southeastern France.

2) Nobody thought that it was possible to cross the Alps with an army in the winter.

There were three Punic wars

In the first Punic war mercenaries called the Mamertines seized the city of Messana (modern day Messina) in eastern Sicily. The Greek city of Syracuse, also on the east coast, the most powerful city in Sicily, attacked the Mamertines. These asked both Carthage (which has 5 ports in western Sicily) and Rome for help. Carthage decided to help, but set up a garrison in Messana. The Mamertines, unhappy with this, asked Rome for help again. The Roman senate did not want to intervene, but the popular assembly voted for war. The reason for this vote is not clear. Historians have speculated about this. Rome landed in Messana, expelled the Carthaginian garrison and then besieged Syracuse which became an ally of Rome. After this Carthage mobilised for war and a big war developed, fought mainly at sea. It is quite clear that the Romans did not realise the implications of their intervention and that they were let ting themselves in for. The war developed into a struggle over the control of Sicily, but this cannot be said to be the original cause of the war.

Before the First Punic War Rome hardly had a fleet and was hardly involved in trade around the Mediterranean.

The Second Punic War has also been called the Hannibalistic war. Hannibal wanted war for revenge for the defeat in the first war and for Rome seizing Corsica and Sardinia taking advantage of a military rebellion in Carthage after the war. Hannibal provoked the war and wanted to attack Rome. He marched an army from his base in Spain to invade Italy. However, he could not attack Rome because he lost his siege machines while crossing the Alps.

Rome started the Third Punic War because she wanted to destroy Rome. In the previous war Rome won, took the Carthaginian territories in southern Spain and imposed demilitarisation in the peace treaty. After finishing paying the 50-year war indemnity, Carthage considered herself free from the peace treaty and formed an army to respond to attacks from her neighbours in Algeria. Rome used this to declare war. Rome was worried about a possible military resurgence of this once formidable ally.

Almost 14 years : Battle of Cannae - August 2, 216 BC / Battle of Zama - October 19, 202 BC .

the amountn punic wars that rome won was 4.

The Second Punic War took place in Italy, Spain, Tunisia and eastern Algeria.

Hannibal invaded Italy. The Romans conducted two campaigns in Spain, where the Carthaginians had territories in the south. They did so because the war was sparked by Hannibal capturing a Spanish town which was a Roman ally. Rome had to fight in Spain because she was supposed to defend her allies there. Towards the end the Romans took the war to Tunisia because that is where Carthage was. There were also operations in eastern Algeria to pursue a Carthaginian ally from that area.

Nothing happened to the city of Rome itself, given that the Third Punic War happened entirely in North Africa. The Roman Republic, on the other hand, grew larger with the destruction of the city of Carthage, and the subsequent annexation of the surrounding territories. The Third Punic war also eventually led the Romans to use modern-day Tunisia and Libya as their major grain-producing regions

Rome struggled with Carthage for hegemony in the eastern Mediterranean . Rome prevailed .

The Second Punic War lasted from 218 BC to 202 BC.

Hannibal's use of war elephants was not an innovation. The Carthaginians had already used against the Romans in the in the battles in Africa of the First Punic War (264-241 BC). Pyrrhus, the Greek king of Epirus was the first to deploy elephants against the Romans in 280 BC during his attempt to invade southern Italy.

The use of war elephants started in India in the 4th century BC. The Persians adopted the idea and used them in a battle against Alexander the Great in 330 BC. Alexander and his successors also made use of them. Then the Greek rulers of Egypt, the Carthaginians and the Numidians in North Africa also adopted war elephants. They used African elephants which are smaller than the Indian ones.

The Battle of Zama .

The three Punic Wars spread over 120 years during which the strengths of the participants and their allies changed dramatically on land and sea. To get an answer that makes any sense, you will have to specify times and places.

Rome's supremacy in the Western Mediterranean and a springboard to the Eastern Mediterannean.

The Plebs were all Romans who were not in the few hundred Particians - including some very rich and powerful elements. So the effect varied - some got richer and some poorer. The major effect was that some rich Plebs and Patricians took advantage of the absence of the small landholding citizens (who formed the army) on military duty to takeover (steal in effect) the common land when they were away for extended periods. This left their farms unviable as the common land provided forage for their plough oxen and other supplementary food products.

In addition the slaves generated from Carthage's defeats meant that they displaced free labourers, leaving the poorer Plebs even more superseded - big land holdings worked by slaves left little scope for small farmers.

This situation brought the counter-moves by the Gracchi brothers - Tiberius and Gaius, both murdered - to restore their position as the backbone of the state and the army. This laid the foundations of the civil wars which followed over the next century.

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.

It provides interesting reading for those interested in history.

That depends if you mean during the Punic wars or between them . During the Punic wars Rome conquered Southern Spain, Sicily, Northwestern Africa, and Carthage it self. Between the wars Rome gained Sardinia and Corsica by annexing them, Rome also gained control over Cisalpine Gaul by means of military conquest.

Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of Punic War #3. They enslaved much of the population and plowed salt around the city's perimeter as a symbol that the city would never be a major threat again.

Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of Punic War #3. They enslaved much of the population and plowed salt around the city's perimeter as a symbol that the city would never be a major threat again.

Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of Punic War #3. They enslaved much of the population and plowed salt around the city's perimeter as a symbol that the city would never be a major threat again.

Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of Punic War #3. They enslaved much of the population and plowed salt around the city's perimeter as a symbol that the city would never be a major threat again.

Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of Punic War #3. They enslaved much of the population and plowed salt around the city's perimeter as a symbol that the city would never be a major threat again.

Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of Punic War #3. They enslaved much of the population and plowed salt around the city's perimeter as a symbol that the city would never be a major threat again.

Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of Punic War #3. They enslaved much of the population and plowed salt around the city's perimeter as a symbol that the city would never be a major threat again.

Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of Punic War #3. They enslaved much of the population and plowed salt around the city's perimeter as a symbol that the city would never be a major threat again.

Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of Punic War #3. They enslaved much of the population and plowed salt around the city's perimeter as a symbol that the city would never be a major threat again.