Punic Wars

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.

After 212 CE, Roman citizens.

Before then, they retained their own citizenship or tribal membership. Their cities/tribes were incorporated in either a Roman Province or a Tributary Kingdom.

Hannibal crossed the alps

Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

A land power, Rome established a navy to match Carthages'.

The Roman fleet matched that of Carthage in size, but not in quality of shipbuilding and skills of rowers. The Romans built a large fleet for the first time and they were inexperienced. Carthage had long been one of the naval powers in the Mediterranean. What finally tipped the balance was that:

1) when both the Carthaginian and Roman sates were financially exhausted and could not build another fleet to continue the war, the wealthy Roman citizens raised the money to build a fleet. The wealthy in Carthage did not. This fleet won the final naval battle (the battle of the Aegate islands). This gave Rome control of the seas and the Carthaginians had to negotiate peace.

2) the Roman commander in this battle did away with the corvus. This was a bridge which was used to board the enemy ships. It was built to make up for the inability of inexperienced rowers to make the complicated manoeuvre for ramming enemy ships, the standard tactics of the time. It worked at the beginning, but it made the ships top heavy and less manoeuvrable. It is thought that it was because of this that many Roman ships were lost in storms. In this battle, getting rid of the corvus and of sails made the Roman ships as nimble as those of Carthage.

The Carthaginians did sail across the Mediterranean during the Second Punic War. They conducted raids on the coasts of Sicily and Sardinia. The carried out an expedition which landed at Genoa in northern Italy. The reasons why their naval operations were limited were that by then the Roman navy was more powerful than the Carthaginian one (It won all engagements) and that the base of Hannibal's war was southern Spain, not Carthage. There were also people in Carthage who disapproved of Hannibal's actions and this reduced the support he received from Carthage.

Rome against Carthage, on the island of Sicily

America was at that time populated by tribes if indians who were unaware of the existence of Rome and Carthage, and thos two states were unaware of the existence of the American continents to the west.

Hannibal did not go directly to Rome from Carthage, which was in Tunisia. He went via Spain, and crossed the Alps to get to Italy.