After securing aid from Rome, the exiled mercenaries then regained authority on the island. The specter of another huge Carthaginian army in Italy was terrifying, and the Romans knew they needed to cut off Hasdrubal's reinforcements at all costs. Lazenby, author of The First Punic War, "To Rome, wars ended when the Republic dictated its terms to a defeated enemy; to Carthage, wars ended with a negotiated settlement." The Carthaginians were famed for their abilities as sailors, and unlike their armies, many Carthaginians from the lower classes served in their navy, which provided them with a stable income and career. In the Battle of the Metaurus River in 207 B.C.E., the Roman commander Gaius Claudius Nero had about 700 of his best soldiers distract Hasdrubal while he himself rounded the river to strike the rear flank of Hasdrubal's army. the three wars waged by Rome against Carthage, 264–241, 218–201, and 149–146 b.c., resulting in the destruction of Carthage and the annexation of its territory by Rome. He maintained this post for some eight years until 221 B.C.E. Carthage had evacuated Sicily, after some 500 years on parts of it, and was now forced to pay Rome a considerable war indemnity. The Third Punic War (149 B.C.E.-146 B.C.E.) Eventually, the war was taken to Africa, where Carthage was defeated at the Battle of Zama by Scipio Africanus. The 2nd Punic War began with the Carthaginian General Hannibal lauching a surprise attack on Roman from the north, by taking his army north through Spain. The war was fought entirely within Carthaginian territory, in … https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Punic_Wars&oldid=1020834, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. At the start of the first Punic War, Carthage was the dominant power of the Western Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire, while Rome was the rapidly ascending power in Italy. The term "Punic" comes from the Latin word Punicus (or Poenicus).This was the word the Romans used for the Carthaginians, due to their Phoenician ancestry.. Hamilcar ultimately left Carthage for the Iberian peninsula where he captured rich silver mines and subdued many tribes who fortified his army with levies of native troops. In the end it allowed him to defeat the Romans in the field, but not in the strategically crucial city of Rome itself, thus making him unable to win the war. Punic Wars, also called Carthaginian Wars, (264–146 bce), a series of three wars between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian (Punic) empire, resulting in the destruction of Carthage, the enslavement of its population, and Roman hegemony over the western Mediterranean… The struggle was costly to both powers, but after more than 20 years of war, Rome emerged victorious, at last conquering the island of Sicily and forcing the defeated Carthage to pay a massive tribute. Gades played a minor role in this field, but Hannibal visited the local temple to conduct ceremonies before launching his campaign against Rome. In 241 B.C.E., Carthage signed a peace treaty ceding to Rome total control of Sicily. And even once you get to grips with some of the more unusual mechanics, certain … With no military, Carthage suffered raids from its neighbor Numidia. New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article Carthage was a seafaring, commercial city, while Rome was slowly consolidating into a … Campaigns in Sicily and Spain Concurrently with the great struggle in Italy the Second Punic War was fought out on several other fields. And they have left to the world the legacy of one of the legendary war heroes. Soon the Romans became aware of a burgeoning alliance between Carthage and the Celts of the Po river valley in northern Italy. This forced Carthage to begin paying a series of debts to Rome that would drain the coffers of Carthage while also allowing Rome to acquire more territories and strength. In Hispania, a young Roman commander, Publius Cornelius Scipio (later to be given the agnomen Africanus because of his feats during this war), eventually defeated the Carthaginian forces under Hasdrubal. The First Punic War was fought from 264-241 BCE. He led a large army of mercenaries composed mainly of Hispanics, three dozen African through the Alps. Nonetheless, they asked Carthage to hand Hannibal over, and when the Carthaginian oligarchy refused, Rome declared war on Carthage. The loss of this war spelled the end for the Punic and Carthaginian culture as they were unable to acquire enough resources in the Second Punic War to really finish the fight. However, most of the officers who commanded the armies were Carthaginian citizens. The loss of the First Punic War led directly to the general Hannibal Barca invading Roman territory during the Second Punic War. Founded by the Phoenicians in the middle of the ninth century B.C.E., it was a powerful city-state with a large and lucrative commercial empire. Meanwhile in Hispania, Scipio captured the local Carthaginian cities and made alliances with local rulers. Scipio Africanus Goes to North Africa 204 BC. Fought between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century BC during the height of the Hellenistic Period, the Punic Wars saw the clash between the two superpowers of the western Mediterranean and the deciding of the fate for control over the vitally important trade routes. Through Hannibal's inability to take strategically important Italian cities, the general loyalty Italian allies showed to Rome, and Rome's own inability to counter Hannibal as a master general, Hannibal's campaign continued in Italy inconclusively for sixteen years. After Hamilcar's [sic—Hasdrubal's] assassination his young sons took over, with Hannibal becoming the strategus of Iberia, although this decision was not undisputed in Carthage. After assaulting Saguntum, Hannibal surprised the Romans in 218 B.C.E. Carthage sued for peace, and Rome agreed, but only after imposing harsh terms, stripping Carthage of its foreign colonies, forcing it to pay a huge indemnity, and forbidding it to own either an impressive army or a significant navy again. Of the great city-states in the western Mediterranean, only Rome rivaled it in power, wealth, and population. Because they knew that they could not outmaneuver the Carthaginians in the traditional tactics of ramming and sinking enemy ships, the Romans added an "assault bridge" to Roman ships, known as a corvus. This lack of reinforcements prevented Hannibal from decisively ending the conflict by conquering Rome through force of arms. When Rome and Carthage made peace in 241 B.C.E., Rome secured the release of all 8,000 prisoners of war without ransom and, furthermore, received a considerable amount of silver as a war indemnity. The Barcid Empire was strongly influenced by the Hellenic Empires of the Mediterranean and for example, contrary to Carthage, it minted many coins in its short time of existence.[4]. The name Punic comes from the word Carthaginian in Latin. Carthage seems to have had a liquidity problem and an attempt to gain financial help from Egypt, a mutual ally of Rome and Carthage, failed. This bridge would latch onto enemy vessels, bring them to a standstill. Eventually, Rome annexed Corsica and Sardinia by revisiting the terms of the treaty that ended the first Punic War. With Hispania essentially pacified, Scipio then turned to invade Carthage itself. Hannibal did not cross the Ebro River (Saguntum was near modern Valencia—well south of the river) in arms, and the Saguntines provoked his attack by attacking their neighboring tribes who were Carthaginian protectorates and by massacring pro-Punic factions in their city. This new-found Punic militarism alarmed many Romans, including Cato the Elder who after a voyage to Carthage, ended all his speeches, no matter what the topic, by saying: "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam"—"Furthermore, I think that Carthage must be destroyed.". involved an extended siege of Carthage, ending in the city's thorough destruction. Through a minor proxy war involving Italian mercenaries on Sicily, eventually the Punic Wars were set off which resulted in the final collapse of the Carthaginian culture and the decimation of their capital city and attempted erasure from history. Thus, Hannibal took the Romans by surprise a scant two years later (218 B.C.E.) Hamilcar had led the initial Carthaginian peace negotiations and was blamed for the clause that allowed the Roman popular assembly to increase the war indemnity and annex Corsica and Sardinia, but his superlative generalship was instrumental in enabling Carthage to ultimately quell the mercenary uprising, ironically fought against many of the same mercenary troops he had trained. The First Punic War: 264-241 BC: The three wars between Rome and Carthage span more than a century (264-146 BC). Rome and Carthage were vying for control of the Mediterranean Sea. Hannibal attacked the town of Saguntum, which stood under the special protection of Rome. At first the Rome and Carthage were at peace through a series of trading and treaties. The Second Punic War - This campaign lasts from 218BC-201BC it also uses a 4tpy script. The two polities was the growing Roman republic and the African commercial city of Carthage. The wealth and influence of Carthage was not minded by Rome at first. The Iberian conquest was begun by Hamilcar Barca and his other son-in-law, Hasdrubal the Fair, who ruled the relatively independent of Carthage and signed the Ebro-treaty with Rome. At the beginning of the war, Hannibal had a lot of success defeating the armies of Rome, including in a battle where Rome lost 40,000 soldiers. The Start of the Second Punic War 218 BC. Posted on August 14, 2020 by MSW. Not only were they contending with Hannibal in Italy, and his brother Hasdrubal in Hispania, but Rome had embroiled itself in yet another foreign war, the first of its Macedonian wars against Carthage's ally Philip V, at the same time. Alarmed by this, the armies surrounding Capua go to Rome, where they are slaughtered by Hannibal. The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage between 264 and 146 BC, and were probably the largest wars yet of the ancient world. However, Carthage refused to deliver to Rome the Roman deserters serving among their troops. The … They are known as the Punic Wars because the Latin term for Carthaginian was Punici (older Poenici, from their Phoenician ancestry). The second Punic War was fought over a perceived threat to Roman power. These wars involved the Romans and Carthaginians. With the destruction of this great city the Phoenician culture was scattered among the remaining small settlements that existed around the Mediterranean. At the end of the First Punic War, Rome won a new province, Sicily, and began to look further. Having previously relied on mercenaries to fight their wars for them, the Carthaginians were now forced into a more active role in the defense of their city. Arruntius, who wrote the history of the Punic Wars, painfully laboured to imitate Sallust. He therefore enlisted superior cavalry into his armies, with devastating effect on the Roman legions. By the end of the Punic Wars it was an impotent relic of a vanquished popular control. The Romans had a great army. In addition to transforming Rome's role in the classical age, it also meant that the civilization of the ancient Mediterranean passed to the modern world via Europe instead of Africa. eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'newworldencyclopedia_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_3',167,'0','0']));eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'newworldencyclopedia_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_4',167,'0','1']));eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'newworldencyclopedia_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_5',167,'0','2'])); Hannibal was a master strategist who knew that the Roman cavalry was, as a rule, weak and vulnerable. With the two powers now embroiled in a local conflict, tensions quickly escalated into a full-scale war between Carthage and Rome for the control of Sicily. The way in which the Punic wars ended represents a major turning point in human history. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. In 264 B.C. The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC. The First Macedonian War (215–205) broke out when King Philip V pressed his ambitions in Illyria after he perceived a weakening of Roman power in the wake of Cannae. The Punic Wars were some of the biggest wars of the Hellenistic period. A cursory manual, a poor tutorial, terrible animations, weak voiceovers and an unsightly interface immediately count against it. At the final Battle of Zama in 202 B.C.E. Unlike Carthage, Rome had large standing armies made up almost entirely of Roman citizens. Rome's legal system continues to form the basis of law in the modern world. Rome responded by drastically expanding its navy in a very short time. Despite his many pleas, Carthage only ever sent reinforcements successfully to Hispania. This innovative Roman tactic reduced the Carthaginian navy's advantage in ship-to-ship engagements, and allowed Rome's superior infantry to be brought to bear in naval conflicts. When the Carthaginians refused this last demand, Rome declared the Third Punic War. Arguably, the Punic Wars transformed Rome from a regional to an international power. There were three Punic Wars that spanned from 264 to 146 B.C. Hannibal's army, made up of about 46,000 men, and included 37 battle elephants . Fought between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century BC during the height of the Hellenistic Period, the Punic Wars saw the clash between the two superpowers of the western Mediterranean and the deciding of the fate for control over the vitally important trade routes. is most remembered for the Carthaginian Hannibal's crossing of the Alps. The lower class, or plebians, usually served as the foot-soldiers in Roman legions, while the upper class, or patricians, served as the commanding officers. The Punic Wars were fought between 264 BCE and 146 BCE. The Third Punic War saw the complete and utter decimation of the city of Carthage, much like that of Tyre before. At the time Sicily was controlled by Carthage. ), bringing Hannibal to the fore. The Punic Wars were a series of conflicts fought between Rome and Carthage between 264 and 146 BC. The output of the Iberian silver mines allowed for the financing of a standing army and the payment of the war indemnity to Rome. This resulted in delay of payments owed to the mercenary troops that had served Carthage in Sicily, leading to a climate of mutual mistrust and, finally, a revolt supported by the Lybian natives, known as the Mercenary War (240-238 B.C.E.). Rome's attention was mostly concentrated on the Illyrian Wars. On the other hand he was responsible for the greatest territorial expansion of Carthage's hinterland during his rule as strategus and wanted to continue such expansion. The effect of the long war destabilized Carthage so much that Rome was able to seize Sardinia and Corsica a few years later when Carthage was plunged into the Mercenary War. Punic Wars were three major military confrontations between the two great empires of the Ancient World, Rome and Carthage. According to the historian Pedro Barceló, it can be described as a private military-economic hegemony backed by the two independent powers, Carthage and Gades. the First Punic War broke out when Rome, which was an extremely dominant power across Italy, interfered in an argument that was taking place on Sicily. Hannibal destroys the Roman army at Cannae in the most severe defeat ever suffered by Rome. In 241 BC the first epic struggle between Rome and Carthage came to an end. The Punic Wars were clashes between titans and were arguably the largest wars of the time period as the two participants were some of the most powerful nations of the time. During this war Rome and Syracuse both aided Carthage, although traders from Italy seem to have done business with the insurgents. Lacking siege engines and sufficient manpower to take the city of Rome itself, he had planned to turn the Italian allies against Rome and starve the city out through a siege. Hasdrubal was assassinated around the same time (221 B.C.E. The Punic Wars: Results of the Second Punic War. With the end of the Macedonian wars—which ran concurrently with the Punic wars — and the defeat of the Seleucid King Antiochus III the Great in the Roman-Syrian War (Treaty of Apamea, 188 B.C.E.) According to Roman tradition, Hannibal had been made to swear by his father never to be a friend of Rome, and he certainly did not take a conciliatory attitude when the Romans berated him for crossing the river Iberus (Ebro) which Carthage was bound by treaty not to cross. The assembly not only rejected the treaty but increased the indemnity Carthage had to pay. In 149 B.C.E., in an attempt to draw Carthage into open conflict, Rome made a series of escalating demands, one being the surrender of three hundred children of the nobility as hostages, and finally ending with the near-impossible demand that the city be demolished and rebuilt away from the coast, deeper into Africa. This eventually plunged relations between the two powers to a new low point. Hasdrubal's head was thrown by the triumphant Romans into Hannibal's camp, whereupon Hannibal and his army retreated into the mountains for a short time. in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. The name Punic comes from the word Phoenician (Phoinix in the Greek, Poenus from Punicus in Latin) as applied to the citizens of … As Carthage was under siege and engaged in a difficult civil war, they begrudgingly accepted the loss of these islands and the subsequent Roman conditions for ongoing peace, which also increased the war indemnity levied against Carthage after the first Punic War. His account of the Punic Wars is fortunately among these better preserved parts. Instead, it relied on mercenaries, hired with its considerable wealth, to fight its wars. Carthage had begun colonizing Spain, and Rome responded by declaring war. A second offensive under the command of Scipio Aemilianus resulted in a three-year siege before he breached the walls, sacked the city, and systematically burned Carthage to the ground in 146 B.C.E. The end of the war saw Carthage's control reduced to only the city itself. During the uprising in the Punic mainland, the mercenary troops in Corsica and Sardinia toppled Punic rule and briefly established their own, but were expelled by a native uprising. They made thousands of makeshift weapons in a short amount of time, even using women's hair for catapult strings, and were able to hold off an initial Roman attack. The Punic Wars involved a number of battles between Rome and other cities, and these wars started in 264 B.C, and ended in 146 B.C. The latter were amassing forces to invade Italy, presumably with Carthaginian backing. It was also a major naval power and it profited from trade in the Mediterranean sea. The First Punic War (264 B.C.E.-241 B.C.E.) Scipio defeated the remaining Carthaginian forces in Spain, which placed Spain under Roman control. Like many Sicilians, they would ultimately rise again in support of Carthage during the Second Punic War. The Punic Wars were a series of wars between the Carthaginians and the Roman Republic that would catalyze the growth of the Roman territorial holdings as well as shape the ancient world for centuries to come. Battle of Cannae 216 BC. The Second Punic War (218 B.C.E.–201 B.C.E.) After a vicious defeat at the Battle of Agrigentum in 261 B.C.E., the Carthaginian leadership resolved to avoid further direct land-based engagements with the powerful Roman legions, and concentrated on the sea, where they believed they had an advantage. The Punic Wars were a clash of two growing societies and their aspirations for supremacy of Mediterranean. However, as time went on and both expanded in territory and influence the two started to come into conflict. The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage between 264 and 146 B.C.E. Within two months the Romans had a fleet of over 100 warships. The city of Carthage itself was established in 800 BC or so by Phoenician colonists from Tyre who were expanding throughout the Mediterranean along with the Greeks. Between the Punic Wars. For several years a brutal campaign was fought to quell the insurgent natives. There is no known Carthaginian name for this war as all their books were given to the Numidians save a treatise on agriculture and ultimately lost to history. On the other hand, at the start of the First Punic War the Romans had no standing navy, and were thus at a disadvantage until they began to construct their own large fleets during the war. Initially, the experienced Carthaginian navy prevailed against the fledgling Roman Navy in the Battle of the Lipari Islands in 260 B.C.E. the Roman Republic had gained control of the Italian peninsula south of the Po river. when Carthage was captured and destroyed. Hasdrubal, realizing that he was doomed, threw himself headlong into the Roman forces to be killed rather than captured. The popular story that the ground was seeded with salt was invented in the nineteenth century as there is no evidence of it in any ancient sources. The Mid-Republic and the Punic Wars Before the Punic Wars, in the third century BC, Rome had control of all the Italian peninsula. The Mamertines had the bad judgment to enlist the aid of the Carthaginian navy, and then betray the Carthaginians by entreating the Roman Senate for aid against Carthage. Save for the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Tunis in Africa, and two naval engagements, the First Punic War was nearly an unbroken string of Roman victories. The Punic Wars: Rome, Carthage, and the Struggle for the Mediterranean (Hardcover) Rome also exhibited an impressive ability to draft army after army of conscripts after each crushing defeat by Hannibal, allowing them to recover from the defeats at Cannae and elsewhere and keep Hannibal cut off from aid. They were probably the largest wars in the ancient world. The name "Punic Wars" comes from the Latin name for the Carthaginians which was Punici which was derived from the Latin word for the Phoenicians, Phoenicis who were the parent culture for Carthage. A first issue for dispute was that the initial treaty, agreed upon by Hamilcar Barca and the Roman commander in Sicily, had a clause stipulating that the Roman popular assembly had to accept the treaty in order for it to be valid. According to J.F. The Punic Wars were not just a battle of two significant powers, but two very different civilizations. Further, when he and Hamilcar were supreme commanders of Carthage's field armies, the soldiers had supported Hamilcar when his and Hamilcar's personalities clashed. eval(ez_write_tag([[336,280],'newworldencyclopedia_org-medrectangle-4','ezslot_2',162,'0','0'])); In 264 B.C.E., Carthage was a large port city located on the coast of modern Tunisia. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. In 238 B.C.E. The wealth and influence of Carthage was not minded by Rome at first. Punic Wars is made less accessible by its flagrant lack of polish. While Hamilcar was able to obtain the resources for his aim, the Numidians in the Atlas Mountains were not conquered, like Hanno suggested, but became vassals of Carthage. by merely reviving and adapting the original Gaulo-Carthaginian invasion plan of his brother-in-law Hasdrubal. This period of Roman history was later romanticized as a heroic age when "all Romans were virtuous and everything worked" while the figure of Hannibal, the brilliant Carthaginian general, was demonized.[2]. The First Punic War - This campaign lasts from 264BC-241BC and has a map foccusing on Italian Pinensula and it uses a 4tpy scipt. Subsequent to the Punic Wars, the army played an increasingly important part in the life and politics of the empire. A true giant of military history, Hannibal forged his formidable reputation during the Punic Wars of the second century B.C. These shared the profits with the Barcid family and were responsible according to the Mediterranean diplomatic customs.