Download The Punic Wars

The Punic Wars
Rome v. Carthage, 264-146 BC
Carthage was a colony of the Phoenicians and
controlled much of the island of Sicily
 Main cause of Punic Wars was competition for
Mediterranean trade
 Control of Sicily

Carthage
Advantages
Large Size
 Huge navy
 Great wealth from
trade
 Mercenary army
(paid soldiers who
might not be loyal to
Carthage)

Rome
Smaller army of loyal
citizen soldiers
 Warfare their
specialty
 Recent success
controlling the Italian
peninsula

1st Punic War - 264 to 241 BC
Fought for control of Sicily & the
Mediterranean
 Most battles at sea
- Carthage had
superior navy
- Rome builds a navy
by copying shipwrecked
Carthaginian warship
 Results: Rome defeats Carthage & receives
island of Sicily

The Corvus (Latin for “raven” or
“crow”)

Crane/plank on a Roman
ship that turned naval
battle into a land battle
nd
2
Punic War - 218 BC
Carthaginian military genius Hannibal
 Led 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, & 60
elephants to invade & conquer Rome
 Traveled through
Spain, France, &
the Alps – lost half
his men, elephants
 Strategy was to
convince Roman
allies to join
Carthage

2nd Punic War (Cont.)

For 10 years, battled up and down the Italian
peninsula
- Hannibal & his men lived off the land & by stealing
- Never able to capture Rome
Battle of Cannae
2nd Punic War (cont.)
Scipio – Roman general against Hannibal
- Planned to invade Carthage to force
Hannibal to leave Italy & return to N. Africa
 Defeated
Hannibal
in 202 BC –
Battle of
Zama

Battle of Zama
Scipio Africanus
Hannibal
Hannibal and Scipio meet before the battle
3rd Punic War: 149 to 146 BC
Cato “the Elder” of Rome – “Carthage should be
destroyed!”
 Rome invades Carthage as revenge for Hannibal’s
invasion of Italy
 Carthage is seized & burned – 50,000 inhabitants
are sold into slavery

Rome dominates Mediterranean by 70 BC
East – conquered Macedonia, Greece, &
Anatolia
 West – as far as Spain
 Republic dominates the . . . “known world”
