Download By the end of the mid-Republic, Rome had achieved

By the end of the mid-Republic, Rome had achieved military
dominance on both the Italian peninsula and the Mediterranean at
large through notable victories over the Etruscans, Greeks,
Carthaginians, and Macedonians.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Describe the key results and effects of major Republican wars
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
The first Roman Republican wars were wars of both expansion and defense, aimed at
protecting Rome itself from neighboring cities and nations and establishing its territory in the
region.
The Samnite Wars were fought against the Etruscans and effectively finished off all vestiges of
Etruscan power in 282 BCE.
By the middle of the 3rd century and at the end of the Pyrrhic War with Greece, Rome effectively
dominated the Italian peninsula, and had won an international military reputation.
Over the course of the three Punic Wars, Rome completely defeated Hannibal and razed Carthage
to the ground. They thereby acquired all of Carthage's North African and Spanish territories.
After four Macedonian Wars, Rome had establishe its first permanent foothold in the Greek world
and divided the Macedonian Kingdom into four client republics.
TERMS [ edit ]
Punic Wars
a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BCE to 146 BCE that resulted
in the complete destruction of Carthage.
Pyrrhus
Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. Later he became king of Epirus (r. 306–302,
297–272 BC) and Macedon(r. 288–284, 273–272 BC). He was one of the strongest opponents of
early Rome. Some of his battles, though successful, cost him heavy losses, from which the term
Pyrrhic victory was coined.
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FULL TEXT [edit ]
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Roman Conquest of the Italian Peninsula
This map shows the expansion of Roman territory through the various wars they fought during the
Republican period.
Early Republic
Early Campaigns (458–396 BCE)
The first Roman Republican wars were wars of both expansion and defense, aimed at
protecting Rome itself from neighboring cities and nations and establishing its territory in
the region.Initially, Rome's immediate neighbors were either Latin towns and villages, or
else tribal Sabines from the Apennine hills beyond.One by one Rome defeated both the
persistent Sabines and the local cities that were either under Etruscan control or else Latin
towns that had cast off their Etruscan rulers.By the end of this period, Rome had effectively
completed the conquest of their immediate Etruscan and Latin neighbors, as well as secured
their position against the immediate threat posed by the tribespeople of the nearby
Apennine hills.
Expansion into Italy and the Samnite Wars (343–282 BCE)
The First Samnite War of between 343 BCE and 341 BCE was a relatively short affair: the
Romans beat the Samnites in two battles, but were forced to withdraw from the war before
they could pursue the conflict further due to the revolt of several of their Latin allies in the
Latin War.The Second Samnite War, from 327 BCE to 304 BCE, was a much longer and
more serious affair for both the Romans and Samnites, but by 304 BCE the Romans had
effectively annexed the greater degree of the Samnite territory and founded several colonies.
Seven years after their defeat, with Roman dominance of the area looking assured, the
Samnites rose again and defeated a Roman army in 298 BCE to open the Third Samnite
War.With this success in hand they managed to bring together a coalition of several
previous enemies of Rome, but in 282 BCE, Rome finished off the last vestiges of Etruscan
power in the region.
Pyrrhic War (280–275 BCE)
By the beginning of the 3rd century, Rome had established itself as a major power on the
Italian Peninsula, but had not yet come into conflict with the dominant military powers in
the Mediterranean Basin at the time: Carthage and the Greek kingdoms.When a diplomatic
dispute between Rome and a Greek colony erupted into open warfare in a naval
confrontation, the Greek colony appealed for military aid toPyrrhus, ruler of the
northwestern Greek kingdom of Epirus.Motivated by a personal desire for military
accomplishment, Pyrrhus landed a Greek army of some 25,000 men on Italian soil in 280
BCE.Despite early victories, Pyrrhus found his position in Italy untenable.Rome steadfastly
refused to negotiate with Pyrrhus as long as his army remained in Italy.Facing unacceptably
heavy losses with each encounter with the Roman army, Pyrrhus withdrew from the
peninsula (thus deriving the term "pyrrhic victory").In 275 BCE, Pyrrhus again met the
Roman army at the Battle of Beneventum.While Beneventum was indecisive, Pyrrhus
realized his army had been exhausted and reduced, by years of foreign campaigns, and seeing
little hope for further gains, he withdrew completely from Italy.The conflicts with Pyrrhus
would have a great effect on Rome.Rome had shown it was capable of pitting its armies
successfully against the dominant military powers of the Mediterranean, and that the Greek
kingdoms were incapable of defending their colonies in Italy and abroad.Rome quickly
moved into southern Italia, subjugating and dividing the Greek colonies.By the middle of the
3rd century, Rome effectively dominated the Italian peninsula, and had won an international
military reputation.
Mid-Republic
Punic Wars
The First Punic War began in 264 BCE when settlements on Sicily began to appeal to the
two powers between which they lay – Rome and Carthage – to solve internal conflicts.The
war saw land battles in Sicily early on, but the theatre shifted to naval battles around Sicily
and Africa.Before the First Punic War there was no Roman navy to speak of.The new war in
Sicily against Carthage, a great naval power, forced Rome to quickly build a fleet and train
sailors.Though the first few naval battles of the First Punic War were catastrophic disasters
for Rome, Rome was eventually able to beat the Carthaginians and left them without a fleet
or sufficient coin to raise another.For a maritime power the loss of their access to the
Mediterranean stung financially and psychologically, and the Carthaginians sued for peace.
Continuing distrust led to the renewal of hostilities in the Second Punic War when Hannibal
attacked a Spanish town with diplomatic ties to Rome in 218 BCE.Hannibal then crossed the
Italian Alps to invade Italy.Hannibal's successes in Italy began immediately, but his brother,
Hasdrubal, was defeated after he crossed the Alps on the Metaurus River.Unable to defeat
Hannibal himself on Italian soil, the Romans boldly sent an army to Africa under Scipio
Africanus with the intention of threatening the Carthaginian capital.Hannibal was recalled
to Africa, and defeated at the Battle of Zama.
Carthage never managed to recover after the Second Punic War and the Third Punic War
that followed was in reality a simple punitive mission to raze the city of Carthage to the
ground.Carthage was almost defenseless and when besieged offered immediate surrender,
conceding to a string of outrageous Roman demands.The Romans refused the surrender, and
the city was stormed after a short siege and completely destroyed.Ultimately, all of
Carthage's North African and Spanish territories were acquired by Rome.
Hannibal's Famous Crossing of the Alps
Depiction of Hannibal and his army crossing the Alps during the Second Punic War.
Macedon and Greece
Rome's preoccupation with its war with Carthage provided an opportunity for Philip V of
the kingdom of Macedonia, located in the north of the Greek peninsula, to attempt to extend
his power westward.Over the next several decades, Rome clashed with Macedon to protect
their Greek allies multiple times throughout the First, Second, and Third Macedonian
Wars.By 168 BCE, the Macedonians had been thoroughly defeated, and Rome was convinced
that the Greeks (and therefore the rest of the world) would never have peace if Greece was
left alone.Rome thus decided to establish its first permanent foothold in the Greek world
and divided the Macedonian Kingdom into four client republics.After a Fourth Macedonian
War and nearly a century of constant crisis management in Greece, which always led back to
internal instability and war when Rome pulled out, Rome decided to divide Macedonia into
two new Roman provinces, Achaea and Epirus.