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Punic Wars
Roman Military
• Legion: Roman
military unit
• Both patricians
and plebeians
were required to
perform military
service
• Romans had
extremely strong
discipline
Carthage
• Carthage was the strongest naval power
at the time with a huge reserve of
warships
Punic?
• The Punic Wars were named because of
the Roman name for Carthaginians:
Punici, or Poenici.
Causes of the War
• Started as an internal dispute between two
kingdoms on the island of Sicily
• One of the side (Messina) asked Rome for
help, the other (Syracuse) asked Carthage
for help
• Developed into a full-blown war for the
control of Sicily
Map Before the War
Engineering an Empire
• 1st Punic War: 15:30-25:02
• 2nd Punic War: 25:02-36:17
• 3rd Punic War: 36:18-end
First Punic War (264-241 BCE)
• Carthage was a naval power
• Rome was a land power
• Rome knew that it could not compete in
naval battles with Carthage using the ramand-sink technique (remember this from
Ancient Greece???) because Carthaginian
ships were so fast and maneuverable
• Solutions?
– Brainstorm with your group and give your best
military advice for Rome
Corvus
Result
• Rome won a large string of victories and
eventually wins the war!
• Peace Agreement
– Carthage has to leave Sicily
– Carthage has to pay Rome a large war
reparation (payment) that will cripple their
economy for years
Hamilcar Barca
• Famous Carthaginian general
• Carthage is having trouble
paying its debts so it tries to
invade Spain for its riches
• Carthage tells Rome that they
are only invading Spain to pay
Rome back
Map Before the Second Punic War
Hannibal’s Pledge
• Hamilar Barca had a son
named Hannibal
• As a child, he forces his
son to swear an oath that
he will hate Rome for what
they have done to Carthage
• When Hamilcar dies in
Spain, Hannibal becomes a
Carthaginian general to
carry on his father’s mission
2nd Punic War (218-201 BCE)
• Starts over a dispute in
the Spanish city of
Saguntum
• Hannibal leads his troops
to take the city and wins
but suffers major losses
• Solution: If you are
Hannibal, what would you
do next?
Hannibal’s Surprise Invasion
• Hannibal crosses
the Alps with his
army and his
elephants
• Rome did not
expect the naval
power to travel
overland!!!
Hannibal’s Strategy
• Hannibal tried to recruit Roman allies along the
Italian Peninsula to enlarge his army
• Hannibal does not punish towns if they don’t
join, so many stay loyal to Rome
• The people of Gaul, to the north of Rome, do
join him
• More towns join as he becomes more successful
in battle
• Must try to trade for or find food as the army
marches
Battle of Lake Trasimane (217 BCE)
• Hannibal is known as one of the best war strategists in
history
• Hannibal’s army meets the Romans near a lake and the
• Romans set up camp on one side of a narrow pass
along the lake and the Carthaginians are on the other
• To their other side of the lake is a hilly, forest region
• Hannibal lights fires up on the hills to make the Romans
think that they have move their camp uphill
• Romans attack up the hill
• Carthaginians are actually waiting much closer to the
lake and ambush the Romans, winning the battle
Battle of Lake Trasimane (217 BCE)
Battle of Ager Falernus (217 BCE)
• This time the Romans have been able to
trap the Carthaginians in a valley
surrounded by mountains and a river
• Romans block the mountain passes and
the river
• Solution: What shouldI’mHannibal
do?
between a
rock and a
hard place!
Volturnus River
Hannibal’s Solution
• Hannibal tied burning stick to
the horns of 2000 heads of
cattle
• At night, he had some soldiers
cause a stampede and drive
the cattle towards on one the
mountain passes guarded by
the Romans
• Romans thought they were
being attacked by the
Carthaginians and all
gathered to defend the pass
• The rest of the Carthaginian
army slipped out past an
unguarded pass
Volturnus River
Battle of Cannae 216 BCE
• Hannibal wins the Double
Envelopment strategy
Fabius the Conctactor
• Fabius was a patrician and one of Rome’s
best generals
• He was tired of losing to Hannibal and so
he came up with a new strategy
• Solution: What would you do to stop
Hannibal???
•Fabian Strategy: Delay! You can’t lost to
Hannibal if you don’t fight Hannibal! Just let
Hannibal use up resources and lose allies
until he goes away!
Cunctator: Delayer
Scipio Takes Command
• Scipio, a Roman General, is tired of
waiting for Hannibal to burn out in Italy
• Instead, they came up with a way to force
Hannibal and his army out of Italy
• Solution: What should Scipio do???
Battle of Zama (202 BCE)
• Scipio takes the Roman army to attack
Carthage
• This forces Hannibal to return to Carthage
to defend the city
• Scipio blew out horns to scare Hannibal's
elephants and they broke formation
• Scipio wins the battle and the 2nd war is
over!
Third Punic War (149-146 BCE)
• Roman want to destroy Carthage once
and for all with a siege
• Carthage loses and Rome sacks Carthage
and sows the ground with salt so that
nothing can ever grow there again