Download Pfingsten-8-Punic Wars

Max Pfingsten – The Punic Wars
This lesson covers the three Punic Wars. We compare Rome to Carthage, then get into a
summary account of the First, Second and Third Punic Wars, with brief discussions of their
causes and consequences.
Roman Dominance of Italy
By the mid third century BCE, the Romans reigned supreme in Italy. They'd squashed the
Sabines, vanquished the Volsci, trounced the Etruscans, slaughtered the Samnites, unmanned the
Umbrians, messed up the Messapians and even grappled with Greeks. They only stopped fighting
because they'd run out of land to conquer. Italy was now entirely under the control of the Roman
Republic.
Yet a threat to Roman supremacy was growing right at their doorstep. Just off the toe of Italy sits
the island of Sicily. And that island was being conquered by another ambitious city-state with its
own imperial designs. Just across the Mediterranean, on the shores of Africa, stood Carthage.
Rome and Carthage: Similarities and Differences
Carthage is, in many ways, a mirror of Rome. Carthage was founded as a Phoenecian Colony
around 800 BCE; Rome was founded fewer than 50 years later. As a result of this slight delay, the
Carthaginians had a small head start on the Romans, and the fact that theirs was a naval empire
while Rome was a land empire gave them a still greater advantage. But Carthage's greatest
advantage was that it was a Phoenician colony trying to unify other Phoenician colonies, with
whom they shared a common language and culture. By contrast, the Romans were invaders
forced to fight against dozens of independent peoples who all spoke different languages.
Carthage's many advantages meant that Carthage was capital of a prosperous coastal empire that
dominated the western Mediterranean. They controlled the northern coast of Africa, the southern
coast of Spain and most of the islands of the western Mediterranean, including half of Sicily.
By contrast, Rome was the capital of a mere peninsula, albeit a densely populated one. Yet
relative size was not the only difference between the Carthaginians and the Romans. Carthage
was a city of traders. They were ruled by a council of merchant princes. They were highly
civilized, literate and scientifically advanced, though they also may have engaged in human
sacrifice. What's important to know now is that the Carthaginians had built their empire through
trade and wealth as much as through force.
By contrast, Rome was a nation of soldiers and farmers. Their republic was run, in many respects,
like an oversized military camp. Roman culture was relatively primitive compared to the
advanced Carthaginians. They did not have Carthage's wealth or intercontinental trade routes at
their disposal. But what the Romans lacked in money and refinement, they made up for in
manpower, strict organization and ferocity. Combining these attributes, the Romans had built
their empire through conquest and bloodshed.
The First Punic War
In 264 BCE the ambitious Roman Republic and the wealthy Carthaginian Empire collided on the
island of Sicily in the first Punic War. This war was very similar to Athens' battle with Sparta in
the Peloponnesian War in that it pitted a powerful army against a large and maneuverable navy. It
was a drawn-out, bloody affair, with the Carthaginians trying to keep the battle at sea and the
Romans trying to force the battle to land.
After 24 years of continuous warfare that exhausted both cities, Carthage was driven from Sicily
Max Pfingsten – The Punic Wars
and forced to pay Rome a huge war indemnity, or fine. Bankrupted by the war and the indemnity
and unable to pay its mercenaries, the Carthaginian Empire was thrown into a mercenary war.
Rome took advantage of the chaos to add the islands of Corsica and Sardinia to its growing
Mediterranean empire.
The Second Punic War: Causes
After a while, the Carthaginians got their house in order and sought to expand their empire again.
Frustrated at sea by growing Roman dominance, the Carthaginians instead started colonizing the
Iberian Peninsula. The native Iberians weren't nearly so viciously organized as the Romans, and
the Carthaginians spread easily.
The Romans were once again nervous about the growing power of Carthage, or at least that's
what the Roman historians say. Personally, I think that Rome was just looking for a new target
for their annual warfare since they'd just finished conquering Illyria across the Adriatic in 219
BCE.
Whatever the reason, in 218 BCE, Rome declared war and the Second Punic War began. The
Roman navy had improved significantly since the beginning of the last Punic War, and they were
confident they could hold off any Carthaginian invasion. Yet while the Romans had been beefing
up their navy, the Carthaginians had been building up a huge army in Spain.
Rome was so fixated on rebuffing the Carthaginian navy that it never occurred to them that
someone might be crazy enough to march that bit Spanish army over the Alps and invade Italy by
land. Yet that is just what the Carthaginian general did.
The Second Punic War: Hannibal
That general's name was Hannibal, and his military genius made him one of the most fearful
figures in Roman history. When Hannibal's army, which included dozens of war elephants,
descended from the Alps, he must have felt much like those first Latins had felt looking down on
the Italian peninsula a thousand years earlier. Here was a lush land just begging to be conquered.
Indeed, had Hannibal not lost his siege engines during his passage through the Alps, he very well
might have conquered all of Italy.
Hannibal smashed every army the Romans put in front of him, but without siege equipment, he
was unable to take Rome itself. Instead, Hannibal laid waste across the countryside and tried to
entice other Italian cities to rebel. For some reason, not one Italian city took up arms against
Rome. Perhaps it was loyalty, or perhaps these cities feared Rome more than they feared this
invader. Whatever the reason, Hannibal's plan to turn Rome's subjects against it failed.
Nevertheless, through his military genius, Hannibal ravaged Italy for 16 years!
You may be wondering - how did Hannibal catch the mighty Romans with their pants down?
Shouldn't they have been better prepared? After all, they were the ones who started the war.
There are two reasons Rome fared so poorly. I've already mentioned the first problem. No one
had expected Hannibal to take his army over the mountains. Rome had been expecting another
naval war like the first Punic War, so Roman troops were scattered across numerous islands.
The second problem was that Rome had overextended itself. While Hannibal was ravaging his
way across Italy, Philip V of Macedon had taken advantage of the chaos to expand his own
kingdom. Philip's invasion of Greece and Illyria prevented the veteran armies Rome had deployed
to the east from returning home to reinforce Italy. Unable to bring its full strength to bear against
Hannibal, the Romans had to resort to delaying techniques.
Max Pfingsten – The Punic Wars
The Second Punic War: Scipio Africanus
Once Philip had been dealt with, some of Rome's best armies were once again available for battle.
Rather than running home to oust the invader, the Roman general Scipio brought the fight to
Carthage. Scipio invaded Africa, earning him the name Scipio Africanus and, more importantly,
cutting off Hannibal's supply lines. Hannibal hurried home with his army and was soundly
defeated at the Battle of Zama in 202 BCE. The following year, Carthage surrendered.
The Second Punic War: Results
The mighty Carthaginian Empire was reduced to little more than the city of Carthage itself, and
Rome further burdened Carthage with an even larger war indemnity than for the first Punic War.
Meanwhile, Carthage's holdings in Spain were added to the Roman Empire. Rome had also
gained territory during their simultaneous war with Philip V of Macedon and gained a foothold in
Africa by establishing Numidia as a client state.
Things were looking pretty good for Rome and pretty terrible for Carthage. In a single lifetime,
little more than 60 years, Rome and Carthage had reversed positions. Rome was now the
dominant force in the western Mediterranean; it had added Carthage's European territory to the
empire and extended its reach eastward. By contrast, Carthage was now the underdog, allowed to
live only because the Romans could get more money out of Carthage through Carthage paying
the indemnity than they could by pillaging the city.
The Third Punic War
Fifty years later, Carthage had finally managed to pay off that huge indemnity, meaning that
Rome no longer had any interest in keeping them alive. In an act of pure tyranny, Rome
demanded that the Carthaginians abandon their city and resettle 10 miles inland. For a trading
nation, this was a death sentence. Carthage naturally refused, and Rome descended upon its old
nemesis with all its might, besieging the city for two years before it fell at last in 146 BCE.
Lesson Summary
To review: from 264 to 146 BCE, the Romans fought a series of three wars with the rival state of
Carthage. These wars are collectively called the Punic Wars. The first Punic War was over
ownership of Sicily. It stretched for 24 years before the Romans were finally victorious. Rome
gained the island of Sicily, and Carthage paid a huge fine.
The second Punic War was fought over a perceived threat to Roman power. Carthage had begun
colonizing Spain, and Rome responded by declaring war. The Carthaginian general, Hannibal,
marched his army from Spain to Italy and laid waste to the Italian countryside for 16 years. Rome
only won by bringing the war to Africa under the leadership of Scipio Africanus. Rome gained
dominance over the western Mediterranean, and Carthage lost almost all of its territory and
received another, even larger fine. The third Punic War brought an end to Carthage. After a threeyear siege, Rome burned Carthage to the ground.