Download The Punic Wars

The Punic Wars
 Romans felt threatened by the Carthaginians (Carthage was a Phoenician
city in North Africa → modern day Tunisia)
 Romans also wanted Sicily’s granaries
The
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First Punic War
Lasted 23 years
Carthaginians had a strong navy
Rome had a strong army but built their first naval ships to fight
Carthage
 Romans improved warships by adding a corvus to front of each ship
 corvus – moveable bridge in front of ship that allowed soldiers to
board enemy ships
 Romans defeated the Carthaginians in 241 B.C.E.
Hannibal and the Second Punic War
 Began in 218 B.C.E.
 Carthaginians led by General Hannibal Barca attacked the Roman army
by traveling through Spain, Gaul (France), and crossing the Alps into
Italy
 Carthaginians’ army got to Rome but could not break down city’s walls
 Unable to capture Rome, Hannibal and his troops roamed Italy’s
countryside for 15 years (raided & burned towns, destroyed crops)
 Romans attacked Carthage
 Hannibal went home to defend Carthage
 Carthage lost war
 Carthage had to pay Rome huge sums of money, and give up several
territories, including Spain
The
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Third Punic War
After 50 years of peace, Carthage began to regain power
Romans attacked Carthage in 149 B.C.E.
Romans burned Carthage, plowed salt into fields (crops could not grow)
Killed Carthaginians or sold into slavery
Greek city-state of Corinth refused to obey Roman laws
Romans attacked Corinth and burned it to the ground
Greece now under Roman rule
Rome became leading power of Mediterranean world