* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download How did Rome conquer the Mediterranean region?
Survey
Document related concepts
Promagistrate wikipedia , lookup
Constitutional reforms of Sulla wikipedia , lookup
Roman army of the late Republic wikipedia , lookup
Roman historiography wikipedia , lookup
Travel in Classical antiquity wikipedia , lookup
Education in ancient Rome wikipedia , lookup
Berber kings of Roman-era Tunisia wikipedia , lookup
Culture of ancient Rome wikipedia , lookup
Rome (TV series) wikipedia , lookup
Food and dining in the Roman Empire wikipedia , lookup
Roman agriculture wikipedia , lookup
Transcript
How did Rome conquer the Mediterranean region? Rome continued to grow as a republic. It’s power was being threatened by Carthage, another civilization in the Mediterranean region. Carthage was a powerful trading empire based along the north African coast. Carthage became the largest and wealthiest city in the western Mediterranean area because of trade. Carthage became Rome’s main rival. They each wanted to control the entire Mediterranean world. In 254 B.C., their rivalry intensified. It grew into a series of wars that took place over a period of nearly 120 years. The wars are called Punic Wars because the term Punic comes from the Latin word Punicus, meaning “Carthaginian.” War between the Romans and Carthaginians erupted in 264 B.C. This original conflict is known as the First Punic War. War broke out when Rome sought control of Sicily. The Carthaginians had already established colonies on the island of Sicily, so they were determined to stop the Roman invasion. Carthage used its strong navy to protect its trading empire. Although Rome had a strong army, it did not have a navy. This forced them to have to quickly build a fleet in order to fight Carthage. • The Romans modeled their ships after Carthage’s, but they made one key innovation. • They built a small moveable bridge on the front of each ship. This allowed the Romans to board Carthaginian ships and fight hand-to-hand on its decks. The Romans and Carthaginians fought each other at sea for more than 20 years. Eventually, a Roman fleet badly defeated Carthage’s navy off the coast of Sicily. Carthage was forced to give up Sicily and pay a huge fine to the Romans. Rome then took control of the island of Sicily. After losing Sicily, Carthage wanted to expand their empire into Spain which had valuable resources such as silver, copper, gold, lead, and iron. The Romans did not want Carthage to establish a territory so close to Rome. The Romans encouraged the Spanish to rebel against Carthage. Carthage sent its greatest general, Hannibal, to attack Rome. This was the beginning of the Second Punic War. Hannibal planned to fight the Romans in Italy. He gathered his army of about 46,000 men and 37 elephants, and they sailed from Carthage to Spain. Once on land, they marched their way through the land and crossed the Alps. The bitter cold and mountain tribes killed almost half of the Carthaginian soldiers and most of the elephants. The remaining army marched on as a powerful, fighting force. Once in Italy, Hannibal and his army fought and defeated the Romans in the Battle of Cannae (KA nee). Led by Hannibal, the Carthaginians raided the country. This enraged the Romans, so they assembled another army led by Scipio (SIH pee oh). They captured Spain and then attack the city of Carthage. Rome defeated the Carthaginians in the Battle of Zama. Carthage was forced to give up its navy and pay Rome a large sum of money. It also had to give its Spanish territory to Rome. As a result, Rome became the supreme power in the western Mediterranean. Rome still considered Carthage a military threat. In 146 B.C., Rome finally destroyed Carthage in the Third Punic War. At the same time, Rome also waged war against other states in the eastern Mediterranean region. In the 140s B.C., all of Greece fell under Roman rule.