Download Dispute over control of Sicily

Carthage
Result was the three
Punic Wars
264-146 BC
Carthage
had been
founded as
Phoenician
colony 500
years earlier
Dispute over control
of Sicily and trade
routes in the western
Mediterranean brought
Rome into conflict with
the powerful North
African city-state of
Carthage
FIRST PUNIC WAR
• Primarily a naval war
– Tactics involved
maneuvering your ship
in such a way so that
you could ram and sink
enemy
• Carthage very good
at this because of
long experience as
naval power
• Rome Sent an army
to Sicily
• Rome had small navy
and little experience
in naval warfare
– Defeated time and
time again by
larger and more
experienced
ROME WINS THE FIRST ONE
• Rome would not surrender
• Rome built a navy and
defeated Carthage
– Finally turned the tables
on Carthage by changing
rules of naval warfare
• Equipped ships with
huge hooks and
stationed soldiers on
ships
– Would hook enemy
ship, pull it nearby,
and board it with
soldiers
– Converted naval warfare
into mini-land battles
– Carthage lost and paid a
fine
•
•
•
•
•
SECOND PUNIC WAR
Carthage expands to Spain
Rome helps Spain to rebel against
Carthage
Carthaginian general Hannibal surprises
Romans, leads army from Spain, through
southern France and the Alps, and
invades Italy from the north
Hannibal leads an army to the Alps to
attack Rome
– Defeats Roman armies sent to stop
him several times but hesitates to
attack Rome itself
Unable to defeat Hannibal in Italy, a
Roman army sailed across the
Mediterranean, landed in North Africa,
and headed for Carthage
– Led by patrician general Scipio
– Hannibal forced to leave Italy to
protect Carthage
• Defeated at the Battle of Zama,
fought outside the walls of
Carthage
• Carthage gives up S pain and
pays a huge fine
THIRD PUNIC WAR
• Carthage finished after Second
Punic War
– Hannibal committed suicide
– Economy shattered
– Lost all territory to Rome
– But some Romans feared it
might revive someday and
challenge Rome again
• Notably Cato the Elder
– Pushed for another war
that would wipe Carthage
off the face of the map
Cato the Elder
ROME WINS A THIRD TIME
• Due to Cato’s persistent
efforts, Rome declares war
against defenseless
Carthage
– Wins easily
– Entire population of city
sold into slavery
– Everything of value
carried back to Rome
– Everything else burned
and dumped into the
sea
– Site sown with salt so
that nothing would ever
grow there again
– Carthage completely
disappeared
Took over Greece,
Rome
Rome
Successor
Macedonia,
eventually
always
some of Asia Minor,
responded
became
kingdom
Syria,
weary
inAegean
the
of
Rome
drawn
into
the
and eastern Mediterranean
increasingly
playing
belief
thisthat
endless
called
islands
affairs
thein
by
achieving
refereeing
on
133
Roman
BC aof
role
balance
aid
and
successor
kingdoms
of their
realized
power
incessant
inthat
the the
east
wars
wascontinued
against
better than
each
independence
having
otheroneof the
successor
successor kingdoms
kingdom
threaten
becomeRoman
too
powerful
interests
and
challenge Rome
Later, the conquests of Gaius Marius,
Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Pompey
Magnus, and Julius Caesar would add
more territory
Gaul, the rest of Asia Minor,
Mesopotamian, Mediterranean Middle
East, Belgium
ROMAN REPUBLIC
• Was not a static institution
but rather a continually
evolving structure
– Political participation and
eligibility to run for office
widened over time
– Powers of various
assemblies and elected
officials also changed with
time
– But it also became
increasingly corrupt
PATRICIANS
• Original aristocracy of
Rome
– Had been distinguished
citizens who advised
Latin kings
– Played leading role in
overthrowing Etruscans
• Wealth based primarily on
ownership of farmland
and/or urban real estate.
PLEBIANS
•Free men who could not trace
their ancestry back to advisors
of Latin kings
•Many were well-off and served
in the army under Etruscans
•Etruscans had promoted their
interests and protected their
civil status
•Patricians would not let them
share in government
Rome’s Government
• Patricians and plebeians were the two classes of
people in Rome.
• Top government officials were called consuls.
• Another important group of officials were praetors.
• The Senate was the most important lawmaking body
• Another important legislative body was the
Assembly of Centuries
– Plebeians challenged the class system by going on strike.
– The Romans then allowed the plebeians to set up their own
legislative group called the Council of Plebes.
– In the Roman Republic, a dictator was a person who served
to people and ruled in temporarily during emergencies.
– Cincinnatus, the best known early Roman dictator, led an
army of men to defeat a powerful enemy.
– The Twelve Tables were Rome’s first code of laws.
– They were the basis of all future Roman laws.
– The Law of Nations was created to address issues of
conquered peoples.
FALL OF THE REPUBLIC
• Trouble in the Republic
– The gap between the rich and the poor grew and farmers
suffered.
– Latifunda were large farming estates created when wealthy
Romans bought small farms.
– Farmers whose land had been bought traveled to cities trying
to find new jobs.
• Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus were two wealthy
brothers were tried to reform the government but
were killed.
• Marius, a former military leader, was appointed
counsel and promised land to poor men if they
became soldiers.
• Sulla drove Marius out of Rome, declared himself
dictator, and spent three years reforming government
before resigning from office.
• Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed a
triumvirate after Sulla left office. Caesar then declared
himself dictator. Caesar had many enemies and they
plotted to kill him. They succeeded on March 15.
FALL OF THE REPUBLIC
• Octavian was Caesar’s grandnephew who had
inherited Caesar’s wealth.
• Antony and Lepidus were two of Caesar’s top
generals.
– Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus formed the Second
Triumvirate, although they began to fight immediately
– Antony fell in love with Cleopatra VII and formed an alliance
with her
– Octavian declared war on Antony to keep him from taking
over the republic
– Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra’s forces at the Battle
of Actium
• Cicero was a political leader, writer, and public
speaker who favored a representative government
and supported Octavian.
• Octavian restored the republic with some reforms and
took the title Augustus, meaning “revered one.”
• THIS BEGAN THE ROMAN EMPIRE