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Like Hannibal had before him, Hasdrubal brought his army across the Alps. Knowing that those reinforcements could change the tide of the war, the Romans developed a plan to prevent Hasdrubal from reaching Hannibal. Using some of his soldiers as a distraction, Gaius Claudius Nero brought the remainder of his troops up behind Hasdrubal's troops, trapping them between two opposing fronts in a battle known as the Battle of the Metaurus River. The Romans were able to defeat the Carthaginian forces and kill Hasdrubal. They then took Hasdrubal's head and threw it into Hannibal's camp, which caused Hannibal to retreat. Hasdrubal's abandonment of Hispania allowed Scipio, the Roman commander who had been in charge of the war in Hispania, to invade Carthage. Hannibal left Italy to return to Carthage to defend the city against Scipio's attack. In 202 BCE, Rome defeated Carthage in the Battle of Zama. The nations entered into a peace agreement, but the agreement stripped Carthage of almost all of its prior glory, ended its days as an imperial society, and prevented it from amassing a strong military.
While the Second Punic War should have seen the end of the struggle between Carthage and Rome, the reality was that many people were beginning to chafe under Roman leadership. People in Hispania and Greece thought that they had been treated more favorably by the Carthaginians. In addition, the people of Carthage were able to amass wealth and security after the end of the Second Punic War, which made them good targets for raiders. Without the ability to build a military force to defend themselves, the Carthaginians were subject to such raids on a frequent basis, specifically by forces in Numidia, a Roman ally. The peace treaty that concluded the Second Punic War dictated that any such disputes would be resolved by the Roman Senate, which was very biased towards Numidia. The Carthaginians decided to build up an army to repeal the Numidians, but lost that war. Despite the fact that the Carthaginians were defeated, the Romans were alarmed that they had amassed an army, which the Romans felt...
Rome made a series of escalating demands against Carthage, culminating with a demand that the city be destroyed and rebuilt away from the sea. "The Carthaginians, who were a commercial people that depended on sea trade, refused." (Hooker).
When the Carthaginians refused, Rome declared war. The Carthaginians managed to stave off the initial attack, and even withstood a three-year siege by Scipio before Scipio's troops were able to breach the walls. It probably would not have taken three years, but for the fact that "The Romans dithered and competed for the honor of victory, while the people of Carthage fought fiercely, knowing their fate." (Knox). "After a siege, the Romans stormed the town and the army went from house to house slaughtering the inhabitants in what is perhaps the greatest systematic execution of non-combatants before World War II. Carthaginians who weren't killed were sold into slavery."
Hooker). To ensure that it would remain uninhabitable, the Romans literally burned Carthage to the ground in 146 BCE, thus ending the possibility of further conflict between Rome and Carthage.
Works Cited
Bagnall, Nigel. The Punic Wars. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990.
Cornell, T.J. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars.
New York: Routledge, 2003.
Hooker, Richard. "Rome: The Punic Wars." The Conquest of the Hellenistic Empires. 1999.
Washington State University. 8 Feb. 2009 http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ROME/PUNICWAR.HTM.
Hoyos, B.D. Unplanned Wars: The Origins of the First and Second Punic Wars. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1997.
Knox, E.L. Skip. The Punic Wars: The Third Punic War." History of Western Civilization.
2009. Boise State University. 8 Feb. 2009 http://history.boisestate.edu/WESTCIV/punicwar/17.shtml.
Prevas, John. Hannibal Crosses the Alps: The Invasion of Italy and the Punic Wars. Cambridge:
De Capo Press, 2001.
Works Cited
Bagnall, Nigel. The Punic Wars. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990.
Cornell, T.J. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars.
New York: Routledge, 2003.
Hooker, Richard. "Rome: The Punic Wars." The Conquest of the Hellenistic Empires. 1999.
Washington State University. 8 Feb. 2009 http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ROME/PUNICWAR.HTM.
2009. Boise State University. 8 Feb. 2009 http://history.boisestate.edu/WESTCIV/punicwar/17.shtml.
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