Punic Wars Refers to Three

Punic Wars refers to three wars between Rome and Carthage from the period 264 BCEto 146 BC. Carthage and Rome probably represented two of the world's first real superpowers, and the Punic Wars were the result of these two entities struggling for territory and power. More succinctly, they were due to Rome's desire to expand its territory into area held by the Carthaginian Empire. At the beginning of the war, the Carthaginian Empire was more powerful than the Roman Republic. In fact:

By the time that Rome controlled all of the Italian peninsula, Carthage already controlled the North African coast from western Libya to the Strait of Gibraltar, and ruled over most of southern Spain -- and the island of Corsica and Sardinia in Europe as well. Carthage was a formidable power; it controlled almost all the commercial trade in the Mediterranean, had subjected vast numbers of people all whom sent soldiers and supplies, and amassed tremendous wealth from gold and silver mines in Spain. (Hooker).

However, in the period immediately preceding the Punic Wars, Rome was beginning to take shape as a new republican form of government. Rome was engaged in a series of wars, known as the Italian Wars, and those wars helped shape "the characteristic political, social, and economic structures of the classical Republic...the most striking development was the emergence of the Senate as the principal organ of government." (Cornell, p.369). The Senate would play an important role in the coming Punic Wars, since the Senate actually had to make the decision whether or to declare war. The end result is that, by the conclusion of the Third Punic War, the balance of power had shifted, and Rome had become sufficiently powerful to begin the establishment of the Roman Empire.

The First Punic War lasted from 264 BCEto 241 BC. The First Punic War began as a local power struggle. Hiero II of Syracuse and the Mamertines of Messina got involved in a power struggle in Sicily. The Mamertines sought aid from Carthage, which responded by sending its Navy to support the Mamertines. However, the Mamertines were quickly dissatisfied with the aid that they received from Carthage, and went to the Roman Senate for help against Carthage. The Roman Senate responded by sending troops to help secure Messina. However, this posed a problem for the Romans, who did not have a standing army of sufficient size to help the Mamertines. It was decided that C. Claudius would move by sea and try to reinforce Messina. The venture was risky, because "even if C. Claudius' force could elude the Carthaginian ships, it might not be strong enough to evict the garrison holed up in the formidable citadel and then hang on until reinforced." (Bagnall, p.49). The venture worked, and the Romans were able to secure the town of Messina. The Carthaginians responded by helping Syracuse. What had begun as a local power struggle quickly erupted into an all-out war, with both Carthage and Rome struggling to control Sicily.

The First Punic War began as a land-based war. However, the Romans legions were skilled fighters, and they were able to absolutely massacre the Carthaginians at the Battle of Agrigentum in 261 BC. Carthage then shifted the battles to the sea, with the belief that their superior army would ensure their victory over the Romans, who had concentrated their military might in their land forces. In fact, though the 20-year war had few Carthaginian victories, one of the most important of those victories occurred in an early naval engagement, the Battle of the Lipari Islands in 260 BCE. However, Rome was able to quickly expand its navy.

Rome also made modifications to their naval ships by adding a corvus, which was a bridge that connected the Roman naval ships to enemy ships. Once attached to the enemy ship, Roman fighters could move from their ship to the enemy ship, and engage in hand to hand combat. Because members of the Roman legion were extremely adept at such combat, they were able to bring the might of their army to their naval forces in a very efficient manner.

Though the war was long and costly, Rome eventually prevailed and gained control of Sicily. In 241 BCE Carthage and Rome signed a peace treaty, which gave Rome control over Sicily. Moreover, Rome accomplished more than simply conquering Sicily; they managed to begin eroding Carthage's power base. In fact, the long-lasting impact of the First Punic War was that a weakened Carthage was no longer able to defend itself effectively, allowing Rome to seize both Sardinia and Corsica when Carthage became involved in the Mercenary War. The First Punic War also left Rome with a well-developed navy, which prevented other naval forces from invading Italy. The powerful navy also gave the Romans a means of conquering other lands.

Following the First Punic War, Carthage concentrated its colonial efforts by expanding onto the Iberian Peninsula, which was then known as Hispania. The colonization of Iberia was begun by Hamilcar Barca and Hasdrubal the Fair. When Hamilcar died, Hasdrubal became the Carthaginian commander in Iberia. During Hasdrubal's leadership, the Carthaginians sought to ally themselves with the Po river valley Celts of Northern Italy. However, the Romans were able to annex the Po region and annexed it to the Roman Empire. Then, Hasdrubal was assassinated and Hannibal became the new Carthaginian commander in Iberia. Hannibal reforged an alliance with the Celts and the Second Punic War began in 219 BCE, when Hannibal attacked Saguntum in Hispania.

Actually, the Saguntines' actions began the war, because they had been engaging in attacks and raids on neighboring tribes, who were under Carthage's protection.

However, Saguntum had traditionally been allied with Rome, who felt obliged to defend it from Hannibal's attack. There is vigorous scholarly debate about how Rome handled Hannibal's defeat of Saguntum. Some suggest that Rome responded with an immediate declaration of war, and others suggest that Rome issued an ultimatum, which was a conditional declaration of war, which could be avoided if Carthage would surrender Hannibal to the Romans. (Hoyas, 236-242). If that ultimatum was actually issued, it is clear that Carthage refused, and Rome declared war on Carthage, beginning the Second Punic War, which lasted from 218 BCE to 201 BCE.

The most memorable part of the Second Punic War was the role that Hannibal, an incredible military strategist, played in that war. Instead of engaging in hand-to-hand combat with Roman legions, who were known for their battle skills, Hannibal concentrated his efforts on establishing a superior cavalry, based on his perception that Rome's calvary was its weakest military force. In 218 BCE, Hannibal invaded Italy, by leading an army through the Alps, taking the Romans by surprise. This was a tremendous undertaking, and estimates of the troops he had with him range from 40,000 to 90,000-foot soldiers, plus the supporting infantry and animals. (Prevas, p.84). It was during this grueling march that Hannibal faced his first significant challenge as a military tactician. Many of the soldiers began to grow bored and disgruntled, leading Hannibal to fear a mutiny. He could have executed those soldiers, but was hesitant to do so. Instead, Hannibal made up the pretext that he needed to send some of the troops back to Spain, which gave him a means of getting rid of the malcontents, without threatening his authority. (Prevas, p.85). The tactic worked, because Hannibal was able to lead the rest of his troops through the Alps and into Italy. The element of surprise helped Hannibal defeat the Romans on the battlefields. However, Hannibal suffered great losses as well. He had brought elephants through the Alps, but the cold temperatures proved fatal for many of them. The cold temperatures and ice also destroyed Hannibal's siege engines.

Hannibal attempted to cut Rome off from its allies and lay siege to the city, forcing it to surrender or face starvation. However, the vast majority of Rome's allies remained loyal to Rome, which made the siege much more difficult. Hannibal also sought reinforcements from Carthage, but did not receive them. The lack of reinforcements, the need to fight battles with those allies, combined with the losses resulting from the cold, rendered Hannibal unable to take the city of Rome, which kept him from winning the war.

Hannibal was not the only Carthaginian leader in the Second Punic War. In fact, the Second Punic War was actually fought on three different fronts. The first front was Italy, where Hannibal led his army successfully against the Roman legions. The second front was Hispania, where Hasdrubal, Hannibal's younger brother, defended Carthaginian colonies from Roman forces. Carthage sent reinforcements to Hispania to support Hasdrubal's efforts, but he was eventually forced to retreat to Italy. The third front was Sicily, the site of the First Punic War, which the Carthaginians unsuccessfully tried to re-take during the Second Punic War. Hannibal was unable to capture Rome or other important cities in Italy, which put him at a disadvantage when faced with the Romans. When Hasdrubal was unable to keep Hispania, he abandoned that area and moved his troops to Italy to support Hannibal's campaign there. 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.