Roman Wars and Military Conquests

1. Roman Wars and Military Conquests By : Chris Lin, Kyle Yeh, and Pranavan P,

2. The Punic Wars • The Punic Wars took place from 264 – 146 B.C. • The war was fought between the Romans and the Carthaginians. • The war began with the Romans increasing their powers throughout Southern Italy, while the Carthaginians were spreading their control over that of North Africa. • They both fought over control of Sicily. This began the chain of events known as the Punic Wars. • There were 3 Punic Wars in total.

3. The First Punic War • This war took place from 264 - 241 B.C. • It was fought for control over the Island of Sicily, located in between Italy and Africa. • The war ended in somewhat of a stalemate. However, the Carthaginians were forced to sign a treaty signing Sicily over to the Romans and to pay indemnities to the Romans for the costs of the war. • Soon after the war Carthage experienced internal outbreaks and rebellions. Rome saw and acknowledged the vulnerability of Carthage to foreign powers and took advantage of the situation, conquering the island of Corsica.

4. The events leading to the Second Punic War • The Second Punic War took place from 218 – 202 B.C. • Prior to the war the Carthaginians were spreading their power in Spain, located to the west of the Roman empire in Italy. • Once again the Carthaginians signed a treaty, this time stating that they would not spread their empire past the Ebro river in Spain. • Saguntum, a small city in the heart of the Carthaginian Iberian Empire, asked Rome for allegiance and peace between them. Rome once again seized the nation. • In 221 B.C. a man by the name of Hannibal ascended to power in the Carthaginian controlled Spain. At first he dismissed the allegiance to avoid further conflict with Rome. However, the Saguntines began to interfere with politics throughout Spain. At this point Hannibal conquered the city. • The Romans tried to resolve the dispute diplomatically, asking the Carthaginians to send Hannibal to Rome. When they refused their terms, the second Punic war broke out…

5. The Second Punic War • By this time Carthaginians had spread their power across Spain. Hannibal marched a formidable army out of Spain and across Europe. In September, 218, the army crossed the Alps and invaded Italy. Within 2 months a large portion of northern Italy was conquered. In fact, approximately 2 remained. Despite this victory, more men arrived from Gaul joined the war from the north. • Against the belief of Hannibal, the cities remained loyal to Rome. At this point Quintus Fabius Maximus became the Dictator in Rome. He simply attacked from the shadows and took out small mobs of Carthaginian warriors until Roman victory over their army was assured. • At this point Quintus was labeled “The Delayer” and forced out of power. Despite the lowered number of forces Hannibal marched his men into southern Italy. The Romans sent 80 000 men to fight the Carthaginians. However, they were still conquered by one of Hannibal’s strategies, known as “The Pincer.” • At this point many Roman loyalties were broken and the southern states in Italy began to build alliances with the Carthaginians. Even the king of Macedon, Philip V, became an ally to Carthage and began its own campaign against Rome in 215 B.C.

6. The Second Punic War - Continued • In 211 B.C. Hannibal marched out his party to the walls of Rome, but didn’t lay siege to it. “So confident were the Romans, that on the day that Hannibal marched around the walls of Rome with his cavalry, the land on which he had camped was sold at an auction in Rome, and it was sold at full price!” • Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus had fought in the Punic war, following in his father’s footsteps. Following his fathers death he was voted proconsul and went on to lead Rome to victory against Hannibal. Starting with the defeat of Hannibal’s brother, Hasdrubal. • “After his victory in Africa he came to be known as Scipio Africanus. By 206 B.C. he conquered all of Spain. • Scipio later stormed into Africa in about 2054 B.C. and forced the Carthaginians to sue for peace with Rome. • Despite all of his efforts and strategies Hannibal lost the war and was forced to surrender Italy back to Rome.

7. Aftermath of the War • In 202 B.C. Carthage took up arms once again in a last gamble. • In Zama, Africa Hannibal lost his first military campaign to Scipio. • Following the war Rome ruled over the western Mediterranean including Northern Africa.

8. The Third Punic War • Following the turmoil of the second Punic war Rome continued conquest of the Hellenistic Empires to the east. • Rome forcefully confined the Iberian people who had, ironically, played a crucial role in the Roman success during the second Punic War. • During the first half of the Century, Carthage was beginning to recover in prosperity. Out of fear the Romans had the Carthaginians relocate inland towards Northern Africa. • Due to the fact that Carthaginians main source of revenue came from the sea and imports/exports, simply refused. Outraged Rome sent its military in. Following a siege on the city, the Roman warriors killed many inhabitants and sold many remainders as slaves. The harbor was destroyed along with the Carthaginians.

9. Historical Significance •   ”The victory during the second Punic War was the defining historical experience of the Romans. They had faced certain defeat with toughness and determination and had won against overwhelming odds. Their system of alliances had held firm; while Hannibal had depended on the allies running to his side, only the most remote Roman allies, those in the south and Sicily, left the Roman alliance. For the rest of Roman history, the character of being Roman would be distilled in the histories of this seemingly desperate war against Carthage. The Second Punic War turned Rome from a regional power into an international empire: it had gained much of northern Africa, Spain, and the major islands in the western Mediterranean. Because Philip V of Macedon had allied himself with Hannibal and started his own war of conquest, the second Punic War forced Rome to turn east in wars of conquest against first Philip and then other Hellenistic kingdoms. The end result of the second Punic War, in the end, was the domination of the known world by Rome.”

10. Debate Questions • What was the first Punic War fought over? • What years did the Punic wars take place? • What Carthaginian city formed an allegiance with the Romans? • Do you think Rome using Carthage’s weakness to overtake Corsica was justified? • Who do you think was the better strategist? Scipio or Hannibal?

11. Work Cited • http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ROME/PUNICWAR.HTM • http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/punicwar/ • http://www.lbdb.com/TMDisplayLeader.cfm?PID=5514