Rome and Carthage formed an alliance, they defeated the Greek city-states in southern Italy, and both sides gained their own benefits.
The Romans unified all of Italy, and the Carthaginians also preserved Sicily .
When two powerful forces eliminate a common enemy, the other party becomes the biggest enemy.
Soon, the Romans and Carthaginians fell out, and war broke out between them.
1
The Punic War broke out
Carthage first originated in Tunisia in northern Africa. It was not large at first. After more than ten generations of hard work, Carthage developed into a prosperous maritime trade center.
By the 3rd century BC, Carthage became the overlord of the Mediterranean , and its territory included vast lands such as northern Africa, Spain, Sardinia and Sicily.
Because Carthage has a natural harbor, its navy is very powerful, and its navy far exceeds the number of countries around the Mediterranean.
After Rome unified the Italian peninsula, its ambition for external expansion became increasingly intense, and its primary goal was the nearby island of Sicily.
Sicily is like a shining pearl in the Mediterranean. It is not only rich and fertile, but also has a very important strategic position. If you occupy it, you can control the entire Mediterranean.
At this time, Sicily was controlled by Carthage, how could the Carthage give it up.
As a result, a war broke out between Carthage and Rome in Sicily. This was the famous Punic War.
You may be wondering, why is it called the Punic War? In fact, Punic is a contempt for the Carthaginians by the Romans, and actually refers to the Carthaginians.
The Punic War lasted for a very long time and experienced three wars in total. It can be said to be a hundred years' war.
In the First Punic War , Carthage took advantage of its powerful navy to gain the upper hand at the beginning. As the war progressed, the Romans, who were accustomed to land operations, immediately changed their strategies.
The innovative Romans built a small drawbridge on their warships. When approaching an enemy ship, soldiers would place the drawbridge on the deck of the enemy ship, and the infantry would immediately rush up to fight with the enemy.
This method of warfare allowed Roman soldiers who were unfamiliar with water warfare to conduct "land warfare" on warships, giving full play to their army advantages. In the end, the Romans won the First Punic War, and Sicily became The first overseas colony of the Romans.
2
Ares Hannibal
After the Romans got Sicily, they did not stop there, but continued to expand and forcibly occupied Sardinia and Corsica, the dependencies of Carthage.
Seeing that the Romans occupied their territory, how could the Carthaginians give up? So, Rome and Carthage started the Second Punic War.
Luck was not always on the side of the Romans. At this time, a great military genius appeared in Carthage, he was Hannibal.
Hannibal's father was a general in Carthage. Hannibal had been baptized by war since he was a child, which also gave him strong perseverance and excellent command skills.
At the age of 25, Hannibal became the supreme commander of Carthage in Spain. Assigned by the Carthage Senate, Hannibal led the army to fight against the Romans.
Hannibal launched an attack on Rome in two groups. He personally led the infantry, avoided the main force of Rome, crossed the Alps, and reached northern Italy in 33 days.
When Hannibal's troops appeared in front of the Romans like divine soldiers from heaven, the Roman rulers panicked and immediately dispatched the main force to return home for rescue.
Hannibal used his excellent military command capabilities to annihilate more than Roman army html more than 270,000 people, while his own troops suffered only a few thousand casualties.
Hannibal led his troops to gradually occupy various city-states from northern Italy to the south. Facing Hannibal's offensive, the Romans decided to avoid a frontal decisive battle and adopted a strategy of encirclement and attrition, making it difficult for Hannibal to win a quick victory.
The Second Punic War lasted for more than ten years. Both sides suffered huge losses. In addition, Hannibal fought far away from homeland, which made the troops feel tired. Carthage's offensive against the Roman army also gradually weakened.
Just as Hannibal led his army to gradually expand the offensive, the Romans took the opportunity to send part of their troops to cross the Mediterranean and sneak attack the basic territory of Carthage.
The authorities in Carthage hurriedly summoned Hannibal back to the country for rescue. The two sides fought a decisive battle near the city of Zama. This was the famous Battle of Zama.
In the Battle of Zama, Carthage was defeated by Rome. The Second Punic War ended with Carthage's defeat, and Carthage also lost its status as a maritime overlord.
3
The last afterglow
Although Hannibal was defeated, he was still a great hero in the hearts of the Carthaginians, and he was also elected as the highest administrator by Carthage.
After being elected as the supreme administrator, Hannibal implemented many major reforms in order to revive his foundation, which also offended the interests of the aristocrats oligarchs .
The nobles framed Hannibal for their own interests and complained to the Roman government that Hannibal was treason. Hannibal had no choice but to escape, and finally committed suicide by taking poison on the way to escape.
After Hannibal's death, Carthage could no longer compete with Rome militarily. However, the Roman authorities were afraid of Carthage's revival, so they launched the Third Punic War.
This also reminds me of Russia today. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union , Russia can no longer compete with the United States, both militarily and economically. However, the United States cannot forget the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
After the Third Punic War broke out, the Roman consul Menelius led 80,000 people across the sea from Sicily to Carthage.
For this sudden invasion, the Carthaginians were unprepared and could only seek peace from the Romans.
The Carthaginians surrendered all their weapons and handed over 300 children to Rome as hostages.
Rome was not satisfied with this result. He asked Carthage to destroy all the cities. The Carthaginians were so angry that everyone worked together to defend the city.
The Roman army besieged the city of Carthage. After running out of ammunition and food, the Carthaginians decided to die with the city.
Finally, the Romans burned the city of Carthage. The fire burned for 16 days. The historical city of Carthage has completely disappeared from history.
Tunisia in northern Africa today is a country established on the ruins of Carthage, and the name Carthage has since ceased to exist.
The three Punic Wars lasted for 118 years and ended with the destruction of Carthage. Rome also gained huge benefits from this war.
After conquering Carthage, Rome continued to expand to the eastern Mediterranean. I will share the following story with you in the next article. Thank you for your attention and I look forward to seeing you next time!
