Key Terms – The Punic Wars

Carthage Sicily Punics Mercenaries Syracuse Corvus New Carthage Hannibal P. Scipio

The Alps Fabius Maximus Cannae Double Encirclement Scipio Africanus Cato the Elder

Carthaginian Background (cont.)

Carthaginians were not interested in populating the interior of Africa

Led to a very small agricultural community → farmers were commonly used as soldiers, therefore the lack of farmers led to a lack of a recruitment base

Mercenaries were used instead Were good soldiers but were only loyal while the

pay was there, where there was no pay.....

Punic Wars (causes)

The Greeks had populated the eastern side of Sicily since the 8th Century B.C. & the Punics occupied the western side of the island.

Romans were expanding quickly around 277 B.C. & it led them to the island of Sicily → the Carthaginians already had established the area as a sphere of influence

Immediate cause was the town of Messana → Campanian mercenaries had seized the town and were then being attacked by the ruler of Syracuse

Would seek and receive help from the Carthaginians but would renege on their deal

Sought protection from the Romans against the Carthaginians

1st Punic War

Romans would land on Messana and would gain a victory over Carthage there

Would have the tyrant of Syracuse join their side giving them solid control of the eastern half of Sicily

Romans wanted the western half but knew that moving from town to town would turn out to be a long and costly process

Believed that they could finish off Carthage by gaining control of the seas and cutting off Carthage from any of its reinforcements

1st Punic War

Romans would build a fleet from scratch Believed that since Carthage possessed a superior

navy that they would not be able to compete in a conventional fashion

Would build a corvus (large plank with a spike at the end) that would be used to connect the Roman ships to the Carthaginian ships and give them the ability to turn a sea battle into a land battle

Romans would still not be able to make any headway in moving the Carthagians off the island

1st Punic War Roman male population would go down by 17%

since the start of the war → led to period of time where there was no fighting

Carthage did not attack during this time electing to rebuild its land army instead of its navy.

Romans would recover and build a fleet of 200 ships but would populate those ships with true sailors instead of foot soldiers

Carthage would reactivate its navy but its sailors were out of practice and easily handled → led to the request for a peace treaty with the Romans

1st Punic War - Conclusion

Victorious consul would arrange peace terms which would be rejected by Rome and made harsher

Carthage was forced to abandon Sicily and pay a large fine over 10 years.

Why did the Romans Win? Romans were able to win war they initially were

unprepared for because: Determination: Romans were relentless. They

fought even when the losses were mounting up. Inventiveness and Adaptability: Romans began

without a navy and then proceeded to build one. They used the corvus until it began to fail. When it failed, they trained their soldiers to be sailors giving them the decisive victory.

Manpower: Romans did not care for their losses because they knew they could easily replace the numbers that were lost very quickly.

Carthage in Spain

New Carthage would be founded in Spain around 228 B.C.

Roman embassy would check in on them to see what was going on and terms were apparently reached where Hasdrubal would not cross the Iber (located in northeastern Spain).

Hasdrubal would assassinated and Hannibal assumes control.

Hannibal takes over

Hannibal would be the object of Roman hatred for a period of 20 years and many more after his lifetime.

Decided that Rome's power lied in its ability to replenish its forces quickly → led to his decision to attack Italy directly.

Causes of the Second Punic War

Hannibal would attack a town known as Saguntum on the southern portion of the Iber.

Romans would do nothing while the siege occurred and would later send an embassy demanding Hannibal's surrender

Hannibal would refuse leading to Rome declaring war on Carthage

2nd Punic War

Romans would launch a two-pronged attack → P. Cornelius Scipio would go to Spain while the other consul would go to Sicily and prepare for an invasion.

Hannibal was aware of Rome's strength and decided to go into the heart of Italy

Took more than 50,000 troops and 37 elephants across the Pyrenees to Italy

2nd Punic War

Hannibal would cross the Alps with roughly half of his army → local Gallic peoples would reload his ranks.

Romans would recall their forces directed toward Carthage to help against Hannibal

Armies would meet in northern Italy where Hannibal would gain a decisive victory over the Romans → would release all non-Roman prisoners in an attempt to take away Rome's allies.

Battle of Cannae

Hannibal initiates battle by sending a cavalry directly at the Roman camp to provoke them.

Varro would take his forces directly at Hannibal believing that Hannibal's position by the water would trap him and force him to panic and end up losing

Hannibal anticipated this and actually found his position much more strategic since it would prevent the Romans from using their numbers against him

Battle of Cannae

Hannibal would allow the Romans to march directly at him from the east. He intended to use the double-envelopment technique to stop the Romans

He would position his mixed race soldiers in the center of the battle line to gain the Roman army's attention

He would place his superior soldiers on the flanks to attack the heart of the Roman army from both sides while the cavalry took the Roman cavalry out of the picture

Aftermath

Hannibal punished the Romans For Hannibal to kill the amount of

Romans that were claimed to have been killed in the battle, his soldiers must have killed at least 600 soldiers a minute

Only 14,000 of 70,000 soldiers survived, some of the survivors on the field committed suicide to prevent death or capture

Hannibal once again released the non-Romans

Strategies After Cannae

- Upon losing the Battle of Cannae, the Romans sought to rebuild and engineer a new strategy.

- In the meantime, Hannibal had laid siege to Rome and awaited reinforcements and siege equipment from his brother.

Roman Strategy

- The Romans, under Scipio, were able to prevent Hannibal from acquiring reinforcements, hence Hannibal could not enter Rome and would have to wait until he devised a new strategy.

- The Romans would invade Carthage while Hannibal was stationed at Rome.

- The Carthaginians would be forced to sign peace treaty → this would later be reneged on once Carthage found out Hannibal was alive.

Battle of Zama

- Hannibal would return to Carthage and engage the Romans for the final time at Zama.

- Hannibal's elephants proved to be ineffective and ultimately led to Hannibal's defeat, he would escape only to be killed later.

Results

- Carthage would be forced to sign a harsher treaty that stated:

- they could not have a standing military

- they would have to ask Rome's permission to be able to engage other groups in war

- they would have to pay a huge fine

The Third Punic War- After numerous

encroachments by Numidia in the east of Carthage, Carthage would attempt to defend itself in violation of the treaty.

- Cato the Elder, an orator, stated that Carthage must be destroyed.

- Scipio Africanus would engage Carthage one final time and completely overwhelm the city.

- Carthage would be destroyed and the Punic Wars would end.