Timeline Of The Punic Wars
The Punic Wars refers to a series of war that took place between Carthage and the mighty Romans. These wars took place between 264 and 146 BC. At that time these were considered to be the largest wars ever fought. The term Punic is derived from Punicus, which is the Latin term for the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians have a great ancestry passed on from Phoenicians. |
The main reason for the Punic Wars was the ongoing conflict between the Carthaginian Empire and the Roman Empire. The Romans were interested only in expansion and went through Sicily. A part of Sicily was controlled by Carthage. At the beginning of the war the Carthaginian Empire was powerful in the western part of the Mediterranean region. They had a huge naval army. Rome was increasing their power in Italy, but they did not have the naval power. By the time the third Punic War, which lasted 100 years and after many people lost their lives in Carthage and their own land, Rome conquered Carthage. It became the most dominant empire in the western part of the Mediterranean.
The Macedonian wars and the Punic wars took place simultaneously. At the end of these wars, in 188 BC, Rome was dominating the entire Mediterranean region and was considered to be the most dominant state. The victory over Carthage made Rome an unconquerable power and they enjoyed that status till the fifth century AD.
After the Battle of Agrigentum, Carthage decided not to engage with Rome in land wars. Carthage was keener in pushing the war to the sea because that was their strongest point and Rome’s weakest. In the year 260 BC, the naval war between Rome and Carthage took place and Roman Navy was defeated. However, Rome had power and money, so they expanded their naval army within a short span of two months. In two months, they built more than 100 warships. The Romans also made an assault bridge which would swing into the enemy ships and destroy them. Roman soldiers boarded the ships of Carthage and took over them.
In the year 241 BC, a peace treaty was penned down between Rome and Carthage and one of the conditions of the treaty was that Carthage would leave Sicily. In the year 238 BC, Carthage was involved in the Mercenary War, and Rome captured Sardinia as well as Corsica. So, now Rome had both, a land army and a navy. They ruled the Mediterranean, and with the huge army, they guarded their empire from seaborne invasions. Italy controlled all the important trade routes and even some foreign shores. Carthage in the mean time was rebuilding their empire by improving their finances.
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Wikipedia: Punic Wars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punic_Wars
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In the year 264 BC, Rome was the most powerful city in the Mediterranean region. Entire Italy was under their control and they had the most powerful army in the world. There was one more power in the same region which could destroy Rome and that was Carthage. Romans were extremely threatened with the presence of Carthage in Sicily. Romans were also worried that Carthage would start controlling the Strait of Messina. Messina was a small island located between Italy and Sicily. 