Who Fought In The Punic Wars ?
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. |
Messina sought help from Rome to protect their island. Romans started marching their armies to Messina and they destroyed many Carthaginian colonies in the south. This attack marked the beginning of the Punic wars.
The Punic wars lasted for twenty-five years. Rome had a very powerful army and they could fight confidently on land. However, Carthage had an advantage because they had built a huge naval army. Carthage started attacking Italy on the coast and Romans were facing defeat. They attacked the lands and retreated to the sea back where they would be safe. Romans knew that in order to combat Carthage they had to build ships. They did not know how to build ships, so they captured one of the ships of Carthage and copied it. In a little time of 2 months, Rome built more than 100 war ships, and also trained their men to handle the ships.
Rome also built a swinging bridge that had spikes on it to attack the Carthage ships. They realized that sinking their ships would not be possible. The Romans also developed newer seafaring techniques and used their land techniques in it. The Romans used grappling hooks that helped them attach to the enemy ships. Using these hooks they boarded the enemy ships and fought with them man to man.
In the year 241 BC, Carthage had no choice but to surrender to Rome. The surrender also meant that Carthage compensated Rome with a large amount of treasure and land.
In the year 221 BC, General Hannibal tried attacking Rome again. This time he followed a different strategy. This was called the second Punic war. He marched 40,000 people and forty elephants over the Italian Alps, starting from Spain and entered Italy. He took the Roman army by surprise. Hannibal lost several of his men and all of his elephants but he did win several wars against the Roman army. Rome was threatened once again and they attacked the city of Carthage and destroyed it completely. They also asked Carthage to surrender Hannibal for which they refused. In the third Punic war, Rome drove out Carthage out of Sicily, and Hannibal ended up committing suicide at the age of 64.
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KidsPast.com: The Punic Wars
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In the 3rd century, Rome and Carthage were two of the biggest empires that were expanding. Rome and Carthage battled in the sea. The series of these conflicts were called the Punic wars. Carthage fought Rome very fiercely with military generals like Hannibal, but still lost the war. 