 This assignment is about a series of wars that were fought between two leading Mediterranean republics, Rome and Carthage. Now let's begin with some comparisons between Rome and Carthage. In the early third century BCE both Rome and Carthage were city-state republics and in practice both were ruled by a small group of elements and they shared other similarities as well. By tradition Rome was founded around 753 BCE and Carthage was founded just a few decades earlier around 813 BCE and they shared many aspects of Greek culture and religion. Now Rome and Carthage had been partners in trade and diplomacy for nearly two and a half centuries and their elites enjoyed a they enjoyed reciprocal ties of friendship and hospitality but in the third century these two republics fought against each other in three major wars and ultimately destroyed Carthage and made Rome the superpower of the Mediterranean. Now the Punic Wars permanently changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean. Rome was a very large city for the third century. It had an urban population of about 90,000 people and by 270 BCE the Roman army had established total control over the Italian peninsula and in Rome all property mails between the age of 18 and 46 were eligible for military service and they were recruited into the cavalry or infantry and the infantry was the most important branch of the Roman army and the it was the main fighting force and the principal formation was the legion and military service was regarded as a mark of honor and public recognition and advancement was virtually impossible especially because only after 10 years of military service a man could even hold public office. Now one thing to remember is that Rome did not have a strong navy at this time but Carthage on the other hand was known for its naval supremacy and the population of Carthage was approximately 200,000 and the Carthaginian army consisted mainly of mercenaries recruited from various subject territories. Now each territory contributed special skills. New media provided cavalry with spears and javelins and these horsemen rode without a saddle and they had such superb fighting skills both in the hills and in the plains. Slingers they were recruited from the Balearic islands and they used two types of slings one for long range attacks against a densely packed enemy and the other for close combats up to 600 feet. Now infantry soldiers were recruited from the Spanish hill tribes and they were experts at guerrilla warfare and their basic weapon was a short sword for cutting and thrusting. Now the largest mercenary contingent came from modern-day Libya and Tunisia. The elephants came mostly from the forest around Carthage at the foot of the Atlas Mountains and along the coast of Morocco. Now although later on Hannibal obtained some Indian elephants from Egypt. Now elephants were used to scare horses and the infantry and the Navy played a very important role in Carthaginian wars and unlike the army it was manned entirely by Carthaginians. Now there were three basic types of ships large warships cargo ships that could be converted to transport troops and then small general purpose vessels. Now let's review the First Punic War which lasted from 264 to 241 BCE. Now most historians point to two main causes. The Romans saw an opportunity to gain a foothold in Sicily. Now the Romans believed that the Carthaginians were unprepared militarily and so the First Punic War was the first armed conflict in which Rome operated outside Italy and this war was fought for the control of Sicily. Now the island of Sicily was a key strategic location for both Rome and Carthage and they both wanted to control it. Now in 264 BCE there was a dispute over the control of a city on the island of Sicily and that led to the outbreak of the First Punic War. Now at this time Carthage had a powerful navy but Rome did not and Carthage controlled much of the western Mediterranean trade including the important sea routes between Italy and Spain and Rome wanted to control these routes and wealth and the wealth that came with them. So the First Punic War lasted for over 20 years and was fought mainly in Sicily and at sea and at first Carthage had an upper hand in the war because of its superior navy. Carthage sent Hamilcar Barca to take command in Sicily and Hamilcar was a brilliant and charismatic general who terrorized the Romans in Sicily with lightning blows from mountain heights and ravaged the coast of southern Italy with bold raids. Now Carthage then withdrew most of its ships from Sicily presumably because of political financial or military military pressures in Africa and the Carthage unions must have hoped that the Romans would grow tired of the stalemate and come to reasonable terms. Meanwhile the Romans realized that the war could not be won by land alone and quickly built their own new fleet. A Carthaginian ship had drawn a ground during a naval battle and the Romans dismantled that ship and used it as a model to build their own fleet and in 241 Rome defeated Carthage and forced Carthage to give up control over Sicily. They allowed some of money to Rome as war reparations and reduced the size of the Carthaginian fleet to just 10 warships. Now the Carthaginians paid indemnities to Rome for the next 50 years and they were also obliged to provide military support and grain to Rome. Now after the war ended the Carthage unions didn't even have money to pay their large mercenary army and that provoked rebellions among the mercenaries who were returning from the war and Hamilcar massacred thousands of rebels and his ruthless tactics finally put an end to those uprisings. But Carthage was profoundly weakened after the first Punic War. Now let's talk about the second Punic War. This war lasted from 218 to 201 BCE and it was one of the largest wars of the Mediterranean and was fought across Italy, Spain, the Western Mediterranean and North Africa. The second Punic War ended in 201 BCE with the defeat of Carthage. So what led to the second war? Sardinia was the main granary of the Carthaginians and Rome had violated previous agreements with Carthage and seized Sardinia in 230 BCE. Now when Carthage protested the Romans responded by threatening war and Carthage was too exhausted to resist and they even agreed to pay an additional substantial indemnity and relinquished Sardinia. Now Hamilcar Barca viewed this aggressive policy of the Romans as morally repulsive and in the second Punic War Hamilcar Barca's son Hannibal was determined to avenge the loss of Sicily, Sardinia and his father's humiliation. So this was the immediate cause of the war but the overall setting of the war was far more complex. Rome was in an expansion mode and in 220 BCE Rome deliberately formed an alliance with the Spanish city of Saguntum and this connection greatly upset Carthage and escalated tensions between Rome and Carthage and Hannibal who had assumed full command in Spain viewed this Roman alliance with Saguntum as a threat to his authority in Spain. Now the second Punic War was about control of Sardinia and it unfolded as a series of land battles in Spain and in the Italian peninsula. Hannibal marched overland towards Italy and his daring plan entailed crossing the Bernese, marching through southern Gaul and descending upon Italy from the Alps. Now this was a long and arduous land route and several military strategists and generals through the ages have studied Hannibal's campaigns. Now Hannibal was a brilliant strategist and charismatic leader who never lost a battle during his entire Italian expedition and he fully analyzed the terrain and planned his military operations and demonstrated exceptional genius in utilizing troops on the battlefield. Now Hannibal was not even 30 years old when he led his troops across the Bernese and he commanded a huge army of perhaps 9,000 cavalry and several several elephants and during the second Punic War Hannibal won many major battles such as the Battle of Trebia in northern Italy, the Battle of Lae Trasimene in central Italy and the famous Battle of Cannae in southern Italy. Now in 216 BCE the battle took place at Cannae on flat terrain that favored Hannibal's superiority in cavalry and the Carthaginian army crushed the Romans. It was a bloody battle in which only a small fraction of the Roman army escaped death or captivity and when news of this disaster reached Rome the Roman Senate ordered the streets to be clear of crying women, impose silence in public places to discourage rumor and gossip, armed all males over the age of 16, formed two additional legions by freeing slaves and tried to get more money for the war effort. Now you can only imagine how disastrous this war was for the Romans. In 210 the Roman general named Sipio was appointed to the Spanish command and Sipio carefully studied Hannibal's strategies and eventually defeated him. For example Sipio copied Hannibal's strategy at Cannae and created a new formation that could expand or contract very quickly and he used this formation to defeat the Carthaginian armies in Spain. Now Hannibal's army was numerically very small compared to the Roman army yet Hannibal had never lost a major battle in enemy territory for 15 years and in 202 BCE the two great generals of the Second Punic War Sipio and Hannibal met at the Battle of Zama in very close to Carthage and the Carthaginians were not able to win this battle. The Romans defeated the Carthaginians and at the end of the war Carthage was forced to accept very harsh terms of surrender. Carthage gave up Spain, reduced its military, paid a very large indemnity to Rome and recognized the independence of Numidia. Now Rome also prohibited Carthage from waging war without Rome's permission and Sipio returned to Rome in triumph and immortalized his victory by adding Africanus to his name. He was now known as Sipio, Africanus and Sipio became the first Roman general to have the name of the land he had conquered. Now after the war ended the political elite of Carthage turned against Hannibal and you know was one of the greatest military commanders in history and Hannibal fled from Carthage and he eventually committed suicide. Now similarly although Sipio was a great general he was not skilled enough to navigate complex Roman politics and the Roman Senate accused Sipio of corruption and eventually Sipio also went into voluntary exile and many historians have suggested that he also might have committed suicide. Now let's briefly review some of the main reasons why Rome won in these wars. The Roman cavalry was trained to be very mobile and flexible and they were able to outmaneuver and defeat their opponents. Now Hannibal used elephants in the battles but the Romans were able to neutralize this advantage by driving them off the field with javelins and other weapons and by the time of the Battle of Zama Hannibal had been fighting the Romans for over 15 years and his army was exhausted. Carthage lost some of its allies during the war particularly after Rome's military successes and this made it more difficult for them to sustain the war effort. Now at the end of the second unique war Rome forced Carthage to recognize the independence of Numidia and Carthage after sometimes stopped paying tribute to Numidia and Rome used that as a pretext to launch another war against Carthage. Now this was the last and final war against Carthage, the third unique war. So now let's move on to the last battle between Rome and Carthage and this war was fought entirely in Carthaginian territory and it was really the result of Carthage's efforts to convince the Roman Senate that Carthage, even in its weakened state after losing two major wars with Rome, continued to pose a threat to Rome and Carthage is remembered for his rallying cry. Carthage must be destroyed. So the third unique war was a short but bloody war. It started in 149 BC. The Roman army landed in North Africa and they quickly razed Carthage to the ground, contaminated its soil with salt and made sure that nothing would grow there and Carthage remained uninhabited for a long time until Julius Caesar's time. So that's how North Africa became a Roman presence. So please answer all the questions in this assignment and let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.