In the western Mediterranean, while Alexander's successors were
Dividing up his conquests and the Han was unifying China, two
Powers were rising that would eventually fight each other for
Control of the Mediterranean world. Rome and Carthage.
Rome
Had begun as a small city-state on the Tiber River in central
Italy. Its traditional founding date—seven-fifty-three BCE, by
Romulus—is legendary, but archaeological evidence does show
A settlement there from the eighth century BCE. Initially ruled
By kings (traditionally seven of them, ending with Tarquin the Proud),
Rome became a republic in five-oh-nine BCE when the last king was
Overthrown. The Roman Republic had a distinctive constitutional
Structure: two consuls elected annually to executive authority
(Checking each other), a Senate of aristocratic elders providing
Continuity and policy guidance, assemblies of citizens voting on
Laws and electing magistrates, and tribunes of the plebs with
Veto powers to protect the common people from aristocratic abuse.
The system balanced power between aristocratic and popular
Elements and was designed to prevent any one person or family
From becoming dominant. It worked—for about four hundred fifty
Years. During those centuries, Rome gradually conquered Italy,
Defeating the Etruscans, the various Italic peoples (Samnites,
Sabines, Latins), and the Greek cities of southern Italy and
Sicily. By two-seventy BCE, Rome dominated the entire Italian
Peninsula. And then Rome looked outward, across the Strait of
Messina, at the commercial empire of Carthage.
Carthage.
A Phoenician colony founded in the ninth century BCE on the
Coast of what is now Tunisia. Phoenician traders from Tyre had
Established it as a commercial outpost, and it had grown over
The centuries into the dominant commercial power of the western
Mediterranean. The Carthaginians—whom the Romans called Punici,
Hence "Punic"—controlled trade routes across North Africa, into
Iberia (especially its silver mines), to Sardinia and Corsica,
And into parts of Sicily. They had a powerful navy, a merchant
Empire, and substantial wealth. They spoke a Semitic language
(Punic, closely related to Phoenician and Hebrew), worshipped
Semitic gods (including Baal Hammon and Tanit), and were
Regarded by the Romans with a mixture of admiration and suspicion.
Their religious practices included, in their most extreme form,
Child sacrifice—the infamous tophet, burial grounds containing
The cremated remains of infants that have been found at Carthage
And other Punic sites. The interpretation of these sites is
Disputed; some scholars argue the burials are of children who
Had died naturally and were dedicated to the gods, rather than
Victims of active sacrifice. But some ancient sources describe
Systematic sacrifice of infants to Baal Hammon in times of civic
Crisis. The Romans regarded Carthaginian religion as particularly
Barbaric—an attitude that would later feed into Roman propaganda
Against their enemies. The two powers could not indefinitely
Coexist. The western Mediterranean was not large enough for both
An expanding Italian land power and an established maritime
Commercial empire. Their clash began over Sicily, an island whose
Eastern side was largely Greek, western side largely Punic, and
Northern side increasingly Roman. Starting in two-sixty-four BCE,
Rome and Carthage fought three wars over the following century.
Together these are known as the Punic Wars.
The First Punic War
(Two-sixty-four to two-forty-one BCE) was fought primarily over
Sicily. Rome had little naval experience; Carthage was a
Dominant sea power. But the Romans, with characteristic stubbornness,
Built a navy from scratch, imitating a captured Carthaginian
Warship and adding their own innovation: the corvus, a boarding
Bridge that allowed Roman marines to turn naval battles into
Land battles. They won enough engagements to achieve a decisive
Victory. Carthage ceded Sicily to Rome and paid a massive
Indemnity. The peace was uneasy. Carthage, humiliated and
Financially strained, faced a further crisis when its own
Mercenary troops rebelled; it took three years to suppress this
Mercenary War. During that period, Rome seized Sardinia and
Corsica—an action widely regarded as opportunistic and unfair.
Carthaginian resentment festered. The general Hamilcar Barca—
One of Carthage's most capable commanders—led the family that
Would drive the next war. He had his young son Hannibal swear,
At an altar, eternal enmity against Rome. That oath would shape
The coming conflict. Hamilcar built up Carthaginian power in
Iberia, expanding the empire westward and creating a base from
Which to eventually renew the war. He was succeeded by his son-in-
Law Hasdrubal, and then by Hannibal himself, who took command
In Spain in two-twenty-one BCE.
The Second Punic War
(Two-eighteen to two-oh-one BCE) was perhaps the most dramatic war
Of antiquity. Hannibal, anticipating that Rome would attack him
In Spain, decided instead to strike first. He led an army of
Perhaps fifty thousand men—including war elephants—across the
Ebro, through the Pyrenees, across southern Gaul, over the
Alps in winter (a march that passed into legend for its
Impossibility, and whose exact route is still debated), and into
Northern Italy. He arrived in Italy with perhaps half his original
Force—the crossings had been costly—but he was in the Roman
Homeland. He won three catastrophic victories in succession. At
The Trebia River in two-eighteen BCE. At Lake Trasimene in
Two-seventeen BCE (where he ambushed and destroyed an entire
Roman army in a mountain pass, killing the consul Flaminius).
And at Cannae in two-sixteen BCE—the most devastating Roman
Defeat in centuries. At Cannae, Hannibal used a tactical
Innovation now called the "double envelopment": allowing his
Center to slowly yield while his flanks wheeled around behind
The advancing Romans, encircling them completely. The trapped
Roman army was annihilated. Perhaps fifty thousand Romans died
In a single afternoon—a death toll larger than any single day's
Combat casualties in Western history until the twentieth century.
After Cannae, the Roman state faced existential crisis. Many
Of their Italian allies defected to Hannibal. The war seemed
Lost. But Rome did not break. The Senate, showing the discipline
For which it became famous, refused to negotiate with Hannibal.
Rome would fight on. And it did. The general Quintus Fabius Maximus
Adopted what became known as "Fabian tactics": refusing to engage
Hannibal directly, shadowing his army, cutting his supply lines,
Slowly wearing him down. Hannibal could win battles but could
Not force Rome to surrender. Meanwhile, Roman armies operated
Elsewhere: in Spain, where Publius Cornelius Scipio (later
Called Africanus) defeated Carthaginian forces and eventually
Conquered the entire peninsula; in Sicily, where the Greek city
Of Syracuse (which had defected to Carthage) was besieged and
Taken (an event famous for the death of the mathematician
Archimedes, who was killed by a Roman soldier during the sack
Despite orders to spare him); in North Africa, where Scipio
Ultimately carried the war to Carthage itself. In two-oh-two BCE,
At the Battle of Zama, Scipio defeated Hannibal on Hannibal's
Home ground. The Second Punic War ended. Carthage was stripped
Of its overseas territories, forbidden to maintain a navy without
Roman permission, and required to pay a massive indemnity. It
Was reduced to a shadow of its former power. But it still existed.
And for two generations, Carthage remained—a commercial city
Confined to its African hinterland, paying its indemnity, gradually
Recovering economically. Rome watched with increasing distrust.
The old senator Cato the Elder ended every speech in the Senate,
Regardless of its topic, with the phrase "Carthago delenda est"—
"Carthage must be destroyed." In the mid-second century BCE,
Roman hawks found a pretext for war. The Third Punic War
(One-forty-nine to one-forty-six BCE) was less a war than a
Systematic destruction. Rome besieged Carthage. After three
Years, the city fell. It was sacked, burned, and razed. Survivors
Were enslaved. The ground was reportedly sown with salt to make
It barren (though this detail may be later embellishment). The
Carthaginian civilization ended. North Africa became the Roman
Province of Africa, which would become one of Rome's most
Productive grain-producing regions. Carthage itself would be
Refounded as a Roman colony a century later, but the original
Punic civilization was erased.
And the Punic Wars
Transformed Rome. Before the wars, Rome was a regional Italian
Power. After them, it was the dominant state of the western
Mediterranean. The wars had required Rome to build a navy, to
Conduct operations across vast distances, to manage provinces
Outside of Italy, and to handle enormous economic and social
Strains. All these experiences accelerated Rome's evolution
From city-state to empire. The conquest of Iberia brought huge
Wealth to Rome. The acquisition of Sicily and eventually Africa
Gave it a grain supply that would feed Rome's growing urban
Population. The wars also concentrated power in the hands of
Successful generals like Scipio Africanus, beginning a pattern
Of political-military personality that would eventually undermine
The Republic. The precedent of one man holding exceptional command
For extended periods against military threats would be invoked
By Marius, Sulla, Pompey, and eventually Julius Caesar—each
Drawing on the institutional flexibility that the Punic Wars
Had established. The wars also militarized Roman society. Most
Adult male Romans served for years as soldiers. Veterans returned
To find their farms ruined by neglect or bought up by wealthy
Landowners (the long wars having ruined small farmers while
Concentrating land in the hands of those who could buy slaves
To work it). The resulting social displacement created a class
Of landless poor who crowded into Rome and other cities—a
Volatile population that would fuel political instability for
Generations. The social reforms of the Gracchi brothers in the
Late second century BCE tried to address this problem through
Land redistribution; their failure and violent deaths marked the
Beginning of the political breakdowns that would eventually end
The Republic. And meanwhile, Rome continued to expand. Having
Defeated Carthage, it turned east. Macedon was defeated in a
Series of wars; mainland Greece was annexed. The Seleucid empire
Was defeated at Magnesia in one-ninety BCE, becoming effectively
A Roman client. Anatolia was annexed. By the end of the second
Century BCE, the Mediterranean was a Roman lake. Further
Conquests in the first century BCE—Syria, Gaul, Egypt—would
Extend the imperial reach to its maximum extent. But the
Foundations of Roman imperial power were laid in the Punic Wars.
Without them, there would have been no Roman Empire.
And
Hannibal himself. Defeated at Zama, exiled from Carthage for
Political reasons, he wandered the eastern Mediterranean in the
Following years, offering his military expertise to anti-Roman
Powers. He eventually took refuge with the Bithynian king
Prusias I. When Roman diplomats demanded that Hannibal be
Turned over to them, he took poison rather than face capture.
He died in exile, probably in one-eighty-three BCE, at around
Age sixty-three. His tactical genius is still studied in military
Academies worldwide. His double envelopment at Cannae has been
Emulated (successfully and unsuccessfully) by commanders from
Frederick the Great to Robert E. Lee to modern military
Theorists. He stands as one of the supreme commanders in history—
A man who crossed the Alps with elephants, won three impossible
Victories against the greatest power of his age, and sustained
A hopeless campaign in hostile territory for fifteen years before
Finally being defeated not by battle but by the systematic attrition
Of superior resources. The Gaiad honors Hannibal's genius even
While recognizing that his cause—the preservation of Punic
Civilization against Roman expansion—was ultimately lost. He
Is one of the tragic figures of ancient history. A great commander
In service of a state that could not, in the end, match the
Manpower and institutional resilience of its enemy.
Punic Wars.
Rome and Carthage. Three wars across a century. Hamilcar,
Hasdrubal, Hannibal. The Alps crossing. Trebia, Trasimene, Cannae.
The double envelopment. Roman resilience under catastrophic
Defeat. Scipio Africanus's counter-invasion. The victory at Zama.
The Third Punic War and the destruction of Carthage.
Cato's "Carthago delenda est." The refounding of Carthage as
A Roman colony and the absorption of North Africa into Roman
Territory.
The wars that transformed Rome from Italian power
To Mediterranean superpower. The proving ground of Roman
Institutions. The beginning of the end for the Republic.
Punic Wars. The century-long duel. The emergence of what would
Become the greatest Mediterranean empire.
Stand.