The First Punic War
Punic, in Roman, meant the people of Sicily.
In the 200 B.C.E.s, Carthage, another world power in those days, had settlements on Sicily. Rome was worried that Carthage would take control of the island, so the two world powers went to war over Sicily. Rome had a stronger army, but Carthage had the stronger navy. In the beginning of the war, the Romans were not very skilled at sea. However, they were very clever and invented something called a "crow," which was a gangway or passageway with hooks. This Punic War lasted 23 long years. At 241 BCE, Carthage was forced to admit defeat and the Romans won control of Sicily.
The Second Punic War Even though Carthage was defeated by Rome, it was still an
important power. Carthage started to rebuild its empire in Spain and already had
many trading posts. In 221 BCE, Hannibal was elected to be the general or
commander of the army. Carthage attacked Saguntum, one of Rome's allies in
Spain. Once Saguntum was defeated, Rome declared war on Carthage. Hannibal
destroyed the Romans in nearly all the battles because of his elephants and
strong military tactics. Only their determination kept the Romans alive until
general Scipio Africanus who could match Hannibal became apparent in the war.
Scipio made a pact with Numidia, one of Carthage's allies. Scipido then attacked
Carthage while Hannibal was still in Italy. Although Hannibal managed to get
back to Carthage, the Romans, with the help of the Numidians, defeated Carthage.
The Third Punic War In the second Punic War, Carthage had promised
Rome that it would not attack any other nations without their consent. However,
The Third Punic War was started by Rome. Carthage had again grown wealthy, and
Romans were not happy that Carthage was still a prime nation to gain territory
and money. Rome waged war on Carthage to get revenge. They used their allies,
Masinissa, to help conquer Carthage. Masinissa angered the nation and they took
the bait. The Romans came to their allies aid to attack Carthage and now had
more military power and more men. It didn't take long to decide who was the
stronger of the two. Rome broke their peace treaty with Carthage and kept on
destroying. Carthage had no choice but to fight for three long years. At the
end, Rome defeated Carthage once and for all and their men were sold in to
slavery..
Courtesy of
Frederic Sheu
and
Jeffrey Chen