History 231

Rome:

In the 9^th century BCE, the Phoenician city of Tyre had planted a colony on the North African Coast called Carthage. Three hundred years later (around 600 BCE), Carthage became independent and claimed an absolute monopoly of trade in the western Mediterranean

By the time Rome finished unifying Italy, there were five great powers (Seleucid monarchy in the near East; Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt; Kingdom of Macedonia; and Carthage in the Mediterranean) including the Roman dominated Italian Confederation. By 146 BCE Rome had subjected these states to her domination.

First Punic War 264-241 BCE:

Sicily was strategically important to both Rome and Carthage because of her location and the fertility of her land. Rome feared Carthage had designs on the Sicilian city of Messana and would use it as a staging point to attack the southern Italian city-states or to interfere with trade. Rome decided that the security of her allies required her to intervene in Sicily. As a result of this action in 264 BCE Carthage and Rome stumbled into war.

Rome incurred the loss of her army sent to North Africa and the destruction of her ships in battles and storms but Rome never considered surrender as an option. Finally, Rome was able to defeat Carthage by gathering manpower from her allies. As a result of Carthage's defeat Rome gained Sicily and a large indemnity from Carthage.

In 238 BCE Rome seized Corsica and Sardinia from Carthage, who had been weakened by a rebellion of mercenaries from the Sicilian Campaign. In order to recoup her wealth and manpower for her army, Carthage expanded into Spain. Hannibal was given charge of the Carthaginian army in Spain.

Second Punic War 218-202 BCE

A few years earlier, Rome received an offer of friendship from the Spanish town of Saguntum and they accepted. Saguntum, sure of Rome's friendship, began to interfere with Spanish tribes allied with Hannibal. Rome warned Hannibal to leave Saguntum alone but he captured it. In 218 BCE Rome and Carthage went to war over Spain.

In 218 BCE Hannibal launched a daring campaign and invaded Italy with 30,000 troops and 30 elephants. 26,000 men survived the trip and along the way Hannibal recruited 15,000 men from the Gallic tribesman in the Po Valley. Hannibal defeated the Roman army in 3 battles. In 216 BCE Hannibal defeated the Romans at Cannae, destroying 80,000 Roman soldiers. This was the worse defeat in Rome's history. The Senate panicked and the Roman army refused to meet Hannibal's troops in battle and some of Rome's allies defected to Hannibal. These were dark days for Rome.

The Roman Senate appointed Publius Cornelius Scipio (later called Africanus) to lead the Roman army in Spain. Scipio conquered all of Spain thus depriving Hannibal of help from that region. In 204 BCE Scipio landed in African used the same tactics that Hannibal used in Italy - he burned the farm land and headed straight for Carthage to besiege the city. Hannibal was called back to Carthage to rescue them from Scipio. In 202 BCE Hannibal and Scipio met at Zama, the decisive battle of the 2^nd Punic War. Scipio defeated Hannibal and Rome won the war.

Consequences of the 2^nd Punic War

• -The defeat of Carthage at Zama left Rome the sole great power in the western Mediterranean and initiated Rome's entrance into the politics of the Hellenistic World, which it eventually conquered.
• -Rome was in charge the trade in the Mediterranean.
• -Rome came into contact with the legal codes of other peoples including the Greeks. These legal codes were selectively incorporated into Rome's legal code.
• -Rome's army increased in size to control its new territories and protect its expanding trade.
• -Rome's expansion led to the rise of a business class whose wealth was derived from army supply contracts, construction and tax collection in the provinces.
• -There was an increase in slavery since war captives were brought from the provinces which led to the growth of large plantations or farms called latifundia which were worked by these slaves.