Ancient Rome

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Ancient Rome
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Background

• The Roman Army
• All citizens were required to serve for a period
  of time (not life like in Sparta)
• Army was made out of legions
• Legion a military unit of about 5,000 infantry
  (foot soldiers) supported by cavalry (soldiers on
  horseback)
• Early Roman Expansion
• By 265 BCE Rome controls the Italian Peninsula
• Rome made alliances with conquered peoples and
  even offered some citizenship

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Background

• Carthage
• A powerful city-state in Northern Africa
• Began as a Phoenician colony sometime between 800
  and 750 B.C.E.
• Carthage had grown extremely wealthy as it
  controlled trade in the Mediterranean region.
• This made it an enemy of Rome as the Republic
  expanded and tried to gain its own power and
  wealth.
• Carthage had a very strong navy.

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Red Roman Territory Before the Punic Wars
Purple Carthaginian Territory Before the Punic
Wars
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Why did the Wars happen?

• Both Rome and Carthage had central locations in
  the Mediterranean Basin.
• They were competing over control of trade routes
  in and around the sea.

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The 1ST PUNIC war

• 265 241 B.C.E

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The 1ST Punic War

• Dates 265 241 BCE
• Fought over control of 3 Islands that lie in
  between Africa and Europe (the Italian Peninsula)
• Sicily
• Corsica
• Sardinia

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The 1ST Punic War

• At first it seems that Carthage has the upper
  hand because the battles are mainly at sea
  (remember they have the strong navy)
• Two things change the Carthaginian advantage
• Romans create new ships modeled after a
  Carthaginian warship that washes ashore after a
  storm
• The Inventions of the corvus

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Carthaginian Warship

• Called a quinquereme

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Corvus

• Long ladder with a hook on it
• Roman ships sailed close to Carthaginian ships
  and hooked the two ships together

• The Roman soldiers were able to climb across the
  corvus to the Carthaginian ship and fight hand to
  hand.
• Effectively turned Naval battles into mini-land
  battles which the Romans were very good at.

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The 1st Punic War

• The Roman advancements enabled them to defeat the
  Carthaginians.
• Rome wins the 1st Punic War!
• Carthage has to give up Sicily and pay Rome a
  huge indemnity (fees for damages).

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The 2nd PUNIC war

• 218 201 B.C.E.

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The Second Punic War

• Carthage had built up an army and this time
  attempted to attack Rome on land
• Remembering their defeat at sea.
• They were bitter about the out come of the first
  war, and the loss of Corsica and Sardinia in 237
  to Roman expansion
• Hannibal Barca
• Carthaginian General
• Considered a Military Genius

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The Second Punic War

• Hannibals Plan (this took years from 237 to 218
  when they reach Rome)
• Hannibal did not sail directly to Rome to fight
• He started in Spain (which Carthage had control
  of) and traveled north and then east through Gaul
  towards the Alps
• He picked up mercenaries (private paid soldiers)
  in both areas along the way.
• Hannibal and his army passed over the Alps and
  south into Italy
• Hannibal brought elephants with him (only 1 of
  the 38 of the elephants survive the journey)

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The Second War

• Hannibal was able to march his army all the way
  to Rome.
• However, he hesitated to attack the City,
  because it is too well fortified
• Instead Hannibal hopes to destroy the Roman
  economic base by forcing the army to stay engaged
  else where (slowly eating away at Roman resources)

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The Second Punic War

• The Romans unable to defeat Hannibals army in
  Italy, come up with their own surprise plan.
• They send an army across the Mediterranean to
  attack Carthage.
• This forces Hannibal to leave the Italian
  peninsula to defend his home.
• Hannibal is defeated near Carthage at the Battle
  of Zama by the Roman General Publius Cornelius
  Scipio Aemilius Africanus Major (Known as Scipio
  the Elder)

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Results of the Second Punic War

• Carthage loses all its claims in Spain
• Carthaginian Navy is reduced to just 10 ships.
• Carthage has to pay yet another large sum of
  money to the Romans

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The 3rd PUNIC war

• 149 TO 146 B.C.E.

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The Third Punic War

• After the 2nd Punic War Carthage
• Had a shattered economy
• Lost all territory to Rome
• Some Romans still feared that someday Carthage
  may regain power and threaten Rome again,
• So they decided to instigate a 3rd war with the
  city, to wipe it off the map.

Cato the Elder, a senator, advocated the complete
destruction of Carthage
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The 3rd Punic Wars

• Rome easily defeats the weak city of Carthage
• The entire population is sold into slavery
• Valuables are carried back to Rome
• The city is burned to the ground or dumped into
  the sea
• The fields were covered in salt so nothing would
  grown there again

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The Future

• Rome secured their spot as an economic and
  military power in the region with the complete
  destruction of Carthage.
• Years of war however had changed the government
  and people of Rome and soon large changes would
  come.