Key Terms

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Key Terms The Punic Wars

• Carthage
• Sicily
• Punics
• Mercenaries
• Syracuse
• Corvus
• New Carthage
• Hannibal
• P. Scipio

• The Alps
• Fabius Maximus
• Cannae
• Double Encirclement
• Scipio Africanus
• Cato the Elder

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Carthaginian Background (cont.)

• Carthaginians were not interested in populating
  the interior of Africa
• Led to a very small agricultural community ?
  farmers were commonly used as soldiers, therefore
  the lack of farmers led to a lack of a
  recruitment base
• Mercenaries were used instead
• Were good soldiers but were only loyal while the
  pay was there, where there was no pay.....

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Punic Wars (causes)

• The Greeks had populated the eastern side of
  Sicily since the 8th Century B.C. the Punics
  occupied the western side of the island.
• Romans were expanding quickly around 277 B.C.
  it led them to the island of Sicily ? the
  Carthaginians already had established the area as
  a sphere of influence
• Immediate cause was the town of Messana ?
  Campanian mercenaries had seized the town and
  were then being attacked by the ruler of Syracuse
• Would seek and receive help from the
  Carthaginians but would renege on their deal
• Sought protection from the Romans against the
  Carthaginians

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1st Punic War

• Romans would land on Messana and would gain a
  victory over Carthage there
• Would have the tyrant of Syracuse join their side
  giving them solid control of the eastern half of
  Sicily
• Romans wanted the western half but knew that
  moving from town to town would turn out to be a
  long and costly process
• Believed that they could finish off Carthage by
  gaining control of the seas and cutting off
  Carthage from any of its reinforcements

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1st Punic War

• Romans would build a fleet from scratch
• Believed that since Carthage possessed a superior
  navy that they would not be able to compete in a
  conventional fashion
• Would build a corvus (large plank with a spike at
  the end) that would be used to connect the Roman
  ships to the Carthaginian ships and give them the
  ability to turn a sea battle into a land battle
• Romans would still not be able to make any
  headway in moving the Carthagians off the island

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1st Punic War

• Roman male population would go down by 17 since
  the start of the war ? led to period of time
  where there was no fighting
• Carthage did not attack during this time electing
  to rebuild its land army instead of its navy.
• Romans would recover and build a fleet of 200
  ships but would populate those ships with true
  sailors instead of foot soldiers
• Carthage would reactivate its navy but its
  sailors were out of practice and easily handled
  ? led to the request for a peace treaty with the
  Romans

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1st Punic War - Conclusion

• Victorious consul would arrange peace terms which
  would be rejected by Rome and made harsher
• Carthage was forced to abandon Sicily and pay a
  large fine over 10 years.

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Why did the Romans Win?

• Romans were able to win war they initially were
  unprepared for because
• Determination Romans were relentless. They
  fought even when the losses were mounting up.
• Inventiveness and Adaptability Romans began
  without a navy and then proceeded to build one.
  They used the corvus until it began to fail.
  When it failed, they trained their soldiers to be
  sailors giving them the decisive victory.
• Manpower Romans did not care for their losses
  because they knew they could easily replace the
  numbers that were lost very quickly.

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Carthage in Spain

• New Carthage would be founded in Spain around 228
  B.C.
• Roman embassy would check in on them to see what
  was going on and terms were apparently reached
  where Hasdrubal would not cross the Iber (located
  in northeastern Spain).
• Hasdrubal would assassinated and Hannibal assumes
  control.

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Hannibal takes over

• Hannibal would be the object of Roman hatred for
  a period of 20 years and many more after his
  lifetime.
• Decided that Rome's power lied in its ability to
  replenish its forces quickly ? led to his
  decision to attack Italy directly.

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Causes of the Second Punic War

• Hannibal would attack a town known as Saguntum on
  the southern portion of the Iber.
• Romans would do nothing while the siege occurred
  and would later send an embassy demanding
  Hannibal's surrender
• Hannibal would refuse leading to Rome declaring
  war on Carthage

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2nd Punic War

• Romans would launch a two-pronged attack ? P.
  Cornelius Scipio would go to Spain while the
  other consul would go to Sicily and prepare for
  an invasion.
• Hannibal was aware of Rome's strength and decided
  to go into the heart of Italy
• Took more than 50,000 troops and 37 elephants
  across the Pyrenees to Italy

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2nd Punic War

• Hannibal would cross the Alps with roughly half
  of his army ? local Gallic peoples would reload
  his ranks.
• Romans would recall their forces directed toward
  Carthage to help against Hannibal
• Armies would meet in northern Italy where
  Hannibal would gain a decisive victory over the
  Romans ? would release all non-Roman prisoners in
  an attempt to take away Rome's allies.

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Battle of Cannae

• Hannibal initiates battle by sending a cavalry
  directly at the Roman camp to provoke them.
• Varro would take his forces directly at Hannibal
  believing that Hannibal's position by the water
  would trap him and force him to panic and end up
  losing
• Hannibal anticipated this and actually found his
  position much more strategic since it would
  prevent the Romans from using their numbers
  against him

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Battle of Cannae

• Hannibal would allow the Romans to march directly
  at him from the east. He intended to use the
  double-envelopment technique to stop the Romans
• He would position his mixed race soldiers in the
  center of the battle line to gain the Roman
  army's attention
• He would place his superior soldiers on the
  flanks to attack the heart of the Roman army from
  both sides while the cavalry took the Roman
  cavalry out of the picture

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Aftermath

• Hannibal punished the Romans
• For Hannibal to kill the amount of Romans that
  were claimed to have been killed in the battle,
  his soldiers must have killed at least 600
  soldiers a minute
• Only 14,000 of 70,000 soldiers survived, some of
  the survivors on the field committed suicide to
  prevent death or capture
• Hannibal once again released the non-Romans

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Strategies After Cannae

• - Upon losing the Battle of Cannae, the Romans
  sought to rebuild and engineer a new strategy.
• - In the meantime, Hannibal had laid siege to
  Rome and awaited reinforcements and siege
  equipment from his brother.

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Roman Strategy

• - The Romans, under Scipio, were able to prevent
  Hannibal from acquiring reinforcements, hence
  Hannibal could not enter Rome and would have to
  wait until he devised a new strategy.
• - The Romans would invade Carthage while Hannibal
  was stationed at Rome.
• - The Carthaginians would be forced to sign peace
  treaty ? this would later be reneged on once
  Carthage found out Hannibal was alive.

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Battle of Zama

• - Hannibal would return to Carthage and engage
  the Romans for the final time at Zama.
• - Hannibal's elephants proved to be ineffective
  and ultimately led to Hannibal's defeat, he would
  escape only to be killed later.

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Results

• - Carthage would be forced to sign a harsher
  treaty that stated
• - they could not have a standing military
• - they would have to ask Rome's permission to be
  able to engage other groups in war
• - they would have to pay a huge fine

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The Third Punic War

• - After numerous encroachments by Numidia in the
  east of Carthage, Carthage would attempt to
  defend itself in violation of the treaty.
• - Cato the Elder, an orator, stated that Carthage
  must be destroyed.
• - Scipio Africanus would engage Carthage one
  final time and completely overwhelm the city.
• - Carthage would be destroyed and the Punic Wars
  would end.

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