Punic Wars Research Paper

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Three Punic Wars were fought between the Roman Republic and the Carthage Empire from 264-146 BC. Punic comes from the name Phoenician which applies to the Carthaginians, who are Phoenician ethnicity. The first of the Punic Wars had taken place in 264 BC and lasted more than 23 years. The first war was fought to establish control over the two Mediterranean islands, Corsica and Sicily. Before the war Carthage and Rome were very friendly towards each other. They had no reason to bother each other considering that Rome was largely agricultural, and Carthage was mainly a sea power, the two cities had signed several trade treaties over the years. Carthage was a powerful and advanced city in the Mediterranean. It was wealthy and powerful enough…show more content…
He defeated the Romans at Drepana, but quickly had to withdrawal because he had no man power and no supplies. The Carthaginians severely underestimated their opponents and largely ignored the war, until Rome had built up an army and navy stronger than Carthage and stringed together massive victories over the Carthaginian Navy, ultimately ending the first Punic War in 241…show more content…
Rome demanded that Carthage hand over Hannibal to the Romans, but Carthage refused to do so. Thus began the Second Punic War that lasted 17 years. After hearing that the Roman Army was demanding his capture, Hannibal marched 32,000 infantrymen, 8,000 cavalry, and thirty-seven war elephants to north Italy. However, by the time they reached Italy, Hannibal only had 20,000 infantrymen, and 6,000 cavalry. As Hannibal defeated Roman forces many of Rome’s allies abandon Rome and join Hannibal. Hannibal’s army grew to 28,000 infantry and 10,000 Cavalry. Hannibal was hoping that as he marched through Rome he would gain more and more allies and his army would grow larger. However, Hannibal failed. Many of Rome’s allies stayed true to Rome and Hannibal was left almost completely isolated on the Italian Peninsula, he seldom got any reinforcements from Carthage. Surprisingly, Hannibal lasted nearly fifteen years in Italy, and only left because of Roman forces threatening Carthage. Carthage fell to the Romans yet
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