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What were the Punic Wars?
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The Punic Wars were a series of three conflicts between Rome and Carthage from 264 to 146 B.C., marking some of the bloodiest wars of ancient times. These wars were driven by both powers' expansionist ambitions, particularly over Sicily. Notably, the second war featured Hannibal's famous crossing of the Alps. The wars concluded with Rome's decisive victory and the destruction of Carthage in 146 B.C., ending Carthage's existence as a power.
The Punic Wars were some of the bloodiest and most difficult wars that the ancient Romans fought. More specifically, the Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between the Romans and the Carthaginians from 264 B.C to 146 B.C.
During this time, the Carthaginians and the Romans were the two great powers of the West. Moreover, they were both in the process of expansion. From this perspective, we can see that there was going to be a head on collision. This came to pass over a few conflicts in Sicily.
Many of these conflicts were resolved through treaties after intermittent battles. Polybius, the great Greek historian of Rome and an eye-witness of these events, wrote extensively between the war between Rome and Carthage and recorded the treaties.
The most famous war between the two groups was the second war, where Hannibal the greatest of Carthaginian general crossed the Alps...
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with his army and war elephants and destroyed three consular armies. The battle at Cannae, where the Romans were slaughter will never be forgotten. Hannibal almost accomplished his purpose of destroying Rome itself. The was finally stopped by Scipio Africanus at the battle of Zama.
In the final war, Rome razed Carthage and they seized to exist as a power.
What were the Punic Wars?
The Punic wars were a series of conflicts between Rome and Carthage during the period from 264 BC to 146 BC. The reason for the name has to do with the history of Carthage.
According to ancient Roman poets and historians, Carthage was founded in approximately 1200 BC by colonists from the Phoenician city of Tyre (Punic is a corruption of the word Phoenician). Modern archaeological evidence suggests that a date sometime in the ninth century is actually more probable. Located in modern Tunisia, on the north coast of Africa, Carthage was a sea power that had a sphere of influence ranging across the western Mediterranean and Sicily, bringing it into conflict with Rome as Rome expanded southwards.
The first Punic War (264 to 241 BC) was mainly concerned with control over Sicily, which included at that time, Greek, Roman, and Carthaginian areas of influence. Rome won, and Carthage withdrew from Sicily.
In the second Punic war (218 to 201 BC) Hannibal crossed the Alps and invaded Italy, but eventually Rome conquered much of the territory controlled by Carthage.
The third Punic War (149 to 146 BC) ended with the complete destruction of Carthage.