264 BC. On the island of Sicily, a local conflict between Hiero II of Syracuse and the Mamertines of Messina. The Romans send a garrison to defend Menissa. The Carthaginians angrily backed Syracuse. Eventually, the two greater powers turned the minor involvement into full scale war for Sicily. After a thrashing at the Battle of Agrigentum in 262 BC, the Carthaginians resolved to fight the Romans on the ocean. This strategy worked for them until the Romans added assault bridges or corvus onto their ships, allowing the elite legionnaires to be a viable tactical option. With only two large defeats, that being at the Battle of Lipari, and the Battle of Tunis, the war went swimmingly for the Romans. In 241, the Carthaginians signed a peace treaty that had them surrender Sicily, and pay the Romans a large indemnity.
Carthage would not submit so easily to the heel of the Legion, however. The Carthaginians spent the interim expanding their empire into the Iberian Peninsula, with Rome's attention focused on the Illyrian Wars. In 219, Hannibal would begin his march on Italy, by attacking the Hispanic city of Saguntum, a town allied to Rome. After this, Hannibal made his legendary journey over the Alps with 36 War Elephants and his Iberian army. In this conflict however, the Carthaginians held the advantage in battle. Hannibal crushed the Romans on many occasions, the most famous of which possibly being the Battle of Cannae.
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| Hannibal crossing the Alps |
Cannae is located near the "heel" of the "boot." Hannibal had already made great strides in the previous year, knocking out the legion whenever they fought. The Romans sought to alter this trend. The Senate raised an army of 86,000 men, 80,000 legionnaires, and 6,000 cavalry. At this point, Hannibal had an army of 26,000, with as many cavalry as the Legion. They would clash on August 2nd, 216 BC. Hannibal had 8,000 men guard his camp. That meant that for every Carthaginian solder, there were almost 5 Legionnaires. Hannibal had positioned his army so that their left flank was somewhat protected by a river. Both armies placed their cavalry on their wings, with their infantry in the center. The Roman commander was Terentius Varro, a consul who was not a very imaginative commander. His strategy was simple, and with his strength in numbers, it should have worked. Crush them with a mighty frontal assault, and they will fall, as they did back in the First War. Varro thought his cavalry would be enough to protect his flank, but Hannibal's cavalry outclassed his. Hannibal sent his cavalry out against the Roman left flank, which they swept over, after that, the cavalry went behind the Romans to hit the other cavalry wing as well, and then took position behind the Romans. Varro took little notice this, however, and kept pressing forward. Instead of fighting, the Carthaginians pulled back, creating a bow shape with their lines. This kind of tactical retreat was extremely difficult to pull off, but it worked, as the Romans thought they were winning. Once the word was given, the Carthaginians closed their ranks, and enclosed the Romans. Much the Persians at Salamis, their numbers were their downfall. The Romans were slaughtered as they routed. All told, the Romans lost 60,000 men that day with Carthage only losing 6,000. 2/3rd s of the Romans at the cost of 1/5th of the Carthaginians.
However, things would not end well for Hannibal and his seemingly invincible army. He lost most of his elephants and his siege engines while crossing the alps, so he could not take any Roman towns. The Romans eventually started to cut his supply lines, and won a major battle at Zama, in Hannibal's home turf. After this, the Carthaginians sued for peace, enacting a 50 year period of peace between the two.
This was not the end, as Rome would once again attempt to wipe the Carthaginians out. In the 50 years since the second war, the Carthaginians had built their position back up in terms of wealth and military power. The Romans did not enjoy seeing the people they had brought to kneel back in a good way. The Romans, as per the terms of the peace treaty, could profess demands unto the Carthaginians. The Romans made progressively more ridiculous demands, until the Carthaginians refused. These demands included things like, sending 300 children of the nobility as hostages, with the last being to destroy the city and build it further inland. When the Carthaginians refused this demand, the Romans declared war. Their first assault in 149 BC was repelled thanks to the quick action of the Carthaginian military. However, the second assault turned into a 3-year long siege, ending with the city being burned to the ground, and the earth salted. Remaining Carthaginian settlements met the same fate.
So, over 100 years of war off and on. It ended with a civilization being wiped off the map. I consider these wars to be important. I see these wars as the beginning of Rome leaving the Italian Peninsula. Carthage was a offshoot of the Phoenicians, and one of the great maritime civilizations of the western world. After about 100 years, it's destruction was complete. Around 5 generations got to see their country wiped clean. But, this has happened before, why is now such a big deal? Well, wiping people out was not quid pro quo for the Romans. You'd get taken over, but, you could still have your identity. The Romans not only burned Carthage, but salted the earth, making it unusable. This also was the beginning of Rome's expansion, what would become the biggest empire for centuries. What do you think about these wars? Let me know in a comment.
Thanks for reading
-Augie
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