by Charles Ray

Created on: July 16, 2009

In 264 BC, the Carthaginian Empire was the dominant power in the Western Mediterranean, with a maritime empire that covered the entire Mediterranean. Rome, on the other hand, was an emerging power, interested in expanding through Sicily, part of which was under Carthaginian control.

Rome lacked the naval power of Carthage, but was the ascendant land power in the region. Carthage had the largest in the world at the time, but it lacked a standing army. It relied instead on mercenaries to fight its wars, commanded primarily by Carthaginian officers. A port city located on the coast of what is now Tunisia; Carthage was a large and financially profitable trading empire.

The only city state of the era that could rival Carthage was Rome. In addition to being its equal in power, wealth and population, Rome had a large, well-trained army made up almost entirely of Roman citizens.

Rome was at a disadvantage at the start of the First Punic War (264-241 BC) because of its lack of a standing navy, but when it began building a fleet as the war progressed, the tide turned in its favor. Much of the first war was fought at sea, and after more than of 20 years of combat, Rome had conquered Sicily and forced Carthage to pay an enormous tribute. The war so destabilized Carthage that Rome was able to seize Sardinia and Corsica as well.

The Punic War began basically as a local conflict in Sicily between Hiero II of Syracuse and the Mamertines of Messina. The Mamertines sought the aid of the Carthaginian navy, and then betrayed the Carthaginians by pleading for Roman aid against Carthage. When Rome sent a garrison to secure Messina, the Carthaginians then threw their support to Syracuse. These local tensions quickly escalated into a full-scale war for total control of Sicily.

In the first major encounter, at Agrigentum in 261 BC, the armies of Carthage suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the more experienced Roman legions. Vowing to avoid future land encounters, Carthage concentrated on naval encounters. The more experienced Carthaginian sailors at first had an advantage over the neophyte Roman navy. Rome's response was to radically expand its navy, and within two months of its defeat at the Battle of the Lipari Islands in 260 BC, had a fleet of over 100 warships.

The Romans also pioneered new technology to give them an advantage over Carthage; they added, for instance, an 'assault bridge' to Roman ships, which could swing a pointed spike into enemy vessels, stopping them, enabling the legionnaires to board and capture them in hand-to-hand fighting at which they excelled.

Rome and Carthage engaged in two more wars; 218 BC to 201 BC, and 149 BC to 146 BC. In the end, Rome emerged victorious, and Carthage was sacked and burned to the ground in 146 BC. With this final victory, Rome became the most powerful state in the classical world, a status it held until the 5th century AD.

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