Punic Wars and the Takeover of Greece - Ancient History: Rome

Hannibal was a Carthaginian military commander during the Second Punic War. He is often remembered as one of the finest military leaders in history. He famously led an army of elephants through the Alps and attacked the Roman Republic at the outset of the Second Punic War. Hannibal led a devastating Carthaginian occupation of mainland Italy for more than a decade before a Roman counterattack forced him to return to North Africa. He was promptly defeated by the great Roman general Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama.

Pyrrhus of Epirus is notable for leading the Greek struggle against the expansion of the Roman Republic in the third century BCE. The Pyrrhic War, fought between Rome (supported by Carthage) and much of the Greek-speaking world, is named after him.

Scipio Africanus is remembered as one of the most accomplished military commanders of all time. He was a contemporary of Hannibal and the two fought against one another in Italy and North Africa. Scipio Africanus led the army of the Roman Republic against the Carthaginian army of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. His brilliant military strategy led to the destruction of Hannibal’s army and forced the Carthaginian government to sue for peace.

Hannibal is one of the most famous and revered generals in military history. He led the Carthaginian army in the Second Punic War. Perhaps his most famous accomplishment occurred when he led an army, including a large regiment of war elephants, through the Alps to attack the Roman Republic. Hannibal was eventually defeated by Scipio Africanus, which forced the Carthaginian government to surrender to the demands of the Roman Republic.

Rome, having defeated Carthage in the First and Second Punic Wars, waged the Third Punic War to finish off the Carthaginian Empire. The war was fought from 149 BCE to 146 BCE and ended in the complete destruction of Carthage, the enslavement or execution of the Carthaginian people, and the annexation of all Carthaginian territory by the Roman Republic. After victory in the Third Punic War, Roman hegemony was virtually unopposed in the Mediterranean.

The Battle of Zama was fought in Carthaginian North Africa in 202 BCE. It was the decisive battle of the Second Punic War. It ended in the complete destruction of Hannibal’s Carthaginian army and forced Carthage to sue for peace. This battle is incredibly important because it marks the end of the rivalry between Carthage and the Roman Republic for control over the Mediterranean.

In the First Punic War, Rome took control of Carthaginian territory on the island of Sicily. In the Second Punic War, Rome took control of Carthaginian territory in the Iberian Peninsula and southern Europe. In the Third Punic War, Rome took control of the rest of Carthaginian territory and destroyed the city of Carthage.

After the Roman conquest of Greece, the formerly Greek territory was divided into two provinces to be administered by a Roman proconsul. Those provinces were called Achaea and Epirus. To administer their vast territories, the Roman Republic installed proconsuls (or governors) to rule over individual provinces.

At the beginning of the Punic Wars, Carthage was the dominant empire in the Mediterranean, whilst the Roman Republic was a relatively small state concentrated on the Italian peninsula. At the beginning of the Punic Wars, Carthage enjoyed several notable advantages over the Roman Republic, including the possession of a much larger and more powerful navy. Nevertheless, in a little over two decades, the Roman Republic would defeat the Carthaginian Empire and force them to sue for peace, bringing to an end the First Punic War. Over the next century, in the Second and Third Punic Wars, the same trend would be repeated as Rome gradually became more powerful at the expense of Carthage.

The Third Punic War came to an end in 146 BCE, with the total destruction of Carthage. The Roman Republic, sensing the opportunity for hegemony in the Mediterranean, swiftly turned their attentions to Greece and, within a few short months, provoked a conflict with the Achaean League and conquered Greece.

The First Punic War was fought between Carthage and the Roman Republic for two decades in the middle of the third century BCE. The First Punic War was primarily fought for control over the island of Sicily. At the beginning of the war, Sicily (an island just off the southern coast of Italy), was under the control of the sprawling Carthaginian Empire. At the end of the First Punic War, Sicily was controlled by the Roman Republic.

The Achaean War was fought in 146 BCE in the wake of the Third Punic War, between the Roman Republic and an alliance of Greek city-states, called the Achaean League. It ended in total victory for the Roman Republic and the beginning of Roman dominance over formerly Greek lands.

During the Roman conquest of Greece, called the Achaean War, the city-state of Corinth was conquered and sacked by the army of the Roman Republic.

The Roman name for the Mediterranean was Mare Nostrum, which means “Our Sea.” It reflects the Roman belief that they had the right to ownership of the entire Mediterranean Sea. After their victory over Carthage in the Punic Wars (and subsequent conquests of Greece, Anatolia, and Egypt), Rome did indeed come to control the entire Mediterranean.

Sardinia and Corsica are both islands off the coast of Italy. They were both controlled by the Carthaginian Empire until the Roman Republic conquered them during the First Punic War.