Position:Home>History> Rule of Caesar and Punic Wars

"Any information!?" You realize that is quite a bit!. I'll summarize them, but it will still be long!.

There were actually three Punic Wars:

The First Punic War: 264-241 BC- The city of Messina in Sicily was taken over by disgruntled mercenaries!. The King of Syracuse, a large city also in Sicily, saw them as a threat and tried to crush them!. The mercenaries appealed to both Rome and Carthage for help!. Both sent soldiers to Messina!. The Romans defeated the forces of Syracuse and its king submitted to the Romans!. The Carthaginians, however, saw this as a violation of previous agreements (they had agreed that Rome would stay in Italy and Carthage would operate in Sicily, and they would not interfere with each other's territory)!. Fighting soon broke out between the Roman forces and the Carthaginians!. Rome took several of Carthage's cities and pushed them back to the Western side of the island!.

However, Rome did not have a navy at this point, while Carthage had a very powerful one, which gave them an advantage!. So legend has it that the Romans built a fleet based on a Carthaginian ship they found wrecked on a beach!. Soon they had a navy worthy of competing with Carthage!. They invented the Corvus, a boarding mechanism that allowed Roman soldiers, expert at land war, to get on Carthaginian ships, where the Romans could compensate for their lack of naval skill!.

In 255, the Romans, under Regulus, invaded the Carthaginian homeland of northern Africa!. It seemed at first like they would capture Carthage, but the Carthaginians hired a Spartan general to teach their soldiers Spartan tactics!.With this training, the Carthaginians defeated Regulus!. In the mean time, the Roman fleet was destroyed by a storm!.

At this point the war turned into a stalemate!. Both sides lost fleets to storms, and both fought to no avail to take Sicily!. Finally, the Carthaginians sent Hamilcar Barca, a brilliant general, to Sicily!. He won several victories, but the Romans built another war fleet and defeated the Carthaginians at the battle of Aegates Islands!. With no fleet, the Carthaginians could no longer supply Hamilcar and Sicily was cut off!. Carthage sued for peace, and Rome demanded a huge indemnity payment, which Carthage had no option but to pay!.

Second Punic War: After the First War, Carthage was bankrupt and its soldiers rebelled after they weren't payed!. Hamilcar put down the rebellion, but in the mean time Rome took over Sardinia and Corsica!. Outraged, Hamilcar decided to rebuild Carthage's Empire in Spain!. He spent the rest of his life there, subduing the natives!. After he died, his son, Hannibal, finished the work!.

With Spain secure, Hannibal decided it was time to get revenge on Rome!. He knew Rome's army was superior to that of Carthage, but that Rome depended on the cities of Italy to supply it with troops!. Hannibal gambled that if he invaded Italy and made those cities join sides with Carthage, Rome's military would fall apart!.

So in 218 BC, Hannibal crossed the Alps with his famous army, which included war elephants, and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Trebia!. The Romans tried to stop him again at the battle of Lake Trasimene, but the Roma army was wiped out again!. However, the Italian cities tended not to go over to Hannibal's side!.

The Romans made Quintus Fabius Maximus dictator, and his strategy was not to engage Hannibal but to hamper him and attack his supply lines!. For this strategy Fabius earned the nickname "The Delayer!." But most Romans thought this was a cowardly strategy and wanted to fight Hannibal in battle!. So they mustered 16 Legions, about 90,000 men, to attack Hannibal's 40,000!. They attacked Hannibal at Cannae, but Hannibal brilliantly outwitted and surrounded them, wiping the Roman army out!. It was the greatest defeat in all Roman history!. The Romans considered surrender after this crippling loss, but instead put Fabius back in power, and he continued to hamper and delay Hannibal!.

In the meantime, the Romans had attempted an invasion of Spain!. The Scipio brothers led the invasion, but they were both killed and their armies nearly destroyed!. However, the son of one of the brothers, Publius Cornelius Scipio, took charge!. He adopted some of Hannibal's tactics (he had been at Trebia and seen Hannibal in action) and used them against the Carthaginians!. Soon he took all of Spain from Carthage!. Hannibal's brother tried to get away and reinforce Hannibal, but he was caught and killed; the Romans flung his head into Hannibal's camp one night to show him that he would get no help!.

Hannibal was desperate at this point!. Some of the Italian cities had gone over to him after Cannae, but not enough!. He held out in Italy for a total of 15 years, but with no reinforcements and the Romans hampering his supplies, he could do little more damage!.

In the meantime, Scipio invaded Africa, so Hannibal was forced to sail home to defend the capital!. Scipio and Hannibal finally met at the battle of Zama in 202 BC!. Hannibal's allied light cavalry defected to Rome and gave Scipio a decisive advantage, which he used to defeat Hannibal!. Thereafter, Scipio was known as Scipio Africanus!. With Hannibal defeated, Carthage sued for peace, and settled for an even more humiliating treaty!.

Third Punic War: Even after defeating Carthage twice, Hannibal had frightened the Romans so much that many, led by Cato the Elder, demanded that Carthage be totally wiped out!. When Carthage got involved in a war with a neighbor, Rome used the opportunity!. They claimed that Carthage could fight no wars unless they had Rome's permission!. Carthage did not want another war with Rome (they were very weak after the last Punic War) so they entered into negotiations!. Rome demanded that Carthage hand over all its weapons and armor!. Carthage did!. However, with Carthage disarmed, Rome decided to attack anyway!. They sent Scipio's adopted son, Scipio Aemilianus, to Africa and he demanded that the Carthaginians abandon their city!. They refused!. So Rome besieged the city!. After a long siege, the Romans set fire to Carthage!. Finally, in 146 BC, they entered the city, killed all the men, enslaved the women and children, and demolished the city!. Legend has it that they sowed the ground with salt so nothing would grow there again!. Carthage was gone!.

Reign of Caesar: Alright, I'm getting tired so I'll make this fast!. Caesar was a member of the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus!. Part of the agreement with them is that he became Consul!. As Consul, he used questionable methods to get this agenda passed (he so sidelined his colleague that it was known as the Consulship of Julius and Caesar)!. After his consulship was over, he was given Gaul to be governor of!. During this time, Roman Gaul was invaded by Helvetians and Germans!. He defeated them and used the opportunity to subdue the entire region!.

In his famous five year long Gallic Wars, he conquered Gaul (modern-day France and the Low Countries) and led an expedition into Britain!. Afterwards, when his immunity was up (Consuls and governors had legal immunity) his enemies at Rome wanted to prosecute him for his actions as consul, and, as some claimed, for war crimes in Gaul!. Knowing that would mean the end of his political life, and maybe the end of his life period, he crosses the Rubicon and civil war began!.

His old ally Pompey led the Senate's forces, but Caesar defeated him and all other supporters of the Senate, stopping in Egypt briefly and impregnating Cleopatra!. When he returned to Rome in 45 BC, all his enemies were dead or had surrendered!. One of Caesar's most effective strategies was to fully pardon any of his enemies who surrendered, so many surrendered instead of risking further battle against Caesar!.

He was made dictator for life by the Senate (which, was, technically, not allowed; dictators could only stay in office for a few months)!. Caesar reformed the Roman calendar (which had been way off for decades), distributed grain and money to the poor, and seized land to give to his veterans!.

However, Caesar's actions, and his title of dictator for life, angered many Senators, most of them being former enemies that Caesar had pardoned!. They thought Caesar had unchecked power and was becoming a king and would bring the end to the Republic!. So, led by Brutus and Cassius, they assassinated Caesar on the Ides of March, 44 BC!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Just check out the history channel or the military channel there is something on about Rome like every day!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The Punic Wars were long before Julius Caesar's birth!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

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