The Punic Wars - three wars between the Romans and the Carthaginians ("Punas", that is, the Phoenicians), which continued, intermittently, from 264 to 146 BC. e. When Rome turned into a great power, uniting Italy under her rule, she could not put up with the rule of Carthage in the western half of the Mediterranean Sea - the rule that was ensured for Carthage by the first treaties with Rome.
The vital interests of Italy, its security and trade did not allow Sicily, where the struggle between the Greeks and the Carthaginians had been going on for a long time, was in the hands of the latter. For the development of Italian trade, it was necessary that the Strait of Messana was in the hands of Rome.
The chance to take possession of the strait soon presented itself: Campanian mercenaries, so the name. "Mamertines" (that is, "Mars people"), took possession of Messana. When Hieron Syracuse oppressed the Mamertines, the latter turned to the Romans, who accepted them into the Italic confederation.
Carthage understood the danger that threatened them from the establishment of the Romans in Sicily. The Carthaginians were able, having reconciled the Mamertines with Hieron, to bring their garrison into the Messanic fortress, under the command of Hannon. Then the Romans captured Hannon and forced the Carthaginians to cleanse Messana.
The first Punic War began (264 - 241 BC) Both Rome and Carthage were at that time in full bloom of their powers, which were about the same. On the Roman side, however, there were several advantages: their dominion in Italy did not arouse the same hatred with which the peoples exploited by it treated Carthage; the army of the Romans consisted of citizens and allies and the main mass of it were the settlers, while the troops of Carthage were not civil militias, but were multi-tribal armies, where the Carthaginians were usually officers.
A significant part of the Carthaginian troops consisted of mercenaries. These shortcomings were partly offset by the fact that the Carthaginians had more money and they had a strong fleet. The war began in Sicily with an attack by the Carthaginians on Messana, which was repulsed by Appius Cdavdius Caudex. Then Valerius Maximus "Messala" won a victory over the combined forces of the Carthaginians and the Syracusans, which resulted in the acquisition of some cities in Sicily and the conclusion of peace with Hieron.
Later, the Romans took Akragas (Agrigent), so that only some of the coastal fortresses, where Hamilcar Barca established himself, remained in the hands of the Carthaginians. Since successful actions against them were only possible with a fleet that could cut them off from the sea, the Romans equipped, according to Carthaginian models, a significant fleet (100 pentères and 20 triremes). They invented drawbridges with grappling hooks, which made it possible to use the superiority of the Roman infantry at sea, which, having linked the drawbridge with the enemy, could engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Failing at first, the Romans soon won a significant victory at sea (under Mila, under the command of Guy Duilius). In the spring of 256, the Romans decided to land in Africa, which took place (after the sea battle) under the command of Mark Atilius Regulus and L. Manlius Wolson. At first, things went so well in Africa that the Senate considered it possible to leave Regula only half of the former army. Such a weakening of the Roman forces led to disaster: Regulus was defeated by the Carthaginians (under the command of the Greek Xanthippus) and he was captured. Only the pitiful remnants of the Roman army returned to Italy; Regulus himself died in captivity.
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The destruction of the Roman fleet by storm forced the Romans to equip a new fleet, but it was destroyed by the storm. Meanwhile, in Sicily, the war was going well for Rome: they took Panorm and by 249 the Carthaginians had only Lilybey and Drepan. The Romans laid siege to Lilybey. After that, luck for a time betrayed them: Publius Claudius suffered a severe defeat, near Drepan, from Atarbal. Another Roman fleet was hit by the storm. Hamilcar established himself on Mount Erkte and on Eriks. The Romans once again created a fleet and won in 241, near the island of Aigusa, a victory that cost the Carthaginians 120 ships.
Now that the sea was in the hands of the Romans, Gazdrubal Barka was convinced that it was impossible to stay on the island further. This led to the conclusion of a peace, according to which the Romans acquired the entire Carthaginian Sicily and the islands located between Italy and Sicily. Sicily became a Roman province. In addition, Carthage pledged to pay an indemnity of 3,200 talents in 10 years. Immediately after the end of the war with the Romans, Carthage had to endure a hard struggle with mercenary troops, which lasted almost 3 years and 4 months.
In connection with this uprising was the acquisition of Sardinia by the Romans: the Sardinian mercenaries succumbed to Rome, and the Romans were able to capture the Carthaginian part of the island. This again led to war, which the Romans abandoned only after receiving a reward of 1,200 talents.
In the years that followed, Hamilcar Barca, the head of the patriotic party, which considered war with the Romans inevitable, created in Spain compensation for Carthage for the loss of Sicily and Sardinia. Thanks to him and his son-in-law and successor Gazdrubal, the south and east of Spain became Carthaginian; here they created (mainly from the natives) an excellent army, which was at the full disposal of its commander-in-chief, and the silver mines provided significant funds.
Rome soon noticed the strengthening of their enemy, entered into an alliance in Spain with the Greek cities of Sagunt and Emporia and demanded that the Carthaginians not cross the Ebro River. In 220 (or in 221), Gazdrubal died, and his place was taken by the election of the army, the son of Hamilcar, Hannibal Barca; he inherited from his father enmity to the Romans. Hannibal decided to take advantage of the favorable circumstances for the Carthaginians for the war with Rome. Cisalpine Gaul was not yet pacified by the Romans, and the disagreements with Macedonia caused by Illyrian affairs threatened them with war in the East. Hannibal attacked Saguntum allied with Rome and took it, after an eight month siege.
When the ambassadors of Rome received a refusal to extradite Hannibal in Carthage, war was declared. Meanwhile, as Rome hoped to lead her in Spain and Africa, Hannibal drew up a plan according to which Italy was to become the main theater of operations: Hannibal hoped to deliver a decisive blow to the Romans there, making the operational base of Cisalpine Gaul, which had just been conquered by the Romans. He hoped for active help from the Gauls and even from the Italian allies, who were weary of submission to the Romans.
After providing troops to Libya and Spain (where he left about 15,000 to his brother Gazdrubal), Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees with 50,000 infantry and 9,000 cavalry. With considerable difficulty, he was able to cross the Rhone (it was especially difficult to ferry the war elephants) and, heading to the northeast, entered the Alps. The crossing of the Alps (Lesser Saint Bernard) was extremely difficult. Hannibal descended into Cisalpine Gaul with only half an army.
The first clashes were unfortunate for the Romans. Publius Scipio was defeated on the banks of the Ticino, and Tiberius Sympronius (whose troops were intended to land in Africa) on the banks of the Trebia. Hannibal crossed the Apennines and made a rather difficult hike through the low-lying area irrigated by the Arno River, then in flood. Near Lake Trasimene, in Etruria, he exterminated the Roman army of Gaius Flaminius and, without even trying to approach Rome, which there was very little chance of taking, he headed east, then devastated the southern regions.
Despite this devastation and defeat of the Romans, Hannibal's hopes for the deposition of the Italic allies were still in vain: with a few exceptions, the allies remained loyal to Rome. The dictator Fabius Maximus decided to stick to a new plan of war: he systematically avoided big battles with Hannibal in the open field and pinned all his hope on depriving the enemy army of the ability to easily get food and fodder and on the natural decomposition of the Carthaginian army. This system, which gave Fabius the nickname "Delayer", was condemned by many in Rome. Against her, by the way, was the chief of the cavalry, Mark Minucius.
The people dissatisfied with Fabius appointed Minucius the second dictator. Hannibal spent the winter near the city of Geronia, moved to Apulia, and there, in the early summer of 216, the Battle of Cannes took place. At the head of the Roman troops were consuls Lucius Aemilius Paul (candidate of the aristocratic party) and Gaius Terentius Varro, who was promoted to consul by the people's party (the rights of the commander-in-chief passed in turn from one consul to another). On the day of his command, Terentius Varro began the battle. It ended with the complete rout of the Roman army; 70,000 Romans were out of action; among the dead were consul Aemilius Paul and 80 senators.
In Carthage, they decided to send reinforcements to Hannibal, about whom the oligarchic party hostile to him and to the war cared very little until that time. Even more important, it seemed, should have been Macedonian assistance to Hannibal. Syracuse also joined the enemies of Rome. Eventually, even many of the southern Italian Roman allies began to defect to the side of the Carthaginians. So, the very important city of Capua moved away from the Romans. Rome strained every effort to create a new army and did not stop even before joining the legions of several thousand slaves.
Hannibal spent the next winter in Capua. In light skirmishes, happiness soon began to pass to the Romans, and meanwhile, the necessary reinforcements did not come to Hannibal: Carthage again left Hannibal without active support. Meanwhile, in Spain, the brothers Gnaeus and Publius Scipio acted so successfully (victory at Iberus, 216) that Gazdrubal was unable to bring his troops from there to reinforce his brother. Macedonia also did not send its contingents to Italy: Rome armed against her enemies in Greece - the Aetolians, Sparta, Messena, Elis, etc.
The struggle in Greece for a long time distracted the attention of Macedonia and, after some time, she made peace with Rome. In 212, Mark Marcellus took Syracuse, then Akragas passed to the Romans, and by 210 all Sicily was again in their hands. In Italy, the position of the Romans in 214 and 213 was very good, but in 212 Hannibal was able to occupy Tarentum; the fortress, however, remained in the hands of the Romans. Metapont, Furies and Heraclea also passed to the Carthaginians. The Romans laid siege to Capua; Hannibal could not push them back, because the Romans dug well in front of the city.
To force the Romans to lift the siege of Capua, Hapnibal undertook a sabotage: he approached Rome itself, but did not dare to attack the city. And this attempt to save Capua ended in nothing: Rome did not lift the siege, and in 211 the city surrendered, while the Romans severely punished the Capuans and abolished their old city structure. The capture of Capua was a great success; he made a very strong impression on the Roman allies. 209 - was returned by the Romans and Tarentum (it was taken by Q. Fabius Maximus).
The death of Marcellus, who was killed in a battle with the strongest enemy (in 208), did not improve the position of the Carthaginians. Their army was melting; they needed significant reinforcements. For a long time, Hannibal had been waiting for them from Spain, where, after the first successes, things went unfavorably for the Romans. The Carthaginians, with the help of King Gala and his son Masinissa, forced Rome's African ally, King Sifax, into peace, and this enabled Gazdrubal to turn all his forces to Spain.
Besides him, Gazdrubal, the son of Gizgon, and Magon also operated in Spain. They were able to take advantage of the division of the Roman forces and the betrayal of the native troops who were in the Roman service and inflict a separate defeat at first on Publius, and then on Gnaeus Scipios. Both Scipios fell in battle (212); almost all of Spain was temporarily lost to Rome.
The dispatch of reinforcements there and the appointment of the young and capable Publius Cornelius Scipio (son of the deceased Publius) as commander-in-chief soon, however, again gave Rome an advantage in Spain. 209 - Scipio captured New Carthage, but, despite the victory at Bacula, he could not prevent Gazdrubal from leaving to help his brother in Italy. A new victory at Bekula over the troops of Gazdrubal, Gizgon's son, and Magon, gave all of Spain to the power of Rome: Magon was forced to send the rest of the Carthaginian troops to Italy; the last Carthaginian city, Hades, surrendered to the Romans.
However, while Scipio was doing so well in Spain, Rome itself was in grave danger. 208 - Gazdrubal, crossing the Pyrenees, passed through Gaul, crossed the Alps and moved to join his brother. The Battle of Metaurus (Gaius Claudius Nero) saved the Romans from the danger of joining the Carthaginian forces: Gazdrubal's army was destroyed, he himself fell (207). Hannibal's position was becoming rather difficult, especially since the successful end of the war in Sicily, Sardinia and Spain and the conclusion of peace with Macedonia freed the hands of his enemies.
The Senate finally gave Publius Cornelius Scipio permission to land in Africa, but Scipio still had to create the army necessary for this. It consisted of two legions disgraced at the Battle of Cannes, and many volunteers. The year 205 passed in preparations, and in 204 the army sailed from Lilibey to Africa, on 400 transport ships and 40 military. Scipio landed near Utica and defeated Sifax, who had betrayed Rome. The supporters of peace in Carthage started negotiations with the Romans, which, however, did not lead to anything.
Then the government of Carthage summoned Hannibal and Magon to Africa. The Battle of Zama (October 19, 202 BC Zama, Africa) destroyed the last hopes of the Carthaginians and led to the conclusion of peace, according to which Carthage burned its warships, renounced Spain and the Mediterranean islands, pledged not to wage wars outside Africa at all. and in Africa not to fight without the permission of Rome. Moreover, the Carthaginians had to pay an indemnity of 200 talents every year for 50 years. Thus, the second war ended in favor of Rome, despite the genius of Hannibal: the Roman state turned out to be more durable than Carthage.
In Africa, as a consequence of the victory of Rome, the Sifax kingdom was transferred to a friend of the Romans, Masinissa. In Carthage, defeat led to democratic reforms. The patriots hoped to once again come to grips with Rome when it got stuck. Therefore, the Romans demanded the extradition of the head and hope of this party - Hannibal, who was supposed to flee. Power in Carthage was again in the hands of the oligarchic party, which tried in every possible way to maintain good relations with Rome in order to preserve for Carthage, at least, its trade and wealth.
For Rome, the time from 201 to 149 was not in vain: the victories of the Roman army over Antiochus of Syria and in Macedonia, their successes in Greece raised the power of Rome to unprecedented heights. But Rome was still afraid of its age-old enemy, and Italian traders saw the Carthaginian merchants as dangerous competitors. Therefore, in Rome they were very pleased that Masinissa did not give rest to Carthage, who did not have the right to defend himself with weapons from capture by the Numidian king. These seizures became more and more shameless, and the complaints of the Carthaginians in Rome did not lead to anything: it was not in the interests of Rome to tie Masinissa's hands.
In the end, Carthage's patience ran out and he went to war with Masinissa. This gave Rome a long-desired excuse to put an end to the enemy, whose rapid rise in welfare Cato marveled so much, constantly saying Carthage must be destroyed. 149 - Rome sent a large army to Africa (consuls Manius Manilius and Lucius Marcius Censorinus). The Carthaginian Peace Party wanted to keep things out of the war and agreed to give the Romans satisfaction.
The Romans acted meanly: they agreed to peace on condition that the requirements were fulfilled, and when Carthage fulfilled them, the consuls set new conditions, more difficult. So, the Romans first achieved the extradition of the hostages, after arms, and then they already presented their last demand - that the Carthaginians should move from Carthage to some locality that lies no closer than 80 stadia from the sea.
In such conditions, a new settlement could not be a trading city. The Carthaginians refused to comply with this demand; the siege of Carthage began. The Carthaginians, with all possible efforts, created a new fleet and weapons and decided to defend themselves to the last. The main command over them was taken by Gazdrubal. At first, the Romans failed in their attempts to take the city by storm and were forced to begin a proper siege. 149 and 148 passed for the Romans to no avail. In 147, the consul, Publius Cornelius Scipio Emilianus, the son of Emilius Paulus, who was adopted by the name of Cornelius Scipio, landed in Utica.
Scipio covered the besieging army with two lines of fortifications and completely cut off Carthage from the land, which made it extremely difficult to supply food and led to the flight and surrender of a significant part of the inhabitants of Carthage. The rest locked themselves in the old city and in the Birse fortification. Having built a dam, Scipio closed access to the harbor and from the sea, but the Carthaginians dug a new entrance to the harbor and built a fleet, which, however, could not provide a supply of supplies. 146, spring - the Romans were able to penetrate, in the end, into the city, occupy the marketplace and moved towards Birce.
For a long time, the struggle continued in the city, part of which was burned at the same time. On the 7th day, the Carthaginians surrendered and locked themselves in Bierse. A small detachment (mostly Roman defectors) locked themselves in one of the temples, along with Gazdrubal. Gazdrubal himself surrendered, but his wife, children and everyone else died in the fire. The Romans plundered the city, while receiving huge booty; then they burned Carthage and plowed over the place where he stood.
The restoration of the city in this place was forbidden under pain of a curse. Most of the prisoners were sold into slavery; the Carthaginian region became a Roman province, the capital of which was Utica. Thus ended the Punic Wars. The consequence of the Punic Wars was the disappearance of the largest power that had held back Rome before. Only the victory over Carthage made possible the extension of Roman rule to all the shores of the Mediterranean.
F. Brockhaus