Transcript The Punic Wars - Grade10AncientMedieval

Background
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Rome was interested in Africa, particularly the Phoenician
city of Carthage.
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Why?
 Carthage had outposts all across the Mediterranean at
different times during the 3rd Century BC. They included
Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, North African coast and southern
Spain( conquered by Hamilcar, Hannibal’s father).
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The Carthaginian navy posed a threat to western parts of
Italy
Rome was an infantry power
 Carthage was a naval power
 Rivalry and Suspicion lead to
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3 wars
First Punic War (264-241 BC)
Rome broke a non-invasive treaty
with Carthage and invaded Sicily
 War was off and on for 23 years
 Rome claimed victory
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Rome created ships to connect to
enemy ships
 Dropped corvus onto enemy's ship
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Corvus change a naval battle into a land battle.
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It was a movable bridge with a metal prong.
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Once the two ships were tied to each other, the
Romans could use the ships as platforms for
fighting.
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The Romans were successful in
defeating the Carthaginians at Sicily
because of the Corvus.
As such, they surrender Sicily
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Sicily becomes Rome's first province
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXnxd
VcnqI0
Second Punic War (218-202 BC)
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Rome became suspicious of Carthage's growing
force in the Mediterranean
Carthage had created a powerful empire in Spain
with a terrifyingly large army.
Hamilcar Barca conquered Spain. He was
Carthage’s general in the first Punic war.
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Hannibal, his son, promised to remain Rome's enemy.
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He became Commander of armies in Spain.
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He pressed North and captured the independent cities in
219 BC in Spain.
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Rome demanded its release.
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Hannibal refused and planned an attack on Rome.
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He crossed the Alps in a surprise attack on Rome
 40 000 infantry
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8 000 Calvary
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60 elephants – used for transportation
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFQFSmyCplU
&feature=channel
l
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Alps extend from France through Switzerland
and Italy into Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia
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After 15 days he entered the Po Valley with
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20 000 infantry
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6 000 calvary
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3 dozen elephants
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Still a surprise attack because Roman never could
imagine a leader taking his troops over the Alps.
Beat Rome for the first time at the Trebia River
Rome sends men North – Rome loses at Lake
Trasimene.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkT6lx
QPKck&feature=channel
Rome turns to a military leader name Fabius.
Believe that Hannibal lacked equipment for a prolonged siege and any delay
would hurt the Carthaginian food supply.
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Fabius’s methods were too slow for the majority of Romans.
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216 BC Hannibal and the Roman’s marched against each other at Cannae
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTpccODlcdA
Hannibal brought Gauls from the north to help him – 50 000
Hannibal used a crescent-shaped formation that budged in the center with
infantry and cavalry on the wings.
Many southern towns began surrendering to Hannibal fearful for their lives.
Hannibal vs. Fabius
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Hannibal was certain that Roman allies would join him—but allies
stayed loyal
Fabius was asked to become dictator
 Romans called him "The Delayer”
 eventually removed him from power
2 consuls replaced him—bad military leaders
 sent 80 000 soldiers against Hannibal--vastly outnumbering the
Carthaginian army
 completely destroyed by Hannibal' "pincer" strategy
the largest defeat Rome ever suffered; proved that Fabius was right to
avoid direct battles; the Romans readopted Fabius’ strategy. Roman
allies in the south took Hannibal's side; Sicily allied itself with the
Carthaginians, and the king of Macedon, Philip V, who controlled
most of the mainland of Greece, allied himself with Hannibal.
Hannibal’s fading army
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Hannibal army moved around the Italian countryside
unopposed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8deEJVZjGso&fea
ture=channel
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Hannibal was weak in numbers and in equipment.
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He didn't have enough soldiers to lay siege to cities such as
Rome, and he didn't have either the men or equipment to
storm it by force. In 211, he marched right up the walls of
Rome, but he never laid siege to it.
Scipio
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Rome Knew Hannibal was dependent on Spain for
future supplies and men, so they appointed a young,
strategically brilliant man as proconsul and handed
him the imperium (power) over Spain. This move was
unconstitutional, for this young man had never served
as consul. His name: Publius Cornelius Scipio (237183 BC). Scipio, later called Scipio Africanus for his
victory over Carthage (in Africa), by 206 had
conquered all of Spain, which was converted into two
Roman provinces. Hannibal was now left high and dry
in Italy.
Scipio Cont’d
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Crossed into Africa in 204 BC and took the war to the walls of
Carthage itself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9cqlx5Ck
Ck&feature=related
This forced the Carthaginians to make peace with Rome; part of the
treaty demanded that Hannibal leave the Italian peninsula.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gbPIyCuGTA
Hannibal
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Hannibal was one of the great strategic generals in
history
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Hannibal returned to Carthage, the Carthaginians rose
up against Rome in one last gambit in 202 BC. At
Zama in northern Africa, Hannibal, fighting against
Scipio and his army, met his first defeat. Rome
reduced Carthage to a dependent state; Rome now
controlled the whole of the western Mediterranean
including northern Africa.
The End of The 2nd Punic War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4F1GN9oCf
E&feature=related
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The Second Punic War turned Rome from a
regional power into an international empire: it had
gained much of northern Africa, Spain, and the
major islands in the western Mediterranean.
Because Philip V of Macedon had allied himself with
Hannibal and started his own war of conquest, the
second Punic War forced Rome to turn east in wars
of conquest against first Philip and then other
Hellenistic kingdoms. The end result of the second
Punic War, in the end, was the domination of the
known world by Rome.
rd
3
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Punic War 149-146 BC
In the years between the end of the second and beginning of the 3rd
Punic wars, Rome undertook the conquest of the Hellenistic empires
to the east
Romans were especially angry at the Carthaginians who had almost
destroyed them.
The great statesman (educated in gov’t and exhibits great wisdom) of
Rome, Cato, ended all his speeches, with the statement, "I also think
that Carthage should be destroyed”.
Third Punic war Cont’d
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Through the first half of the second century BC, Carthage recovered
much of its prosperity through commerce, although it had not gained
back much power.
Romans, deeply suspicious of a reviving Carthage, demanded that the
Carthaginians abandon their city and move inland into North Africa.
The Carthaginians, who were a commercial people that depended on
sea trade, refused.
The Roman Senate declared war, and Rome attacked the city itself.
After a siege, the Romans stormed the town and the army went from
house to house slaughtering the inhabitants.
Carthaginians who weren't killed were sold into slavery. The harbor
and the city was demolished, and all the surrounding countryside was
sown with salt in order to render it uninhabitable.