www.internationalschoolhistory.

net

Year 3 Human Science

History – Ancient Rome 3 – Carthage, Hannibal and the Punic Wars

Across the Mediterranean Sea,

just a few hundred miles away,
lay the great North African city
of Carthage (see picture left)
which had been founded many
hundreds of years earlier by a
people called the Phoenicians
You can see the Carthaginian
Empire marked on the map on
the next page. The
Carthaginians traded all over the
Mediterranean. The Romans
were trying to expand their
trade, but the Carthaginians
treated the Roman traders as pirates and sank their ships. The Carthaginians also controlled
much of Sicily which was a fertile corn-growing area. It was only a matter of time before
Rome went to war against Carthage. The Romans referred to these wars as the Punic Wars;
Punic being a Latin word for Phoenician.

The first Punic war, 264 - 241 B.C.

The Romans had become skilful soldiers during their conquest of Italy. They had a large army
of 100,000 soldiers. But they were faced with an enemy which had an excellent navy. To win
the war, the Romans had to win control of the sea. They had no navy and little experience as
sailors. However, they began building a huge battle fleet.
They also invented new tactics.
On each ship they built a kind
of drawbridge, called a corvus,
with a huge iron spike on the
end. The corvus stood upright
by the mast. When an enemy
ship was close it was lowered
so that the spike sank into the
enemy's deck. The Roman
soldiers then charged across
onto the enemy ship. After over
twenty years of war, Carthage
was finally defeated and Rome took control of Sicily. As well as losing Sicily, Carthage also
had to pay a huge sum of money (called an indemnity) to compensate Rome for the cost of the
war. After this war, however, Rome continued to expand and took control of Carthaginian
lands on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. This, along with the loss of Sicily and the
payment of the indemnity, made the Carthaginians angry and anxious to avenge themselves on
Rome. The struggle between Rome and Carthage was far from over.

The second Punic war, 218 - 201 B.C.

The second war was dominated by the deeds of a famous Carthaginian general named
Hannibal. Since he was a boy, Hannibal dreamt of punishing Rome for its harsh treatment of
Carthage in the first Punic war. Now, as leader of the Carthaginian army in Spain, he planned a
 daring attack on Italy and against the city of Rome itself. Hannibal got together a great army of
100,000 men and 37 war elephants. But how could he successfully attack a heavily defended
republic such as that of Rome? How could Hannibal get across the Alps? They were a natural
defensive barrier for the Romans. The only way to climb them was to use narrow mountain
passes. But these passes were difficult to travel through, even when the weather was good, and
were easy to The Romans were sure that they were safe from Hannibal. But they were wrong.

How could Hannibal get across the River

Rhone? It was a wide river, with a strong
current. It was well guarded by a fierce Gaulish
How could Hannibal get across the Alps?
tribe. Hannibal knew that if he tried to cross it
They were a natural defensive barrier for the
his troops would be attacked while they were
Romans. The only way to climb them was to
still in the water. Also he had to get his
use narrow mountain passes. But these passes
elephants and horses across.
were difficult to travel through, even when the
weather was good, and were easy to defend.
Coast road heavily
guarded by Roman
armies

The River Rhone

Hannibal first sent a small advance force of his best soldiers to cross the river secretly.
Hannibal then filled small boats and canoes with the light soldiers. The large boats were placed
upstream of the light boats to protect them from the full force of the current. Horses were
towed behind the boats. One man on each side of the stern guided the horses. As they crossed,
the Gaulish tribesmen poured out of their camp -just as Hannibal had expected. But Hannibal's
advance party rushed in to attack them and the tribesmen ran away. The elephants then crossed,
on huge rafts covered with earth and grass.

The Alps and the Allobrogians

Hannibal could not march along the well guarded coast road to Italy. So he took the only
possible route, over the Alps, even though it was winter. The Allobrogian tribe, who were
friends of the Romans, had a large army in a strong position overlooking the Carthaginians'
route down from the mountains. Hannibal ordered the fires to be lit in his camp. He left most of
his army there. He led his best soldiers to ambush the Allobrogians. Up on the Alps the snow
was already falling heavily. Hannibal saw that his men were in low spirits, because they had
suffered much. To cheer them up, he called them together and pointed out Italy, which lay
close beneath the mountains. The path down was very narrow and steep. It was a treacherous
path. Neither the soldiers nor the animals could tell where they were treading in the deep snow.
Those that stepped wide of the path fell down the cliff to certain death. Hannibal got his
soldiers to cut a path out of the snow. After a day the path was wide enough for the packhorses
and animals. It took three days to get the elephants through. Hannibal had started his campaign
with 100,000 soldiers; 60,000 climbed the Alps with him, but only 23,000 reached Italy.
Hannibal knew his army might not be strong enough to attack Rome, and he had no siege
engines. He marched south until he was within three days' march of Rome. The people of
Rome were nervous, but didn't panic. They waited. Hannibal decided against attack. Instead he
continued south, looking for supplies and trying to persuade the people of other cities to join
him against Rome.

Hannibal is defeated

Hannibal spent the next fifteen years in Italy. The Romans sent a number of armies to fight
him, but he defeated them every time. Finally the Romans changed their tactics. Instead of
fighting him, they decided to wear him down. They stopped any extra soldiers or supplies
getting through to him and they refused to fight any more big battles. Hannibal's army grew
weaker with every year that passed. He had already decided that he was not strong enough to
attack Rome, and few of the Italian tribes joined him. They all stayed loyal to Rome.
Meanwhile, the Roman army concentrated its efforts on attacking Carthage. After fifteen years
in Italy, Hannibal was ordered home to help defend Carthage from the Romans.

In 202 BC, near Carthage, Hannibal was defeated by the Roman general Scipio. The
Carthaginians were beaten. Their lands in southern Spain were taken by Rome. After his defeat
by Scipio, Hannibal remained on in Carthage. But the Romans accused him of trying to start
another war and forced him to go into exile. Hannibal went to Syria and Asia Minor, where he
helped the rulers there to resist Roman domination. When his allies were finally defeated,
Hannibal refused to surrender to the Romans. He avoided capture by taking poison which he
carried in a ring on his finger.

The third Punic War (149-146 B.C.)

Many important Romans were determined that Carthage should be destroyed forever. In 149
B.C. a great Roman fleet laid siege to the North African city. Carthage resisted as well as it
could for three years, but was finally captured by the superior forces of its enemy. The
Carthaginian people were murdered or forced into slavery. Their city was burned and then
dismantled stone by stone. The land on which Carthage stood was ploughed with salt so that
nothing could grow on it. What remained of Carthaginian territory became the Roman province
of ‘Africa’. Nothing remained but memories of ancient Carthage.

Rome was now the strongest power around the Mediterranean Sea, and her Empire grew
rapidly. In the 70 years after the defeat of Hannibal, Macedonia (now south-east Europe),
Greece and Asia Minor (part of modern Turkey) came under Roman rule. Egypt was under
Rome's influence. The defeat of Carthage meant that Rome was the master of the whole
Mediterranean area.

Activity – Reading comprehension

1. What caused the first Punic wars?

2. What were the consequences of the first Punic War?
3. What problems did Hannibal face in trying to attack Rome?
4. How did Hannibal defeat the Allobrogians?
5. Why did Hannibal decide not to attack Rome?
6. What happened to Hannibal after his defeat by Scipio?
7. Why did nothing remain of ancient Carthage and its people?
RJ-N 010610