Punic Wars and the Impact of Roman Domination in the Mediterranean - Essay Example

Punic Wars and the Impact of Roman Domination in the Mediterranean The Roman Empire has had a dramaticinfluence upon the way in which we live our lives today. Much of what we take for granted today were first developed, and distributed, by these early Romans. The English language has been largely shaped by the language of the ancient Romans, with many of our root words still containing Latin roots. The religion of the Western world has also been largely formed by the Romans. The Christian tradition relies upon Roman language and legal systems for much of its legend while the Roman adoption of Christianity as an official religion ensured its spread throughout the known world, shaping what is now referred to as the ‘Western’ nations and their beliefs. The Romans developed a system of written communication and numbers that are still in use today and, with this ability to record information, were also able to develop elaborate feats of technology. They introduced the concept of civil engineering and developed many new forms of architectural design such as the Roman arch. They were able to exert this type of long-range influence thanks largely to their successes experienced during the Punic Wars. To understand the tremendous influence the Romans were able to garner out of these victories, it is necessary to have some background into the three wars that are collectively referred to as the Punic Wars, the reach of this influence and the way in which this influence managed to dominate the thinking and culture of what has become known as the ‘Western’ world. The first Punic War was fought on the island of Sicily in 264 BC (Hooker, 1996). However, the beginning of the war seems somewhat confused. “Carthage occupied the Sicilian town of Massana in 264 BC, after the Mamertines, a group of mercenaries, appealed to Carthage for help against Hiero II, king of Syracuse (a Sicilian city-state). This concerned Rome, since Massana is in the northeast corner of Sicili, very near the Greek towns of Italy which fell under Roman protection. Once the problem with Heiro II was solved, the Mamertines appealed to Rome for aid in fighting off the Carthaginians” (Stackhouse, 2007). While Carthage looked forward to winning a new port placed in an ideal position for achieving domination over the entire Mediterranean, Rome felt winning the city would provide them with a strong location for land defense. “Although the two powers had no quarrel before, they also had no shared racial or cultural heritage” (Stackhouse, 2007). With Rome besieging the cities, Carthage opted to break the siege with its formidable navy. When Rome destroyed this navy, Carthage lost its power on the seas and thus saw the beginning of their decline. In treaty agreements to end the war, Rome gained power over Sicily, pushing Carthage further from its protected borders and, in the process, gaining that ideal port Carthage had hoped to gain over the Mediterranean. While they didn’t use it to their advantage yet, the denial of access to Carthage enabled Rome to turn its attentions elsewhere. This added to Rome’s already impressive holdings which included most of the Italian peninsula. At the same time, the loss of Sicily and most of the navy stirred up problems in Carthage that were difficult to overcome. In the confusion of attempting to quell these small internal uprisings, Rome was able to also take Corsica and Sardinia, further increasing its holdings, the buffer zone between their own territories and those of Carthage and further weakening the now enemy nation. This advantage won Rome a new source of wealth in the rich grain fields of Corsica even as Rome was then able to turn its attention north to the Gauls and Illyrians (“First Punic War”, 2003). As should have been expected, this action by Rome instigated a reaction from Carthage as they began building up their own defenses and preparing for more aggressive action. While the Carthaginian forces had been significantly weakened as a result of their first war with Rome, they remained a significant fighting force within the ancient world. The second Punic War started in 218 BC when Hannibal took control of Saguntum, which was a Greek city allied with Rome (VerHage, 2005). Hannibal left approximately 20,000 men behind in Spain to protect it from anyone who might care to attempt it and marched with the rest of his forces, which included regular forces, elephants and regional inhabitants such as the Celts who were tired of being ruled over by the Romans. His choice of routes enabled him to avoid meeting the Roman army head-on, but it also lost him approximately half of his forces and most of his elephants in attempting to cross the hostile Alps. Not only the cold and difficult terrain worked against him, but he also found a great deal of resistance among the people who lived there (VerHage, 2005). Hannibal proved to have far superior tactics and troops, winning just about every battle he fought within Italy for 16 years, but the war was brought to an end when the Romans finally conceived of a means of beating him – not by meeting him head on in battle, but by exhausting his resources in petty skirmishes (Fournie, 2005). By attacking Hannibal’s reinforcements before they were able to join the main forces, launching an assault on Spain itself and achieving significant victories in Africa, Rome was finally able to completely overpower Hannibal’s forces in the Battle of Zama using Hannibal’s techniques from the Battle of Cannae (VerHage, 2005). With this war, Rome severely reduced the Carthaginians’ ability to resist or conquer new lands. The war brought all of Spain under the Roman Empire as Scipio Africanus chased the Carthaginians out of this region into North Africa and Gades. From here, Africanus took the battle off to Carthage itself, in spite of the fact that Hannibal’s forces were still active within Italy and, with the rout of Spain, was assumed to be gathering reinforcements (Rikard, 2002). Finally, the strategic location of Sicily was put to advantage for the Roman army and the attack on Carthage forced Hannibal to abandon his efforts in Italy in order to fight on the home front. Throughout this campaign, Africanus managed to win Numidian alliance, gain control of Spain, Italy and the Mediterranean islands, thus gaining complete control over the western Mediterranean. With their newfound knowledge, “the years immediately after the war saw Rome gain control over large areas of Greece and defeat the successors to Alexander the Great. An Imperial power had been born” (Rikard, 2002). While Carthage was severely damaged, it was not yet completely destroyed. The state of Carthage was so far reduced from its former strength and breadth and these had been so far increased for Rome that it seems incredible to believe that Carthage would willingly start a third war with the now much stronger nation. A brief glance at the chronology of the third war would seem to suggest this is exactly what happened. “It all began as relations between Numidia and Carthage exploded into war (150 BC). Two battles were fought near the city of Oroscopa. The second ended in disaster for Carthage, famine forcing her army to surrender to the Numidians, only to be slaughtered by the Numidians” (Decimus, 1997). Both of these disputes took place in 150 BC and were waged over land disputes following Rome’s apportionment of boundaries between Carthage and Numidia and neither was necessarily strong enough to warrant full-scale warfare upon Carthage without the additional hard feelings against it caused by the earlier wars and lack of proper subservience (Rolin, 1869). Although Carthage sent a delegation immediately to Rome to try to work out peace terms, Romans began marching on the weaker nation as soon as news was received of the attack. The Romans besieged the Punic cities thinking to make an easy victory with the demoralized, overpowered and weaponless Carthaginians, but again the Punic forces proved to be tenacious. The Romans weren’t able to defeat the Punic armies in the country sides until the early months of 146 BC and then turned their attention back to the city proper. “Spring 146 BC saw the final Roman assault. Starving and exhausted the defenders could hold them back no longer. Vicious street fighting saw the legionaries edge ever closer to the citadel, to where 50,000 terrified souls had fled. They held out for 6 days” (Decimus, 1997) and then were taken captive and sold as slaves. The result of the third Punic War was the total destruction of Carthage. The inhabitants were either killed or taken captive and sold as slaves, the city was razed to the ground, “no stone was to be left upon another, the soil was to be ploughed and strewn with salt” (Decimus, 1997). Rome firmly established its hold on the Mediterranean for the next several centuries after the brutal example at Carthage and through its peaceful contacts in Africa. Through trade and political power, Rome managed to continue spreading its influence throughout the European world. When Carthage was resettled in 123, it was as the first Roman colony outside of Italy, further illustrating the spread of the culture (Decimus, 1997). From primarily a Southern Italian state to a world power, Rome made significant advances in every aspect of life. “In the regional, restless, and shifting history of continental Europe, the Roman Empire stands as a towering monument to scale and stability. At its height, the Roman Empire, unified in politics and law, stretched from the sands of Syria to the moors of Scotland, and it stood for almost 700 years” (Fagan, 2008). During this 700 year span of control, the Empire had a significant effect on world governments and politics, introducing ideas such as democracy and class systems and developed numerous trade routes between nations, encouraging further communication and trade. In this sense, they were among the first ‘globalizers’. To facilitate these trades, the Romans also worked to standardize means of communication, disseminating their alphabet, language and numbering systems. They also made significant architectural and engineering contributions to the areas in which they had a significant presence, some of which are still available for viewing and exploration. The beliefs of Rome were also spread throughout the world as entire cultures were forced to adopt the dominant belief structures of their rulers. When Rome idolized a pantheon of gods, most of the rest of the world was permitted to do so as well as similarities between the various deities were recognized and were assumed to be the same god or goddess under a different name. When Rome became Christian, the rest of the world was also expected to understand the basic concepts of the religion. Those who wished to gain power quickly converted and did their utmost to be sure anyone under them also converted. Through such means, political, economic and social, the Roman Empire managed to significantly impact the development of cultures throughout Europe, the Mediterranean and in parts of Africa. Works Cited Decimus, Maximus. “The Third Punic War.” Rome Total War. Heaven Games, 1997. Fagan, Garrett. History of Ancient Rome. Pennsylvania State University, 2008. “First Punic War.” Roman Empire. UNRV History. March 13, 2008 Fournie, Daniel A. “Second Punic War: Hannibal’s War in Italy.” Military History. (March/April 2005). Hooker, Richard. “Rome: The Punic Wars.” The Conquest of the Hellenistic Empires. World Civilations, (1996). March 13, 2008 Knox, E.L. Skip. “The First Punic War.” The Punic Wars. History of Western Civilization, (2008). March 13, 2008 Rickard, J. “Second Punic War, 218-201 BC.” Military History Encyclopedia. (December 2002). March 13, 2008 Rollin, Charles. The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Cathaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians. Harvard University, 1869. March 13, 2008 Stackhouse, Paul. “The First Punic War.” The Republic. Historia, (1996). March 13, 2008 VerHage, Joshua E. “The Second Punic War.” Mediterranean Basin Chronology. The Web Chronology Project, (2005). March 13, 2008 Read More