Carthage

Dispute over control of Sicily and trade

routes in the western Mediterranean brought Rome into conflict with

the powerful North African city-state of

Carthage

Carthage

Carthage had been

founded as Phoenician colony 500

years earlier

Result was the three Punic Wars

264-146 BC

FIRST PUNIC WAR• Primarily a naval war

– Tactics involved maneuvering your ship in such a way so that you could ram and sink enemy

• Carthage very good at this because of long experience as naval power

• Rome Sent an army to Sicily

• Rome had small navy and little experience in naval warfare

– Defeated time and time again by larger and more experienced Carthaginian navy

ROME WINS THE FIRST ONE• Rome would not surrender• Rome built a navy and defeated

Carthage– Finally turned the tables on

Carthage by changing rules of naval warfare

• Equipped ships with huge hooks and stationed soldiers on ships

– Would hook enemy ship, pull it nearby, and board it with soldiers

– Converted naval warfare into mini-land battles

– Carthage lost and paid a fine

SECOND PUNIC WAR• Carthage expands to Spain• Rome helps Spain to rebel against

Carthage• Carthaginian general Hannibal surprises

Romans, leads army from Spain, through southern France and the Alps, and invades Italy from the north

• Hannibal leads an army to the Alps to attack Rome– Defeats Roman armies sent to stop

him several times but hesitates to attack Rome itself

• Unable to defeat Hannibal in Italy, a Roman army sailed across the Mediterranean, landed in North Africa, and headed for Carthage– Led by patrician general Scipio – Hannibal forced to leave Italy to

protect Carthage• Defeated at the Battle of Zama,

fought outside the walls of Carthage

• Carthage gives up S pain and pays a huge fine

THIRD PUNIC WAR

• Carthage finished after Second Punic War– Hannibal committed suicide– Economy shattered– Lost all territory to Rome– But some Romans feared it

might revive someday and challenge Rome again

• Notably Cato the Elder– Pushed for another war

that would wipe Carthage off the face of the map

Cato the Elder

ROME WINS A THIRD TIME• Due to Cato’s persistent efforts,

Rome declares war against defenseless Carthage– Wins easily– Entire population of city sold

into slavery– Everything of value carried

back to Rome– Everything else burned and

dumped into the sea– Site sown with salt so that

nothing would ever grow there again

– Carthage completely disappeared

Rome drawn into the affairs of the successor

kingdoms

Successor kingdom

increasingly called on Roman aid in their incessant

wars against each other

Rome always responded in the

belief that achieving a balance of power in the east

was better than having one

successor kingdom become too

powerful and challenge Rome

Rome eventually became weary of

playing this endless refereeing role and

realized that the continued

independence of the successor kingdoms

threaten Roman interests

Took over Greece, Macedonia, some of Asia Minor, Syria, Aegean and eastern Mediterranean islands

by 133 BC

Later, the conquests of Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Pompey

Magnus, and Julius Caesar would add more territory

Gaul, the rest of Asia Minor, Mesopotamian, Mediterranean Middle

East, Belgium

ROMAN REPUBLIC

• Was not a static institution but rather a continually evolving structure

– Political participation and eligibility to run for office widened over time

– Powers of various assemblies and elected officials also changed with time

– But it also became increasingly corrupt

PATRICIANS

PLEBIANS

• Original aristocracy of Rome– Had been distinguished

citizens who advised Latin kings

– Played leading role in overthrowing Etruscans

• Wealth based primarily on ownership of farmland and/or urban real estate.

•Free men who could not trace their ancestry back to advisors of Latin kings•Many were well-off and served in the army under Etruscans•Etruscans had promoted their interests and protected their civil status•Patricians would not let them share in government

Rome’s Government• Patricians and plebeians were the two classes of

people in Rome.• Top government officials were called consuls. • Another important group of officials were praetors. • The Senate was the most important lawmaking body• Another important legislative body was the

Assembly of Centuries– Plebeians challenged the class system by going on strike. – The Romans then allowed the plebeians to set up their own

legislative group called the Council of Plebes. – In the Roman Republic, a dictator was a person who served

to people and ruled in temporarily during emergencies. – Cincinnatus, the best known early Roman dictator, led an

army of men to defeat a powerful enemy. – The Twelve Tables were Rome’s first code of laws. – They were the basis of all future Roman laws. – The Law of Nations was created to address issues of

conquered peoples.

FALL OF THE REPUBLIC• Trouble in the Republic

– The gap between the rich and the poor grew and farmers suffered.

– Latifunda were large farming estates created when wealthy Romans bought small farms.

– Farmers whose land had been bought traveled to cities trying to find new jobs.

• Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus were two wealthy brothers were tried to reform the government but were killed.

• Marius, a former military leader, was appointed counsel and promised land to poor men if they became soldiers.

• Sulla drove Marius out of Rome, declared himself dictator, and spent three years reforming government before resigning from office.

• Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed a triumvirate after Sulla left office. Caesar then declared himself dictator. Caesar had many enemies and they plotted to kill him. They succeeded on March 15.

FALL OF THE REPUBLIC• Octavian was Caesar’s grandnephew who had

inherited Caesar’s wealth. • Antony and Lepidus were two of Caesar’s top

generals. – Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus formed the Second

Triumvirate, although they began to fight immediately– Antony fell in love with Cleopatra VII and formed an alliance

with her– Octavian declared war on Antony to keep him from taking

over the republic– Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra’s forces at the

Battle of Actium• Cicero was a political leader, writer, and public

speaker who favored a representative government and supported Octavian.

• Octavian restored the republic with some reforms and took the title Augustus, meaning “revered one.”

• THIS BEGAN THE ROMAN EMPIRE