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Text | Historic Exploration
Edit | Historic Exploration
Relations between Rome and Carthage were tense in the 3rd century BC, and Rome finally eliminated Carthage through three Punic Wars.
Historians do not know much about the peacetime relations between the war and the war, so today we will speculate on the relationship between the two countries at that time from the causes and effects of the war.
The First Punic War and its impact on relations between the two countries
In the eyes of the Carthaginians, Rome was inferior to Carthage, and Rome in particular had almost no navy. After the defeat of Pyrrhus, Sicily came under Carthage control.
Carthage, who had struggled with the Greeks for centuries for possession of Sicily, could not sit idly by and watch Rome extend its tentacles into its sphere of influence and shake its hegemony in the Mediterranean.
Thus, when Rome unified the Italian peninsula and could expand outward, Carthage's preparation to occupy Messina and thus annex the entire island of Sicily would inevitably clash with Rome.
In this way, the former allies eventually became rivals, and Sicily became the first target for the two countries. In 264 BCE, the "Messina Affair" was the trigger for the war.
Polybius feared Rome by believing that Carthaginian expansion would threaten Italy's survival, and the people wanted to receive the spoils of war to support the war. So that the war broke out.
I think it was Rome's continuous expansion to gain more benefits, especially after it tasted the sweetness of war through the conquest of Italy, which made it difficult to maintain peace between the two countries.
The Senate was unable to make a decision on whether or not to help the Malmetians, so the question was referred to the People's Assembly. When the consuls expounded the general benefits of war, and pointed out that every citizen could benefit greatly from war, they were quick to approve the help of the Malmetians, no matter how tired and needy the citizens were from the recent war.
This incident fully shows that the Romans have formed a strong sense of expansion in the long war of plunder, and will not let go of any opportunity for expansion. Rome's goals during the war were amplified and his desire for expansion was also evident.
In 262 BC, Rome occupied Agorigentum.
When the news reached the Roman Senate, the senators were overjoyed, and no longer aimed at rescuing the Malmetians and reaping the benefits of the war itself, but wished to expel Carthage from all of Sicily.
At the time of the victory at the Battle of Mire, Rome set its sights on the interests of the Sicilian coast.
The Romans' desire for expansion was evident, and the claim that they had sent troops to help the Malmetian was only to prevent Carthage from taking control of Messina.
At that time, Carthage's goal seemed to be limited to the acquisition of all of Sicily, and we see no sign of its intention to conquer the Italian peninsula. The Romans' belief that Carthage's expansion would threaten Italy was just a pretext for their outward expansion.
As a result of the war, Carthage, after a series of defeats, was unable to confront Rome, and the government, unwilling to drag on the war any longer, authorized Hamilka to sign a treaty with Rome.
Although Hamilca was defeated, he had no choice but to negotiate with the Romans. At this time, Rome was also exhausted by the long war, needed respite, and at the same time there was a threat from the Gauls from the north, so it also agreed to make peace.
Even so, the Romans presented Carthage with harsh conditions as victors: Carthage should withdraw from Sicily and all the islands between Sicily and Italy, not fight against Rome and its allies, and unconditionally surrender the prisoners of war and pay 3,200 tarrants, to be paid in instalments over 10 years.
The Carthaginian government finally accepted. Soon after, the Romans occupied Sicily and established the first overseas province.
The Second Punic War and the Transformation of Relations between the Two Kingdoms
The First Punic War and mercenary uprisings deprived Yingtaiki of supremacy in Sicily, Sardinia, and abroad. If you want to regain your strength and compete with Rome, you must find a new territory.
Hamilka, who was a general at the time, set his eyes on Spain after several investigations. Spain was rich in minerals, timber, and human resources, and if it could be conquered, it could compensate for Carthage's losses in Sicily and Sardinia, and become an economic source of increasing the revenue of the national treasury.
In addition, it is close to the European continent, which is very suitable as a rear base to compete with Rome. Spain was conquered after three generations of Hamilca, Hasdruba, and Hannibal, and its abundant resources provided the resources for Hannibal's expedition.
By the eve of the Second Punic War, Hannibal had a considerable army: 154,000 infantry, cavalry, 200 war elephants, 870 grenadiers, and 60 ships.
Not only that, but these mercenaries recruited by Hannibal were also very loyal.
At the same time, the Baca family seized a large amount of wealth in this star and shipped it back to China, and soon restored Carthage's former prosperity and wealth, and thus won the trust and favor of the government.
When Rome declared war on Carthage, the government supported Hannibal's approach and accepted the war.
Therefore, the success of Carthage's passage through Spain was also an important factor in leading the two sides to the next conflict. Hamilka's activities in Spain were not brought to Rome's attention at a time when Rome was concentrating on Gaul.
But Carthage's massive expansion in Spain harmed the interests of Rome's ally, Massilia, who demanded that Rome limit Hamilca's development in Spain.
In 231 BC, the Roman Senate sent emissaries to Spain to negotiate with Hamilca. Hamilka prevaricated on the grounds of repaying war reparations.
Soon after, Hamilka's son-in-law, Hasdruba, came to power and founded the city of New Carthage. The huge silver mines near the new city provided Carthage with a rich source of finance. Rome was deeply disturbed by Hadruba's achievements in Spain.
In 226 BC, Rome sent another mission to Spain to investigate the intentions of the Carthaginians.
But at this time, Rome, under the pressure of a large number of veterans to acquire small tracts of land, expanded the Illyrian coast, and went to war with the Gauls in the north (225-220 BC), could no longer make strong enemies to put itself at a disadvantage.
At the same time, in order to prevent the Carthaginian army from attacking Rome in conjunction with the southern Gauls, Rome made more modest demands.
Hasdruba was reluctant to break with Rome because of his unreadiness for war, especially the lack of ships to transport his troops, and the unstable situation in southern Spain.
He accepted the Romans' demands, and the two sides signed the famous Treaty of Hipborus: the Carthaginian power in Spain was bounded by the Ebro River, and the Romans were not allowed to cross the river to wage war against Carthage's subjects, and the Carthaginians were not allowed to cross the river with arms.
The treaty de facto recognized Carthage's possession of a large area south of the Hipporus River, which helped to consolidate its cause in Spain. As a result, the Baca family was able to openly expand their power under the noses of the Romans.
Between the end of the First Punic War and the outbreak of the next, Carthalate was busy expanding in Spain to compensate for the losses of the First Punic War, and Rome was busy conquering Illyria and dealing with the Gauls in the north, while keeping an eye on Carthaginian activities.
In this way, the two sides maintain a relationship of peaceful dialogue.
The Three Punic Wars and the Destruction of Carthage
After the defeat at Zama, Hannibal remained commander-in-chief of the Carthaginian army, which he used to rebuild areas that had been ravaged by the Romans during Scipio's invasion.
He kept the armistice, and Scipio persuaded the Roman Senate to let Carthage live. Thanks to the efforts of this old pair of old rivals who respected each other, there were no conflicts between the two countries.
In the years that followed, Carthage's political and economic situation deteriorated. In order to improve the situation, the citizens elected Hannibal as a Sufit.
After Hannibal came to power, he implemented a series of reforms, which not only raised enough war reparations, but also allowed the treasury to have a surplus, but the reforms violated the interests of the wealthy nobles.
It was during the Second Punic War that Hannibal's political enemies who did everything possible to prevent the government from supporting Hannibal, and now they turned against Hannibal in the Carthaginian government, and now hated Hannibal even more.
They told the Roman Senate that Hannibal was smart about Antioch and was preparing to start a new war against Rome.
The Roman Senate always believed that the Romans would never have peace as long as Hannibal lived, and it was the opportunity to get rid of him.
Scipio wanted the Romans to keep their fear of Carthage in order to be prepared for danger and control the indulgence of the Romans.
So he defended Hannibal many times, but his intervention only delayed the persecution of Hannibal by the Senate for a few years. In 195 BC, anti-Hannibal forces prevailed in the Roman Senate.
The Senate sent a delegation to Carthage to demand the surrender of Hannibal, who had to leave his homeland.
After that, he traveled to Syria, Crete, and his headquarters, and everywhere he went, he spared no effort to advise the king in an attempt to destroy Rome, but all of them failed.
In 183 BC, at the age of 64, Hannibal died in a foreign land, and his hopes of destroying Rome were completely shattered. But his death and the weakening of Carthage did not dispel Rome's fear of Carthage.
The Hannibal Wars ended with the end of the Shield, Rome was too busy with the wars in Spain and the Eastern Mediterranean to care about Carthage, and the Third Punic War was postponed for more than 50 years.
It was not until the second half of the 2nd century BC that Rome suppressed the revolts of Spain and Greece and freed up its hands to destroy Carthage. While Rome was busy dealing with wars in the Mediterranean and Spain, Carthage relied on its land resources and commercial base in the interior of Africa to restore its prosperity.
By 191 BCE, Carthage had paid off the war reparations ahead of schedule and supplied large quantities of grain to Rome's expeditionary forces in the eastern Mediterranean. The restoration of Carthaginian power caused great unease in Rome.
Although Carthage was extremely careful in its relations with Rome and its ally Numidia, even to the point of forcing Hannibal away at all costs, and retreating from Masinissa's encroachment on its territory, all this could not dispel the doubts and fears in the Romans. Became pro-Roman.
In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the relationship between Rome and Carthage was tense. In the first war, Rome was victorious, becoming a maritime power in the western Mediterranean, and the desire for expansion was even stronger.
Its continued outward ambitions and actions will inevitably lead to the next war on a larger scale. The defeat of Yingtaiji not only lost the colony of Sicily, but also had to pay reparations, and the prestige of the great power was hit.
To the indignation of the Carthaginians, after the war, Rome took advantage of the mercenary rebellion to seize the two colonies of Carthage, Sardinia and Corsica, which intensified Carthage's hatred.
When the right opportunity arises, Carthage is bound to take revenge. In this case, sooner or later, a second war will break out.
In the Hannibal War, although Rome encountered unprecedented challenges in the early stage, through the concerted cooperation of the whole country, it finally not only drove Hannibal out of the Italian peninsula, but also expanded to Africa and defeated Carthage.
Such a huge victory made Rome even more confident. And victory in war will arouse its desire to conquer other countries.
At the same time, the horrors of the pre-war period terrified the Romans, who could no longer tolerate the existence of Carthage, and had to eliminate it in due course.
Carthage experienced this defeat, and its strength was no longer the same as in the past, and it could not withstand the toss of large-scale war, so it adopted a conservative strategy on the external front, and was careful everywhere. so as not to be excused by Rome to start a war.
But Carthage's cautiousness and drastic power reduction did not dispel Rome's fears, nor could it stop it from continuing to expand, and war broke out 50 years later.
Rome eventually eliminated Carthage and took control of the entire Mediterranean, laying the foundation for the establishment of a great empire spanning Europe, Asia, and Africa.
summary
It may be that the battle was fought for too long, and the Romans were worried about it.
So after the city of Carthage was razed to the ground, the Romans stipulated that from now on, whoever built there would be cursed.
It was not until the time of Augustus that Carthage was rebuilt near the ruins.
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[3] On the Roman policy of conquest and domination of Italy[J]. Gong Xiuhua.Historical Collection,2001(01)
[4] Analysis of the reasons for Rome's domination of Italy[J]. Gong Xiuhua.Historical Theory Research,2001(01)
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[6] Discussion on the reasons for the successful expansion of the Roman Republic[J]. Lu Yunhong, Nandu Academy, 1999(05)
[7] Reasons for the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean world[J]. Yang Gongle.History Teaching,1998(02)
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