ROME AND CARTHAGE, 284-202 BC
ROME AND CARTHAGE, 284-202 BC
Polybius of the Achaian League, 167 BC, friend of Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus
Carthage:
Legislative Responsibilities:
Council of 30 Nobles
Senate
Religious and Financial Responsibilities:
Two Annually Elected "Shofetim" or "Suffetes" ("judges")
Judicial Responsibilities:
104 Judges from Ruling Families
Military Responsibilities:
Oversight
Citizen Assembly (with property requirements for membership) (Polyb. Histories 6.51-52: "the people were supreme in matters appropriate to them")
509-279 BC: Carthage-Rome Treaties (L&R 13, from Polybius): protection of economic spheres of influence
284-272 (L&R 18): Rome, after Samnite War, extends presence in s. Italy
Campanian mercenaries (= Mamertini or "sons of Mars") attack Italian Greeks
Greeks appeal to Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus defeats Carthage+Mamertini but expelled by Greeks
265: Mamertini's political vacillations:
Take Messana, threaten Syracuse (King Hiero)
Appeal to Carthage, Carthage seizes Messana
Appeal to Rome
264: Carthage allies with King Hiero; Rome declares war
263-241: FIRST PUNIC WAR:
Sicily and N. Africa
Epic battles: 50,000 infantry, 70,000 sailors on each side
Punic quinquereme (50 oars) captured; invention of corvus
Terms: Carthage loses Sicily, pays indemnity of 160 Talents (10,000 pounds) of silver/year for 20 years
Losses for Rome: 100,000's of men, 500 ships
Carthage's goals in 1st Punic War: attrition
Rome's goals in 1st Punic War: expansion
Success: manpower, bold action, initiative, inventiveness
241-238: Rome seizes Corsica, Sardinia from Carthage (limited resources, limited strategic value). Why?
236: Rome pacifies Cisalpine Gaul (Gallia Cisalpina)
Temple of Janus in Roman Forum
237: Hamilcar Barca, general at end of 1st Punic War, arrives in Gades (Cadiz) with 9-year-old Hannibal (L&R 59: Hannibal's Oath)
Ebro River
231: Massilia (Marseilles) appeals to Rome
229: Hasdrubal drowns, succeeded by son-in-law Hasdrubal, founder of Carthago Nova
226: Treaty of Ebro River
225-221: 2nd front for Rome: 130,000 infantry vs. 70,000 Gauls
220: Rome conquers Gallia Cispadana and Gallia Transpadana
Colonies at Placentia, Cremona
Gaius Flamininus constructs Via Flaminia (east coast), Via Aurelia (west coast)
221: Hasdrubal succeeded by Hannibal
221: Rome interferes in Saguntum
219: Saguntum falls to Carthage
218-202: SECOND PUNIC WAR
Comparison of Rome and Carthage on Eve of War:
L&R 60 (Polyb. Hist. 6.51-52):
Political:
"The multitude of Carthage had already acquired the chief voice in deliberations; while at Rome the Senate still retained this; and hence, as in one case the masses deliberated and in the other the most eminent men, the Roman decisions on public affairs were superior ...."
Moral:
"Now not only do Italians in general naturally excel Phoenicians and Africans in bodily strength and personal courage, but by their institutions also they do much to foster a spirit of bravery in the young men."
L&R 61, 62 (Polyb. Hist. 2.24, 3.33.5-18):
Military:
Carthaginian naval superiority (57 ships, including 32 manned quinqueremes)
Roman infantry superiority (700,000 infantry, 70,000 cavalry vs. 20-25,000 infantry, boosted by 25,000 in Spain)
Fall 218: Hannibal crosses the Alps (Polyb. Hist. 3.50; Livy a.u.c.31.30-38)
218: Roman consul Publius Cornelius Scipio + 40,000 men vs. Hannibal + 26,000 men, Battle of Trebia River
217: Roman consul Gaius Flaminius + 25,000 men vs. Hannibal + 25,000 men, Battle of Lake Trasimene
217: Senate appoints Quintus Fabius Maximus as dictator (later known as Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator, "the Delayer")
216: Roman consules L. Aemilius Paullus, G. Terentius Varro + 50,000 men vs. Hannibal + 40,000 men, Battle of Cannae
Armies destroyed; one of greatest military losses in history
Southern Italian allies revolt & defect (L&R 64)
Hannibal seizes all of s. Italy except colonies, coastal cities
Capua (industrial), Syracuse (economic), Macedon (2nd front) ally with Hannibal (L&R 66: Rome allies with Aetolians vs. Macedon)
213: Rome amasses army of 125,000 men (25 legions) (L&R 65)
213-211: Marcus Claudius Marcellus sacks Syracuse
211: Hannibal takes Greek coastal cities, threatens Rome
210: P. Cornelius Scipio the younger, 25 years old, dispatched by comitia centuriata to Spain; seizes Nova Carthago
207: Hasdrubal (brother of Hannibal) killed in n. Italy
206: Scipio conquers Spain
205: Rome-Macedon treaty
204: Rome defeats Carthage+Numidia; Masinissa as Roman puppet
202: Hannibal returns, Battle of Zama
Peace between Rome and Carthage (Polyb. Hist. 15.18):
Carthage surrenders all territory except city, previous possessions in n. Africa
Carthage surrenders elephants, fleet (except 10 ships), flocks, herds, slaves
Carthage surrenders prisoners of war
Carthage fined 10,000 Talents of silver (200 T./year x 50 years)
Carthage allowed autonomy but can't wage war without Roman consent
Carthage supports Masinissa, feeds Roman troops, hands over 100 hostages
P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus Triumphator