Punic Wars
Kiko Alonso
History 105
The Punic Wars were three different wars that were fought between the Rome and
Carthage and last over a total span of one hundred years. At this point in history, these
were some of the largest wars ever, which included battles that were fought by nearly six-
figure forces. These were two of quickest growing civilizations in the beginning of the
Punic Wars, with Rome controlling much of Italy and Carthage growing throughout the
Western Mediterranean. One of the main reasons these wars began was because both
empires were looking to control Sicily.
The First Punic War went from 264 BC to 261 BC, and consisted of
mostly naval battles between the two empires around Sicily and Northern Africa. At this
point Carthage, which was led by Hannibal Barca, had a much stronger Navy, which
gave them the advantage in the first war, although they suffered a large loss at the battle
of Agrigentum in 262 BC, which was a land battle. To avoid this happening again, the
Carthaginians tried to avoid land battle and focus on fighting on the Mediterranean. They
did this by defeating the Romans at the Battle of the Lipari Islands. Because of this Rome
wanted to grow its Navy as quickly as possible and did so by adding ships, which gave
them over one hundred total in a very quick amount of time. This allowed them
continually beat Carthage for the most part, besides a major loss in the battle of Tunis,
where they lost over 10,000 of their infantry. Cathage eventually signed a peace treaty
with Rome and agreed to evacuate Sicily and pay Rome, which meant they had lost the
first Punic War.
During the break of the first war, Carthage attempted to become expand its empire
into modern-day Spain. Once Hannibal had attacked the Hispanic city of Saguntum, and
also trekked through northern Italy, the Second Punic War had begun. This was in 218
BC, and Hannibal was able to
History 105
The Punic Wars were three different wars that were fought between the Rome and
Carthage and last over a total span of one hundred years. At this point in history, these
were some of the largest wars ever, which included battles that were fought by nearly six-
figure forces. These were two of quickest growing civilizations in the beginning of the
Punic Wars, with Rome controlling much of Italy and Carthage growing throughout the
Western Mediterranean. One of the main reasons these wars began was because both
empires were looking to control Sicily.
The First Punic War went from 264 BC to 261 BC, and consisted of
mostly naval battles between the two empires around Sicily and Northern Africa. At this
point Carthage, which was led by Hannibal Barca, had a much stronger Navy, which
gave them the advantage in the first war, although they suffered a large loss at the battle
of Agrigentum in 262 BC, which was a land battle. To avoid this happening again, the
Carthaginians tried to avoid land battle and focus on fighting on the Mediterranean. They
did this by defeating the Romans at the Battle of the Lipari Islands. Because of this Rome
wanted to grow its Navy as quickly as possible and did so by adding ships, which gave
them over one hundred total in a very quick amount of time. This allowed them
continually beat Carthage for the most part, besides a major loss in the battle of Tunis,
where they lost over 10,000 of their infantry. Cathage eventually signed a peace treaty
with Rome and agreed to evacuate Sicily and pay Rome, which meant they had lost the
first Punic War.
During the break of the first war, Carthage attempted to become expand its empire
into modern-day Spain. Once Hannibal had attacked the Hispanic city of Saguntum, and
also trekked through northern Italy, the Second Punic War had begun. This was in 218
BC, and Hannibal was able to