Roman History part 4, the First Punic War 2

In the previous episode we stopped when Rome decided to attack Carthage itself by sea under the command of the Roman council, Marcus Atilius Regulus. First, the Romans invaded the city of Aspus, east of Carthage, after a short siege. Realising the dangerous situation, the Carthaginian senate selected, Hasdrubal the son of Hanno and Bostar, as councils and summoned Hamilcar Barca and his fleet to protect Carthage from the Roman invasion. The Roman general headed toward the city of Adys, south of Carthage. The Carthaginian army marched to Adys where the battle of Adys took place. The Carthaginian army was defeated with light losses. Then, the victorious army headed wast to the city of Tunisia which only 16km far from Carthage. After seeing how bad the situation is, the Carthaginian senate sent a letter to Regulus to open negotiations asking for peace. The Roman council imposed prejudicial terms. Carthage refused the terms  and chose war. In the beginning of 255 B.C, Carthage selected, Zansibas, on of the spartan mercenaries to lead the army against Rome. Zansibas realised that the Carthaginian advantage was the elephants and horses, so he want the battle to be in an open plain to exploit this advantage. Then Zansibas led the Carthaginian army to the city of Tunisia to meet the Romans in what will be known the battle of Tunisia. The Carthaginian army had 12000 infantry, 4000 cavalry and 100 elephants. On the other hand, the Roman army had 15000 infantry and 500 cavalry. The Carthaginians achieved a crushing victory. The Roman army was annihilated only 3000 infantry survived the carnage. The Carthaginians captured Regulus, then executed him as a revenge for his war crimes. Soon after, Rome had sent a fleet of 350 ships to North Africa to save the survivals who retreated to Apsus. Carthage responded by sending 200 ships to prevent them from doing so. A new naval battle took place, despite the Carthaginian superiority in the beginning of the battle, the Roman fleet managed to achieve victory with 114 Carthaginian ships were captured by the Romans. Although the Romans won this naval battle, the Roman campaign on North Africa had failed, and the Roman fleet decided to return to Rome. But a disaster happened, when the Roman fleet reached near the city of Karmarina in southern Sicily, a terrible storm rolled in leading to destruction of approximately 280 ships out of 360. Learning about the disaster, Carthage tried to exploit the situation and sent a fleet to Sicily. Having reached the city of Agreguntum in eastern Sicily, the Carthaginian army destroyed the city. Unexpectedly, Rome managed to rebuild her fleet in less than a year. The new fleet consisted of more than 220 ships. The new fleet sailed into the city of Panormus  in west northern Sicily which was under the control of Carthage. The Romans invaded the city killing the entire inhabitants and taking the rest as slaves. One year later, Rome renewed its incursions on North Africa, but again the campaign failed utterly, because of new storm which destroyed nearly 150 ships out of 220 which were sent to invade North Africa. After the utter failure of the invasion of North Africa, Rome decided to concentrate her efforts in Sicily managing from conquering the city of Thermii in the north of Sicily. 

251 B.C Hasdrubal raised a huge army and marched toward Panormus  to recapture it, but the Carthaginian army failed utterly to take the city and the Romans emerged victorious. The number of losses for both sides is unknown. Invigorated by victory, Rome mustered in army of 110000 troops and 200 ships under the command of Publius Claudius Pulcher to march toward the city of Lilybaeum west of Sicily which was under Carthage’s control in 250 B.C. Carthage responded by sending many ships to evacuate the city from its civilians inhabitants to reduce pressure on food supply. Seeing that this siege will take a long time, Pulcher, in unexpected move, decided to attack the main Carthaginian fleet in the city of Drepana, to the north of Lilybaeum, in 249 B.C, arguing that if Rome managed to capture Drepana, Lilybaeum will surrender inevitably. But, due to Roman’s inexperience in naval battles, the Roman attack lost the element of surprise and Carthage’s navy detected the attacking Roman fleet and counterattacked it leading to destruction of nearly 93 Roman ships and killing of 20000 Roman soldier. Following that, the Carthaginian fleet headed toward Lilybaeum coast and burned many Roman ships which was besieging the city. Rome responded by sending nearly 100 ships to supply the Roman troops which was in besiege of Lilybaeum. But unfortunately for the Romans, a terrible storm destroyed most of their fleet. Back to the siege of Lilybaeum, the Carthaginians used the hit and run style of war to burn the Roman’s camps causing sever losses for the Romans. Aware of the futility of the siege, the Romans lifted the siege. 247 B.C, Hamilcar Barca reached Sicily to command the whole Carthaginian troops in Sicily. Hamilcar Barca managed to achieve many great victories over 3 years in Sicily, but he was not able to deliver the decisive blow to the Romans due to lack of supplies from Carthage as Carthage at that time was busy fighting the North African tribes. 243 B.C Rome decided to re-build her fleet. Indeed, they made nearly 200 ships. Short after, Rome decided to sail to Sicily and besiege Lilybaeum and Drepana to prevent Carthage from sending supplies to Hamilcar Barca. Carthage decided to send supplies to the besieged city, but the Roman fleet was awaiting. A deceive naval battle happened in the western coast of Sicily near Lilybaeum ending by a Roman victory and destruction of nearly 60 ships and capture of 70. Due to lack of supply and sever exhaustion of Carthage, Hamilcar Barca decided to begin negotiations with Rome. A peace trade signed between Rome and Carthage ending by this the first Punic war with Roman landslide victory . The terms of the treaty were as follows : first, the Carthaginians must get out of Sicily entirely. Second, Carthage must release the Roman prisoners immediately. Third, Carthage must pay a large annual tribute to Rome. Lastly, Carthage must abandon all the islands in the Mediterranean. The story haven’t ended yet, 23 years later, Hannibal Barca, the son of Hamilcar Barca, will lead a tremendous campaign to invade Rome itself leading to the eruption of the second Punic war. 

 

Roman history part 3, the First Punic War 1

 The Punic wars 

The Punic wars occurred between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian empire between 264-146 B.C. Carthage was a trade centric city in North Africa, modern day Tunisia. The origin of Carthage goes back to Phoenician civilisation which flourished in the Levant in the Middle East. The Phoenicians set up many colonies on the Mediterranean coast, one of them was Carthage in 814 B.C. The Carthaginians were famous for their strong navy which made them taking control over western Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and southern Spain. The tensions began brewing between Rome and Carthage in the beginning of the third century B.C, when both empires wanted to control the Mediterranean Sea and its island such as Sicily and Sardinia. 

The Punic wars are divided into three wars, the first, the second and lastly the third.

 

                                                                                Rome 

                                                

                                                 Carthage 

The first Punic war

The expansion of the Carthaginian empire in the Mediterranean basin worried the Greek empire, as there were many greek colonies in eastern Sicily threatened by Carthaginian invasions. Aganognes, the greek king of Syracuse in eastern Sicily, in his war agains Carthage hired some of Italian mercenaries called “Maemertines  “ to help him fighting the Carthaginians. After his death, the Maemertines attacked the city of Messina in the north of the island. The new king of Syracuse, Heirro the second was disgruntled about them, so he planned to retake the city. The Maemertines sent tow delegation, one to Carthage and another to Rome seeking help against Heirro. Carthage responded first because they see it a good opportunity to make pressure on the Greeks in the island. After knowing that Carthaginians reached Messina, Heirro retreat to Syracuse. Then, the Carthaginians declared that they are ruling now on Messina, this situations displeased the Maemertines, so they sent a delegation to Rome seeking assistance. The Roman senators saw it a great opportunity to interfere in Sicily. So, Rome had sent its legions under the command of Appius Claudius Caecus to Messina. The Romans assisted by the Maemertines had driven the Carthaginians out of the city. The Carthaginians were not idle, they sought help from the greek king of Syracuse. Indeed, the Carthaginians assisted by the Greeks marched to Messina and besieged it. A few days later, the Roman commander, Appius Claudius led the legions to the city to fight the Carthaginian-Greek coalition and managed to defeat them. A year later, Rome sent its tow councils, Marcus Aurelius and Manus, with 40000 troops to complete the Campaign in Sicily.

Carthage responded by sending troops to Sicily in order to consolidate its position in the island. Then, the first Punic war had begun.

The Roman troop reached Sicily and conquered all the towns between Messina and Syracuse, then besieged Syracuse, but they faced a problem, there are no enough resources to feed such a huge army, in addition, the Carthaginians surrounded the island from all sides to cut off the supply lines. The situation was glooming, but something unexpected happened, the king of Syracuse signed a peace treaty with the Romans pledging to pay tribute to Rome and provide supply to its troops in exchange for remaining in ruling of the city. In 262 B.C, Rome sent the same number of troops to Sicily under the command of the new tow councils, Lucius and Quintus Mamilius to invade the city of Agragas which was under Carthage’s rule. The Carthaginian governor of the city, Hannibal Disco, decided to force people to get into the city. The Roman councils decided to dig a ditch around the city and besiege it. After 5 months of siege, Hannibal Disco resized the real danger and decided to seek help from Carthage. Carthage responded by sending a huge army estimated at 50000 soldier and 50 elephants under the command of Hanno. In the beginning of the battle the Carthaginians inflected heavy losses to the Romans, but the Roman troops restored balance and counterattacked the Carthaginians making them suffer huge losses. Both sides suffered disastrous losses and no one is victorious. But the lack of food caused the Carthaginians troops to retreat and abandon the city. 

After invasion of Agragas, the Carthaginians sent a lot of ships to Sicily in order to protect her colonies in the island. The Romans realised  that they have no chance to defeat Carthage unless they have a strong fleet. Unfortunately Rome didn’t have a fleet, as the Romans were known for their might in land not in sea in contrast to Carthage which were renounced for its strong fleet. But fortune smiled on Romans when they captured a Carthaginian ship and found on it a paper teach how to manufacture a ship like this. In 260 B.C Rome made 120 war ships to turn the tide against Carthage. In the same year the Roman senate elected tow councils, Genius Cornelius Scipio who was selected to lead the army on sea and Gaius Toluis who was selected to lead the army on land. News reached the Roman army that a rebellion occurred in the island of Lipari to the north of Sicily which courage the Roman fleet of 14 ships to invade the island and take control of it. It was the first naval victory in history of Rome. Having learned about the invasion of the small island, Hannibal Gisco decided to take 17 ships and set sail to the conquered island to recapture it. Under the cover of darkness, he attacked the 14 ships which was on the coast of the island and seized it spreading terror among the Roman soldiers, in addition to arrest of the Roman council, Scipio. After the Arrest of Scipio Rome assigned Toluis as a commander of both sea and land army. Toluis sailed to confront the Carthaginians fleet under the command of Hannibal Gisco in the battle of Miely 260 B.C.

The Carthaginians fleet consisted of 130 ships, while the Roman fleet,  heavily outnumbered, consisted of 103 ships. Knowing their outnumbered army and lack of experience in sea war in comparison to Carthage, the Romans invented a ladder-like thing thrown into the enemy’s ships enabling the Roman soldiers to get into the ships, and killing the enemy’s soldiers. This invention turned the tide of war, leading to destruction of the 20 ships of the Carthaginian fleet and  Rome’s victory in the battle of Miely. Shocked by the defeat, the Carthaginian senate sent more ships under the command of Hamilcar Barca, the father of Hannibal Barca the legendary hero of the second Punic war, to prevent Rome’s from invasion of more cities in Sicily. In 259 B.C, Hamilcar Barca was able to defeat the Romans in the battle of Thermae. Short after, he marched to the city of Enna and Karmina and took control of them. One year later, Rome sent a great army to Sicily succeeding in reconquest of Enna and Karmina in addition to conquest of the city of Metacitratone in the center of the island. The war continued back and forth for tow years to come, this led to discontent of the Roman senate, as a result, Rome mustered a greatest fleet in all of its history in 256 B.C with 330 ships and 140000 soldiers to invade Carthage itself. The huge fleet was under the command of the new tow councils, Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus and Marcus Atilius Regulus, having learned the news of upcoming invasion, Carthage decided to prepare a huge fleet with 350 ships and 150000 soldiers under the command of Hamilcar Barca. The Romans and the Carthaginians fought each other in the battle of Ecnomus, which is known as the greatest naval battle in history. Despite the Hamilcar’s elaborate plan of feint retreat, the Romans was able to win the battle. 30 Carthaginians’ ships were destroyed, 64 captured and 30-40 thousands were killed or captured, while the Roman losses were much lighter, as 24 ships were destroyed with 10000 men killed in the battle. Following the disastrous battle of Ecnomus, the Roman fleet under the command of Regulus headed to Carthage to destroy it once and for all.

Wait the coming episode to know what happened next in the first Punic  war 

                     Demonstration of battle of Ecnomus 256 B.C 
 

Roman history part 2, conquering of Italian peninsula

The Roman war against the Latin tribes 

How Rome took control of Italy? In the beginning of the Republican age Rome was surrounded by a group of tribes called “Latin league”

Scattered to the south and north of Rome. These tribes were launching raids on Rome to reduce the risk of its transformation into a superpower. These wars between Rome and Latin league occurred in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C and ended in most of them with the Roman victory, leading to dissolution of the Latin league in 338 B.C.

                                                   The Roman Republic after the Latin war

The Gallic wars 

390 B.C the war between the developing Roman Republic and the Gallic tribes reached its peak. The Gallic tribes was in control of the northern part of Italy which was called “ Cisalpine Gaul “. 390 B.C a Gallic tribe attacked the city of Clusium, a Roman ally. The inhabitants of Clusium sought support from Rome. The Romans agreed. The  battle of Alia between Rome and Gauls occurred in 390 B.C ended with humiliating defeat to the Romans. A few days later, the Gauls marched to Rome and managed to sack and burn it. But the Romans raised an army at city of Veil under the command of Marcus Furuis Camilus to retake the city. Indeed the Romans managed to expel the Gauls out of it. 

                                                         Sack of Rome by the Gauls 

The Samnite war

The Samnite was one of the Latin tribes in south east Italy. Despite the peace treaties between Rome and the Samnites, they involved in war in 327 B.C. This war continued for twenty years and Rome emerged victorious leading to Roman’s control of most of south east of Italy in 305 B.C 

                                     The Roman Republic after the Samnite war

 Pyrrhic war 

Pyrrhic war was between Rome and Epirus, in western Greece, when the the city of Tarentum, a Greek colony in southern Italy sought help from Pyrrhus of Epirus against Rome. The war continued five years between 280-275 B.C, where the Greeks used elephants which Romans have no experiment to deal with. 

                                           Pyrrhus of Epirus

The war begin successfully for Greeks as they won the battle of Heraclea in 280 B.C.

                                        The battle of Heraclia 

One year later, the battle of Asculum took place in the city of Apolia on the Adriatic coast ending with Greek victory and 6000 losses for the Romans. Despite the Pyrrhus victory, he lost almost 3500 soldiers which forced him to go back to Tarentum in the south. 

                                           The battle of Asculum

After the decisive defeat of Asculum, the Romans Were forced to make an alliance with the Carthaginians. The reason beyond Carthage approval to make an alliance with Rome was fear of Pyrrhus intervention in Sicily which its western parts were under Carthage’s control. 

In 278 B.C, Pyrrhus receive a delegation from Greek cities in eastern Sicily to help them fight the Carthaginians who were besieging the city of Syracuse, one of the Greek cities in the eastern Sicily. After receiving the delegation, the Epirite king decided to sail into Sicily with an army of 8000 infantry and 2000 cavalry. The ships docked on the eastern coast of the island at city of Tauromenium after the king of the city declared his alliance with Pyrrhus of Epirus. 

Afterward, Pyrrhus set sail into the city of Catana where its inhabitants received him as a liberator from the Carthaginians and provided him with 3000 soldiers. Thereupon, the Pyrrhus made an amphibious attack on the city of Syracuse causing the Carthaginians to break the siege and retreat to the west of the island. Afterward, the Greek king set out west to the city of Agrigentum, where its king also declared his loyalty to Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus continued to march westward where both city of cilinus and syxta surrendered without a fight. The Eprite king tried after that to launch an attack on the city of Eryx on the western coast of Sicily and besiege it, after short period the city fell into the Greeks’ hands. Short after, he marched into Lilybaeum, the last Carthaginians’ strongholds in Sicily, and after a long siege, he didn’t mange to storm the city as it was well fortified. At the same time, Pyrrhus knew that the Romans attacked the city of Tarentum in Italy, forcing him to abandon the siege and set sail to Italy. After he returned to Italy, he assembled an army and marched north to confront the Romans. The Roman army was divided into tow parts. One of them was in in city of Lucania while the other was in Beneventum. So, Pyrrhus also divided his army into tow parts, one of them headed out to Lucania while the other, which was under the command of Pyrrhus himself marched to Beneventum with a strength of 35000 soldiers to meet the Roman army which consist of 25000 soldiers under the command of Manuis Curuis Dentuis. The Romans emerged victorious and Pyrrhus forced to retreat to his kingdom in Epirus. Between 274 and 272 B.C Pyrrhus has conducted numerous military campaigns in Macedonia and Sparta ended by his killing while he was besieging Sparta in 272 B.C. 

                                The Roman Republic after the Pyrrhic war 

                          See the Arabic translation 👇

                           https://historynerdmontedher.blogspot.com/2022/07/latin-league.html

التاريخ الروماني الجزء ٢

 حروب الرومان ضد القبائل اللاتينية 

كيف استطاعت روما من السيطرة على شبه الجزيرة الايطالية ؟ في بداية العصر الجمهوري كانت روما محاطة بقبائل تسمى بالقبائل اللاتينية { Latin league } كانت موزعة الى الجنوب والشمال من روما، و كانت هذه القبائل اللاتينية تشن غارتٍ و حروباً على الجمهورية الرومانية لكي تحد من خطر تحولها الى قوة اقليمية عظمى و بذلك تقلل من خطر توسعها و سيطرتها على ايطاليا. حدثت هذه الحروب بين روما و القبائل اللاتينية في القرنين الخامس و الرابع قبل الميلاد و انتهت معظمها لصالح الرومان الى أن يختم هذا الصراع بين عامي ٣٤٠ و ٣٣٨ بعد الميلاد بانتصار حاسم للرومان و تلاشي التحالف اللاتيني عام ٣٣٨، و بذلك تعلن روما سيطرتها على معظم شبه الجزيرة الايطالية. 

                                           الجمهورية الرومانية بعد الحرب ضد القبائل الغالية 

حروب الرومان ضد القبائل الغالية

في عام ٣٩٠ قبل الميلاد وصلت العمليات العسكرية بين الجمهورية الرومانية النامية و قبائل الغال الى أوجها. كانت القبائل الغالية تحتل الجزء الشمالي من ايطاليا بما يعرف وادي بو " Po valley “. عام ٣٩٠ قبل الميلاد قامت احدى القبائل الغالية بمهاجمة قرية كلوسيوم “ Clusium “ و هي حليفة لروما. بعد مهاجمة الغال لقرية كلوسيوم طلب اهلها الدعم من الرومان لمساندتهم في طرد الغاليين ، فوافقت روما على ذلك. فحدثت معركة بين الرومان و الغاليين تعرف بمعركة آليا "Alia” انتصر فيها الغال على الرومان. بعد ذلك زحف الغالييون بجيوشهم الى روما و قامو بحرقها و تدميرها. و لكن الرومان قاموا بحشد جيش عند مدينة فاي "Veii” تحت قيادة ماركوس فيوريوس كاميلوس لتحرير المدينة من قبائل الغال و هذا ما حدث فعلا حيث طُرد الغال من المدينة بعد عدة أيام من اقتحامها.

                                                    اقتحام روما من قبل الغاليين 

حروب الرومان ضد السامانيين 

يعد السامانييون احد القبائل اللاتينية التي كانت تسيطر على الجنوب. الشرقي من ايطاليا. على الرغم من معاهدة السلام التي كانت تربط بين السامانيين و الرومان ، الا ان الحرب اندلعت بينهما عام ٣٢٧ قبل الميلاد. استمرت هذه الحرب لما يقرب من العشرين سنة لتنتهي بانتصار الرومان و سيطرتهم على الجنوب الشرقي من شبه الجزيرة عام ٣٠٥ قبل الميلاد.

                                        الجمهورية الرومانية بعد الانتصار في الحرب السامانية 

الحرب البيروسية 

جرت هذه الحرب بين الرومان و و بيروس ملك ابيروس [ Pyrrhus of Epirus] تقع مملكة ابيروس في الشمال الغربي من اليونان. بدأت هذه الحرب عندما طلبت مدينة تورنتم، و هي مستعمرة يونانية في جنوب ايطاليا المساعدة من الملك بيروس في حروبهم ضد الرومان. و استمرت هذه الحرب خمس سنين بين عامي ٢٨٠ و ٢٧٥ قبل الميلاد. و استخدم اليونانيون الفيلة التي لم يكن الرومان لديهم الخبرة في كيفية مواجهتها. 

                                             الملك بيروس 

بدأت الحرب بنجاح نسبي لبيروس حيث انتصر في معركة هيراكليا “ Heraclea” التي حدثت في جنوب ايطاليا

.

                                        معركة هيراكليا 

بعد ذلك بسنة واحدة ٢٧٩ قبل الميلاد حدثت معركة أوسكولم " Asculum " في مدينة ابوليا على ساحل البحر الادرياكي شرق ايطاليا و التي انتهت بانتصار اليونانيين ومقتل ٦٠٠٠ جندي روماني. على الرغم من انتصار بيروس في هذه المعركة الا انه فقد فيها ما يقارب ال ٣٥٠٠ جندي مما اجبره على الرجوع الى مدينة تورونتم جنوب ايطاليا. 

                                              معركة اوسكولوم 

بعد الهزيمة القاسية في معركة اوسكولوم عام ٢٧٩ قبل الميلاد تحالف الرومان و القرطاجيين ضد بيروس. و كان السبب في قبول القرطاجيين التعاون مع الورمان هو خشية القرطاجيين من تدخل بيروس في جزيرة صقلية التي كانت الاجزاء الغربية منها تحت سيطرة القرطاجيين في ذلك الوقت. حيث قام القرطاجيون بمنح ١٢٠ سفينة حربية للرومان لمساعدتهم في حروبهم ضد اليونانيين تحت قيادة بيروس.

في عام ٢٧٨ قبل الميلاد. بعد ان رجع بيروس الى مدينة تورونتم تلقى وفدا من المدن اليونانية في شرق صقلية لمساعدتهم في قتال القرطاجيين الذين كانوا يحاصرون مدينة سرقوسة احدى المدن اليونانية في شرق صقلية فقرر القائد اليوناني أن يهاجم صقلية بجيش يتكون من ٨٠٠٠ جندي ممن المشاة و ٢٠٠٠ من الفرسان. رست سفن بيروس عند الساحل الشرقي للجزيرة عند مدينة تورمنيوم “ Tauromenium “ بعد ان اعلن ملك هذه المدينة تحالفه مع الملك اليوناني. بعد ذلك ابحر بيروس الى مدينة كاتانا “ Catana “ حيث استقبله السكان كمحرر لهم من القرطاجيين و أمدوه ب ٣٠٠٠ جندي. بعد ذلك قام بيروس بعمل هجوم برمائي على مدينة سرقوسة مما جعل القرطاجيين يفكون الحصار عن المدينة و يرجعون بقواتهم الى غرب صقلية. ثم توجه الملك اليوناني بعد ذلك غربا الى مدينة آكريكنتم “ Agrigentum “ حيث اعلن ملك هذه المدينة ولائه لبيروس ايضا. استمر بيروس بالتحرك غربا حيث استسلمت مدينتي سلينوس و سكستا من دون قتال. حاول بيروس بعد ذلك ان يهاجم مدينة اريكس التي تقع على الساحل الشمال الغربي لجزيرة صقلية حيث حاصرها و بعد فترة وجيزة استطاع ان يقتحم المدينة و يسيطر عليها. ثم اتجه الى مدينة لايليبوم “ Lilybaeum “  آخر معاقل القرطاجيين في صقلية ، و بعد حصار طويل لم ينجح من اقتحامها لانها كانت محصنة جيدا و في نفس الوقت الذي كان يحاصر بيروس مدينة لايلبيوم علم ان الرومان قد هاجموا مدينة تورنتم في ايطاليا مما اجبره على فك الحصار و الابحار الى ايطاليا. 

بعد ان عاد بيروس الى تورنتوم قام بتجميع جيش و اتجه شمالا لمحاربة الرومان. كان الجيش الروماني منقسما الى جزئين. و كان احد هذين الجزئين متمركزا في مدينة لوكانيا Lucania اما الاخر فكان متمركزا في مدينة بينيفنتم Beneventum. لذلك قام بيروس بتقسيم جيشه الى قسمين، القسم الاول اتجه الى مدينة لوكانيا اما الجزء الاخر فقد كان تحت قيادة بيروس نفسه و كان تعداده حوالي ٣٥٠٠٠ جندي و كان متجها الى مدينة بينيفنتم لمواجهة الجيش الرماني تحت قيادة مانيوس كيوريوس دينتيوس والذي كان يتكون بدوره من ٢٥٠٠٠ جندي روماني. انتهت هذه المعركة بهزيمة ساحقة لبيروس و انتصار مدو للرومان. بعد هذه الهزيمة لم يجد بيروس بدا من التراجع الى مملكته في ابيروس. بين العامين ٢٧٤ و ٢٧٢ قبل الميلاد قام بيروس بعدة حملات عسكرية  في مقدونيا و سبارتا ولكن انتهت هذه المعارك بمقتل بيروس عند محاصرته لسبارتا عام ٢٧٢ قبل الميلاد. 

                             الجمهورية الرومانية بعد الحرب البيروسية    

Roman history part 1 , Rome’s origins

 Rome originated in the 8th century BC, to transform from a small city on the bank of river Tiber to a great empire extends from the Britain island west to Mesopotamia east. But how this city originated and how it occupied the Italian peninsula then expanded east and west to create its sprawling empire. This what we try to explain in this series of articles that deals with the Roman history. 

Origins of Rome

We don’t have enough information about Rome’s origins, but according to the legend which Romans believe that there is a twin, Romulus and Remus, were born to Rhea Civilia the daughter of the king of Alba Longa after she got pregnant by the God of War, Mars. After that, the king’s brother named Emilius usurped the kingdom from his brother and want to kill the twin to secure his throne, so he drowned them in the river Tiber. Somehow the twin survived. As they float on in the beach a she-wolf came to them and nursed them. After that a peasant picked them and raised them. After the twin matured, they knew their right in kingship so they raised an army and overthrew the king Emilius. Disputes occurred between the tow brothers leads to make Romulus kills Remus and to become the sole master of the kingdom. Many years later, Romulus went to the bank of the Tiber river to establish the city of Rome. Six kings came after Romulus, the last one was king Tarquinius Superbus who was overthrown by the senate in 509 BC. And by that the Etruscan kings’ period ended to move to the republican age. A lot of modern historian are sceptical about this narrative and deem it just a legend no more. Some historians think the origin of the Romans goes back to the Greeks, as many Greeks migrated to Italy and set up a colony there, but there are no enough evidence to support this opinion.

The republican age

The republican age begins after the overthrowing the last Etruscan king in 509 BC, to establish a new era. The republican age have very different characteristics from the previous age at the level of running the country and the way by which the governor elected. It also experienced a great expansion, made Rome control the whole Italian peninsula. 

The political system in the Republican age

The senate used to elect tow magistrates called consuls to govern the Republic. Their reign ended after one year only to be replaced by new consuls. The duty of these tow consuls was also to lead the army in war. 

Although the senate members were elected by the people, yet most of them belong to the aristocracy, as the way to become a member in the senate was wealth and family linage. So the Roman senate consists of  the aristocrats only, who called { patricians } while the common people who called { plebeians } have no chance to reach the centres of powres in the Republic unless they have wealth. 

In 450 BC, the first Roman law code was established. This code was written on the twelve bronze plaques. These plaques contain the legal procedures, civil rights and the property rights.

One of these laws was when a crisis strikes the Republic and threaten its existence , the senate immediately elects a temporary dictator, who have an absolute power with no restrictions to get through the crisis. After the end of the crisis everything return to the normal, as the status of dictator will be abolished and tow consuls will be elected again. On of the famous examples of this situation was when the Carthaginian commander, Hannibal, invaded the Roman Republic in the second Punic war in 218 BC after crossing the Alps and defeating the Romans in three crushing battles led the senate to elect Fabian as a dictator of the Republic.

See the Arabic translation👇 

https://historynerdmontedher.blogspot.com/2022/07/blog-post.html 

التاريخ الروماني الجزء ١

 في القرن الثامن قبل الميلاد نشأت روما لتتحول من مدينة صغيرة على نهر التايبر الى امبراطورية تمتد من الجزيرة البريطانية غربا الى العراق شرقا. و لكن كيف نشأت هذه المدينة و كيف قامت باحتلال شبه الجزيرة الايطالية و من ثم التوسع شرقا و غربا لتنشأ امبراطوريتها المترامية الاطراف هذا ما سنحاول ان نوضحه في هذه السلسة التي تتناول التاريخ الروماني.

نشوء روما

لا نمتلك معلومات و كافية و قطعية عن الكيفية التي نشأت فيها روما. تقول الأسطورة التي يؤمن بها الرومان أن التوأمان روميلوس و ريمس ولدا من ريا سيلفيا و هي ابنة ملك البا لونكا بعد ان حملت من اله الحرب مارس. بعد ذلك قام اخو ملك البا لونكا المسمى بإمليوس باغتصاب العرش من اخيه و اراد ان يقوم بقتل التوأمين من اجل تأمين عرشه فقام اغراقهما في نهر التايبر، و لكن بطريقة أو بأخرى نجا الطفلان من الغرق حيث طفوا على الشاطئ ، فجائت ذئبة و أرضعتهما. لكي يقوم بعد ذلك أحد الفلاحين بالتقاطهما و تربيتهما. بعد أن كبر التوأمان و أدركا حقهما بالملك فقاما بحشد جيش للإطاحة بالملك إمليوس. حصلت خلافات بين الاخوين على الملك فقام روميلوس بقتل اخيه ريمس و يستفرد بالملك. بعد ذلك بعدة سنوات ذهب روميلوس الى ضفة نهر التايبر لينشأ مدينة أسماها روما. تلا الملك روميلوس ستة ملوك كان آخرهم هو الملك تاركوينوس بريسيبوس الذي قام مجلس الشيخ الروماني بالاطاحة به عام ٥٠٩ قبل الميلاد لينتهي بذلك العصر الملكي من تاريخ روما و يبدأ العصر الجمهوري. يشكك كثير من المؤرخين المحدثين بهذه الرواية و يعبرونها مجرد اسطورة حيث لا توجد ادلة كافية تثبت هذه الرواية. هناك طائفة من المؤرخين تقول ان اصل الرومان في الاساس من اليونان ، حيث هاجر بعض اليونانيين الى روما ليقوموا بإنشاء مستعمرة هناك. لكن الادلة تعوزنا لكي نؤكد هذا الرأي. 

عصر الجمهورية الرومانية 

بدأ العصر الجمهورية الرومانية بعد الاطاحة بآخر الملوك الاستروكيين من قبل مجلس الشيوخ الروماني لتدشن بدء عصر جديد. اتسم عصر الجمهورية الرومانية بسمات تختلف كليا عن العصر الذي سبقه على مستوى ادارة البلاد و الكيفية التي ينتخب فيها الحاكم و كذلك شهد توسعا جعل من روما الحاكمة على شبه الجزيرة الايطالية بأكملها.

 

النظام السياسي في عصر الجمهورية الرومانية

كان مجلس الشيوخ ينتخب عضوين من المجلس يطلق عليهم اسم القنصل ، تمتد فترة حكمهم لسنة واحدة فقط ليتم استبدالهما في العام الذي يليه. كان من وظيفة هذين القنصلين ايضا قيادة الجيش الروماني في الحروب الخارجية. 

على الرغم من كون اعضاء مجلس الشيوخ منتخبين من قبل الشعب الا انهم ينتمون في معظمهم الى الطبقة الاستقراطية حيث ان الوسيلة الموصلة الى مجلس الشيوخ هي الثروة و النسب و بذلك  لم يكن مجلس الشيوخ يحتوي الا على الطبقة الارستقراطية الذين يسمون بال { Patricians } و لم يكن لعامة الناس المسمين { plebeians } اي فرصة للوصول الى مراكز القوة في الجمهورية الرومانية الا اذا كانوا من اصحاب الثروات.

في عام ٤٥٠ بعد الميلاد كُتب اول قانون روماني و الذي كتب على اثني عشر لوحا برونزيا. و تحتوي هذه الالواح على الاجراءات القضائية و حقوق المدنيين و حقوق الملكية لتشكل الاساس الذي سوف يبنى عليه القانون المدني في الامبراطورية الرومانية لسنوات.

احد هذه القوانين كان عندما تقع ازمة سياسية او عسكرية تهدد وجود الجمهورية الرومانية كان تكون حرب خارجية خطيرة فان مجلس الشيوخ يعمد الى انتخاب دكتاتور مؤقت واحد فقط مطلق الصلاحية و من غير اي تقييد من اجل عبور الازمة ، و بعد ان تنتهي الازمة تعود الاوضاع الى طبيعتها و يُلف منصب الدكتاتور و يتم انتخاب قنصلين من جديد. احد الامثلة الشهيرة على ذلك هي عندما غزا القائد القرطاجي هانيبال الشهير الجمهورية الرومانية في الحرب البونيقية الثانية عام ٢١٨ قبل الميلاد بعد عبوره لجبال الالب و هزم الجيش الروماني بثلاثة معارك طاحنة ادت الى قيام مجلس الشيوخ بتعيين فابيان كدكتاتور للجمهورية. 

أبو الطيب المتنبي ج1

 أبو الطيب المتنبي علم الشعر الاشهر في اللغة العربية ، لم يبلغ أحد من شعرائها مبلغه من الشهرة في حياته و لا بعد مماته. شاع ديوانه و هو بقيد الحياة بين أرجاء الدولة الاسلامية من أقصى المشرق في فارس إلى أقصى المغرب في الاندلس ، و احتفل أئمة اللغة بدرسه و تفسيره و تصحيح الاقوال في نقده ، فلم يهمله مشتغل بالشعر من كبار النحاة و اللغويين ، منذ القرن الرابع و حتى العصر الاخير ، و اقبل الناس على حفظ شعره و روايته إقبالهم الذي لا سلطان عليه للولاة و لا للمحكمين في الادب من العلماء و النقاد . فكان ابن العميد و هو اديب ذو ولاية ينقم عليه هذه الشهرة ، و يشكو ضعف الحيلة في اخمال ذكره و الغض من قدره ، قال بعض صحبه : ( دخلت عليه يوما فوجته واجما و كانت قد ماتت اخته عن قريب فظننته واجدا لاجلها ، فقلت : لا يحزن الله الامير فما الخبر ؟ قال: انه ليغيظني هذا المتنبي و اجتهادي في ان اخمل ذكره و قد ورد علي نيف و ستون كتابا في التعزية ما منها الا و صدر بقوله :

                                  طوى الجزيرة حتى جائني خبر 

                                                       فزعت فيه بآمالي الى الكذب 

                                  فلما لم يترك لي صدقه املا 

                                                       شرقت بالدمع حتى كاد يشرق بي

فكيف السبيل الى اخمال ذكره ؟ قلت : القدر لا يغالب و الرجل ذو حظ من اشاعة ذكره و اشهار اسمه فالاولى الا تشغل فكرك بهذا الامر. و ليس الامر للحظ كما قال صاحب ابن العميد فان اسبابه غير خفية في عصر الرجل و كفايته لتلك الشهرة ، و قد كان عصره تمام اللغة العباسية ، و عصر التطلع من المتأخرين لمجراة الاولين ، و عصر الغيرة العربية بعد غلبة الاعاجم على دولتها في اواسط الدولة العباسية و كان تصدع الدولة و تعدد الامراء على بلادها سببا من اسباب التنافس بين الامراء على ارتفاع الذكر و المحمدة و نباهة الشأن . فكان سعي الامراء الى اكتساب مديح الشاعر المشهور اشد من سعي الشعراء الى اكتساب جوائز الممدوحين. و ارتضى هؤلاء الامراء من هذا الشاعر ما لم يكن يرتضيه ممدوح من مادح في زمانه و لا قبل زمانه و قيل ان الامير طاهر بن الحسين اقامه في مكانه و جلسبين يديه ليستمع الى مديحه فيه و كان اكبر ما يخشاه الامير منهم ان يتخطاه الشاعر فلا يقصد اليه و لا يمدحه كما مدح انداده ، فقصدوه بالدعوة قبل ان يقصدهم بالمديح.