Roman history part 8, The second Punic war 4

Aftermath of battle of Cannae

After victory at Cannae, Hannibal sent his younger brother Mago to Carthage to bring more troops. When Mago reached Carthage and told the senate the news of Hannibal’s victory in Italy, the senate divided into to groups, one which represent the interests of wealthy aristocrats under leadership of Hanno the second refused to reinforce Hannibal arguing that Hannibal’s victory over Rome will make him the first man in Carthage threading their positions. In addition, those wealthy aristocrats depends on the silver mines in Spain, and the war against Rome deprived them from these commerce as they cannot use their ships in the mediterranean, so they wants peace at any cost to resume their commerce, while the other division saw that Hannibal achieved something no one achieved before deciding to reinforce Hannibal with troops in Italy. These divisions among the top officials would threaten the Carthaginian war effort on the long run. Meanwhile the governor of Syracuse east of Sicily joined Hannibal. Fearing losing of Sicily, Rome sent a fleet to surround the city and to prevent Carthage from sending troops to it. At the same time, Hannibal decided to conquer the cities in Campania. In Campania, only Capua decided to join Hannibal, while other cities refused. Hannibal headed to the city of Nola to capture it. Sensing the danger, Rome sent Marcellus to prevent the city from falling in the hands of Hannibal. Marcellus was actually a capable commander rebound for his victories agains Gallic tribes. The people of Nola were, against the will of the ruling elite in the city which was loyal to Rome, supporters to Hannibal and decided to open the gates to Hannibal, but Marcellus’ arrival at the city prevent them from doing so, as Marcellus executed the conspirators. After a short indecisive battle between Hannibal and Marcellus armies, Hannibal retreated and Canceled the siege. Following the ‏abandonment of the siege of Nola, Hannibal attacked the city of Cassilinuim, as this city was on the same road with Rome, so by capturing it will cut Marcellus supply lines. At this time the Roman armies were divided between three commanders, Marcellus, Graccus and Fabian, the general who developed the Fabian strategy. At the same time, the fleet which was patrolling in the Adriatic Sea captured some Macedonian ships bearing messengers from Philip the fifth of Macedon with messages of negotiations between the Carthaginian and Macedonian commanders. Realising the danger, Rome sent a fleet to the Adriatic Sea to prevent any reinforcement from Macedonia to Hannibal in Italy. Hannibal at this time marched to the city of Cumae, where Graaccus located, on the western coast of Italy to capture it. But the city was well fortified and Hannibal failed to capture it. Then, Hannibal headed again toward Nola, where Marcellus stationed, but unexpectedly, the Roman Army under the command of Marcellus managed to defeat Hannibal’s army at the second battle of Nola causing great losses for Hannibal estimated by 5000 dead. 

The battle of Hibera

While in Spain, Hasdrubal decided to join Hannibal in Italy, but before doing so, he should fight the Scipio brothers north of Italy leading to the battle of Hibera. The Roman fought ferociously, realising that if Hasdrubal  managed to join Hannibal in, it would be the end of Rome. So the Roman army emerged victorious and Hasdrubal return to New Carthage. At this moment, the Carthaginian senate realised that they should interfere. So they sent tow large armies, one to Sardinia under the command Hasdrubal the bold to help people there to help revolt agains Rome and the other army under the command of Mago Barca, headed toward Spain to reinforce Hasdrubal instead of heading toward Italy to reinforce Hannibal. But the Carthaginian army which sent to Sardinia was delayed by a bad storm, so when it reached Sardinia it was too late, as the revolt had been annihilated completely, so the Carthaginian army didn’t find the support they expected and lost the battle agains the Roman troops and suffered great losses estimated by nearly 12000 dead. Sardinia now is under the Roman control.  

                                             Battle of Hibera

Roman history part 7, The second Punic war 3

 Battle of Geronium 

 The passive policy which Fabius followed made the Roman senate so mad, so they asked Fabius to go back to Rome to explain and justify his strategy. So, Fabius headed to Rome and left Minicius as a leader of his troops but he ordered him not to engage with Hannibal in battle at any circumstances. Meanwhile, Hannibal marched to the city of Geronium conquering it by force and ordered to transform it into a food depot for him and his army. At the same time, Minicius set his camp near the city and decided to attack the Carthaginian troops despite the Fabius prohibition. Many skirmishes occurred between the Roman and Carthaginian troops ended with relatively small victories to the Roman. Hearing the small victories at Geronium, the Roman rejoiced and declared Minicius as the second dictator beside Fabius. Disputes and disagreements between Fabius and Minicius dominated the Roman camp. Hearing this, Hannibal rejoiced intending to exploit these disputes to his favour. The cautious Fabius wanted not to engage with Hannibal’s troops while the aggressive Minicius, invigorated with previous small victories, wanted to do battle at any cost. So, Minicius taking the half of the army attacking Hannibal, but the cunning Carthaginian commander sprang his trap surrounding the Roman army from sides leading to a massacre at the battle of Geronium. Minicius confessed his fault then he stepped down and informed the army that Fabius is the supreme command of the army.

Road to battle of Cannae

  Meanwhile , the brother, Gnaius and Poblius Scipio were blocking the road in northern Spain preventing Hasdrubal from Joining Hannibal in Italy. In the beginning of 216 B.C, the Roman senate decided to reverted to the old way of election, so they elected tow new councils and massed a huge army to destroy Hannibal once and for all. The army was about 90,000 soldiers in total under the command of Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Varro. At the same time, Hannibal lacked the support of the Italian allies in southern Italy, so he want to win a great victory over Rome to win the support of the allies, so he prepared his army to the battle, a battle which would prove to be gigantic, it is the battle of Cannea. In the beginning of 216 B.C, Hannibal attacked the city of Cannae. Rome was discontented, because the city of Cannae was the most important city in the south in production of cores. So, the Roman councils heads immediately to Cannae to fight Hannibal. 

Battle of Cannae ( Hannibal’s tactical masterpiece )

The Roman plan was as follows : the Roman infantry which was about 70,000 men would attack the Carthaginian centre which was about 40,000 men. The Carthaginian centre Would have no chance in confront the sheer force of Roman centre, making the possible Carthaginian cravenly victory in the wings useless, as if the Carthaginian  centre was broken the Carthaginian victory on wings can do nothing to relive them. The Roman plan was simple but efficient. Hannibal which was known for his insight and reading the mentality and expectation of what his opponent think of, understand the plan and decided to array his troops in the centre in a crescent like formation in attempt to absorb the shock of the assault, putting tow Libyan contents behind his centre, so when his centre retreat slowly and steadily the Roman centre would find themselves trapped from three sides. In addition the Carthaginian cavalry in the wings after decimating the Roman wings would attack the Roman centre from behind, surrounding the Romans from all sides and turn the battle into one sided massacre. Indeed, this what happened exactly leading to death nearly 70,000 Roman soldiers, in addition to death of Paullus while Hannibal’s losses were 5700. It was a massacre, 3000 ton of human flesh left to rot on the scorching sun of August. For the Romans, it was a disaster. The Roman people shocked entering in a state of panic. Aftermath of Cannae, the most of the south defected and joined Hannibal. At the same time, Philip the Fifth of Macedonia took Hannibal’s side and declared war against Rome. Hannibal thought that Rome after the disaster defeat at Cannae will accept to negotiate, but he was wrong Rome refused to negotiate. Rome will continue to fight.

                                                           The battle of Cannae 

To know more information about Cannae click the link 👇

https://youtu.be/xjnck2XvuPQ

Roman history part 6, the second Punic war 2

 The battle of Ticinus 

When Hannibal reached Po valley, after crossing the Alps. He demanded that all Gallic tribes in the valley must join him in his campaign against Rome. Some tribes agreed to join him but the majority of them refused to join him especially in the area of Podemont. So, Hannibal went to Podemont and executed all of them. This cruel action has an immediate effect, as all Gallic tribes agreed to join him en mass, fearing the same fate of Podemont. Hearing the news of Hannibal arriving to Po valley, Rome was shocked by the speed of which Hannibal arrived the valley. So, Rome sent an army under the command of Poblius Scipio to meet Hannibal. There, west of the river Ticinus, the first battle Hannibal fought in the second Punic war against Rome. The battle of Ticinus ended with decisive victory for Hannibal. Publius Scipio wounded seriously in the battle, but his son, Scpio Africanus, saved him and carry him away from the battle field. The news of battle of Ticinus spread widely in the area causing large number of Gauls join Hannibal doubling the Carthaginian army. Scipio retreated to the city of Placentia to the south waiting for the army of Tiberius Longus which was located at the city of Aremenum, arguing that Hannibal will pursue his army to destroy them completely. Hannibal responded by walking to the south toward the city of Aremenum to prevent Longus from joining Scipio. 

The battle of Trebia 

Knowing that there is no hope to be reinforced by Longus, Scpio fled with his army toward the river Trebia waiting there Longus to join him. Hannibal realised that his army become huge causing food supply dwindle, so he marched to the city of Calstidium which contains grain depot. Short after Longus joined Scipio on the eastern bank of the river Trebia, while Hannibal was on the western bank. Pushed by his rush and aggressiveness, Longus wanted to do battle as soon as possible to gain the honour of defeating Hannibal. On the other hand, Scipio realised that the Roman army need to get more training and experience. Ignoring Publius’s caution, Longus led the army toward Hannibal’s army to do battle. The number of the Roman army was 42,000 while the Carthaginian army was 38,000. The tow armies stood shortly on the opposite banks of the Trebia River, then Longus ordered his soldiers to cross the river to launch a full scale battle on the Carthaginian troops. But, as expression of his genius, Hannibal hide 1000 horsemen under leadership of his brother, Mago, so when Longus launched his attack, mago attacked the Roman army from behind leading to catastrophic losses for the Romans and a decisive victory to the Carthaginians. Longus, Scipio and the survivals fled to the city of Placentai. Short after, Hannibal marched to Placentia besieging it. Longus and Scipio realised that is any resistance would be futile and it’s time for elections ,so they abandoned the city and returned to Rome.

After the tow decisive battles, fear and panic swept Rome. The Roman senate started the new elections choosing Geminis and Gaius Flaminius as new councils. In addition to that, they recalled the legions from Sicily and Sardinia. 

                                          The battle of Trebia 

The battle of Lake Trasimene 

After the great victory at battle of Trebia, Hannibal’s plan was as follows : as the Gallic tribes, constitute a great part of his army, and these tribes fight only for spoils, this means that they are unprepared for long sieges and long-term war. So he decided to conquer the Latin tribes in southern Italy in convince them to defect to his side instead of besieging Rome which in any case well defended and has huge walls. 

The Roman senate sent his tow councils to Aremenum and Aretuim to block the ways thorough which Hannibal can march to Rome. Although, it was the difficult route for Hannibal, he decided to go to Aretuim through the Apennine Mountains to meet Flaminius instead of going to Areminum where Servelius stations, arguing if he goes to Aremenum, he will be trapped between the armies of Servilius and Flaminius. The journey through the Apennine was gruelling because of the swamp created by heavy rain, causing the Carthaginian army to march for three successive days without rest and death of all elephants except of Hannibal. Hannibal also lost his eye due infection and many of his men perished in the gruelling journey. Hearing of Hannibal arrival at Aretuim, Falminius sent to Serviluis to join him to fight Hannibal together. Hannibal wanted to do battle before Serviluis’ army arrival, realising that if tow armies get together, it will be difficult to defeat them. Learning that Flaminius is hotheaded and impulsive, Hannibal wanted to provoke him and lure him to to do battle. To do so, he order his men to burn the cites near Arituim to lure Flaminus to fight. plan. Falminus inflamed and got angry when saw the columns of smoke coming out of the nearby cities, but he follow the advice of the seneate to wait Serviluis. Sensing that his plan backfired, Hannibal descended south bypassing Falminus’ army and risking by being an entire army behind him at any moment will attack him from behind. Seeing Hannibal’s army bypassing his army with no regard, Falminus was fuming, so without waiting for Serviluis, he led his army behind Hannibal. When Hannibal reached the lake of Trasimine he hid his Gallic worries and some of Carthaginian troops behind the mountains near the lake. When Flaminus and his men came opposite to Hannibal’s Army, Hannibal ordered his troops hidden in the mountains to attack the Roman army from behind. The Roman army was annihilated in the battle and Hannibal is victorious again. To make matter worse Serviluis sent 4000 thousands cavalry to assist Falminus not knowing that that the battle was lost. Hannibal sent several thousands to make an ambush for these cavalrymen killing have of them and capturing the other half. 

                                The battle of Lake Trasimene 

After the decisive defeat at the battle of the lake Trasimene, the Roman senate realised that the policy of election tow councils has no benefit against the cunning of Hannibal, so they decided to elect one dictator has absolute power and leads the entire army of Rome. Fabius Maximus was elected as a dictator of Rome. Meanwhile, Hannibal decided to continue to conquer the cities around Rome marching to Appolia south of Italy. Fabius had a completely different plan to confront Hannibal. He saw that the best way to defeat Hannibal is by not engaging with him in battle but surrounding and shadowing his movement and prevent any supplies reaching him. In addition, he focused in preventing the Italian allies from making alliances with Hannibal. This strategy will be known as Fabian’s strategy. This strategy wasn’t received well by the the senate, as Rome was not accustomed to adopts such strategies, as they were accustomed to destroy their enemy and confront him face to fece. Hannibal failed to lure Fabius to do battle, so he headed west to Campania which was the most important area in Italy after Rome, as it contains many harbours.

Watch this video to have more information https://youtu.be/e3JPe75W-Eg

Roman history part 5, the Second Punic War 1

The period between First and second Punic wars

After the utter defeat in the second Punic war, Carthage was in Dire Straits. In addition to the large tribute which Carthage was paying to Rome, they suffered from rebellions of mercenaries whom they used in their battles. To make matters worse, many cities in North Africa declared revolt against Carthage. To solves the problems, the Carthaginian senate call Hamilcar Barca in to crush the revolts. Hamilcar managed to pacify the region and subjugate all the cites which was in rebellion after three years of war which known as mercenaries’ war between [ 241-238 ]. Hamilcar Barca who hated Rome deeply, wanted to take revenge on Rome, but he realised he could not do that, unless, he fixes the Carthaginian economy. So, he thought to take control of Iberia - Spain and Portugal - which contains silver mines and fertile lands. In 237 B.C without Rome knowing, Hamilcar led an army to invade Iberia accompanying his tow sons Hannibal and Hasdrubal. Before departure to Iberia, Hamilcar and his son, Hannibal, went together to temple of Bale, Carthage’s God, saying to his son “ Hannibal my son, stand before the gods and swear, from this until your last you will always be an enemy of Rome”. From 237-228 B.C Hamilcar managed to conquer  huge areas of Iberian Peninsula and take control of silver mines which made tribute paying to Rome much  easier. After Hamilcar death in 228 B.C, he was succeed by his son in law Hasdrubal the Fair, which was known for his wisdom and preference of diplomacy over war. Hasdrubal the Fair started by handing the prisoners to their tribes as a goodwill gesture, then he built the city of New Carthage in southeast of Iberia. In addition to that, he signed a new treaty with Rome. They agreed that the areas north of Ebro River belong to Rome, while the areas south of it belong to Carthage. In 221 B.C, Hasdrubal the Fair was assassinated by a Celtic tribe. He was succeeded by 26 years Hannibal, the grandson of Hamilcar. 

In the first year, Hannibal managed to subdued all the Iberian cities south of Ebro. After that, Hannibal headed toward the city of Saguntum east of Iberia. The Iberian city sent a delegation to Rome to help them against Hannibal. Rome agreed. Hearing this, Hannibal take this as a violation of the treaty, arguing that Saguntum lies to the south of Ebro River and so the city belongs to Carthage’s authority. In 219 B.C , Hannibal decided to march toward  Saguntum to conquer it. After reaching the city, Hannibal began preparation for a siege. Saguntum in that time was heavily fortified making its storming very complicated. Although, Saguntum sent to Rome seeking help, but Rome couldn’t help them as they was busy fighting the Illyrians north of Italy. Despite the fierce resistance, Hannibal managed to storm the city after 8-month-brutal siege. By the end of the siege, all lands south of Ebro became under Carthage’s control. Rome responded by sending a delegation to Carthage demanding Hannibal handing over to Rome, but the Carthaginian senate refused. Outraged, Rome declared war on Carthage. So, the second Punic war had begun. 

                 Carthage and Rome before the second Punic war

The second punic war 

Hannibal decided to transfer war to the Roman soil, arguing that Rome has the advantage when they fight outside their lands. Acutely there are three ways to invade Rome, either through the Mediterranean or attacking it from Greece or through Massalia from the north. Invasion of Rome through the Mediterranean is next to impossible because Rome was in control of it. The attacking from Massalia to the North is very difficult because the city of Massalia was under Roman’s control. Lastly, invasion from Epirus in Greece is also so hard because the greek cites were tied with Rome by treaties and no one other than Rome has the access to Epirus. Although the situation was bleak to Hannibal, yet Hannibal did the unexpected, he decided to cross the Alps, a move which seems impossible, but the great risks taker, Hannibal, decided to do what would become a legend. Before departure of Spain, he assigned his brother, Hasdrubal, as commander of the Carthaginian troops in Spain. Then, he sent ambassadors to the Gallic tribes in Po valley to join him in his tremendous campaign on against Rome knowing that these tribes are in enmity with Rome. Then, recruited an army of 50000 infantry, 9000 cavalry and 37 elephants in a journey which would be immortalised in history books forever. Rome at that time divided its army into tow divisions, one division under the command of Publius Scipio to invade Iberia and the other, Tiberius Longus to invade Carthage itself. The Roman plan was as follows, Longus will marched toward Sicily and wait there, until he makes sure that Scipio managed to prevent Hannibal from crossing the Alps. But, a Gallic tribe in Po valley attacked a Roman corp in the north of Italy forcing Scipio to take 5000 troops to attack them causing a delay in marching toward Hannibal’s army. After reaching Massalia, Scipio sent scouts to determine the Hannibal’s location, yet the scouts found the remnants of Hannibal’s army camp west of the river Rhône. When the scouts returned to Scipio and told him what they saw, he realised that Hannibal and his army has begun their legendary journey across the Alps. 

                      Hannibal’s route to Italy through the Apls

Realising his campaign to intercept Hannibal’s army had failed, Scipio returned to Rome. But before his departure, he ordered his brother Gnaius Scipio to invade Iberia. When Gnaius Scipio reached the city of Sisa in northern Spain, he was received warmly by the anti-Carthaginian tribes in Sisa. Learning of Roman invasion of Sisa, Hasdrubal Barca led an amphibious attack on the city to expel the Roman from Iberia, but the Roman troops were aware of the the Carthaginian attack, so they led a surprising attack on the Carthaginian fleet causing destruction and capturing most of the Carthaginian ships. Back to Hannibal, when Hannibal and his army reached the top of the Alps, he pointed to the the panorama of Italy below, there, he vows to his men : “ You will have the capital of Italy, the citadel of Rome, in the hollow of your Hands” then he begin descending towards the Po valley. After a 15-day-journey that took Hannibal and his army to cross the Alps, only 25,000 of the 60,000 who started the journey made it to other side. 

                                Hannibal crosses the the Apls

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