GRST 205 Lecture 16: Fear of the Enemy: The Punic Wars

• School: University of Calgary
• Department: Greek and Roman Studies
• Course: GRST 205
• Professor: Lindsay Driediger-Murphy

Document Summary

Like greeks/romans: coinage: elephant, symbol of power for carthage, very advanced @ the time, expansionistic naval/trading force. Roman expansion: 4th/early 3rd c. bc: romans dominant in italy, but concerned w/ mediterranean neighbours, esp. Carthage: by 264 (start of 1st punic war), almost full control of italy, to preserve conquered cities, romans offer citizenship or alliance, allies give romans resources when needed, much better than greek strategy. Carthage: romans tried to avoid "pitched battles" (decided beforehand, roman assembly didn"t like this bc it wasn"t brave. Fabian tactics, after dictator q. fabius maximus verrucous cunctator: they invaded africa while hannibal still in italy. Significance of 2nd punic war: rome gets spain, now have corsica, spain, sardinia, & sicily, end of carthaginian military/naval power. Fleet confiscated, carthage forbidden to build new navy: rome became dominant in western mediterranean, but believed hannibal could"ve won.