Punic Wars

or Carthaginian Wars

Three wars (264–241 BC, 218–201, 149–146) between Rome and Carthage. The first concerned control of Sicily and of the sea lanes in the western Mediterranean; it ended with Rome victorious but with great loss of ships and men on both sides. In 218 Hannibal attacked Roman territory, starting from Spain and marching overland into Italy with troops and elephants. After an initial Carthaginian victory, Fabius Maximus Cunctator harassed him wherever he went without offering battle. Abandoning this tactic resulted in a major Roman loss at the Battle of Cannae (216); that defeat drew the Romans together and, though worn down, they managed to rally, eventually defeating Hannibal and driving him out of Italy (203). The Third Punic War was essentially the siege of Carthage; it led to the destruction of Carthage, the enslavement of its people, and Roman hegemony in the western Mediterranean. The Carthaginian territory became the Roman province of Africa.

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