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Everyone has heard something about Punic wars, everyone knows something. It was called the war of the Roman Republic with Carthage, a Phoenician colony that became a separate state. Qart Hadasht (New Town) was the capital of the North African country. A country that possessed great wealth, mainly thanks to its excellent fleet and well-developed trade, was second to none because of the merchants of Carthagina. But why do we call the Rome-Carthage wars the Punic? Well, because in Latin the word Punicus meant Carthaginian.
The Roman Republic and Carthage are two strongly developing countries. The Romans gained dominance on the Apennine Peninsula, while the Carthaginians were in northern Africa, as well as in Spain. Both countries soon became the dominant forces in the Mediterranean and confrontation was inevitable. The authorities of these countries were also well aware of this.
First Punic War
The First Punic War was always caused by problematic Mamertini. They were called the Italian bandits living outside the law, once hired in Campania as Agatocles’ units. The word Mamertini in their own dialect meant people of the god of war. They were stationed in Messania (today’s Messina). As I said, they caused problems forever: once they started extorting payments from Sicilian cities, other times they troubled Phyrrus (just fighting on the side of the Roman-Carthaginian alliance), but this time they had strained relations with the Greek king of Syracuse – Hieron II. So the Mamertines turned to Carthage for help against Hieron. Having achieved their goal, they decided to get rid of the Punic garrison. What did they do They asked the Romans for help. They were aware that, despite the not-so-old alliance with Carthage (made against Pyrrus), this is still a great threat. A threat that is very close, because just behind the narrow Messina Strait. The opportunity to eliminate Carthaginians from the fight for primacy in the Mediterranean basin seemed very tempting and the Romans decided to use it. They made a covenant with the mottines, who, encouraged by an alliance with a strong state, expelled the Carthaginians from Messania. In this arrangement, the Carthaginians began to cooperate with Hieron II. Their troops launched an attack on Messania. In that case, it can be said that then the war had already begun. Its full beginning, however, turned out to be the arrival of the Roman army to Sicily under the leadership of the then consuls. Forces of the Republic wanted to free an allied city from the attacks of an enemy army.
Two extremely interesting and extraordinary situations are associated with the Punic Wars. Carthage, which had most of its mercenaries and its own troops, did not have enough, gave two very capable leaders, namely Hamilkar and his son Hannibal, from the Barkid family. In turn, Rome, having virtually no maritime traditions, hastily built a more powerful than Carthaginian fleet. How did this happen? There are two versions of this event: the first says that the Romans found the wreck of the Punic five-rower and based on it (almost serial) production of their penthouses. The second says that Hieron of Syracuse, after entering into an alliance with the Republic, gave the Romans important advice on shipbuilding, and also provided his own five-rowers for copying.
Let’s return to the course of events. The Roman army, led by two consuls – Appius Claudius Caudex and Manius Valerius Maksimus freed Messania from Carthaginians, and Maximus was given the nickname Messall. After the beating of the Carthaginian and Syracuse forces, the cautious Hieron II abandoned the Carthaginians and joined the alliance with the Romans in 263 BCE. In 262 BCE, the Roman army captured Segesta in the northwest of Sicily. However, it was not the end of the march through the island. After a heavy siege, under Roman pressure Akragas (Agrigentum) fell – a city in southern Sicily. However, the Punites did not want to step down and the Romans understood that they would not win this war if they did not become a worthy rival for the Carthaginians at sea – because Kart Hadast is in Africa, so Rome would not pose a direct threat to the enemy. This is the situation I discussed earlier – the rapid building of the fleet by the Romans. The work was wonderful and the effort great. If we should learn something from Rome, it is determination and relentless pursuit of the goal. For how, without these two features, could a state with virtually no maritime traditions build a fleet more powerful than that of Carthage’s naval power in a short time?
The Roman fleet had 160 ships. In addition, the Romans equipped their ships with so-called ravens, about which in a moment. Gajus Duilius was the commander – in 260 BCE, Polybius said that when Gaius Duilius learned about the ravaging of the enemy army by the enemy army, he led the entire fleet there. The Carthaginians were in great moods, they sailed their own way, with the strength of 130 ships. Very confident, they behaved like a lion getting ready to eat. After all, an antelope will do him no harm. However, the Romans entered the battle with respect, regardless of the 30 ships’ superiority, it can be said that Carthage was the favourite for victory. However, she made a serious mistake – disregarding her opponent. The Punnians did not even line up for battle. As they approached, they saw the bizarre bridges raised up ahead of the ships. They were ravens. They did not care too much, “land people” will not be able to defeat maritime power. They attacked the Romans with full boldness and exaggerated faith in their own strength. At that time, these bizarre (from the Carthaginian perspective) bridges fell on their ships. In turn, Roman soldiers began to run after them, the infantry, which probably exceeded all the infantry of the world at that time. Punnians, surprised, we’re unable to resist the Romans in the fight on board. They didn’t match them in this craft. They died or gave up. They lost 30 ships with the crew, also the ship of the chief – Hannibal, son of Giskon (not to be confused with Hannibal Barka, son of Hamilcar). Hannibal managed to escape on a small boat. Meanwhile, more Punic ships came in. Seeing the fate of their predecessors, sailors strayed from the road to avoid ravens. They wanted to attack enemy units from the side or from the back. However, Roman ships with these bridges were almost everywhere. If the Carthaginians came closer, they were immediately attacked and caught. The Carthaginians accepted the severe defeat, all the more overwhelming since it suffered at sea. They lost 50 ships, and the commander along with the rest of the property sailed to Carthage. The Romans won a great victory. The great first sea victory over the mighty Carthage. For the winners, this was proof that the enemy could be defeated, while for losers – a cold shower. Very cold, I would say cold. However, this was not the end of the catastrophes that fell on the great Carthage. In 256 BCE, another great sea battle took place at Cape Eknomos on the southern coast of Sicily. And again the Punnians’ fleet was devastated, even more so than under Mylae, because the Carthaginians lost as many as 80 ships. What shock the politicians in Carthage must have been when they learned that they, the sea empire, were experiencing another humiliating defeat at the hands of their greatest enemy and a sea rookie in addition.
However, the Romans decided to follow the blow and wanted to destroy the city of Carthage with victorious impetus, which is why in the year 256 BCE the Romans blew up their troops on the coast of Africa. Army of the Republic began to wander to the enemy capital. This time, however, the Carthaginians did not ignore the rival, whose greatest strength was the fight on land. Using their vast wealth resources, they employed the talented Spartan chief Xantippos. He trained the Punic army and it represented much more combat value than before the training. In 255 BCE there was a battle in which the Carthaginians defeated the invaders led by Consul Regulus. Roman infantry was surrounded by Carthaginian cavalry and smashed