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Wars have accompanied the Romans from the very beginning. During the Roman Kingdom, any skirmishes and fights were rare and they were mostly local.
The situation changed after the overthrow of the last king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus and the introduction of the republic. This was the beginning of Rome’s extensive, expansive policy. Fights with Latin tribes associated in the Latin League at the turn of the 6th and 5th century BCE eventually ended with Rome’s success. The confederation became thus Rome’s instrument in the conquest of the Apennine Peninsula.
First, the Etruscans stood in the Romans’ way. The fights continued uninterrupted until the 4th century BCE. The turning point was the war with the city Veii in the years 405 – 396 BCE. The victorious conflict allowed Rome to take over the control of the areas north of the Tiber. The slow expansion of Rome was stopped by the invasion of the Gauls in 390 BCE, who plundered Rome. In a sense, this tragic event mobilized the Romans for further expansion, but 50 years later.
Another war broke out in 343 BCE. This time, the Romans began spreading their influence in the south of Italy. Defeating the Samnites – the mountain tribe inhabiting Italy, brought Rome to the role of the largest state of the Peninsula. Further fights were fought against Greek cities such as: Taranto or Sybaris located in the south of Italy. Supported by the King of Epirus, Pyrrhus, they were eventually defeated. Rome practically ended the conquest of the Apennine Peninsula with the occupation of Volsinii in 264 BCE.
Further expansion was carried out outside the Peninsula. Romans began to be interested in Sicily, which, from the 5th century BCE, was under the control of Carthage. However, the immediate cause of the conflict was Rome’s involvement in the feud over Messina (264 BCE). Thus the invasion of Sicily began. The Roman fleet won the first naval battle of Mylae in 260 BCE. The next battle, also won by them, was the battle of Cape Ecnomus (256 BCE) which is considered to be one of the greatest battles in antiquity. Further military operations took place in Sicily. The final clash of the First Punic War took place in 241 BCE and was fought off the Aegadian Islands. Rome recognized Sicily as its first province. Due to the loss of Sicily, Carthage got interested in Spain. Thanks to the leaders Hamilcar and Hasdrubal, the Punic sphere of influence reached the Ebro river.
After the death of Hasdrubal, the son of Hamilcar, Hannibal, became the new commander in chief. After conquering Sagunto (219 BCE), a city allied with Rome, he wanted to transfer military operations to Italy. The route of his tripled through the Alps, where nearly half of the army died. The first battle was fought at Lake Trasimeno, where 15, 000 Romans were killed. Although the whole of Italy stood open in front of Hannibal, he bypassed Rome and headed towards the shores of the Adriatic Sea. In 216 BCE there was another battle, at Cannae, where the Romans suffered the greatest defeat in history. After this defeat, many of Rome’s allies went over to Carthage. The capital was open again, but this time Hannibal did not decide to attack. Gaining time, the Romans bothered the Carthaginians with minor attacks. The commander in chief slowly retreated, handing over the occupied lands. After breaking up the army (207 BCE), Hannibal retreated to Bruttium and left Italy in 203 BCE. Hannibal stood in the battle for the last time at Zama (202 BCE) against Publius Cornelius Scipio, assisted by the king of Numidia, Masynissa. He lost, which forced Carthage to leave all of its estates outside Africa, give up the fleet and pay a contribution of 10, 000 talents. King of Numidia took over the control over Carthage, on behalf of Rome.
Rome, not wasting time, expanded towards the east. As a result of the three Macedonian Wars (215-167 BCE) and the so-called Syrian war (192-188 BCE), the Romans occupied the Illyrian coast. Then they took control over Greece, entered Asia Minor, and after the victorious battle of Pydna (168 BCE) they divided Macedonia into four republics. The matter of Carthage appeared again. Cato’s words: “Carthage must be destroyed” found their counterpart in deeds, triggering the Third Punic War. Using the pretext of a conflict between the Punics and Masynissa, Scipio Africanus the Younger, after the three-year siege of Carthage (149-146 BCE), destroyed it completely by the decision of the Senate. The area of the former city was devoted to underground gods, which meant that no one would dare to live there.
