How Carthage became almost the equal of Rome
Carthage was founded about 100years earlier than Rome and had very fertile lands and an excellent harbor. It grew economically and politically through trading Gold from Spain, Ivory, Linen, precious stones, and other valuable minerals from different states. They had a very large number of trading vessels to load these products and carry them from pot to pot. They also had a powerful navy of warships. Like the Roman empire the Carthagean empire acquired dominion over the native races of Africa, the Lydians and the Numidians. These two great states had controls over the small states they made their allies, or members of their confederations. They were almost equal in many ways, and even their economies
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They couldn 't claim to be the super power of all the nations in the world because of that though their government was well-organized with a well structures political system. We can see above that the Carthageans were almost equal to the Romans. They had many allies, slaves, soldiers, warships, and were also very wealth just like the Romans. They had very fertile agricultural lands and they also continued coveting and conquering many other Syrian, and Greek states. At first when the Romans were asked by the Sycilians to come and join them to fight their battles they refused but when they realized that they were giving their rival, Carthage opportunity to help Sicily and have control over it. This was going to threaten them seriously and undermine their imperial ambitions. They then accepted the offer and send many soldiers to Sicily and defeated the Carthageans there. this gave them opportunity to begin a serious war with Carthage which ended and resulted in the defeat of the Carthagean army and the control of Africa and Spain. The Romans were very strategic and creative. This made them the Naval power of those days. The Carthageans were asked now to pay ten thousand talents to the Romans and their army was
As what happens so often, history is written by the side who wins and in the case of the Punic Wars and Carthage itself most of the information available today comes from Roman sources and authors whose knowledge has been passed down through the ages. According to legend Carthage was initially settled as a Phoenician trading colony (the word “Punic” is Latin for Phoenician) in 813 B.C by the Phoenician Queen Elissa (Mark). From Carthage’s prime location as a trade port its power and prestige grew rather quickly and its expansion brought the city into conflict with another growing ambitious city state called Rome.
In his account of the Punic Wars, Polybius declares “it is my contention that by far the most important part of historical writing lies in the consideration of the consequences of events, their accompanying circumstances, and above all their causes.” Polybius recognized the intricate relationship between circumstances, causes, and their consequences, and in his account of the Punic Wars he seeks to explain the reasons for Rome’s victory over Carthage. For centuries, Rome and Carthage lived at peace with one another, their spheres of influence separate enough to avoid conflict. Rome’s wealth and interests lay in farming and acquiring more land throughout Italy, while Carthage’s economy was naval based, and so keeping trade routes open in the western Mediterranean was most important to them. As late as 279 B.C., Rome and Carthage were allied against Pyrrhus of Epirus, and had signed two other treaties in earlier years. However, as the two powers increased in power and controlled progressively larger geographies, their interests were bound to conflict at some point, and that conflict came in the contest for control of Sicily. The result was a twenty-three year war, the beginning of a series of wars which would last over a century. The end of the first war, and the actions of Rome towards Carthage in the latter’s defeat, laid the foundation for the second war, and it was only after the third and final Punic War that Rome, after coming close to defeat in the second, annihilated Carthage and burned it to the ground, effectively ending the age of Carthaginian power. However, the question must be asked, what were the causes of these wars, and more specifically, which power was more responsible for the conflict? No Punic accounts exist...
The Greek and Roman empires were so successful for many reasons. But one of the main reasons was their military powers. Many people think that the military is brutal and has alot of big guns, but its deeper than that. They require advanced weapons, superior strategy, and finally they need leaders to come up with these things. The Greeks came up with these, and then the Romans built upon the Greeks knowledge and fine combed it.
Rome created and maintained its huge Mediterranean Empire in many ways, the way Rome was started was unifying Italy then all the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. Rome maintained being a huge Empire because of the expansion in the Mediterranean lands. They stayed at the top also because of the rich farmlands and the pax romana. On page 142 “it says Rome’s central location contributed to its success in unifying Italy and then all the lands ringing the Mediterranean Sea.” Also on page 150 it says “ Commerce was greatly enhanced by the pax romana (roman peace)” This is all important to know for the AP world exam because when seeing how the empire was maintained we can compare what the Romans changed to what brought down the other empires.
Gaius Julius Caesar, born 100 B.C.E. in Rome to the impoverished patrician Julian Clan, knew controversy at an early age. Nephew to Populare Gaius Marius, he was earmarked by the Optimate dictator Sulla for prosciption after his refusal to divorce his Populare wife, Cinna. Fleeing Rome, and not returning until after Sulla’s resignation in 78 B.C.E, upon his return he gained a position as a pontificate, an important Roman priesthood. Slowly but surely throughout his lifetime he worked his way up the political ladder, eventually becoming Consul, and finally Dictator Perpeteus – Dictator for life. One of the most influential political and military leaders of all time, Caesar was also a highly intelligent man and an exceptional orator. However, acquiring this absolute power was no mean feat, and Caesar had well equipped himself through previous expeditions with all the resources necessary to gain power in Ancient Rome.
... just material wealth; it gave Rome a status of a dominating figure. It also instilled fear in neighbouring Empires, forcing them to strongly consider an alliance with Rome. Their success was greatly due to the fact that they never underestimated the strength of the enemy, and this helped them gain the land they fought for. All of the conquered land not only served its purpose for the citizens but also was seen as a war trophy for Rome. These are just some of the very many assumptions of why Rome grew and spread so quickly but no matter the nation, location or empire the necessity of having authority over others remains the reason for all expansion.
30 BC ~ Octavian was given the title of Imperator, which was used in the Eastern provinces. Imperium suggests unlimited imperium (or power) (Antiquity 2 Interpreting The Past) This was the first of many titles that were to be given to Octavian after his defeat of Mark Antony in 31 BC at the Battle of Actium. It indicates that the provinces thought Octavian was worthy of being honoured, and that the power he possessed at the time should remain his. Therefore this was the first factor that initiated the rise of Octavian.
Since the beginning of time, man has waged war on his neighbors, his friends and his enemies. In many cases these wars were caused by power-hungry nations that were in the process of expanding their empire and ended up stepping on the toes of another superpower or ally of a superpower. In the case of the first Punic War between Rome and Carthage, Carthage was extending its empire and they stepped on Rome’s toes. During the course of this war the winner was unclear but at times victory seemed eminent for both sides until Rome finally won. The Romans had control in the first part of the war but this would not last. After the Romans first win they decided that they needed a victory over the city of Carthage but this would turn the tides in favor of the Carthaginians. For some 15 years after this defeat of Rome the tides went back and forth between the two but would eventually lead to the Romans victory. After the victory, Rome made some very harsh demands and Carthage filled those demands even though some of them were very extreme.
The Roman empire will forever hold a legacy as the greatest and longest standing empires in history. The reasons that a powerful empire such as Rome stood for so long holds a direct link towards two men, Julius Caesar and Augustus. Rome was a fierce and intimidating empire for many, and it ironically has similar attributes to the powerful figures who shaped it. Caesar and Augustus both single handedly changed the empire in the ways they knew best, the empire was not always known as an empire though. Throughout the era of Julius Caesar and the 500 years before him, it was known as the Roman republic. Caesar achieved a lot during his time, but he could not achieve what his son Augustus did. If Caesar was not assassinated, than it would be very
Although, many might say that the Roman Empire was already very successful even without the Greek influence, the Romans were already known for their very great army. The Romans were able to conquer so many lands and keep a great structure to the point where other communities feared them because of their army. It is true, Rome was already very successful they had conquered many lands before the Hellenistic period, and were already known to be a very rich and powerful community. Just as Chris Truman states on the website the History learning site where du...
Rome was considerate as the most powerful of the ancient empire. 1For 2,000 years what had really captivate the historians, is the rise and fall of the Romans empire, including what they wore during this rime. Before becoming an Empire ruling by the Emperor Augustus around 27 B.C.E. - 476 C.E. Rome was a simple city ruling by king. This was when Rome was known as a Republic. Which was soon changed on government level because even with their powerful army they had lost control of the society they had expand. Conflict between cities and their armies soon took place, and tear a part the empire into a civil war. Nevertheless, the Roman Empire prospered for 200 years.They have built a vast system of roadway and waterways that connected
He continued the siege for 8 months before eventually capturing. During the war both empires were more successful in different aspects of war. Carthage was more successful with ground troops due to good leadership and superior training and equipment. Rome had a more advanced naval power due to the last war being mostly naval. Hannibal’s plan to make their navy usless was to invade so that Rome would have to dedicate more resources to its ground forces and not fulfill its plan to invade Carthage with its Navy. After many convincing victories Hannibal set his sights on Rome. Once he got there he tried to siege the city, which was not very successful. The siege was not successful because Rome was such a heavily defende city. This is when things started to go bad for Hannibal and Carthage as a
The military might of Rome was second to none in its prime. Victorious battle after battle did nothing but increase Rome’s population of young men suited for combat, increase Rome’s borders, and increase Rome’s influence over its people and the surrounding people. With such great generals as Alexander the Great, Pompey the Great, and Julius Caesar Rome won many decisive battles. At its largest times, Rome controlled most of the Middle East, Asia Minor, present day Europe, and Egypt. It’s is hard to state that conquering and controlling all of the surrounding territory didn’t help aid in Rome’s great success. But would they have been so successful militarily if they didn’t have the trade routes or the technology?
Ancient Rome was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world. Like previous empires, what enabled Rome to expand its borders successfully and become such a great empire was its military power.
The Carthage city almost became equal to Rome in the following ways, the Carthage power was based on the trade and commercial supremacy. She had control the trading of northern African alone with many of Greek cities of sicily. Carthage was a good trader (merchant) of the Mediterranean, and had grown wealth and strong by buying an selling product of the east and west. Also the Carthage was almost equal to Rome in the government system, there had two chief magistrate that is called the (suffetes) and Rome had the