Well
this is a lot to sum up in just one blog post. But as this is blog is called
the Second Punic War not the first I will be brief.
So
the First Punic War seems sort of silly, until you realize that this war killed
close to 300,000 men. A group of Italian
mercenaries called the Mamertines went into Sicily looking for war. Hiero, the
tyrant of Syracuse, fought the Mamertines. Syracuse defeated them and Mamertines
realizing they were now in trouble asked for assistance from Carthage and Rome.
Now the Carthaginian army, being largely comprised of mercenaries, was quick to
heed their call for assistance. Carthage talked to Hiero and convinced him to
leave the Mamertines alone. Now the Carthaginians put a garrison in the city
that the Mamertines took from Syracuse [1]. The Mamertines were not
pleased by this and sent an envoy to Rome asking for their assistance against
the people that just helped them. The popular assembly debated helping the
Mamertines and eventually reached the conclusion to aid them.
So
a group of idiots sacking their way through Sicily caused a massive war on
accident. The First Punic War was fought
in three theaters: Africa, the sea, and Sicily. Rome invaded Sicily and quickly beat a joint
Syracusan and Carthaginian army. The Mamertines defeated the Carthaginian
garrison and were recruited by the Romans.
Not finding anymore opposition, the Romans went to take Syracuse. Hiero
quickly sued for peace with the Romans. Part of the treaty required becoming an ally of Rome.
It doesn't say they may accidentally cause wars.
The
Roman fleet barely existed at this point. Meanwhile, the Carthaginian navy was
considered to be the strongest in the ancient world. Carthage dominated the sea
during the beginning of the war. However, as luck would have it, at least
according to Polybius, a derelict Carthaginian warship landed on the shore of
Italy. The Romans reverse-engineered the ship and before Carthage knew it, the
Roman navy was just as strong as theirs. But the Romans also invented a new boarding plank that would allow their
troops to board Carthage’s ships. Carthage lost the advantage at sea and then
began to lose several engagements.
A
Roman general by the name of Regulus invaded Africa having initial success in
there. However Carthage hired a Spartan mercenary to reorganize their forces
and fight the Romans. [2] The Spartan defeated the
Romans and they were forced to withdraw.
However,
in Sicily a man named Hamilicar Barca was sent there with several thousand
mercenaries to defend the Carthaginian holdings. Up to this point, the
Carthaginians were losing in the Sicily. Hamilicar fought a guerilla campaign
that stopped the Romans in their tracks. But this led to a stalemate in Sicily.[3] However the Romans
delivered a crushing blow to the Carthaginian navy at Aegates Islands.
Hamilicar was cut off from support and supplies and was forced to negotiate a
treaty with Rome.
The
treaty was harsh for Carthage. They must
leave Sicily and give it to the Romans. If Carthage attacks any Roman allies,
they will declare war on Carthage (this will be important later). And they have
to pay 66 tons of silver every year for 10 years[4]. This practically
bankrupted Carthage.
535 words
Carthage will remember this
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