How many people lived in carthage

One set of wars was called the Punic Wars. The main cause of the Punic Wars was the conflict of interest between the existing Carthaginian Empire and the expanding Roman Republic. The Romans were initially interested in expansion via Sicily at that time a cultural melting pot , part of which lay under Carthaginian control. At the start of the first Punic War, Carthage was the dominant power of the Western Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire. Rome, meanwhile, was the rapidly ascending power in Italy, which still lacked the naval power of Carthage.

The Romans completely destroyed Carthage, and became the most powerful state in the Western Mediterranean. During this period, Rome emerged as the dominant Mediterranean power and one of the most powerful cities in classical antiquity. The Roman victories over Carthage in these wars gave Rome a preeminent status, a status it would retain until the 5th century CE. Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Search for:. Carthage practiced highly advanced and productive agriculture and manufacturing.

Carthage traded in almost every commodity wanted by the ancient world, including spices from Arabia, Africa, and India. The military of Carthage was one of the largest military forces in the ancient world; its navy was its strongest force. This is known today as the Pyrrhic War. Historians still debate the causes of the Punic Wars but the spark that lit it off happened in Sicily.

Carthage had long controlled territory on the western part of the island, fighting off the Greek city of Syracuse. In B. Richard Miles writes that Carthage sent a small force to Messina, which was then ejected by a larger Roman force. The situation quickly escalated into open war between the two great powers. In the beginning, Carthage had naval supremacy, giving them the edge.

The First Punic War would go on for more than 20 years and end in Carthage accepting a humiliating peace treaty that ceded Sicily along with much of their Mediterranean holdings to Rome. The Second Punic War would last from to B.

At first his attack proved successful, taking a great deal of territory and inflicting a Roman defeat at the Battle of Cannae, in southern Italy in B. Hannibal was, however, was unable to take Rome itself.

Over the next decade, a series of Roman counterattacks in Italy, Spain and Sicily turned the tide of war against Carthage and in B. The peace imposed on Carthage left it bereft of land and money. The Third Punic War, from to B. Carthage would not be gone for long. He is best known for his debaucheries, political murders, persecution of Christians and a passion for music that led to the probably Greek philosophy and rhetoric moved fully into Latin for the first time in the speeches, letters and dialogues of Cicero B.

A brilliant lawyer and the first of his family to achieve Roman office, Cicero was one of the Located just east of the Roman Forum, the massive stone amphitheater known as the Colosseum was commissioned around A.

Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Background and First Punic War B. Recommended for you. Trojan War. Peloponnesian War. Hannibal Ambushes the Romans. Hannibal the Child Soldier. Hannibal In B. Trojan War The story of the Trojan War—the Bronze Age conflict between the kingdoms of Troy and Mycenaean Greece—straddles the history and mythology of ancient Greece and inspired the greatest writers of antiquity, from Homer, Herodotus and Sophocles to Virgil.

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