How Did Carthage Fight Their Wars?

Created in 814 BC, the metropolis of Carthage ushered a new era into the the ancient world. It would grow to be the largest and the most famous of the Phoenician colonies. Carthage was situated in what is now the cost of Tunisia, Northern Africa. Carthage at the time was a Republican Oligarchy, and at the head of the Carthaginian state were two annually elected, Suffets. The Carthaginians were mainly focused on trade, wealth was the prime determiner in political mobility in Carthage. They also used mercenaries to fight their wars. Unlike in Rome where military service was prioritised and they used citizen soldiers. As the Carthaginian empire expanded into the regions of Sicily with the Greco-Punic Wars, war with Rome became inevitable. In 264 BC Rome had become dominant power throughout the Italian peninsula, while Carthage had established itself as the leading maritime power in the world. This date marks the
Whereas Polybius feels this is the beginning of the war rather than an underlying cause. The Romans then prepared for war and sent out two main armies, one went to Sicily to invade Carthage under the command of the consul Sempronius Longus and the other was sent to Saguntum in the Iberian peninsula . They left only a small force in northern Italy just in case the Gauls took this as a chance to attack. What the Romans didn't expect Hannibal to do was to cross over the alps, because it was presumed impossible. Hannibal used this to his advantage and did exactly what the Romans thought to be impossible by cross the alps. According to Livy it took a full sixteen days later he made it into Italy, although he had lost a large portion of his army. Some accounts say that he lost almost seventy percent of his men. The troops Rome has placed in northern Italy was only recruits and Hannibal made easy work of them. He then set up a base of operations and started asking local Gallic tribes for their