A big turning point was the 3rd Punic War and the End of Carthage. In 509 BC Carthage and Rome signed a friendship treaty. But this friendship would not last forever. There was series of wars fought between Carthage and Rome known as the Punic Wars. Fought between 264-146 BC. Carthage was a city-state on the Greek model that had been founded by Phoenicians. It was the strongest city in the Western Mediterranean by the 3rd century and it became very wealth through trade. Carthaginian merchants went from one end of the Mediterranean to the other, the city's fleets were huge, and its army was one of the best in the ancient world. It was Carthage that pried loose the Greek hold on the western ports, and Carthaginian merchants traded as far north as England and down the West African coast. Unlike Rome, but like the Greeks, the Carthaginians also made extensive use of mercenaries. By the early 200s, Carthage had expanded across North Africa but also had control of the Belearic Islands, Sardinia, Corsica, and much of Sicily. She took the goods from these regions, and her own fertile hinterland, and shipped them to eastern ports. Once Rome had conquered most of Italy, it was only a matter of time before these two ambitious and powerful empires came face to face with one another. Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula. As years past Rome began to expand its empire all through out the peninsula. Later on they conquer most of the Italian peninsula. The Romans were very skilled fighters. Their army was fierce. They were stronger on land than on water. They wanted to expand their empire…