The Punic Wars Between 264 BCE And 146 BCE

The Punic Wars were a series of conflicts fought between the forces of ancient Carthage and Rome between 264 BCE and 146 BCE. The conflicts were fought on a wide area in Carthage and the Iberian Peninsula and in Italy and lasted 188 years. Carthage grew from a small port-of-call to the richest and most powerful city in the Mediterranean region before 260 BCE. It had a powerful navy, a mercenary army and, through tribute, tariffs, and trade, enough wealth to do as the Carthaginians pleased. Through a treaty with the city of Rome, Carthage barred Roman trade in the Western Mediterranean and, as Rome had no navy, was able to easily enforce the treaty. Roman traders caught in Carthaginian water during this time were drowned and their ships taken.
The First Punic War

The First Punic War was fought partly on land in Sicily and Africa, but was largely a naval war. At the time, Sicily was partly under Carthaginian and partly under Roman control. The
Carthage began the war as the great sea-power of the western Mediterranean, while Rome only had a small fleet of fighting ships. Over the course of the war, Rome built up a powerful navy, developed new naval tactics, and strategically used their navy, army, and local political alliances on Sicily in order to achieve a victory that expelled the Carthaginians from Sicily. Sicily is a hilly volcanic island, with geographical obstacles and rough terrain making lines of communication difficult to maintain. For this reason, land warfare played a secondary role in the First Punic War. Land operations were confined to small scale raids and skirmishes, with few pitched battles. Sieges and land blockades were the most common large-scale operations for the regular army. The main blockade targets were the important ports since neither Carthage nor Rome were based in Sicily, and both continuous reinforcements and communication with their