Punic Wars: Difference between revisions

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''"Furthermore, I think Carthage must be destroyed."''|Cato the Elder. [[One-Tract Mind|In a speech about a new public works project]].}}

{{quote|''"The great Carthage waged three wars. It was still powerful after the first, still habitable after the second. It was untraceable after the third."''|[[~~Bertolt Brecht (Creator)|~~Bertolt Brecht]].}}

{{quote|''"The great Carthage waged three wars. It was still powerful after the first, still habitable after the second. It was untraceable after the third."''|[[Bertolt Brecht]].}}

These were a series of wars fought between [[The Roman Republic]] and Carthage. The basic explanation for them seems to be that there were only two major powers left(though many minor ones), none to provide a third to assure [[Balance of Power]] and the Mediterranean just wasn't big enough for both.

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Rome seems to have triumphed through its superior organization. It is also credited with a more motivated populace, as the army of Carthage was composed chiefly of vassals and mercenaries whereas the Roman army was made up of citizens and near citizens. Rome could also, for that reason, field a greater supply of manpower. Finally Carthage itself may have been lax in its support until too late, and the Second War at times looks like a private war of Hannibal's. The war created a number of famous commanders, mostly on the Roman side, but the best remembered was the Carthaginian Hannibal.

The term [[Punic Wars]], by the way, comes from the term ''Punici'' or ''Poenici'', which is a transliteration of the Roman word for Phoenecian (members of that civilization founded Carthage in the 9th century BC). Carthaginians may have called it "the Roman wars" for all we know, but their perspective is unfortunately lacking for [[Written By the Winners|obvious reasons]]. Most sources for the history of the [[Punic Wars]] are either Roman or Greek.

The term [[Punic Wars]], by the way, comes from the term ''Punici'' or ''Poenici'', which is a transliteration of the Roman word for Phoenecian (members of that civilization founded Carthage in the 9th century BC). Carthaginians may have called it "the Roman wars" for all we know, but their perspective is unfortunately lacking for [[Written by the Winners|obvious reasons]]. Most sources for the history of the [[Punic Wars]] are either Roman or Greek.

Also technically the longest war in history, due to the mayors of Rome and Carthage signing a peace treaty in 1985 "officially" ending the war.

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* Invoked in ''[[Gladiator]]'': One of the [[Gladiator Games]] is a recreation of the Battle of Zama. Maximus played the Punic side, and unexpectedly he won.

* Invoked in ''[[Patton]]''. Patton is shown touring an ancient battlefield in North Africa which is implied to be Zama.

* Not fiction, but Machiavelli's ''[[Discourses On Livy]]'' and ''[[The Prince]]'' deals heavily with the Punic war and draws many examples from it, not least of all because Livy had.

* Not fiction, but Machiavelli's ''[[Discourses on Livy]]'' and ''[[The Prince]]'' deals heavily with the Punic war and draws many examples from it, not least of all because Livy had.

* ''Hannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare'' is a made-for-TV movie produced by the BBC that retells the story of Hannibal with [[Shown Their Work|refreshing accuracy]]. Not exactly fiction, but worth mentioning.

* Ross Leckie's Carthage Trilogy retells the story of the Second and Third Punic wars from Hannibal's perspective.