The Punic Wars

The Punic Wars were fought between 264-146 B.C. The Punic Wars were three wars fought by Rome and Carthage. The first Punic War started in 264 B.C and ended in 241 B.C. This war consisted of lots of naval battles for control of the island of Sicily. After almost 20 years of battle, Rome wins. The second Punic War started in 218 B.C. and ended in 201 B.C. In this war, a young Carthaginian general named Hannibal ALMOST takes Rome! He does this by attacking Rome from the north after crossing Iberia (modern day Spain) and the Alps. He laid siege to much of the peninsula for 15 years, but he could never get to Rome. Rome wins the second Punic War. Finally, the third Punic War began in 149 B.C and ended in 146 B.C. Rome wanted to once and for all remove the threat of Carthage. Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and many others attacked Carthage. After the attack, Carthage burned for 17 days and everything was destroyed. After the war, the last 50,000 people in the city were sold into slavery. The rest of Carthage's territories were annexed and were made into the Roman province of Africa. By the end of the second century, there were over one million slaves in Italy. Farmers lost their land to aristocrats because they couldn't pay their debts. The aristocrats would have the slaves work on the farms. These big farms became massive estates called latifundia.