At the start of the first Punic War, Carthage was the dominant power of the Western Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire. Rome was a rapidly ascending power in Italy, but it lacked the naval power of Carthage.
When the wars with Rome began , Carthage was the dominant naval power in the region. The Carthaginians had taken the trireme – the standard naval warship of the age – and improved it. And in order to fight them, Rome, for the first time, built its own fleet.
In comparing these two great rivals of the West, we might say that they were nearly equal in strength and resources.These two cities fought each other for more than hundred years. In most of these wars, Rome was successful as Carthage was seemed to be defeated.
The first
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The main strength of Carthage rested in her wealth and commercial resources, while that of Rome depended upon the character of her people and her well-organized political system.
Rome was able , over the next 100 years, to dominate the Mediterranean basin, leading to much cultural diffusion of Roman culture.Roman culture will spread around the Mediterranean Basin and Western Europe .
Finally,The Roman Republic defeated Cartage when the great Carthaginian general Hannibal was counterattacked. Cartage surrendered to Rome after they were completely destroyed in the year 146 BC (Damerow, 2009). The fight between the Roman Republic and Cartage was a tough one that took place on land and on sea (Damerow, 2009). One of Rome's strongest strength was it's inexhaustible force of soldiers most likely due to its system of allies. They were proficient in adapting systems and made a strong fleet during the First Punic War.One of their weakness was the fact that they had to elect new generals and consuls every yearThe famous General Carthaginians Hannibal was determined to annihilate Rome. In the absence of naval power, Hannibal had a large army, including elephants across France and over the Alps in