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Compare And Contrast Greek Gods And Carthage

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HIST 1421
Unit 5 Written Assignment
University of the People
Introduction
In the beginning Rome and Carthage coexisted, but expansionist ambitions of both states lead inevitably first to competition, and eventually to war. (Morey, 1901) This paper will explore how very similar Carthage and Rome were in many regards. Each had its strengths, and used these strengths in quite remarkable ways to gain advantage over the other. The paper will also address how Rome became a naval power, and in this way eventually emerging victorious over the Carthaginians.
Discussion
Carthage and Rome were the two greatest Mediterranean powers, and shared similar governmental structures. Rome’s senate was comparable to Carthage’s council of elders, and its consuls …show more content…

Morey goes on to contrast Carthage’s economic strength with what he perceives to be the main strength of Rome: “the character of her people and her well-organized political system.” (Morey, 1901) These two elements figure into Rome becoming a naval power, and brings us as well to the next part of the paper. Realizing that Carthage could only be defeated by sea, the Roman Senate ordered Rome’s first fleet to be constructed (Gabriel, 2007). Using a recovered enemy quinquereme (a ship with five banks of oars on each side) as a template, Romans duplicated it 100 times, and build an additional twenty trireme in just two months.
According to the historian Polybius, this project was pulled off by a workforce of 20,000 people(Gabriel, 2007). As aforementioned, access to said workforce was due to the advantages brought by the strengths of Rome. Not just in building the ships, but in supplying them with rowers as well. Rome’s innovative construct of its new fleet, in the form of the corvus, allowed the Romans to board Carthaginian ships by surprise. In this way, they were able to play to the strengths of the Roman military in terms of

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