Carthage is a city located today Tunesia, North Africa. It was originally founded by the Phoenecians also known as the modern day Lebanon. By 264 B.C., Rome and Carthage had become rivals as they fought for the control of the Western Mediterranean (Romanempire, nd.). The First Punic War which took place between 264 – 241 BC lead Rome to conquer Sicily and gain control of it. Sicily then became the first province of Rome abroad (Romanempire, nd.). Although this defeat created a huge setback for Carthage, she built up a new trading empire centered on Spain and however remained a powerful state. The Romans were not satisfied with conquering Sicily as they were prepared to embark on another battle to claim total victory. This led to the next war.THE STRENGTH OF CARTHAGEThe next war (Second Punic War) took …show more content…
Hannibal’s entry into southern Italy led to a lot of destruction during the war for about ten years and defeated Rome repeatedly. More worthy of note is the defeat in the battle of Cannae in 216 BC. Despite these defeat and victories, Hannibal could not successfully conclude the war. THE STRENGHT OF ROMEThe Romans on the other hand, not being able to defeat Hannibal decided to contain him and battle against Spain and Carthage (Romanempire, nd.). The General Scipio Africanus of the Roman Army, defeated the Carthaginians in Spain, North Africa; this threatened Carthage itself. The General Scipio Africanus of the Roman Army also defeated Hannibal who was the Carthaginian general at the battle of Zama. In 201 B.C., Carthage surrendered to the Romans. After this time, with the victory over Carthage, Rome became the dominant power in the Western Mediterranean, while Carthage became a weak city-state without an army or an empire (Romanempire, nd.). Furthermore, there was a third war (Third Punic War) between 149 - 146