After the Battle of Cannae in which Hannibal’s army killed some 50,000 Roman and allied soldiers, Hannibal expected the Romans to sue for peace. He was not inclined to destroy the city. The Romans were having none of that. They would not allow Hannibal’s emissary into the city, and the Senate made it a crime […]
Would Carthage Have Destroyed Rome If They Had Been Victorious in the Punic Wars?
June 7, 2023 By Leave a Comment
Were the Romans Religious?
June 5, 2023 By Leave a Comment
The Romans were strongly religious. They worshiped a variety of Gods and believed that, at times, their gods interacted with humans. They never went into battle without first taking auguries to see if the battle would be favorable to them. They built temples everywhere, and rich Romans would sponsor a temple to whichever god he […]
Why Did The Romans Consider Quintus Fabius Maximus’ Strategy Cowardly?
February 17, 2023 By Leave a Comment
Quintus Fabius Maximus thought outside the box. The normal Roman response was to directly confront the enemy on the battlefield, and most Romans could not understand or tolerate Fabius’ thinking. Livy relates how Fabius attempted to dissuade the Consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus from confronting Hannibal at Cannae. Fabius: “I think you know why I have […]
The Importance of Conquering New Carthage
February 7, 2023 By Leave a Comment
The Carthaginians controlled southern Spain before the Second Punic war and had alliances with some of the tribes of northern Spain. They had highly productive gold and silver mines in southern Spain which helped finance the war. The Second Punic War began as a result of Hannibal’s destruction of Saguntum, a Roman ally, and Spain […]
Personal Encounters Between Hannibal and Scipio Africanus
November 18, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Hannibal and Scipio Africanus were rival generals during the Second Punic War. Hannibal was the Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps to attack Rome, and Scipio was the Roman general who ended the sixteen-year-long war by defeating Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in North Africa. They are believed to have met in person only […]
Was There Anything Carthage Could Have Done to Prevent its Destruction by Rome in the Third Punic War?
October 13, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Unfortunately for Carthage, there was no way to stop Rome from conquering and destroying Carthage. A year before the Romans declared war on Carthage, the Carthaginians had lost about 50,000 soldiers in a war with its Numidian neighbor Masinissa, so they were in a much-weakened position. The Romans were urged on by Marcus Porcius Cato, […]
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