There were several reasons. Rome relied on citizen and allied soldiery while Carthage relied largely on mercenaries. Mercenaries have to be paid and are not as reliable as citizen soldiers and can be bought off. Carthage during the Second Punic War did not support its military to the same degree that Rome supported theirs. Carthage’s […]
Would Carthage Have Destroyed Rome If They Had Been Victorious in the Punic Wars?
June 7, 2023 By Leave a Comment
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 […]
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 […]
How Was Rome Affected by the Punic Wars?
January 23, 2021 By Leave a Comment
The Punic Wars brought about Rome’s vast increase in power and at same time a significant moral decline. From the introduction in my book The Death of Carthage: “As warlike as they were, the Romans of the third century B.C. maintained certain principles that were gradually lost in the second century B.C.. The first of […]
How Did the Romans Overtake the Greeks
October 22, 2019 By 1 Comment
A good book to read on this subject is Taken at the Flood by Robin Waterfield. At the end of the third century B.C. most of the Greek cities were under the rule of two successor kingdoms to Alexander the Great; the Macedonian Empire, and the Seleucid Empire. Macedonia, under king Philip V, had sided […]
Why Did Rome Spare the City of Carthage after the Second Punic War and then Destroy it Fifty Years Later?
September 14, 2019 By Leave a Comment
It was Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus who finally defeated Hannibal at the end of the Second Punic war. He imposed Roman terms on the city. They were generous terms in that they allowed Carthage autonomy with their own laws and government. The treaty forced Carthage to destroy all but five of their battleships, stop training […]
What Role Did the Berbers (Numidians) Play in the Destruction of Carthage?
August 26, 2019 By Leave a Comment
The Romans called the native peoples of North Africa Numidians, which meant nomads. They were distinct from the Carthaginians who were descended from Phoenician colonists. The Numidians provided the Carthaginians with mercenaries, and at the start of the Second Punic War in 218 B.C. both major tribes, the Masaesyli under King Syphax and the Massylii […]
Why did Hannibal not Besiege and Conquer Rome after his Victory at Cannae.
May 4, 2019 By Leave a Comment
After the battle of Cannae one would have thought that Hannibal had Rome on the ropes. It is believed that one in five Roman or allied men of military age died at Cannae, Trasimene or Trebia. The story goes that Hannibal’s cavalry chief, Maharbal offered to take his cavalry to Rome and besiege the city, […]
Book Review: Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden
July 1, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Conn Iggulden is a top notch novelist and The Gates of Rome is fast paced and absorbing. It is the story of young Julius Caesar, his arduous training for the rigors of the Roman soldiery and his early involvement in Roman politics at the side of his Uncle Marius. Maybe it’s just me, but I […]
Book Review: The Scent of Hyacinth by Sharrie Siebert Goff
May 3, 2017 By Leave a Comment
The Scent of Hyacinth is a sequel to the Arms of Quirinus, the first book in a series of historical fiction books about the Kings of Rome. The first book tells the story Romulus, the founder and first King of Rome, and this one tell of his successor, the long-reigning Numa Pompilius. Sherrie Siebert Goff […]
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