Who Was When
Wars

Punic Wars

Phases

  1. 1.First Punic War
  2. 2.Second Punic War
  3. 3.Third Punic War
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Sides

Rome and its allies

Ancient Rome, Rome's Italian allies, Mamertines of Messana (asked Rome for help in 264 BCE), Massalia (Marseille), whose ships sailed with the Roman fleet, as at the Ebro in 217 BCE, Syracuse under Hiero II (allied with Rome 263–215 BCE), and Masinissa's Numidians (from 206 BCE)

against
Carthage and its allies

Carthage, Iberian, Celtic and Ligurian allies and mercenaries, Syracuse (allied with Carthage 264–263 BCE and 214–212 BCE), and Syphax's Numidians (206–203 BCE)

Countries today: Algeria, France, Italy, Spain, and Tunisia

What happened

Rome and Carthage fought three wars between 264 and 146 BCE. The first, over Sicily, lasted 23 years: Rome built its first large war fleets, lost an army in Africa and several fleets to storms, and in 241 BCE destroyed a Carthaginian fleet off the Aegates Islands, after which Carthage left Sicily. In 218 BCE Hannibal, Carthage's commander in Iberia, marched over the Alps into Italy and destroyed Roman armies at the Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae, but central Italy and Rome's Latin colonies stayed loyal to Rome, and Roman armies under Scipio took Iberia. Scipio then landed in Africa and defeated Hannibal at Zama in 202 BCE; Carthage gave up its fleet and its lands abroad. In 149 BCE, after Carthage fought Rome's ally Masinissa without Rome's leave, Rome declared war again. In 146 BCE, after a three-year siege, Roman troops stormed Carthage, destroyed it and sold the survivors into slavery. No reliable count of the dead survives: ancient writers give figures only for single battles, and historians doubt many of them.

Outcome: Carthage was destroyed in 146 BCE and its remaining land became the Roman province of Africa; Rome had already taken Sicily and Iberia from Carthage in the earlier wars.

Key events

Leaders

  • Gaius Duilius · Consul; commanded the fleet at Mylae · Rome and its allies
  • Marcus Atilius Regulus · Consul; led the Roman army in Africa, captured in 255 BCE · Rome and its allies
  • Gaius Lutatius Catulus · Consul; won at the Aegates Islands · Rome and its allies
  • Quintus Fabius Maximus · Dictator in 217 BCE; avoided pitched battle with Hannibal · Rome and its allies
  • Marcus Claudius Marcellus · Took Syracuse in 212 BCE · Rome and its allies
  • Gaius Claudius Nero · Consul at the Metaurus · Rome and its allies
  • Scipio Africanus · Commanded in Iberia and Africa; won at Zama · Rome and its allies
  • Masinissa · Numidian king allied with Rome · Rome and its allies
  • Scipio Aemilianus · Consul; took and destroyed Carthage in 146 BCE · Rome and its allies
  • Hamilcar Barca · Carthaginian commander in Sicily, 247–241 BCE · Carthage and its allies
  • Xanthippus · Spartan mercenary commander; defeated Regulus · Carthage and its allies
  • Adherbal · Carthaginian admiral at Drepana · Carthage and its allies
  • Hannibal · Carthaginian commander in Iberia and Italy, 221–202 BCE · Carthage and its allies
  • Hasdrubal Barca · Hannibal's brother; commanded in Iberia, killed at the Metaurus · Carthage and its allies
  • Syphax · Numidian king allied with Carthage; captured in 203 BCE · Carthage and its allies
  • Hasdrubal the Boetharch · Carthaginian commander in the Third Punic War · Carthage and its allies

Cultures it ended or changed

Meanwhile, elsewhere in

Sources