First Punic War Analysis

The Punic wars represented one of the largest conflicts in the Western Mediterranean, and resulted in the supremacy of Rome in the west. This conflict was not inevitable, and culpability cannot be ascribed to either Rome, or Carthage. Moreover, this war was caused by Roman defensive imperialism, the struggle for economic supremacy in Sicily, cultural differences between the civilizations, aggression of the Barcid family to Rome, Roman pride and belligerence, and lastly Carthaginian resentment towards the treaty that ended the first Punic War.
Consequently, all of these factors worked in conjunction with one another as both Rome and Carthage made momentous decisions that lead down to the path of confrontation between them. Nevertheless, the

For Rome it was for both economic reasons, and their fides relationship with Messana that prompted Rome to defend Messana from Carthaginian aggression. Moreover, for Carthage it was for purely economic reasons that prompted them to go to war. The Carthaginians functioned as a corporate entity that cared primarily for the cost benefit analysis of certain policies towards the state, and Carthage felt that the opportunity to gain the straits was far too valuable to abandon them to Rome. According to Boatwright, “War broke out between the Romans and the Carthaginians as a result of a three-way struggle between Carthage, Rome, and Syracuse over the strategic city of Messana, which controlled the straits between Italy and Sicily.” (Boatwright,

Carthage believed that the Romans were not capable of building another navy, and the Carthaginians felt that the Romans held the same corporate mindset that they believed in. By failing to understand the Roman culture as well as Rome’s determination to continue the war the Carthaginians suffered a significant defeat. After the First Punic, Rome imposed significant indemnities on the Carthaginians. Carthage lost Sicily and they had to pay the Romans a significant reparation every year. However, the Romans mendaciously changed the agreement and forced Carthage to give up both Sardinia and Corsica. This dishonest act established the foundations for the causation of the Second Punic War.
The massive indemnities either forced, or encouraged the Carthaginians to purse an imperial conquest of Spain. Carthage desired to gain enough wealth to pay Rome, but to also gain a similar manpower reserve so that if conflict arose again they would be able to combat Rome’s numerical advantage in manpower. However, Carthage made the fatal assumption that Italy despised Rome, and that the Italian city states were forced to provide soldiers to Rome rather than by agreement or