Hannibal And The Punic Wars

“We will either find a way, or make one.” (Hannibal Barca) That was a quote from Hannibal, the general of the Carthaginian army during the Punic Wars. There were three Punic Wars. They were fought between Rome and Carthage. The three wars were fought between 264 B.C. and 146 B.C. Many people were scared of Hannibal but that didn’t stop the Romans as they won all three wars. Although Hannibal was a great general and he made a big impact on Carthage as a nation, he was no match for Rome in the Punic Wars.

By the time the first war broke out, Rome had established themselves as the dominant power over the Italian peninsula. Carthage was a very powerful city-state in northern Africa and had made a name for themselves as the leading maritime leader in the world. Maritime means they are located near the sea and have many things to do involving the ocean. The first war broke out when Rome interfered with a dispute on the Carthaginian controlled island of Sicily. The war ended with Rome controlling Corsica and Sicily. The second war started when Hannibal invaded Italy and had two signature victories at Lake Trasimene and Cannae but was eventually defeated by Roman general Scipio Aemilianus which left Rome in much control of the Mediterranean Sea and a big section of Spain. The third war ended with Rome invading and capturing carthage in 146 B.C. led by Scipio which turned yet another big country into a Roman empire.

The first Punic War was started when soldiers from the city of Syracuse decided to get involved in a dispute on the island of Sicily which was then controlled by Carthage. Syracuse attacked the city of Messina, before the attack the two cities had no problem with each other and they supported each other. Rome built its fle...

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...owerful enough to take on Rome. Hannibal was feared by many people including some of the Carthaginians. He was known for his bloody and cruel military tactics. A person like that could easily intimidate an army or group of people. He was a great leader because not many people at 26 years of age have the capability to lead an army including over 70,000 people. Even though he was outnumbered he led his army to victory against the Romans. If he had a bigger army and more resources than he did he would have had enough to take on the Romans and possibly defeat them.

Hannibal was a great leader and had very good military strategies and tactics. He was smart and adaptive when things didn’t go as planned. If he had a bigger army and and resources to use his army would have been unstoppable. Hannibal was and will always be known as one of the world’s most famous leaders.