The Ancient Roman Empire

Success of Rome Slowed Down By Gauls The successful progress of Rome received a temporary difficulty in 390 BC when wandering Gauls advanced through the center of Etruria. In another century Rome conquered their whole territory. Only southern Italy remained independent. Fearful at the spread of Roman power, the Greek cities appealed to Pyrrhus.

At the end of the Third Punic War, Rome defeated Carthage and became the major Mediterranean military power (Windows on Italy- History). In all of Rome’s defeats, Greece was the most significant. The Romans adopted Greek customs and ideas as their own. This changed the society of Rome by developing a new culture and way of thinking. The Roman Empire was soon developed by the ideas of Augustus, leading to a more democratic way of governing.

By 264 B.C., Rome was having problems with Carthage, the capital city of the Phoenician Empire. It was directly across from Rome in North Africa and both wanted control of Corsica and Sardinia. In 261 B.C., there was the first Punic war. Twenty years later, the Romans won, but they were losing the first ten years. Then they gained new ships and began to win.

After the war, Rome’s victory took Sicily from Carthage, which was one of its most important provinces Carthage had. During the Carthage civil war, Rome took Sardinia and Corsica as well. These events all left a great impression on Hannibal as a child. Hannibal was the eldest son of Hamilcar Barca, Who commanded the Carthaginian military at the time. Because of this, Hamilcar made Hannibal swear a blood oath of hatred towards Rome.

The empire lasted until Germanic invasions, economic decline, and internal unrest in the 4th and 5th centuries ad ended Rome’s ability to dominate such a huge territory. The Romans and their empire gave cultural and political shape to the subsequent history of Europe from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the present day. In 44 bc Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman leader who ruled the Roman Republic as a dictator, was assassinated . Rome descended into more than ten years of civil war and political upheaval. After Caesar’s heir Gaius Octavius (also known as Octavian) defeated his last rivals, the Senate in 27 bc proclaimed him Augustus, meaning the exalted or holy one.

Carthage Goes to War with Rome From the middle of the 3rd century to the middle of the 2nd century BC, Carthage was engaged in a series of wars with Rome. These wars, known as the Punic Wars, ended in the complete defeat of Carthage by Rome. The most prominent figure of the Punic war s was General Hannibal of Pheonician Carhtage. During these wars, it is likely that the colonizing expeditions of the Carthaginians were supported by many emigrants from the Phoenician homeland. Hannibal (b.

Hannibal would later be exiled and Carthage would never regain its former power. Hopelessly, the Carthaginians tried to stand up to Rome one last time in 151. The city was destroyed and its entire population sold as slaves. Throughout its early history Rome constantly came up new innovative ideas have the upper hand over its enemies. The Romans were a determined people that believed that ruling the world was their destiny and after the defeat of its’ greatest rival Carthage, they were now masters of the Mediterranean.

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.

General Adherbal on the other hand was celebrated as a hero in Carthage. Even with the major naval victory in the waters of Drepana, the Carthaginian could not overcome the Romans in the overall war between the two. The Carthaginians were eventually forced to sign a treaty that forced them to vacate from Sicily, pay a large fine, and not fight against Roman allies. Only 23 years later would they begin a new war against each other called the Second Punic War. (Rickard, J)

Pompey fled to Egypt and eventually died there. Caesar was victorious at Pharsalus and will now lead Rome as the sole ruler. This is how Pharsalus set the stage for the Roman Empire. The battle at Pharsalus affected the course of history to come. It did this by being one of the first ever civil wars, the first war where both generals took careful care that each respective one was ready for a lengthy war, and set the stage for the Roman Empire to begin.