The First Punic War (264-241 BCE) :: essays research papers

The First Punic fight (264-241 BCE)Since the beginning of time, man has waged contend on his neighbors, his friends and his enemies. In many cases these fights were caused by power-hungry nations that were in the process of expanding their empire and ended up stepping on the toes of other superpower or ally of a superpower. In the case of the root Punic War among capital of Italy and Carthage, Carthage was extending its empire and they stepped on Romes toes. During the course of this war the winner was unclear but at times victory seemed eminent for both sides until Rome finally won. The Romans had experience in the first part of the war but this would not last. after(prenominal) the Romans first win they decided that they needed a victory everyplace the city of Carthage but this would turn the tides in favor of the Carthaginians. For rough 15 years after this defeat of Rome the tides went back and forth between the two but would eventually lead to the Romans victory. After the victory, Rome do some very harsh demands and Carthage filled those demands even though some of them were very extreme.The first Punic War started with a request by the locals in Messana for the Romans to aid them in defeating the Carthaginians. Messana was at the southern tip of Italy and would be a great asset to the already superior naval bat of Carthage. Rome saw this to be a good opportunity to concord the expansion of the Carthaginian Empire and to stop the possible attack on Italy (which was controlled by Rome). Despite this fact the Roman council debated on whether to attack on these premises or not, but eventually it was decided that they would wage war on the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were then told that they must halt their invasion or war would be waged. They did not stop and Rome declared war.The first encounter was fought entirely in Sicily, in 263BCE, and since the Romans were the superior fighters they took the ground battle and go along to prevail un til 256BCE. After the victory over Carthage, the Romans began besieging Greek cities that confederate with the Carthaginians. The Romans sacked these cities, which caused them to harden their resistance. Rome realized that to beat the Carthaginians they needed to trope a fleet and in 261BCE they began building. To counter the Romans inexperience at ocean they used a device called a corvus (a large gangboard with a spike on the underside).