Punic Wars

Punic Wars 

• Punic wars were waged on land and sea in three vicious rounds between 264 and 146 B.C. 
• In the first phase of struggle, Rome was able to force Carthage out of Sicily, but the North African city kept the rest of its empire.
•  In the second phase, the Carthaginian general Hannibal invaded Italy, defeated several Roman armies, and brought Rome to the brink of defeat. 
• At the end of the second Punic War in 202 B.C., Carthage was disarmed and helpless. 
• Rome provoked a third war, and in 146. B.C., Carthage was captured after bitter fighting. In a final act of vengeance, the Senate ordered the city to be leveled, its people sold into slavery, and even the ground on which it had stood be solemnly cursed. This was just an epilogue. Already in 202 B.C., Rome had won control of the western Mediterranean.