Wars of the world (Roma Delenda Est)

Phoenician Wars (264/241 - 218/210)
The Phoenician Wars were waged between Carthago and Roma. Roma dubbed this war the Bellum Punicum or, although less used, the Bellum Phoenicum, referring to Phoenicia, where Dido, the first queen of Carthago, had lived. Over time, this Latin name was replaced by the Carthaginian translation of it. Roma had declared war on Carthago in 264 BC, because the Mamertines wanted help and assistance. They had first asked Carthago, but, maybe because they didn't want Carthaginian oppression (a Carthaginian garrison), they asked Roma. And after a long debate, Roma accepted, and went to war with Carthago. Another possible and likely reason was, that Roma didn't want any more Carthaginian influence on Sicilianu (Sicily), because after Carthago managed to deal with the Mamertines, they could deal with the city of Syracuse, and then Sicilianu would essentially be completely controlled by Carthago. Strangely, in the first part of the Phoenician Wars, which lasted from 264 BC to 241 BC, Carthago lost and was forced to pay a hefty price for it. Roma, having completely no experience in naval warfare, didn't even have a fleet ready, and when they built one, they copied their design from Carthago. But Roma was an inventive nation, and instead of ramming ships, as was usual, they created a corvus. A corvus was a primitive boarding system, and would attach it to the other ship via spikes at the end of the bridge. Then, soldiers would board the enemy ship and take it over. But the corvus had its drawbacks, it made the ship harder to steer, and possibly imbalanced it, causing it to easily sink in bad weather. Carthago, a trading power and not a military one, had difficulties adapting to war time, and had difficulties with adapting in general. Indeed, when the corvus proved a huge succes, Carthago was forced to change its naval doctrine, with which it had great difficulties. However, Roma lost many ships, due to Carthago, but also due to the corvus (remember, ships with a corvus were easily lost in storms, and were hard to steer), and didn't want to keep building new and expensive fleets. Carthago dominated the waves. And because of that, Carthago lost. As has been said, Carthago had troubles with war time, and its government didn't help. Many wanted to end the war, and now that they controlled the sea, Roma could do nothing. Thus, the fleets were demobilized, and the war was considered won. Hamilcar Barca, the father of Hannibal Barca, raided the coast of Roma many times in this period, and perhaps because of this, Roma did build a new fleet. And Carthago had demobilized hers. In response, Carthago did make a new fleet, although hastily and without enough men. It was no surprise that the fleet of Roma won, and Hamilcar, now cut off from Carthago, was forced to sign a peace treaty, which he himself actually didn't do. He let Gesco, one of his subordinates, do this, perhaps to give the impression that he wasn't really defeated. Both nations were financially very weak now, and Carthago needed to pay the mercenaries it had hired, the soldiers captured by Roma (while Roma got hers for free), and pay 3200 talents (although only 1000 talents needed to be paid immediately). Further, Carthago was forced to evacuate every single island between Europa and Afrika, including Sicilianu and some islands north of it. Also, Carthago wasn't allowed to attack Syracuse or her allies, or in fact, attack Roma or any of her allies. But Roma also wasn't allowed to attack Carthago or her allies. Carthago also wasn't allowed to recruit mercenaries in territories controlled by Roma or her allies. Carthago now had no money, and it did need money, for the mercenaries it hired wanted their payment. This caused the Mercenary War (around 240 BC), in which Carthago had great difficulties to quell the mercenaries. It succeeded, but Roma took over Corsica and Sardinia in the meantime. Syracuse became an ally of Roma, Sicilia became the first province of Roma, and Roma began expanding beyond the Peninsula Roma (the Italian peninsula). Roma now controlled the seas, but not for long.

Indeed, in 218 BC, Roma again declared war on Carthago. Before, it was agreed that Iberia would be the border of Roma and Carthago, but Carthago, more specifically, Hannibal, besieged the city of Saguntum, in Iberia, which had diplomatic contacts with Roma. It plead for assistance, but Roma did nothing, and after a long and bloody siege, the city was taken by Hannibal (who was wounded, and his army was nearly destroyed) and most of the citizens committed suicide. Then, war was declared.