In 264 B. C.E., Rome began the first of a series of wars with Carthage, its first overseas foe. Carthage controlled a large strip of North Africa along the Mediterranean coast, as well as the islands of Sardinia and Corsica and parts of Spain and Sicily. The Carthaginians, like the Romans, had a Hellenized culture. They relied on sea trade for their wealth and had a powerful navy.
Starting as early as 508 B. C.E., Rome and Carthage signed a series of treaties that promoted peaceful trade between the two states. A dispute in Sicily, however, led to war, when some Sicilians in the city of Messana asked for Roman help against Carthage (Messana, now called Messina, is located in the part of Sicily closest to the Italian peninsula). Carthage’s involvement there took it beyond the territory it controlled on the island-and close to Greek cities on the Italian peninsula that were allied with Rome.
The Raven
The plank the Romans used to board enemy ships had a special feature called the raven, which was a metal spike. The raven drove through the wooden decks on the Carthaginian ships, helping to keep the vessels close to the attacking Roman ships. Using the raven, the Romans won major sea victories in 260 B. C.E. and the following years. The plank with the raven posed a problem, though. At sea, the size and weight of the plank made Roman ships hard to control, especially during storms. After losing many of its warships at sea, the Romans stopped using the boarding plank and the raven.
Roman forces landed on Sicily and pushed the Carthaginians out of Messana. The Romans then continued to fight across Sicily, hoping to claim the island for the empire. Battling Carthage required building a new navy, since the Carthaginians dominated the seas. In a short period of time, Rome assembled a large fleet. The ships were equipped with a special plank that was lowered onto nearby enemy vessels, so Roman soldiers could board and fight the Carthaginians hand-to-hand. For 2,000 years, navies continued to fight this way, using soldiers or marines who joined the sailors on board ships.
On land, Rome took the war to the Carthaginians, invading North Africa in 256 B. C.E. But after a devastating loss, the Romans withdrew and Sicily remained the main battleground. The war dragged on for another 15 years, with Rome barely defeating its enemy. Carthage gave Sicily to Rome and agreed not to send its ships into Roman waters or recruit mercenaries (foreign soldiers hired to fight for another country) from the Italian peninsula. The First Punic War weakened Carthage as a sea power while boosting Rome’s naval ability. It also gave Rome its first overseas territory. After winning control of Sicily, Rome soon added Sardinia and Corsica to its empire. The war, however, had cost Rome tens of thousands of troops.
The victory over Carthage removed one threat to Rome-for awhile. But the Romans still faced problems to their north and east. In the 220s B. C.E., they battled pirates from Illyria, a kingdom along the northern Adriatic Sea. Rome won control of parts of this foreign kingdom, but the pirates remained a problem for almost 200 years. Rome also faced another Gallic invasion, as tribes in the northern part of the Italian peninsula moved southward into Roman territory. Rome defeated this invading army and then kept marching, defeating various Gallic tribes in the northern part of the Italian peninsula.
World History
