Page 140 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

The Roman Conquest of the Mediterranean (264–133 B.C.E.)
Q FOCUS QUESTION: How did Rome achieve its empire from 264 to 133 B.C.E., and what is meant by the phrase Roman imperialism?
After their conquest of the Italian peninsula, the Romans found themselves face to face with a formidable Mediterranean power—Carthage (KAR-thij). Founded around 800 B.C.E. by Phoenicians from Tyre, Carthage in North Africa was located in a favorable position for com- manding Mediterranean trade routes and had become an important commercial center (see Map 5.2). It had become politically and militarily strong as well. By the third century B.C.E., the Carthaginian empire included the coast of northern Africa, southern Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, and western Sicily. With its monopoly of
western Mediterranean trade, Carthage was the largest and richest state in the area. The presence of Cartha- ginians in Sicily made the Romans apprehensive about Carthaginian encroachment on the Italian coast. In 264 B.C.E., mutual suspicions drove the two powers into a lengthy struggle for control of the western Mediterranean.
The Struggle with Carthage
The First Punic (PYOO-nik) War (264–241 B.C.E.) (the Latin word for Phoenician was Punicus) began when the Romans decided to intervene in a struggle between two Sicilian cities by sending an army to Sicily. The Carthaginians, who considered Sicily within their own sphere of influence, deemed this just cause for war. In going to war, both sides determined on the conquest of Sicily. The Romans, realizing that the war would be long and drawn out if they could not supplement land
bia
R. Lake Trasimene
217 B.C.E. SPAIN Corsica Rome
Tre
b
b
Black Sea
MACEDONIA Tarentum Pydna Pella
168 B.C.E.
Cynoscephalae 197 B.C.E.
GREECE Athens Corinth
Crete
900 Kilometers 600 Miles
MAP 5.2 Roman Conquests in the Mediterranean, 264–133 B.C.E. Beginning with the Punic Wars, Rome expanded its holdings, first in the western Mediterranean at the expense of Carthage and later in Greece and western Asia Minor.
Q What aspects of Mediterranean geography, combined with the territorial holdings and aspirations of Rome and the Carthaginians, made the Punic Wars more likely?
102 Chapter 5 The Roman Republic
Cannae 216 B.C.E.
Saguntum New Carthage
Sardinia
Capua
ITALY
ASIA MINOR
Cyprus
Drepana 242 B.C.E.
Carthage
Zama 202 B.C.E.
0 0
Sicily Messana Syracuse
Pergamum Magnesia
189 B.C.E.
Rhodes
Alexandria
EGYPT
Italy
Roman conquests
Roman allies
Battle site
Hannibal’s invasion route
300
600
SYRIA
Red Sea
300
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