Background InformationThe 1st Punic WarRome and Carthage

In 288 B.C., the Mamertines (group of Italian Mercenaries) took over the city of Messina in northwest Sicily. They eventually started fighting with Syracuse who was friendly with Carthage. The Mamertines lost and appealed to Rome for help. Rome knew that if they stepped in and helped, it would cause tension with Carthage but they also knew if they did not help there was a good chance that Carthage would take over the whole island of Sicily. This would not be good due to the geographic closeness of Sicily to the Italian peninsula. Also, whoever controlled the island of Sicily would have a huge advantage for trade in the Mediterranean.

In the BeginningFighting

Sicily is a small Island, The First Punic War contained fighting by land as well as sea. On Land, battles were often small. Since Sicily is an island, being able to blockade the other side was an important goal. The main blockade targets were the important ports. Ports were where new supplies and troops came from. Since Rome and Carthage were not from Sicily they were both going to need to utilize reinforcements and supplies. According to reports, Carthage sent an army of 50,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 60 elephants.

The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) was the first of three wars between the Roman Republic and the Empire of Carthage. Carthage was based in northern Africa near modern day Tunis. As Rome began to grow (gaining almost the whole Italian peninsula), they competed against Carthage for power in the Mediterranean. At this time, Carthage was much more powerful and dominant than the Roman Republic.

Lorem Ipsum Dolor

Rome won the First Punic War after 23 years of conflict and in the end became the dominant naval power of the Mediterranean.

The terms of the Treaty were very harsh

Carthage had to

1) Evacuate Sicily and small island around it

2) Return all prisoners of war

3) Pay huge amounts of money for any of their prisoners they wanted back

4) Swear not to build and army or attack

5) Give up other lands to Rome

6) Pay the equivalent of 30 tons of silver right away and 66 tons of silver in the future.

The Corvus

The Romans came up with a new invention that would help them despite their lack of experience fighting at sea. This new device, the corvus was a bridge like ladder that allowed the Romans to board the Carthaginian ships. Since the Romans were great fighters, this allowed them to fight in hand to hand combat. Instead of maneuvering to ram, which was the standard naval tactic at the time, corvus equipped ships would maneuver alongside the enemy vessel, deploy the bridge which would attach to the enemy ship through spikes on the end of the bridge, and send soldiers across as boarding parties. This new invention helped in many sea battles. As time went on, the Romans gained the advantage fighting at sea.

Prior to the First Punic War, Rome had virtually no experience in naval warfare; where as the strong and powerful Carthage had a great deal of experience on the seas thanks to its centuries of sea-based trade. Nevertheless, the growing Roman Republic soon understood the importance of Mediterranean control in the outcome of the conflict.

Turning PointAftermath and Peace terms