Punic Wars
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Were a series of wars between 264 and 146 BC fought between Rome and Carthage. The wars ended with the Roman conquest of the Carthaginian Empire.
Chronology
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Was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean. .
January 263 BC: In the First Punic War it was at first dependent upon Carthage.
March 241 BC: After the death of the tyrant Phintias, Akragas passed under Carthaginian control.
June 255 BC: Carthage, having hired the Spartan mercenary Santippus to reorganize its forces, managed to stop the Roman advance. Xanthippos defeated Regulus in the battle of Tunis and captured him. The Roman invasion of Africa ended with a Carthaginian victory.
January 255 BC: Roman general Regulus defeated the Carthaginian army in the battle of Adys.
March 241 BC: After the treaty of protection that Syracuse signed with the Romans, Syracuse was allowed to retain only its city territory.
January 258 BC: The land conflict in -259 extended to Sardinia and Corsica, where the city of Alalia was conquered by the Roman Republic. This marked a significant expansion of Roman territory under the leadership of the Roman consul Gaius Sulpicius Paterculus and the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Scipio.
January 255 BC: Tunisi conquered by Roman Republic.
January 237 BC: After the first Punic war, the whole island was conquered by the Romans in the third century BC.
March 241 BC: Battle of the Aegates Islands: around 117 Carthaginian and 30 Roman ships (Diodorus) sunk in Roman victory, and Carthaginian survivors flee. Carthage evacuates Sicily.
1.1.Invasion of Sicily
Was the Roman invasion of Sicily during the First Punic War.
January 260 BC: The Carthaginian forces shut themselves up in Agrigento, the city was besieged by the Romans who conquered it after seven months. Segesta allied with Rome.
January 263 BC: The city of Catania surrendered to the Roman Republic.
January 263 BC: The Romans protected the flank of the advance of the Carthaginians by conquering Adranon and besieging Centuripae, which surrendered.
January 262 BC: The Romans besiege Syracuse. Tyrabt Hiero II asks for peace and becomes an ally of Rome.
January 262 BC: By the treaty concluded by the Romans with Hieron II, king of Syracuse (270 - 215 BC), Akrai was included in the dominions of that monarch.
January 262 BC: When the Romans landed in Sicily in 263 BC the city allied with the invaders together with many other Sicilian cities.
January 262 BC: In 263 BC, as Diodorus Siculus recalls, together with Akrai, Leontinoi, Megara Iblea, Netum and Tauromenion, Heloron was part of the possessions recognized by the Romans, engaged in the First Punic War, to Hiero II of Syracuse.
January 260 BC: Enna and Halaesa surrender to Rome.
January 257 BC: The city of Hippana was destroyed by the Romans commanded by the consul Aulus Atilius Calatino in 258 BC, during the First Punic War.
January 257 BC: Mytistratos was at length taken by the consul Aulus Atilius Calatinus in 258 BC.
January 253 BC: The Romans besiege and take Panormus (Palermo) on the northern coast of Sicily
January 250 BC: During the First Punic War, Carthaginian general Hanno reinforced the garrison in Sicily and successfully retook the city of Agrigento in -251. This victory was part of Carthage's efforts to maintain control over the island and push back against Roman advances.
January 248 BC: During the First Punic War, the Roman consul Junius Pullo faced a setback when his fleet was lost to a storm. However, he was able to overcome this by successfully capturing the strategic city of Erice in -249, further solidifying Roman control in Sicily.
January 244 BC: It was not until after the fall of Panormus (modern Palermo) in 254 BC that Tyndaris expelled the Carthaginian garrison and joined the Roman alliance.
January 241 BC: The Romans managed to occupy Draepanum (today's Trapani).
January 240 BC: After the Battle of the Aegates Islands, Rome controlled the whole island of Sicily.
Was the second of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean. It ended with a Roman victory and the territories of Carthage were reduced to its core territory in modern-day Tunisia.
2.1.Spanish Front (Second Punic War)
Was the Carthaginian military campaign in the Iberian Peninsula during the Second Punic War.
January 217 BC: During the Second Punic War, Empúries openly sided with Rome. In 218 BC a Roman army landed in its port and the city became one of the most solid support points of the city in Hispania.
January 217 BC: Hanno was heavily defeated at Cissa, where he suffered heavy losses and was captured.
January 211 BC: Scipio resumed the Roman offensive in Spain in 212 BC managing to reconquer Sagunto.
January 218 BC: Hannibal, with the taking of Sagunto and with the subsequent crossing, in arms, of the river Ebro, broke the treaties of 241 BC and 226 BC, creating the conditions for the outbreak of the Second Punic War.
June 218 BC: After crossing the Ebro, in about two months he defeated, however losing as many as 22,000 men in deaths and defections, the populations that stood between the Carthaginian territory and the Pyrenees (including the Volci), where he left a contingent of over 10,000 infantry to protect them and 1,000 cavalry under the command of Hanno.
June 217 BC: Battle of the Ebro River.
January 216 BC: Expansion of the Roman Republic in the Iberian Peninsula by 215 BC.
April 215 BC: Battle of Dertosa.
June 209 BC: Siege of Cartagena.
January 208 BC: Expansion of the Roman Republic in the Iberian Peninsula by 209 BC.
January 207 BC: Battle of Baecula. Roman victory.
January 205 BC: Battle of Ilipa.
2.2.Italian Front (Second Punic War)
Was the Carthaginian military campaign in the Italian Peninsula led by General Hannibal during the Second Punic War.
January 217 BC: Siege of Modena.
January 202 BC: After the Roman victories at the Campi Magni, the Carthaginian Senate, seeing that the city was practically defenseless, ordered the remnants of the two armies operating outside Africa, that of Hannibal and that of Mago, to return to defend their homeland. The two generals thus left the territories occupied in Liguria and Calabria.
December 218 BC: Battle of the Ticino.
March 217 BC: Battle of Piacenza.
September 216 BC: The Carthaginian army left the area of Cannae after the battle.
February 217 BC: Battle of Piacenza.
January 204 BC: Scipio Africanus, a Roman general, successfully recaptured the port of Locri from Hannibal, the Carthaginian military commander, in -205. This victory was a significant blow to Hannibal's forces during the Second Punic War.
May 215 BC: During the Second Punic War, the Carthaginian general Hannibal besieged Casilinum, a strategic center in Italy. The Roman Republic eventually lost control of the territory to Hannibal after a prolonged siege lasting from late 216 to early 215 BC.
September 216 BC: Hannibal lost between 3,000 and 6,000 men at Canne but achieved, after the crushing victory, the first important political-strategic results. Some centers began to abandon the Romans. Hannibal sent his brother Magone south to Bruttium with part of his forces, while he and the bulk of the army headed to Campania where he managed to obtain the defection of Capua after a series of negotiations.
November 218 BC: Battle of the Ticino.
January 217 BC: The first military action consisted in conquering the Punic stronghold of Melita, which immediately surrendered without a fight.
January 217 BC: The Romans dedicated themselves to the fortification of the cities of Cisalpine Gaul and ordered the colonists, 6,000 for each new city to be founded, to be in the established place within thirty days. The first of the colonies was founded on the Po river and was called Placentia, the other was located north of the river and called Cremona.
January 217 BC: Battle of Trebbia.
June 217 BC: Battle of Lake Trasimeno. Victory of Carthage.
June 217 BC: In -217, Hannibal, a Carthaginian military commander, continued his march through Italy and reached the territories of Luceria and Argos Hippium. These areas were plundered by his soldiers as part of his campaign during the Second Punic War against Rome.
July 217 BC: Battle of Lake Trasimeno.
July 217 BC: In -217, Hannibal, a Carthaginian military commander, led his troops to plunder the territories of Luceria and Argos Hippium in Apulia. This marked a significant advance in his campaign against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War.
January 216 BC: Returning to Italy, Servilius contented himself with reoccupying Pantelleria which had fallen into Carthaginian hands.
August 216 BC: In the Battle of Cannae on August 2, 216 BCE, Hannibal Barca’s Carthaginians destroyed two Roman armies in perhaps the most famous double envelopment in history.
September 216 BC: In -216, after the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal sent his lieutenant Annone to Bruzio in Calabria to secure the territory for Carthage. The Bruttians, a local tribe, supported the Carthaginians in their uprising against Roman control.
November 216 BC: Siege of Nuceria Alfaterna.
January 215 BC: Battle of the Selva Litana.
April 215 BC: During the Second Punic War, the Carthaginian general Hannibal besieged and captured the important center of Casilinum in -215. This victory was part of Hannibal's campaign to conquer Roman territory in Italy.
April 212 BC: Battle of Tarentum. Carthaginian General Hannibal conquers Tarentum.
December 212 BC: The support of Syracuse for Carthage provokes the Roman siege of the city. Rome conquers Syracuse and its territories.
January 211 BC: The first battle of Herdonia was fought in 212 BC, during the Second Punic War, between the Carthaginian army of Hannibal and the Roman army. The Carthaginians defeated the Romans and occupid Apulia.
January 209 BC: Siege of Agrigento.
January 208 BC: The siege of Taranto in 209 BC led to the reconquest of the city, and its port, by the Romans.
June 207 BC: The battle of the Metauro ended with the complete victory of Rome; the Carthaginian army was destroyed and Hasdrubal fell fighting in the field. Hannibal learned of his brother's tragic fate only when Hasdrubal's head was thrown into his camp by the Romans. He decided to abandon Apulia and Lucania again and return to Bruzio. The battle confirmed Roman supremacy over Italy. Without Hasdrubal's army to support him, Hannibal was forced to evacuate pro-Carthaginian cities across much of southern Italy and retreat to Bruttium.
January 201 BC: During the Second Punic War, Ankon sided with the Romans against the Carthaginians, sending numerous soldiers.
September 216 BC: The Piganiol in fact writes that Hannibal, after having obtained the alliance of Daunia, excluding Lucera, and of the Samnites of the most impervious regions, also secured that of Capua, to which the Carthaginian promised the autonomy of the city and to place it at the head of the Italian confederation, replacing it in Rome.
December 217 BC: The Carthaginians eventually settled in the territory of Geronio where an entrenched camp was built.
December 218 BC: Battle of Trebbia.
January 217 BC: In the year 217 BC the new consuls, Gneo Servilio Gemino and Gaio Flaminio with the four consular legions and allies, around 50,000 men in all, marched towards Rome. The remains of the two legions of Sempronio Longo, strengthened by new elements and by allies of Syracuse, stopped to garrison Etruria under the leadership of Flaminio and two other legions under the command of Servilius Gemino stood at Rimini, the northern border of the peninsula. Rome was abandoning Cisalpine Gaul where it had just begun to enter.
January 209 BC: Magone landed and conquered Genoa.
January 217 BC: Hannibal's diplomacy in Cisalpine Gaul pushed the Gauls Boi and Insubri to revolt. These drove the settlers from Piacenza.
2.3.African front (Second Punic War)
Was the African theatre of the Second Punic War that included the Roman invasion of Tunisia led by General Scipio Africanus.
January 202 BC: Battle of the Campi Magni.
June 204 BC: Scipio left Sicily to ferry his forces to Africa. Rough seas and fog forced his fleet to land near Utica.
January 203 BC: In -204, the Roman general Scipio Africanus conquered the city of Selica, located in modern-day Tunisia. This victory was a significant part of the Roman Republic's campaign against Carthage during the Second Punic War.
October 202 BC: The battle of Zama was the last battle of the Second Punic War and determined the definitive downsizing of Carthage as a military and political power in the Mediterranean Sea.
October 202 BC: The battle of Zama took place between the Roman Republic, led by Scipio Africanus, and Carthage, led by Hannibal Barca. The defeat of Carthage marked the end of the Second Punic War and solidified Roman dominance in the Mediterranean.
January 201 BC: The Romans and their Mauretanian allies arrive at Naraggara (Sidi Youssef).
January 215 BC: Revolt of Syphax, king of the Numidians Massesili (215 BC).
2.4.End of the Second Punic War
Was the peace treaty between Rome and Carthage after the Second Punic War that reduced the Carthaginian territory to Tunisia.
February 201 BC: At the conclusion of the Second Punic War, Carthage was compelled to accept peace terms that marked the end of its status as a Mediterranean power. Carthage was prohibited from taking up arms without Rome's permission and had to evacuate territories west of the "Punic trenches," which separated Carthaginian lands from Numidian ones. This evacuation favored Massinissa, who seized the opportunity to annex large parts of Carthaginian territory. Additionally, Carthage lost all its territories in the Iberian Peninsula.
January 200 BC: At the end of the Second Punic War, the Romans granted control of Numidia to Masinissa, the king of the Massylii tribe. This decision solidified Masinissa's power in the region and marked the beginning of the Kingdom of Numidia under his rule.
Was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome. Carthage was conquered and became the Roman province of Africa.
January 149 BC: The large North African port city of Utica went over to Rome in 149 BC. Aware that its harbour would greatly facilitate any assault on Carthage, the Senate and the People's Assembly declared war. Utica again defied Carthage in the Third Punic War, when it surrendered to Rome shortly before the breakout of war in 150 BC.
January 148 BC: Siege of Carthage. Hinterland of the city of Carthage occupied by the Roman army.
January 147 BC: Neapolis surrendered to the Romans and was subsequently sacked.
January 146 BC: Battle of Nepheris.
June 146 BC: After the fall of Carthage in 146 BC, the Balearic Islands seem to have been virtually independent.
June 146 BC: The siege of the city lasted two years and ended in 146 BC. with the looting and complete destruction of Carthage.
Selected Sources
Eutropio, Breviarium ab Urbe condita, III, 8-9
Appiano, Guerra annibalica, VII, 1, 3
Conquista Hispania. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 7 April 2024 on https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Conquista_Hispania.svg
Eutropio, Breviarium ab Urbe condita, III, 13-14
Eutropio, Breviarium ab Urbe condita, III, 14
Eutropio, Breviarium ab Urbe condita, III, 14, 16
Eutropio, Breviarium ab Urbe condita, III, 15 - 18
Eutropio, Breviarium ab Urbe condita, III, 18
Eutropio, Breviarium ab Urbe condita, III, 7
Livio, Ab Urbe condita libri, XXVI, 47
Polibio, III, 74, 79
Polibio, III, 9-33
Strabone, Geografia, V, 2,9
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, p.49
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, p.52
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, p.55
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, p.58
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, p.65
Venning, T. (2011): A chronology of the Roman Empire, Continuum International Publishing Group, p.86
Venning, T. (2011): A chronology of the Roman Empire, Continuum International Publishing Group, p.89
