The Second Punic War broke out over Spain. Leadership of the Phoenician cities of the Iberian peninsula, together with influence in the interior there, had long been a major prop of Carthaginian power. The Carthaginians used Iberian mercenaries to fight in their wars; Iberian gold, silver, and other metals to pay and equip their soldiers and sailors; and Iberian timber to build their ships. After the end of the First Punic War, they attempted to extend their power in the peninsu¬la and increase their access to its rich resources. In 237, Hamilcar Barca, previously Carthage’s general in Sicily, landed in Spain; from then on, he regularly conducted military operations and extended Carthaginian power there until his death in 229. At that point he was succeeded by Hasdrubal, his son-in-law, who governed and campaigned until he too died in 221. After Hasdrubal’s death, Hannibal Barca, Hamilcar’s own son born in 247, became the chief Carthaginian commander in Spain.
This increase in Carthage’s power provided the occasion for a new war with Rome. The diplomatic activity lying behind its outbreak is very obscure, mainly because our sources are pro-Roman and anti Carthaginian and seek to put Hasdrubal, and especially Hannibal, in the wrong. In 226, the Roman senate—for reasons unclear to usdispatched an embassy to Hasdrubal, and pressed him to agree to limit Carthaginian power in Spain. The result was a treaty in which the Carthaginians undertook not to send any military force across the Ebro River. A few years later, however, Hannibal attacked the city of Saguntum, south of the Ebro, and the Saguntines appealed to Rome. The senate apparently claimed that Saguntumdespite its location—was in some way dependent upon Rome or had a right to Roman protection; but again there is no knowing when or how this supposed relationship with Rome had developed. In any event, Rome sent no relief force, and Saguntum fell to Hannibal in 219. In the following year, and apparently after some debate, the senate sent an ultimatum to the Carthaginians, demanding that they hand over Hannibal. The Carthaginians refused, and the Roman envoys then declared war.
The senate evidently expected to be able to predict where the war would be fought. It instructed one of the consuls of 218, Publius Cornelius Scipio, to lead his army and fleet to Spain, while the other, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, was to go first to Sicily in order to prepare an invasion of North Africa from there. Han¬nibal, however, did not wait in Spain for the arrival of Roman forces. Instead, in the spring of 218, he left his headquarters in Spain and surprised Rome by daring to attempt the long march to Italy. Scipio failed in an attempt to stop Hannibal’s army from crossing the Rhone River in what is now southern France. After this failure, Scipio sent most of his own men on to Spain under the command of his brother, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio, while he himself returned to Italy. Later in the year, despite difficulties and much loss of life, Hannibal successfully crossed the Alps into Italy. Here, at the Trebia River, he defeated Tiberius Sempronius Longus (who had rushed north), and virtually destroyed his army in December 218.
Despite these remarkable achievements by Hannibal, however, the Romans still possessed most of the advantages. Rome’s fleet far outclassed that of Carthage. For this reason, Rome’s leaders had apparently expected to be able to fight the war in Africa and Spain, both of which they could reach by sea. At the same time, Rome’s control of the sea meant that Hannibal could only receive limited reinforcements by ship while in Italy.
Among the many other angles Rome can be seen from a Rome airport shuttle .For Rome hotel tips visit italy hotels
Article Source: www.find-an-article.com/index.php?page=author&author_name=stefano sandano
|
