Why did the Rome and Carthage fight in the first and second punic wars?
First Punic War: Rome wanted to acquire the Carthaginian trading empire in the Western Mediterranean.The pretext used to begin hostilities was support for one side (Carthage was backing the other side) in an internal dispute in Sicily. Second Punic War: Elements in the Carthaginian ruling oligarchy wanted revenge on Rome for defeat in the First Punic War. Victories in these wars meant that Rome acquired an overseas empire,which,for a Republic,was an anomaly given their pseudo-democratic form of government with all its checks and balances to stop one man accruing too much power for too long.
Why did Rome decide to fight three wars against Carthage?
At the time of the first Punic war both Carthage and Rome were rising powers competing for dominance over the region. The first war was mostly fought over the island of Sicily, in between the Carthaginian homeland of North Africa and the Roman homeland of Italy, making it incredibly valuable from a strategic standpoint, as well as for being a steady source of grain. It's important to note that this war was more or less inevitable. There simply wasn't enough space in the western Mediterranean for two expansionist powers.The Second Punic War took place within the lifetime of many people who had lived through Cathaginian defeat at the end of the first war, and as such many Carthaginians strongly desired revenge. Hannibal, the son of a veteran of the first war, took that revenge by attacking Roman allies in Spain, starting a war that would nearly annihilate Rome and instead led to the downfall of Carthage.After the Second Punic War, Carthage lost almost it's entire empire to the Romans, keeping only the land surrounding their capital. For Rome the third war was an afterthought. A clean up operation designed to mop up loose ends, and solidify their hold on North Africa. The Carthaginians fought about as well as they could have, given the circumstances, but the outcome was never in doubt, even at the time. Carthage was annexed, becoming yet another Roman territory.
Why did Hannibal hate rome so much any way?
Carthage was defeated by Rome in the First Punic War. Hannibal's father was leader of Carthage at the time. His father made him swear that as long as Hannibal lived he would never be a friend of Rome. Here's a quote Hannibal told to his father. " I swear so soon as age will permit... I will use fire and steel to arrest the destiny of Rome."
Why did Ancient Rome have so many enemies in war?
Forgive me if i’m wrong but your question(the way u have asked it) shows me that you are not very into history. Remember Rome was not built in a day and all the people in history who are mentioned as rome’s enemies in history books and movies existed in different times and Rome was not at war with all of them at the same time. The first arch enemy of Rome for example,was Carthage so we know them as the classical rivals of Rome to this day but then the Gauls,the Germanic people and Persians are also called Rome’s arch enemies but in different time frames. When Caesar invaded Gaul,Carthage was gone a long time ago, when the easter Roman empire became a sworn enemy of Persia, Gaul was a province of Rome for many years already and when the western Roman empire fell the Persians were struggling with muslim invaders already. Plus in order for the Romans to become the super power they were they had to conquere many people,hundreds of Celtic,Germanic and Iranian tribes(Parthians,Scythians,Alans(mixed with Germanic)) tribes clashed with Rome at one point but many of them eventually ended up being a part of it later on. Also Romans were extremely arogant even for a super power,their diplomats outright refused to bow to foreign kings even if they were allies,they refused to admit defeat and attempt to fight another day,a good example is the siege of Rome by Germanic people,the last western Roman legion which was considered Rome’s last hope to survive was ordered to move around the Germanic people who were at Northern Italy and move to Rome in order to garrison it,the Roman leader decided that it was not honorable to bypass them without fighting them,so he attacked them and got himself and almost all his men killed,it is said that only 100 soldiers survived,soon aferwards the city of Rome fell and even though it was not the capital city of the empire anymore it is still considered that the fall of the city was the last nail in the western Roman empire’s coffin,im pretty sure such behaviour did little to help Rome with finding allies outside of Italy.
Why were so many killed in ancient wars?
Ancient warfare was up close and personal. People weren’t shooting at each other from a distance and taking cover from enemy shots. For the most part they had to be face to face within the range of a sword, axe or spear. This meant organization was tough, retreat was difficult and the losing side tended to get slaughtered.There was no such thing as field medicine and no truce for the removal of the injured. If anyone was wounded and couldn’t run from the battle they tended to die of their wounds or be killed by the opposition who hadn’t signed a treaty saying they would treat prisoners ethically.Even those who could walk from the battle with an injury were probably dead anyway. Nobody was giving blood transfusions, administering field dressings or treating infections.Life was cheap, especially if you were a king or ruler. Your subjects lives didn’t matter as much as your empire.
Why did The Roman Empire have so many civil wars?
Are you referring specifically to the Empire, or the (more popular) civil wars at the end of the Republic?You can see a list here: Roman civil warsEach phase had different characteristics, but as usual for civil wars the various sides were contending for personal power. Bear in mind that for a civil war to happen, the people have to be unhappy. Happy people do not revolt; underlying causes are usually economic in nature, much more so than any ideology slapped on top of it. The leaders of the various factions would therefore try to frame this in a manner that involved the masses (to get their support), but ultimately the leaders were concerned about getting themselves at the top of the food chain. And as many found out, it's easier to get to the top than to stay there.The end of the Republic was characterised by the Crisis of the Roman Republic. A gross over-simplifications can be said about the status of the lower classes and Roman citizenship amongst the Italian Allies, vs. the power of the "old-guard" in the body of the senate. It started with the Gracchi brothers taking power from the senate, continued with the struggles of Italian Allies to get recognition, then the wars of Marius and Sulla about ultimate control, a brief interlude of 'minor' wars like that of Spartacus and Sertorius, and then the major wars of Caesar and Pompey, Octavius and Antony.During the Empire:First Century CE had the Year of the Four Emperors after the collapse of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.Year of the Five Emperors was at the end of the 2nd century CE, between the end of the five good emperors and the rise of the Severan dynasty.That dynasty was short lived, leading to the Crisis of the Third Century. This was marked by generals repeatedly marching on Rome to declare themselves the rightful emperor. They were supported by their troops, and their goals were almost always personal ambition. The Roman empire was just too big, and was suffering from economic pressures and well as external pressures of it's enormous borders. The empire never really recovered, and this is what led to the eventual split of Western and Eastern Empires.