<center>https://s14.postimg.org/wyp2uz7sh/hannibal_barca_reaches_italy_by_filipehattori-d6fm5e7.jpg
[Source](https://filipehattori.deviantart.com/art/Hannibal-Barca-Reaches-Italy-389024719)</center>

Welcome fellow Steemians to the *part 1* of the trilogy of **The Punic Wars**. My goal is to share some knowledge about the mighty Rome, the ferocious Carthage and the military accomplishments that are still a riddle for any general today. **The main goal** is to get you to The Second Punic War, where all magic happened and where Hannibal Barca made his name forever carved in the history.

In part 1, I'll be talking about what was the cause of the war, we're gonna learn more about Rome and Carthage, political intrigues, etc. So, let me take you to the first adventure that lasted for 23 years (264 - 241 BC). 
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<center>**THE FIRST PUNIC WAR**</center>

First of all, let's meet both sides of the war. In the right corner, we have mighty Rome situated on most of the Italian peninsula under the Alps. In the left corner, we have brave Carthage, occupying most of the north of Africa, part of the Iberian peninsula (modern Spain), Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. For both of those sides, this war meant World to them and it shaped the course of the history. They sure gave something to tell future generations about.

<center>**THE ROME**</center>

<center>https://s14.postimg.org/6la6vyqoh/Screenshot_40.png
[Source](http://climaxstudios.net/photos/climaxstudios/77/385499.jpg)</center>

The Rome was situated on most of the Italian peninsula, the north was occupied by the Gauls and they have not yet expanded on Sicily and other nearby islands. The Rome was founded, according to the mythology, in 753 BC. It was a republican oligarchy, meaning, it was *a democracy*, but most of the decision making was made by *the rich*. Military service was an essential part of the life and it was also used for political advancements. Commanding officers needed to make the most out of wars in one year, because of the elections of the Consuls that happened every year. So, Consuls had a pressure to win many battles to remain in their political spot.

<center>https://s14.postimg.org/c9ghn2sip/67354.jpg
[Source](http://getwallpapers.com/wallpaper/full/0/3/d/67354.jpg)</center>

Their military consisted of the Legions and horses. The Legions were citizens of the Rome who were raised and trained from their young age to be skillful warriors. The noble of the Rome, who could afford to, fought the war on horses. Unlike Carthage, Rome had a history of conquering people and bringing them into their own borders. That way they were growing much faster in manpower. Their military was organized in different ranks and orders, so it made it much easier for the generals and higher rank warriors to regulate the troops.
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<center>**THE CARTHAGE**</center>

https://s14.postimg.org/4th81627l/Screenshot_41.png
<center>[Source](http://www.ancient-civilizations.com/carthaginian-empire/)</center>

The Carthage was established in 814 BC and it was originally Phoenician colony. Phoenicians were people from modern day Lebanon that had their colonies all around the Mediterranean sea. That's why we call this wars *The Punic Wars*. The Carthage was large agricultural power, they relied on their incredible market network for shipping their products. They had big fleet controlling the big islands in the Mediterranean sea - *Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily*.

<center>https://s14.postimg.org/ay8qee74x/4651.jpg
[Source](https://www.ancient.eu/image/4651/)</center>

Instead of enslaving people like Rome, Carthage made treaties with them, and they were able to get tributes and fees from other countries. They were focused on trade. Wealth was the major factor that determined their political status. During the wars, Carthage had to rely on recruitments of mercenaries and their allies. Because of the numerous cultures and languages in the army, they relied on their generals. They were much stronger on the sea, so generals had to pick and choose when to fight on the land. Especially because of that, if they failed in wars they could have been crucified by their own people. The Carthage was known for their war elephants and **notorious Numidian cavalry**. They used the cavalry for baiting the enemy, attacking, splitting the enemy forces,... so they had to be very skillful in order to do that. In great dangers, they even deployed their citizens, but they were not that skillful like others.
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<center>**THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR**</center>

At this moment Carthage was holding most of Sicily and Rome fought their way down to South Italy and occupied it. It was only matter of time when this war is going to happen. Carthage and Rome were elbow to elbow waiting for an incident to trigger everything.

<center>https://s14.postimg.org/gjv5ikxkx/First_Punic_War_264_BC_v2.png
[Source](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/First_Punic_War_264_BC_v2.png)</center>

It all began in the small city in north-east of Sicily, called Messana. A group of Italian mercenaries, called Mamertines, were without a general and on their own, and after losing the battle to Hieron II, they decided to go to Messana. They were accepted by the people there, but after some time, they turned against them and slaughtered them. So, Messana became they center base from where they can pillage neighborhood.

On the other side, the city of Rhegium was in the south of Italy, a little bit south and across of Messana. The garrison soldiers, after they heard what happened to Messana, did the same thing as Mamertines and also slaughtered their citizens. Imagine that! :O Of course, Rome didn't want to accept this and in 271 BC they send an army to deal with it. After a long siege, Rhegium has fallen and 300 hundred of these mercenaries, Companions, were taken to Rome and they were beheaded.

<center>https://s14.postimg.org/e2jebjb69/Mamertines-_Map.png
[Source](https://i1.wp.com/triumphsofhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Mamertines-Map.png)</center>

After the Mamertines in Messana were tried to be stopped they appealed to Carthage for help, and they received it. Funny thing is, they got bored and they started to disobey Carthaginian laws and they eventually called Rome for help. They were Italians and they plead for help for Rome to bail them out, LOL. Rome, after dealing with similar mercenaries in Rhegium, now helped the Mamertines in Messana. And there you go, this was the start of the first Punic war. The war that cost Rome fifth of their population and with a million soldiers involved. For that time, this number was a huge huuuuge number. Probably that's why we talk to this day about this war and wonder what was the feeling to participate in this miraculous events. 

COOL FACT: *Next war that included a million soldiers happened in the 16th century, and this was in 3rd century BC. Just stop for a moment and think about that, isn't that crazy? What was life to them?*
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<center>**THE WAR**</center>

After Rome took over Rhegium, they decided it is time to help Messana. They had a large army, but the Roman problem was the number of ships. They were not good sailors and they had probably 10 ships in their fleet. This is how they started the war. After they arranged the betrayal of the Carthaginian garrison of Messana, Carthage crucified their general for failure and this marked the moment where Rome got the Mamertines on their side. This also eventually made Carthage become an ally with Syracuse in a mutual goal to defend the island of Sicily. 

<center>https://s14.postimg.org/l5r9r9bht/roman_warship_by_radojavor-d55uf49.jpg
[Source](https://radojavor.deviantart.com/art/Roman-warship-312148233)</center>

Rome being Rome, attacked Syracuse, succeeding and making Hieron II to remain in power by agreeing to become an ally of Rome. As I already said, Rome didn't have any fleet, but after the battle of Agrigentum, what they did is they found a Carthaginian ship washed ashore. They did their research and made the whole navy fleet out of that one ship. Imagine the power of Rome back then if they could do this! They even had a very mobile bridge on the ship which they used for close combat battles. They knew they were better on land so they kinda turned sea battles into land battles by crossing on other ships using these bridges.

<center>https://s14.postimg.org/gxwhiackh/5173.jpg
[Source](https://www.ancient.eu/image/5173/)</center>

As time went on and after few battles, Rome was slowly taking over the Sicily. They also decided to bring the battlefield in front of the face of Carthage in 256 BC. They invaded Africa and thought this will make Carthage accept peace on Roman terms. They fought their way to the town of Adys and wanting to besiege it, where they fought the opposing Carthaginians and won. The story goes that Carthage taught the terms of peace are too harsh and they refused them. With a help of Spartan mercenaries, they defeated Regulus at the battle of Tunis. Almost whole army was wiped out and with this battle, Carthage secured their *normal life* in Africa.
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<center>**THE SEA BATTLES**</center>

The main battles of the First Punic War were fought on the sea. Even though Carthage entered war with larger and much more experienced navy, Rome was not bothered by that fact, and they were really good opponents using their boarding tactics very well. 
The battle of Lipara was the first encounter on the sea where consul Cnaeus Cornelius Scipio, the Roman commander, lost the battle. Few small battles later, in the battle of Mylar Roman took the victory. After this battle, they showed in the battle of Tyndaris they are becoming a great force, where they also won.

<center>https://s14.postimg.org/5mttty0kh/1212.png
[Source](https://www.ancient.eu/image/1212/)</center>

In terms of man numbers, probably the largest naval battle in the history happened in 256 BC. The battle of Ecnomus was an even battle with 350 Carthaginian and 330 Roman ships. Once again, Romans won and now with a fleet of 350 ships they wanted to return to Sicily and try to free the remaining towns from Carthage. On the south-west coast of Sicily, the big storm began and it took approx three-quarters of the Roman fleet!!

After just one year, Rome showed how big it is. Rome built a new fleet with 220 ships and set sails again on Africa. Unfortunately, after the raid od Africa, they lost another 150 ships to a storm. This was a big hit on finances of Rome, and this was the moment where Hamilcar Barca took the opportunity. He was the father of the famous Hannibal Barca – the man, the myth, the legend :D Hamilcar raided Sicily and wanted to defend the last remaining cities on Sicily, Drepana and Lilybaeum. In 244 BC he managed to capture Eryx, which became his base. Without significant financial support, he was limited with his action.

<center>https://s14.postimg.org/xa6j83ymp/5vek4_SO.png
[Source](https://imgur.com/gallery/pZ4fQ)</center>

In 242 BC, Roman fleet had 200 ships and they besieged the city of Drepana. In the battle of Aegates Islands, they defeated Carthaginian big fleet. Rome captured 70 ships, 50 were sunk and they took 10 000 prisoners. This was the battle Rome has been waiting for a long time. Carthage had to withdraw their forces and seek for peace terms because they were in a really bad financial state. They also had to pay Rome in silver.
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While Carthaginians had problems with unpaid mercenaries, Rome didn't pay much attention to Sicily. Within a few couples of years, Hannibal turned Carthage on their old road of going to wars. They expanded in Spain and attacked Rome in the most bizarre way, the way we're still baffled today when we think about the willpower and courage of the soldiers and legendary battles that occurred in the Second Punic War. 
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Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punic_Wars
https://www.britannica.com/event/Punic-Wars
https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Punic-War
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/punic-wars
https://www.ancient.eu/Punic_Wars/
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac53
[YT video part 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOk6ppoQrkw&t=49s)
[YT video part 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Qdf75r_3I)
[YT video part 3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2WcrLnq_WQ)
[YT video part 4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bny4hcoUq4)
[YT video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbBHk_zLTmY&t=71s)






<center>*If you enjoyed this part of the Punic wars, I encourage you to stay with me on this *crazy* journey in history about the battles and one man, the legendary Hannibal Barca. A tactical mastermind of Carthage and probably top 10 war generals in history.
Thank you for reading and see you again ;)*</center>

<center><img src="https://s14.postimg.org/iv2mhym3l/spacely_ml.jpg" /></center>