Second Punic War – Universal History

The Second Punic War took place between 218 BC and 201 BC. At this stage of the Punic Wars, the name of Hannibal stood out, who defeated Rome in many battles, being one of his main rivals on the part of Carthage.

The causes

According to Polybius

The cause of the war, analyzed by Polybius, was the spirit of revenge of Carthage against Rome for the humiliations of the First Punic War.

The cause of the war: Sagunto

The city of Sagunto on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, was the capital of the Edetanos, a great landing port for commercial ships.
Carthage had prohibited Hannibal from breaching his pacts with Rome, but the city was south of the Ebro, in the area of ​​Carthaginian influence, according to the treaty of 226 BC Ancient authors disagree about the reason for the attack on Sagunto and the Roman declaration of war.

events

The siege of Sagunto began in late 220 BC or early 219 BC and fell to Hannibal after eight months.

Hannibal’s march to Italy

Then Hannibal subdued the Ilergetes and crossed the Pyrenees, reaching the Rhone, getting the help of the Gauls in Italy.

the roman offensive

Rome entrusted the direction of the war to Publius Cornelius Scipio. Rome’s plan for a double attack on Hispania and Africa, starting from Sicily, ended when Hannibal crossed the Alps, in a surprising march.

The war in Spain

Meanwhile, Hasdrubal, Hannibal’s brother, stayed in Hispania in command of an army, against which Cornelius Scipio sent his brother Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio.

Hannibal’s first Italian battles

There were three:
1. Ticino (autumn 218 BC).
2. trebia (December 218 BC), where the consuls Tiberio Sempronio Longo-Scipio were defeated.
3. trasimeno (June 21, 217 BC). battle in which the consul Cayo Flaminio was defeated.

The reaction in Rome

The shock at these events was so great that Fifth Fabio Máximo Cuntator was appointed Dictator, who led the offensive against Anibal.

Cannae

The consuls Lucio Emilio Paulo and Marco Terencio Varrón succeeded him and on August 2, 216 BC the battle of cannae.
Almost 50,000 Romans died in it and the consul Emilio Paulo died. Hannibal’s tactic was to place the infantry in the center, which easily yielded to the push of the Romans. But the wings of the Carthaginian army, made up of Gallic and Numidian cavalry, engulfed the Roman legionaries.
This battle has gone down in the annals of the history of military tactics as the classic example of flank encirclement tactics.

Hannibal does not attack Rome (Hannibal ad portas)

Despite his four victories and the advice of his generals. Hannibal did not attack Rome, perhaps well defended by its strong walls, although all the assumptions we make are gratuitous. since the reason is not known.
And maybe. if he had, he would have changed the course of history.
As a result of this Roman defeat, the Samnites, Lucanians and Brutians joined Hannibal, although the block of central Italy remained firm.

Hannibal after Cannae

Hannibal wintered in Campania, unable to continue his offensive, failing to get reinforcements. He then sought alliance with Philip V of Macedon. In Sicily, the death of Hieran gave rise to a succession struggle and the alliance of Syracuse with Carthage.
In 212 BC Hannibal conquered Taranto; and Rome allied with the Aetolian League in its fight against Philip of Macedonia, which in turn was allied with Carthage. Elis, Mesenia and Sparta also joined the fight and later Attalus I of Pergamum.

The war in Spain and Italy

In Hispania, the two Scipios were defeated in the battles of Cástulo and Cazlor (212 BC).
Two years later, Publius Cornelius Scipio, proconsul, and Marco Junio ​​Silano, as propraetor, conquered Cartagonova (209 BC) after the battle of Baecula, in which the Ilergetes participated as allies of the Romans, commanded by Indibil, the Ilergavones, with Mardonius and the Edetans with Edescon.
Hasdrubal, after heavy losses, managed to break through the Pyrenees and set out for Italy. Meanwhile, Rome withdrew its troops from Greece, and Macedonia concluded peace with the aetolian league.
In Italy Hasdrubal He was defeated and killed in Metauro (207 BC) by the Roman consuls M. Livio Salinator and C. Claudio Nero, who used the Carthaginian enveloping tactic.
In Hispania, Scipio defeated the Carthaginian generals Giscón and Magón in Ilipa (206 BC), advancing on Cádiz. Magón fled with the Carthaginian squadron to the Balearic Islands and from there to Genoa, where he tried to raise the Ligurians and Gauls against Rome. With these events the Carthaginian rule over Hispania ended.

The end of the Second Punic War. Zama

In 205 BC Scipio returned to Rome. And peace was concluded with Philip V of Macedonia.
In 204 BC. Scipio landed in Africa. Masinisa went over to the Roman side. After the Carthaginian defeat in Tunis and unsuccessful peace negotiations, Carthage asked Hannibal to return from Italy. Meanwhile, Mago died in northern Italy.
Hannibal’s final defeat occurred in Zama (202 BC). Hannibal fled to Hadrumetum, advising that a treaty be signed with Rome.
By the clauses of this Carthage treaty:

• He abandoned his claims on the Iberian Peninsula.
• He gave Numidia to Masinissa.
• Syracuse is annexed to the Roman province of Sicily.
• He promised to pay an indemnity of 1,000 talents in 50 years.
• Also to deliver the fleet, except 10 triremes.
• He renounced all military action outside of Africa.
• While in it he could only act with the authorization of Rome.

Scipio received for this victory the nickname of “African”.

Consequences of the Second Punic War in Rome

The Punic Wars meant an end and a starting point for Rome:

• End of a provincial world, limited to the Italian Peninsula.
• Beginning of the “international” phase, with the eastern and western halves of the Mediterranean facing each other
• Forcing a restructuring of the Roman society and state.
• The Punic wars forced to increase the military, land and naval forces, increasing expenses, public income, taxes and personal benefits of the individual, representing a set of phenomena that was equivalent to a social revolution.
• The traditionalist exclusivism of Rome would disappear in contact with the oriental world.
• The extension of military service to ever larger social sectors would make the multitude prevail over the patriciate.
• Foreign, exotic ideas influence Rome, which will end its provincialism.
• In 208 BC, Rome gave entry to the allies in the Senate.

Economic consequences: Economic crisis

• Originated by the shortage of cash.
• The weight of ace was cut in half.
• They appear in the history of Rome publicani So called because they were in charge, under adjudication, of collecting rents and executing public works.
• The State was constituted for the first time as guarantor of the assets of orphans and widows.
• Fiduciary control occurred in a form unknown in modern countries. In 210 BC a maximum was set for the sums that individuals could keep in cash.
• The economic crisis subsided after the Battle of Metauro.
• In 204 BC. the censor Livio created a tax on salt that earned him the unpopular name of Salinator.

These operations were an example of the crisis, but also of commercial activity.

Political fallout: Political crisis

• It ended with the disputes between patricians and plebeians, since the fraternity created by the fights managed to end the differences of origin.
• In 215 BC two commoner consuls were appointed.
• The tribunes of the common people acquire more and more importance because the curule magistrates are absent, in the war
• In 209 BC a commoner became Pontiff Maximus.
• Since 207 BC the plebs annually elected 24 military tribunes.
• The end of the Second Punic War marked the rise of senatorial influence. Patricians, senators, and plebeians tacitly agreed to make the dictatorship magistracy, which had had to be called upon three times during Hannibal’s offensive, lose importance.