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PUNIC WARS
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PUNIC See also:WARS , a name specially appropriated to the wars between See also:Rome and See also:Carthage in the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. The origin of these conflicts is to be sought in the position which Rome acquired about 275 B.C. as suzerain and See also:protector of all See also:Italy. Her new See also:obligation to safeguard the See also:peninsula against See also:foreign interference made it necessary that she should not allow the neighbouring See also:island of See also:Sicily to fall into the hands of a strong and expansive See also:power. Carthage, on the other See also:hand, had See also:long been anxious to conquer Sicily and so to See also:complete the See also:chain of island posts by which she ' controlled the western Mediterranean. First Punic See also:War (264–241 B.c.').—The proximate cause of the first outbreak was a crisis in the See also:city of Messana, commanding the straits between Italy and Sicily. A See also:band of Campanian mercenaries, which had forcibly esablished itself within the See also:town and was being hard pressed in 264 by See also:Hiero II. of See also:Syracuse, applied for help both to Rome and Carthage and thus brought a force from either power upon the See also:scene. The Carthaginians, arriving first, occupied Messana and effected a reconciliation with Hiero. The See also:Roman See also:commander nevertheless persisted in throwing troops into the city, and by seizing the See also:person of the Carthaginian See also:admiral during a parley induced him to withdraw his See also:garrison. The See also:Romans thus won an important strategic See also:post, but their aggression was met by a See also:declaration of war from Carthage and Syracuse. Operations began with a See also:joint attack upon Messana, which the Romans easily repelled. In 263 they advanced with a considerable force into Hiero's territory and induced him to seek See also:peace and See also:alliance with them. Having thus secured their foothold on the island they set themselves to wrest it completely from Carthage. In 262 they besieged and captured the enemy's See also:base at See also:Agrigentum, and proved that Punic See also:mercenary troops could not stand before the See also:infantry of the legions. But they made little impression upon the Carthaginian fortresses in the See also:west of the island and upon the towns of the interior which mostly sided against them. Thus in the following See also:campaigns their See also:army was practically brought to a standstill. In 26o the war entered upon a new phase. Convinced that they could gain no serious See also:advantage so long as the Carthaginians controlled the See also:sea and communicated freely with their island possessions, the Romans built their first large See also:fleet of See also:standard battleships. At Mylae, off the See also:north Sicilian See also:coast, their admiral C. See also:Duilius defeated a Carthaginian See also:squadron of See also:superior manoeuvring capacity by a novel application of grappling and 1 The See also:chronology here given is the traditional one, but See also:recent researches tend to show that many events have been antedated by one See also:year. Saturday (1714) and See also:Swift's See also:Dialogue between Mad Mullinix and See also:Timothy (1728). The older Punchinello was far less restricted in his actions and circumstances than his See also:modern successor. He fought with allegorical figures representing want and weariness as well as with his wife and with the See also:police, was on intimate terms with the patriarchs and the seven champions of Christendom, sat on the See also:lap of the See also:queen of Sheba, had See also:kings and See also:dukes for his companions, and cheated the See also:Inquisition as well as the See also:common hangman. See also:Powell seems to have introduced a trained See also:pig which danced a See also:minuet with See also:Punch, and the See also:French (among whom Punch is now usually styled Guignol, originally a puppet hailing from See also:Lyons) having occasionally employed a See also:cat in the See also:place of the See also:dog Toby, whose origin is somewhat uncertain. A typical version of the modern See also:play, with illustrations, was published by See also:Payne See also:Collier and See also:Cruikshank in 1828 (3rd ed., 1844). (R. M. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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