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[[File:Carthage location.png|right|frame|A map of the middle of the [[Mediterranean Sea]]]]
'''Carthage''' is an ancient [[city-state]] in what is now [[Tunisia]]. It began as a [[Phoenicia]]n [[colony]]. In the ''Aeneid'', an old story by [[Vergil]], Aeneas visited Carthage. He made the Queen of Carthage, [[Dido, Queen of Carthage|Dido]], angry and she killed herself as she loved him but he was going to leave her. Carthage at the height of its power was the foremost power in the Mediterranean Sea, controlling parts of Spain, Sicily, North Africa, Sardinia, and the Balearic islands.
==The Punic Wars==
Carthage was a rival for Mediterranean Sea power for the [[Roman Republic]], who wanted to take over the whole [[Mediterranean]] Sea. Carthage was a large obstacle to that. So, in 264 BC, the Romans responded to a plea for help by some rebels in [[Messina]], and landed an army in Sicily. The Roman Empire then invaded the Carthaginian holdings in Sicily, confounding the Carthaginian generals Attempts to halt their advance. Even at sea, the Romans were able to copy the Carthaginian [[bireme]] ships and win several major victories on the sea, despite Carthage seafaring tradition, and Rome's relative inexperience in that field. Finally, a general named Hamilcar took up the Carthaginian defense in place of the decidedly older, less energetic Hanno. Hamilcar immediately realized the futility of meeting the superior roman army in open battle, so he decided to use hit-and-run raids to wear down the Romans. This tactic was slightly more effective against the slow, heavily armored roman troops. Eventually, however the Romans were able to take lilybaeum, the Carthaginian's main stronghold in Sicily, effectively ending Carthages power in Sicily and ending the First Punic War.
In the [[Second Punic War]], [[Hannibal Barca]] led the Carthaginian army through Spain, southern Gaul, and across the Alps, into [[Italy]] in 218 BC, where he clashed with the [[Roman Republic]] in 3 major battles: the [[battle of the River Trebia]], the [[battle of lake Trasmine]], and The [[battle of Cannae]]. Hannibal defeated the Romans in stunning victories in each of these battles. He failed, however, to take Rome, and eventually had to [[retreat]] back to Carthage, where he was defeated by [[Scipio Africanis]] in [[the battle of Zama]]. The [[Roman Republic|Romans]] destroyed Carthage in 146 BC, in the third Punic war.
{{Further|Punic Wars}}
{{hist-stub}}
[[Category:Ancient Rome]]
[[Category:History of the Middle East]]
[[Category:Phoenician colonies]]
{{Link FA|nl}}
{{Link GA|n
'''Carthage''' is an ancient [[city-state]] in what is now [[Tunisia]]. It began as a [[Phoenicia]]n [[colony]]. In the ''Aeneid'', an old story by [[Vergil]], Aeneas visited Carthage. He made the Queen of Carthage, [[Dido, Queen of Carthage|Dido]], angry and she killed herself as she loved him but he was going to leave her. Carthage at the height of its power was the foremost power in the Mediterranean Sea, controlling parts of Spain, Sicily, North Africa, Sardinia, and the Balearic islands.
==The Punic Wars==
Carthage was a rival for Mediterranean Sea power for the [[Roman Republic]], who wanted to take over the whole [[Mediterranean]] Sea. Carthage was a large obstacle to that. So, in 264 BC, the Romans responded to a plea for help by some rebels in [[Messina]], and landed an army in Sicily. The Roman Empire then invaded the Carthaginian holdings in Sicily, confounding the Carthaginian generals Attempts to halt their advance. Even at sea, the Romans were able to copy the Carthaginian [[bireme]] ships and win several major victories on the sea, despite Carthage seafaring tradition, and Rome's relative inexperience in that field. Finally, a general named Hamilcar took up the Carthaginian defense in place of the decidedly older, less energetic Hanno. Hamilcar immediately realized the futility of meeting the superior roman army in open battle, so he decided to use hit-and-run raids to wear down the Romans. This tactic was slightly more effective against the slow, heavily armored roman troops. Eventually, however the Romans were able to take lilybaeum, the Carthaginian's main stronghold in Sicily, effectively ending Carthages power in Sicily and ending the First Punic War.
In the [[Second Punic War]], [[Hannibal Barca]] led the Carthaginian army through Spain, southern Gaul, and across the Alps, into [[Italy]] in 218 BC, where he clashed with the [[Roman Republic]] in 3 major battles: the [[battle of the River Trebia]], the [[battle of lake Trasmine]], and The [[battle of Cannae]]. Hannibal defeated the Romans in stunning victories in each of these battles. He failed, however, to take Rome, and eventually had to [[retreat]] back to Carthage, where he was defeated by [[Scipio Africanis]] in [[the battle of Zama]]. The [[Roman Republic|Romans]] destroyed Carthage in 146 BC, in the third Punic war.
{{Further|Punic Wars}}
{{hist-stub}}
[[Category:Ancient Rome]]
[[Category:History of the Middle East]]
[[Category:Phoenician colonies]]
{{Link FA|nl}}
{{Link GA|n