External Forces: The Punic Wars, 264-146 BCE

      There were three fateful clashes between Rome and the Carthaginians , called the Punic Wars (the word "Punic" is derived from the Latin word meaning Phoenician). Undoubtedly, the most dangerous time for Rome after the defeat of the invading Gauls, was the Second Punic War (218-202 BCE). The Carthaginian military leader at this time was Hanibal, the son of Hamilcar Barca, who had done much to help restore Carthage after its first defeat by the Romans in the First Punic War (264-241 BCE). Hannibal now ruled the Iberian Peninsula as if it were his private kingdom.
      In 218 BCE, Hannibal left Spain and led a land-based attack on the Romans by crossing the Alps, a feat still marveled at today. Hannibal started from Spain with 35 000-40 000 troops and 37 elephants; by the time he arrived in northern Italy, only about 26 000 soldiers and one elephant had survived the crossing. It is likely that Hannibal's military skill was poor and that the Alpine barrier was much more formidable than he had been led to believe. For all Hannibal's losses, however, he engaged in four great battles over the next two years. These battles were astounding for the number of Roman losses. On 2 August 216 BCE, for example, at Cannae in southern Italy, over over 50 000 soldiers from a Roman army of 86 000 were annihilated in one day.
      Hannibal managed to conquer most of the Italian Pennisula. Fourteen years later, through patient guerilla warfare, the Romans eventually came at the battle of Zama (202 BCE) in Tunisia, North Africa, under the leadership of the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio. For this victory, Scipio was given the honorary title Scipio Africanus. The Roman state had learned that it now had the potential to be the pre-eminent power in the Mediterranean world, and not merely a powerful city in the Italian Peninsula.
      For their defeat at Zama, the Carthaginians paid a heavy toll to Rome: they were obliged to pay huge war reparations, forfeit their commercial empire, and dismantle their once powerful navy. Within 50 years, however, the Carthaginians were again on the rise, and when a neighboring kingdom in North Africa became fearful, it appealed to Rome for help.
      Rome then waged war against Carthage for the last time. Remembering their incredible losses at Cannae and elsewhere, the Romans utterly destroyed the city of Carthage. thanks to a historian named Polybius, who was present at the destruction of Carthage, we have a record of the words spoken by the commanding Roman general, Publius Scipio Aemilianus, grandson of Scipio Africanus: "We have made a desert and called it peace."

Eastern Expansion and Its Consequences

      The Greek world in the eastern Mediterranean also experienced the power of the Republic's armies. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, there were squabbles among the inheritors of his empire: the kingdoms of Antigonus (Greece and Macedonia), Seleucus (Asia Minor), and Ptolemy (Egypt and eastern Libya). Added to this explosive mixture were the pirates in the Adriatic Sea. All of this put Roman trading and maritime commerce at risk.
     The Romans had no particular desire to become embroiled in the politics of the Greek world. The state had its hands full with Carthage. Nevertheless, matters came to a head when a senatorial deputation that arrived in Corinth in 147 BCE was treated badly, and Rome oculd not tolerate the insults of the Greeks. In 146 BCE, an attack was mounted against Corinth - the city was razed and plundered. Romans would later equate the destruction of that wealthy city and the theft of its reasures in fine art and opulent furnishings with the beginning of decadence and a love of luxury in their own city.

Expansion and Colonization in Italy

      As an important step in the Romanization of the Italian Peninsula, and a model for the subsequent domination of the rest of Europe, coloniae (colonies) were created in strategic places where there was no existing population. These colonies were composed of full Roman citizens who could be counted on to support the interests of the Roman regime. As often as not, the inhabitants of the colonies were recently discharged soldiers or members of the urban poor who had exchanged their impoverished occupation for a tract of land and the benefits of a rural existence. After the construction of the first paved road leading out of Rome, the Via Appia (Appian Way), colonies were planted throughout the Italian Peninsula south of the Po River during the third century BCE. Examples were Cosa in the northwest and Venusium (modern Venosa) in the wild interior of southern Italy, a colony that became an important Roman presence during the conquest of southern Italy and the subsequent opposition to Hannibal in 216 BCE.

Conflict at Home: Dissatisfaction in the Republic 

      There was a widening gulf between the landowning rich and the urban poor, who had no means to support themselves. A reformer named Tiberius Gracchus, elected tribune of the people in 133 BCE, thought he know how to solve the problems of the urban poor. Earlier, much of the public land had been seized quite illegally by richer members of the Roman populace, so Tiberius set about redistributing land. A Land Commission was set up to distribute ten hectare plots.
      Tiberius Gracchus, however, overstepped his authority. He announced that he would seek re-election as tribune which was unheard of. His action instigated a riot by the angry, landowning senators in Rome. Some 300 people were killed, among them Tiberius himself. Nevertheless, the Land Commission continued to function and about 80 000 people from the city were resettled.
      Tiberius's brother, Gaius Gracchus, was elected tribune in 123 BCE. He too was a zealous reformer and believed he had the answer to the problems of the conflicting interests of the population. First, to satisfy the urban poor, he instituted free, monthly supply of grain. Second, in an attempt to meet the needs of the landless poor and not offend the Senate, he proposed new colonies at Capua, Taranto, and Punic Wars and so were available for resettlement. Lastly, he proposed a package of moderate compromises to give some rights to the non-Roman population. All Roman citizens were offended by this either on moral or religious grounds, or because they feared the loss of their privileges. given the almost unanimous opposition, Gaius Gracchus made no progress with his proposals and succeeded only in incurring the wrath of the public. He was declared a public enemy in 121 BCE, and along with 3000 of his supporters, was attacked by a mob and killed.
      The attempts made by the Gracchus brothers to bring greater political harmony to the Roman state had come to nothing. Eventually, over the course of the next hundreds years, the state's inability to bridge the gulf between rich and poor and to come to grips with the Republic's new-found wealth and increasing commercialism led to its downfall.

Citizenship in Italy 

      In the aftermath of the failed attempts at reform, the free population of the Italian, non-Roman communities (which were located throughout the peninsula, especially to the south of the Po River) felt increasingly isolated from decisions affecting their welfare. Eventually, their resentment of Rome came to a boil. It was not that the Italians, as they called themselves, wanted to replace Rome but rather what they wanted was a share of the privileges that came with Roman citizenship.
      The privileges of citizenship were significant. For example, a full Roman citizen was protected in Roman civil law from the arbitrary exercise of power by a Roman magistrate. A child born to a Roman citizen was also a Roman citizen if the father had the legal right (conubium) to marry the mother. Roman citizens enjoyed a favourable tax status and, with expansion overseas, were exempted from paying tribute in Italy. Finally, and high on the list of privileges, was the fact that any slave freed by a full Roman citizen was himself automatically a Roman citizen, although always dependent by law on his benefactor.
      A bitter Social War broke out in 90 BCE. The Romans retained the upper hand and suppressed the uprising of the non-Roman Italians in 89 BCE. At the same time, they made several concessions. Later, after Julius Caesar's invasion of Italy south of the Rubicon in 49 BCE, the whole Italian Peninsula would gain full Roman citizenship and, under the Emperor Caracalla in 212 CE, all free males within the Empire were granted citizenship. By that time, however, provincial Roman citizens had lost their tax exemptions.

Writing: ECHOES from the past published by McGraw-Hill Ryderson Ltd.