in the 3rd Century BC the carthaginians were the dominant sea power in the Mediterranean and its Empire stretched from Spain to Tunisia meanwhile the Romans had taken over the Italian Peninsula and had intentions to carry on expanding but the wars began in Sicily around 280 BC when a band of Italian mercenaries the mtin began to ravage the land the small Sicilian state of syyu attacked them so the mtin asked the carthaginians for help the carthaginians are black Ed but the mercenaries did not like being under carthaginian protection so formed an alliance with Rome this new alliance put Rome at war with Carthage in 264 BC the Romans marched into Sicily defeated cuse and forced them to become their Ally yet the carthaginians later under the command of hamaka held out despite numerous losses in 261 BC the Romans then set about creating a Navy to rival the carthaginians and for the next 20 years fought the carthaginians at Sea Roman Naval successes left Carthage unable to fund the creation of new ships so in 241 BC sued for peace with Rome taking most of Sicily the devastated economy of Carthage led to mercenaries revolting in the capital it was eventually crushed but the Romans took advantage of the uprising to an ex Sardinia in Corsica in the aftermath of the Revolt the successful General in Sicily hamar was disgruntled with the Senate so he marched an army into Spain and brought a great deal of land under Carthage control his son Hannibal eventually took control in 219 BC and attacked the town of santum a Roman Ally war broke out the next year 23 years after the first Punic War ended Hannibal took his powerful Army on land to Italy and famously crossed the Alps with elephants however he lost most of his Siege engines on the Alps and therefore couldn't take Rome itself meanwhile a Roman army under skipio marched West into Spain over the next few years Hannibal's Army crushed the Romans in battle notably at the Battle of canai and devastated the countryside of southern Italy so the Romans under Fabius Maximus avoided battles and tried to wear the carthaginians down through a war of attrition meanwhile the Romans were successful in Sicily the Syracuse Allied themselves with Carthage and the Romans lay Siege to their Capital the city held out for a couple of years thanks to the Innovations of the famed inventor Archimedes but it eventually fell in 212 BC but elsewhere they weren't so successful in Spain the Roman armies were defeated and the commander skipio was killed in 21 BC plus they also had to deal with a new Enemy at the outbreak of the Roman Macedon War however the situation for the Romans eventually changed in 210 BC skipio son later skipio Africanus landed an Army in Spain and took new Carthage the most important city in the region with it he gathered a great deal of supplies and allies and crushed the carthaginian forces in Spain at the Battle of aipia in 206 BC however while skipio Africanus was campaigning in Spain Hannibal's brother hasdrubal decided to leave Spain and join his brother in the Italian campaign he arrived in 207 BC but the Romans were able to intercept him from joining forces es with his brother by defeating him at the Battle of metaurus now the Romans had the advantage the carthaginian defeats resulted in political uprisings in the nidian tribe a powerful Ally of Carthage a young prince aligned himself with Rome and Rome took advantage of this situation in 204 BC skipio Africanus was deployed to Africa to unite with the numidians and fight the carthaginians on their home front the Romans devastated the carthaginian forces at the Battle of the Great Plains now the carthaginians were desperate so made peace with Rome and recalled Hannibal from Italy however Carthage quickly broke their Armistice so skipio Africanus LED his forces into battle against Hannibal at the Battle of Z and crushed his army for One Last Time ending the Second Punic War in 2011 BC Carthage was stripped of his Empire and reduced to a small Roman client state in modern day Tunisia Rome was now the dominant power in the Mediterranean and over the next 50 years expanded its Empire a great deal finally in 149 BC they turned their attention to Carthage once more as they feared they could could regain their strength they declared war the third Punic War and lay Siege to the city and 3 years later the city had fallen Rome destroyed the city massacred hundreds of thousands and sold the rest into slavery ending Carthage forever [Music]