Hamilcar went back to Carthage, but he never forgot the defeat he'd had to suffer.
From Africa he invaded Spain, waiting for the right moment to revenge himself.
With him was his famous son Hannibal, who swore, at the age of nine, eternal hatred against Rome. Hamilcar died in Spain in 229 B.C.
Ten years later, Hannibal conquered Sagunto, a small Spanish town allied to Rome. So, the second Punic war started. Hannibal very bravely crossed two ranges of mountains to get from Spain to Italy: first the Pyrenees, then the Alps. With an army of 20,000 soldiers, 6,00 horsemen and a few elephants, he came down to the plain of the Po river. He won several battles in Lombardy, in Emilia-Romagna and in Umbria, on the way to Rome. But he did not attack the Eternal City, and he went around it, all the way to the South.
In 216 he defeated the Romans at Canne, in Apulia. It was the most gigantic battle of ancient history: Hannibal with 45,000 men and the Romans with 86,000 men. Hannibal was the Napoleon of the moment.
He invented a very clever plan of operations, which was later studied by many Generals.
The Romans lost half of their army and it was the greatest disaster they ever suffered.
The Carthaginians went to take some rest in Capua, while awaiting new troops from Carthage. Here, the so-called "Capuan delights" made them weak. Rome was frightened, but did not lose heart. Roman soldiers refused their pay, Roman ladies offered up their jewelry, and Roman people accepted very heavy taxations in order to pay for a new army.
In Sicily, Syracuse was very impressed by Hannibal, who had gained victory after victory. In 215, Syracuse sent an embassy to Hannibal requesting to form an alliance with him, a serious mistake they had to pay for later. The Romans began to assault the various towns, this siege became famous when Archimedes set fire to the Roman fleet by focusing the sunâs rays, with a system of mirrors and lenses. When the Romans succeded in entering the town Archimedes did not hear a thing, so absorbed was he with his calculations. Against the will of Roman General Marcellus, a soldier killed him with his sword. After the town had fallen, 2,000 deserters were beheaded, according to the Roman law.
The Carthaginians came for help, but Hannibal did not have anybody to help him anymore. Not even his brother Hasdrubal, who was still in Spain. Actually, Hasdrubal came down from the North, but was killed by the Romans at the Metauro battle, in 207 B.C. This was the Roman revenge for their defeat in Canne. Hannibal started to retreat and very cleverly the Roman General Scipio went down to Africa to attack Carthage itself. Hannibal was quickly recalled to defend his town in Africa, but Scipio the African defeated him in 202 B.C. at Zama, near Carthage.
At the end of the second Punic war, Rome was master of the Western Mediterranean sea.
Carthage had to yield all her fleet and all her Spanish possessions to the Romans. Moreover, she had to pay a lot of money and sign a treaty stating that she could not make any war without Roman permission. When Hannibal did not succeed in getting any help from the Macedonian King Philip V, Rome immediately attacked him too, and tried to restore freedom to Greek cities. In 196 B.C. Greece was declared independent. Meanwhile, Hannibal went for help to the King of Syria. The Romans were forced to attack him too and they defeated him twice.
The land was turned over to Pergamo and Rhodes by the Romans.
In 183 B.C. Hannibal was 77 years old. He did not want to be imprisoned by the hated Romans, and he committed suicide.
Carthage in the meantime was recovering. And when a Roman embassy with Censor Cato came back from Africa, Cato reported Carthage to be so beautiful and prosperous again, that he begun by saying the famous words: "Carthago delenda est!" he eventually came back with three figs and he warned the Romans that those beautiful figs were only three days away from Rome...
The third Punic war was on the way. The occasion this time was given by Numidian King Massinissa. He was a Roman ally, but he made several incursions into the Carthaginiansâ territories. Carthage protested against the Romans without success and then declared war upon Massinissa. The treaty was broken. Carthage stated herself ready to give any satisfaction to Rome, who asked her to transfer the town inland. Of course the Carthaginians refused, and Rome sent an army of 80,000 men to Africa, under the command of Cornelio Scipio. He was defeated, and the land became a Roman province under the name of Africa.
The Greek theatre of Taormina. During the three Punic wars, Sicily became the granary of Rome, and it was governed by two Roman senators. Under Roman domination, began the latinization of the island. Several Emperors came to visit it, among them Emperor Hadrian who even climbed up Mount Etna. Beautiful villas were built, like "Villa del Casale" at Piazza Armerina. It was probably the property of a Roman Governor of 3rd century A.D., with marvellous mosaic floors, supposed to be the worldâs largest.
Among the many scenes represented, the most popular one is the ladies in bikinis!Architectural activity included theatres, amphitheatres, aqueducts, bridges and roads. Sicily shared the destiny of the Roman Empire for more than 500 years. Then, the long list of invasions started again with the sack of Syracuse in 278 A.D., by the Franks.
