Who was victorious in the punic wars?
Rome won all three. The first was over domination in Sicily. Rome challenged the Carthaginian control of the sea, suffering some major defeats but eventually triumphing. The Romans had a much larger manpower base to draw from, and the Carthaginians were using mainly with mercenaries and the war became one of attrition as the Romans slowly reduced citadel after citadel in Sicily. Once Carthage was directly threatened, they sued for peace. The second, perhaps the most famous, involved Hannibal and his march across the Alps (218-202 BCE). Despite defeating the Romans in every pitched battle, ravaging the Italian peninsular and severely threatening the Roman alliances there, he was eventually had to return to Africa to meet an invasion by Scipio Africanus, who had meanwhile been subduing Spain. Hannibal lost the Battle of Zama, and the treaty left Carthage a mere shell, a small city state dependent on Rome. The third Punic war was a revolt against the continued insults and slights against
