Editing Second Punic War (section)

== Background ==
[[File:First Punic War 264 BC.jpg|thumb|alt=a colour of the western Mediterranean region showing the areas under Roman and Carthaginian control in 264 BC|upright=1.5|{{center|The approximate extent of territory controlled by Rome and Carthage immediately before the start of the First Punic War}}]]

The Roman Republic had been [[Roman expansion in Italy|aggressively expanding]] in the southern Italian mainland for a century{{sfn|Miles|2011|pp=157–158}} and had conquered peninsular Italy south of the [[Arno River]] by 270{{nbs}}BC, after the [[Pyrrhic War]] when the Greek cities of southern Italy ([[Magna Graecia]]) submitted.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|pp=21–22}} During this period of Roman expansion, Carthage, with its capital in what is now [[Tunisia]], had come to dominate southern [[Iberia]], much of the coastal regions of North Africa, the [[Balearic Islands]], [[Corsica]], [[Sardinia]] and the western half of Sicily.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=29–30}} 

By 264{{nbs}}BC Carthage was the dominant external power on Sicily, and Carthage and Rome were the preeminent powers in the western Mediterranean.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=25–26}} Relationships were good, the two states had several times declared their mutual friendship and there were strong commercial links.{{sfn|Miles|2011|pp=94, 160, 163, 164–165}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=69–70}} According to the classicist [[Richard Miles (historian)|Richard Miles]] Rome's expansionary attitude after southern Italy came under its control combined with Carthage's proprietary approach to Sicily caused the two powers to stumble into war more by accident than design.{{sfn|Miles|2011|pp=175–176}} The immediate cause of the [[First Punic War]] was the issue of control of the independent Sicilian [[city state]] of Messana (modern [[Messina]]).{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=74–75}} In 264{{nbs}}BC Carthage and Rome went to war.{{sfn|Warmington|1993|p=168}}

The war was fought primarily on Sicily and its surrounding waters; the Romans also unsuccessfully invaded North Africa in 256{{nbs}}BC.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=82}} It was the longest continuous conflict and the greatest naval war of antiquity, with immense materiel and human losses on both sides. In 241{{nbs}}BC, after 23 years of war, the Carthaginians were defeated.{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=157}}{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=97}} Under the Roman-dictated [[Treaty of Lutatius]] Carthage ceded its Sicilian possessions to Rome.{{sfn|Beck|2015|p=235}} Rome exploited Carthage's distraction during the [[Truceless War]] against rebellious mercenaries and Libyan subjects to break the peace treaty and [[annexation|annex]] Carthaginian [[Sardinia and Corsica]] in 238 BC.{{sfn|Scullard|2006|p=569}}{{sfn|Miles|2011|pp=209, 212–213}} Under the leadership of [[Hamilcar Barca]], Carthage defeated the rebels in 237 BC.{{sfn|Hoyos|2000|p=378}}{{sfn|Hoyos|2007|p=248}}

[[File:Carthage, quarter shekel, 237-209 BC, SNG BM Spain 102.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|alt=Image of both sides of a coin: one depicting a man's head; the other an elephant|{{center|A [[Carthaginian coinage|Carthaginian]] quarter-[[shekel]], dated 237–209{{nbs}}BC, depicting the Punic god [[Melqart]], who was associated with [[Hercules]]/[[Heracles]]. On the reverse is an elephant, possibly a [[war elephant]]; these were linked with the [[Barcids]].{{sfn|Miles|2011|pp=226–227}}}}]]

With the suppression of the rebellion, Hamilcar understood that Carthage needed to strengthen its economic and military base if it was to confront Rome again;{{sfn|Hoyos|2015|p=77}} Carthaginian possessions in Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal) were limited to a handful of prosperous coastal cities in the south{{sfn|Hoyos|2015|p=80}} and Hamilcar took the army which he had led in the Truceless War to Iberia in 237{{nbs}}BC and [[Barcid conquest of Hispania|carved out]] a [[Carthaginian Iberia|quasi-monarchical, autonomous state]] in southern and eastern Iberia.{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=220}} This gave Carthage the silver mines, agricultural wealth, [[manpower]], military facilities such as [[shipyard]]s, and territorial depth to stand up to future Roman demands with confidence.{{sfn|Miles|2011|pp=219–220, 225}}{{sfn|Eckstein|2006|pp=173–174}} Hamilcar ruled as a [[viceroy]] and was succeeded by his son-in-law, [[Hasdrubal the Fair|Hasdrubal]], in 229{{nbs}}BC{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|pp=146–147}} and then his son, Hannibal, in 221{{nbs}}BC.{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=225}} 

In 226{{nbs}}BC the [[Ebro Treaty]] was agreed with Rome, specifying the [[Ebro River]] as the northern boundary of the Carthaginian [[sphere of influence]].{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=143–144}} At some time during the next six years Rome made a separate agreement with the city of [[Saguntum]], which was situated well south of the Ebro.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=143–144}} In 219{{nbs}}BC a Carthaginian army under Hannibal [[Siege of Saguntum|besieged Saguntum]], and after eight months captured and sacked it.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=13}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=144–145}} Rome complained to the Carthaginian government, sending an embassy headed by [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus|Quintus Fabius Maximus]] to its senate with peremptory demands. When these were rejected Rome [[declaration of war|declared war]] in the spring of 218{{nbs}}BC.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=144–145}}

Since the end of the First Punic War Rome had also been expanding, especially in the area of north Italy either side of the [[Po (river)|River Po]] known as [[Cisalpine Gaul]]. Roman attempts to establish towns and farms in the region from 232 BC led to repeated wars with the local Gallic tribes, who were finally defeated in 222. In 218 the Romans pushed even further north, establishing two new towns, or "colonies", on the Po and appropriating large areas of the best land. Most of the Gauls resented this intrusion.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=139–140}}