The destruction of Carthage. Appian narrates the Third Punic War and the siege that ended with the city's annihilation in 146 BC.
Start ReadingThe origins of Rome's conflict with Carthage, tracing the earliest encounters between the two Mediterranean powers and the diplomatic tensions that preceded open warfare.
Carthaginian expansion in Sicily draws Roman attention, as competing spheres of influence begin to collide across the central Mediterranean.
The First Punic War erupts as Rome commits its legions to Sicily, learning naval warfare from scratch to challenge Carthage's maritime supremacy.
Roman naval innovations — including the corvus boarding bridge — transform Mediterranean warfare and give Rome unexpected victories at sea.
The war grinds on through alternating victories and disasters, testing the resolve of both republics to their limits.
The catastrophic Roman defeat at Drepana and the storm that destroys another fleet push Rome to the brink of abandoning its naval campaign.
Private Roman citizens fund a final fleet, and the decisive Battle of the Aegates Islands forces Carthage to sue for peace.
The interwar period sees Carthage convulsed by the Mercenary War while Rome seizes Sardinia and Corsica, deepening Carthaginian resentment.
Hamilcar Barca's campaigns in Spain lay the foundation for Carthaginian recovery and his son Hannibal's eventual march on Rome.
The diplomatic crisis over Saguntum triggers the Second Punic War, as Hannibal crosses the Alps in one of history's most daring military gambits.
Hannibal's devastating victories at Trebia, Lake Trasimene, and Cannae threaten to unravel Rome's Italian alliance system entirely.
Rome adopts the Fabian strategy of attrition, refusing pitched battle while slowly recovering its strength and reconquering Italian defectors.
Scipio's brilliant campaigns in Spain destroy Carthaginian power in Iberia and reveal the young general who will end the war.
Scipio carries the war to Africa itself, forcing Hannibal's recall from Italy after sixteen years of campaigning on Roman soil.
The Battle of Zama ends the Second Punic War with Carthage stripped of its empire but permitted to survive as a diminished state.
In the decades after Zama, Carthage recovers commercially while Rome watches with growing unease, as Cato the Elder demands its destruction.
The pretext for the Third Punic War arrives as Rome issues impossible ultimatums designed to provoke resistance.
Carthage's desperate resistance against overwhelming Roman force prolongs the siege far beyond Roman expectations.
Scipio Aemilianus takes command and systematically reduces Carthage's defences, cutting off all supplies by land and sea.
The final assault and destruction of Carthage in 146 BC — Scipio weeps over the burning city, seeing in its fate a warning for Rome itself.