Bagnall - Guide to the Punic wars, 264-146 BC

Guide To

The Punic Wars 264-146 BC

Nigel Bagnall

There are those who would have us believe that man is a peace-loving animal, asking for no more than to be allowed to live in harmony with his fellow beings, rearing his family and pursuing his interests in contented prosperity. Such aspirations are savagely disrupted by the excesses of power-hungry despots and their brutal soldiery. The pious then regard history as little more than a tragic record of how peace is shattered by a few evil men; while military history is dismissed as a corrupting influence, glorifying war and promoting xenophobia. Yet wars have never been intermittent occurrences disrupting the natural, orderly condition of man, but rather an activity pursued with relentless consistency, sometimes with relish, and under many different guises.

As Professor Sir Michael Howard said in his David Davies Memorial Institute lecture entitled Weapons and Peace (January 1983):

The causes of war are as diverse as those of human conflict itself, but one factor common to almost all wars has been on the one side, or both, a cultural predisposition for war, whether this has been confined to ruling elites, or widespread throughout society. This is a factor which has been so often overlooked by liberal-minded historians, the existence of cultures, almost universal in the past, far from extinct in our day, in which the settling of contentious issues by armed conflict is regarded as natural, inevitable and right.

However unpalatable, the realities surrounding war should be recognised. Rather than taking refuge in wishful thinking, to avoid wars we should investigate their causes, consider how they might be prevented and prepare to defend ourselves, in itself a powerful deterrent. The study of military history then provides some perspective and enables us to learn from the lessons of the past.

The Greek historian Polybius wrote: There are only two sources from which any benefit can be derived, our own misfortunes and those which have happened to other men. Bearing these words in mind, we can turn to the three human misfortunes known as the Punic Wars which, in spite of their remoteness, possess a remarkable contemporary relevance. Two largely incompatible civilisations confronted one another in a rivalry that quickly became a to-the-death fight for supremacy. The lessons of that struggle clearly demonstrate the need for positive and consistent national policy, and the importance of co-ordinated land and naval operations; equally they highlight the consequences of failing to adapt military force structures and thinking to match circumstances, the impact of new technology (as exemplified by the corvus) and the relevance of certain battlefield principles which are common to any war.

The three Punic Wars, which lasted for more than 100 years in all, though with long periods of peace in-between, and extended throughout the Mediterranean were to decide the future of the Western world. The contest was between two races: the Indo-Germanic, which incorporated the Greeks and Romans, and the Semitic, which included the Jews and Arabs. The one side had a genius of order and legislation, the other the spirit of commercial adventure and a love of gold, blood and pleasure.

There are basically two different ways of presenting the wars that determined the course of European, if not world history: an across-the-board chronological account, or a sequential examination of the different campaigns, each in its entirety. The conventional method has been the former, but I have chosen the latter because I consider any difficulty in interrelating events occurring at the same time in different theatres to be far outweighed by the ability to follow through the development of each separate campaign. To support this approach the chronology at the end of this introduction presents the milestones of the wars and details of the events which led to Sicily becoming the principal battlefield of the First Punic War. Finally, there is a glossary of names of the principal characters.