The Republic of
Carthage board game
|
The Republic of Carthage board game |
Contents:
The Settlement Period (814-480 BCE)
| 814 | Elissa (original name: Halishat, Virgil: Dido), sister of the King of Tyre, and her supporters flee to Cyprus, pick up supporters and then found Carthage. Or in reality were they directed to do so by the king since, after all, they continued to send funds to support the temples in Tyre? |
| 800? | First Phoenician presence on Sardinia. |
| 770 | Phoenicians found Gadir, gateway to Spanish silver. |
| 700-500 | Greeks colonize Sicily, Southern Italy, Southern Provence, Andalusia and Cyrenaica, encircling Carthaginian territory. |
| 654 | Carthage founds colony in the Balearic Islands at Ibiza. |
| 600 | Carthage fails to prevent Phocaean Greek colony at Massilia (Marseilles). Carthage fields probably a few dozen penteconters at most. |
| 580 | Greeks attempt to drive Phoenicians out of Sicily. |
| 574 | Nebuchadnezzar and the neo-Babylonians take Tyre. Carthage is on its own more than ever. |
| 550? | Carthage founds colonies along the coast in Algeria, Hadrumetum and Leptis. |
| 540s | Carthage, possibly led by Malchus, allies with the Etruscans of Caere and battle to drive Greeks out of Alalia on Corsica. Malchus probably does not lead the fleet himself. Carthage and the Etruscans each field 60 warships. while the Greeks also have 60, the Greeks win, but are so weakened that they abandon Corsica for southern Italy. Carthage leaves Alalia to the Etruscans. |
| 539 | Cyrus the Great of Persia conquers Asian Phoenicia. |
| 530s | Carthaginian force led by Malchus defeats Greeks in Sicily, but is vanquished in Sardinia. Malchus is banished, marches on Carthage, wins and becomes a tyrant, having his ten leading opponents executed. However, he is eventually executed for having his son, Carthalo, a priest of Melqart, executed for disobedience during the previous siege. Mago soon takes over leadership of Carthage, to be followed by his grandson, Hamilcar, who will have 11 "dictatorships" and 4 "triumphs". The Magonids regulate military training and probably begin the widespread use of mercenaries. |
| 510 | Carthaginians expel Dorieus, a Spartan prince, from Tripolitania. Rome throws off her Etruscan rulers and establishes an independent republic. |
| 507 | First treaty with Rome The two sides agree to respect the other's sphere of influence. |
| 498 | Hippocrates and Theron seize control in Greek Syracuse and attempt to drive Phoenicians off western part of the island. |
| 481 | A Carthaginian army operates in Sicily in a dispute over unnamed seaports. The Greek city of Himera, a Carthaginian ally, ejects its tyrant, Terillus. Carthage makes plans to put him back in power, and probably also to curb the growth of Acragas, Syracuse and Gela, which now dominate much of eastern and central Sicily. |
| 480 | While Hamilcar the Magonid besieges Himera, he is taken by surprise by Gelon and Theron, tyrants of Acragas and Gela. Hamilcar commits suicide on the battlefield, reportedly jumping into the huge, sacrificial bonfire he had been using to supplicate the gods. Only a few return to Carthage. Fearing invasion, Carthage's leaders agree to an indemnity of 2,000 silver talents ($240 million today). The Magonid dynasty continues, run by Hamilcar's three sons, his brother Adherbal (who will die in Sardinia), and his three sons, including Hanno and Gisco. Carthage will mends its wounds and stay out of Sicilian affairs for the next 70 years. In Africa, the Libyans throw off Punic dominance and force payment of arrears in tribute. |
The Early Republic (480 – 272 BCE)
| 479-450 | Re-buffed in Sicily, Carthage focuses on Africa, conquering most of what is now Tunisia, also founding new and strengthening old colonies in North Africa. Carthage dominates the Libyan area and ceases to pay them taxes. Mago's expedition crosses the Sahara. |
| 450 | Gisco, son of Hamilcar and probable leader of Carthage, is driven into exile, later dies in Selinus. But Gisco and his brother Hanno each have a son, named Hannibal and Himilco, respectively. |
| 415-413 | Athens makes its famous invasion of Sicily that goes down to ignominious defeat. Carthage, following a hands-off policy in Sicily, does not attempt to take advantage. Instead, it strengthens its fortifications and creates new residential areas. |
| 410 | Hannibal, son of Gisco, becomes the leader of the city. Phoenicians in Hispania join with Celtiberians to secede from Carthage, denying the state important silver and copper revenues. They also cut off the overland tin trade from Cornwall. Himilco leads expeditions to the Atlantic. Hanno leads expeditions to Morocco and Senegal. |
| 409 | Carthage attempts to conquer Sicily. Hannibal, grandson of Hamilcar, wants to avenge the death of his grandfather and very likely rebuild the military prestige of the Magonids. He sacks and destroys the fortified towns of Selinus and Himera by use of siege towers. |
| 407 | Carthage founds Thermae Himeraeae to replace Himera. Over time its population becomes mostly Greek, and thus a liberation target for Dionysius. |
| 406 | Carthage concludes a treaty of friendship and alliance with Athens. (A fragment of the official Greek inscription still survives.) |
| 405 |
Hannibal and hundreds of troops die in epidemic outside
the fortified town of Acragas.
Himilco, his younger relative, wins another stunning
victory, sacking and destroying Acragas, and then doing the
same to Gela. Greeks unable to escape to Syracuse are killed or
sold into slavery. Syracuse is
forced to recognize Carthaginian dominance over western and
central Sicily and must pay tribute to Carthage.
This is the Carthaginian high point on the island.
Dionysius, a ruthless despot takes power in Syracuse. Himilco is defeated and has his supply disrupted in naval action. Syracusan forces strengthen the garrison. A Carthaginian squadron breaks through the Greek blockade – the besieged escape under cover of night. Punic forces collect spoils. Himilco takes the town of Gela on the southwest coast, defeating the Syracusan force, then takes the town of Camarina. Himilco marches on Syracuse, but the army is laid low by epidemic and forced to seek peace. Treaty confirms Dionysius I as dictator (tyrannos) of Syracuse. First Sicilian War concludes. Himilco returns home in disgrace and the army brings the plague home to ravage the city. |
| 404 | Some Campanian ex-mercenaries of Carthage take the Sicilian town of Entella. |
| 397 | Dionysius, who had constructed torsion catapults and a fleet, besieges, takes and sacks Motya, the most important Carthaginian base and port. Carthaginians permanently relocate to the fortified town of Lilybaeum, making it an impregnable fortress. They also develop the port of Drepana, further north. By this time, Carthage dominates most of Libya, who now pay taxes to the city. |
| 396 | Himilco counterattacks, driving Dionysius back to Syracuse and resuming the siege. In naval action, sinks or boards 100 Syracusan naval vessels and takes 20,000 prisoners. Epidemic – possibly smallpox – lays Punic forces low for a third time in Sicily. Dionysius capitalizes and defeats Himilco in pitched battle. He survives, but turns over his war treasury to Dionysius and upon return to Carthage, taking the plague with him, starves himself to death. The name of his deputy and unrelated successor is Mago. The Magonid dynasty ends, but fighting continues. Carthage is ravaged by plague and the Libyans plus embittered slaves take the chance to rise up, besieging the city. As a sign of their desperation, Carthaginians seek to appease the Greek gods Demeter and Kore by adopting their cult, whose shrines Himilco had desecrated in Sicily. Carthage will spend the next few years regaining control of Libya. |
| 393 | Mago tries to re-take Messana, but is defeated. |
| 392 | Mago is defeated a second time. Truce signed. |
| 390 | The Court of 104 Magistrates founded, to play a judicial role. |
| 380 | Carthage renews war in Sicily, initiating minor skirmishes, but Syracuse defeats Carthage at Cabala, killing Mago and 10,000 soldiers. |
| 375 | Mago's son, Himilco, defeats Dionysius near Himera. Truce favorable to Carthage concluded. Carthage rules as far east as the river Halcyus and forces Dionysius to pay 1,000 talents. He takes to intermittent piracy around the Mediterranean to pay it off. In the coming years plague returns to Carthage. |
| 368 | Carthage has two new leaders, unrelated to the previous ones: Suniatus (in Punic, probably Eshmuniaton) and Hanno the Great. Hanno crushes the Libyan revolt and then takes the army to Sicily to fight a resurgent Dionysus. But Suniatus had ties to Dionysius and sent him intelligence of Hanno's plans. However, Hanno intercepted these letters and Suniatus paid a price for such treachery. The Senate passed a law forbidding anyone from learning or writing in Greek (which was short-lived). Dionysius attacks Carthaginian base at Lilybaeum, but is stopped when his fleet is defeated in a surprise attack near Drepana by warships under Hanno the Great. Dionysius seeks an armistice. |
| 367 | Dionysius I dies, still at war with Carthage. Hanno concludes a peace with his son, Dionysius II. The Greek negotiator is Dion, a friend of Plato and the ruler's uncle. This leads to two decades of peace with Syracuse, but the Greeks gain more from it than Carthage as Acragas, Gela and other places revive. Meanwhile Carthage had lost many lives in battles and plague. |
| 360 | Hanno attempts to make himself tyrant by poisoning all his fellow senators at his daughter's wedding banquet. He is caught, but too powerful to convict. The Senate merely passes a law limiting wedding expenditures. But Hanno starts another plot, massing slaves and Libyan mercenaries at his fortified country estate. The uprising is quashed and Hanno crucified. At least one son, Gisco, escapes into exile (possibly Egypt) and two other relatives, Hamilcar and Bomilcar also escape. |
| 357 | In Syracuse, Dionysius II is forced from power by Dion, his exiled uncle. Dion receives some support from Synalos (in Punic probably Eshmunhalos), but then Dion is assassinated. Chaos in Syracuse breaks up their empire. Carthage appears to have been too busy with the aftermath of Hanno's coup to take advantage. |
| 350 | Carthage is the leading Western power. |
| 348 | Carthage signs a second treaty with Rome. |
| 343 | Dionysius II falls in Syracuse. Local strongmen seize power in the Sicilian cities and initiate a series of wars with one another. The town of Entella revolts against Carthaginian rule. Greeks appeal to Syracuse's mother city, Corinth, which sends a small force led by Timoleon, an elderly aristocrat and general. Mago and Hanno ally with the Syracusan factions led by Hicetas against Timoleon and sail to Syracuse. Dionysius II returns to occupy the impregnable Ortygia island off the coast of Syracuse. Hanno's warships filled the harbor and Mago's troops landed in the city, the only time Carthaginian forces would ever do so. After Timoleon arrived, Mago discovered that his Greek mercenaries were becoming too friendly with the Corinthians and their allies. After Dionysius II handed Ortygia over to Timoleon in exchange for being allowed to live comfortably in Corinth, Mago decided to abandon the effort and let the Greeks fight it out themselves. But his return is greeted with such fury that Mago commits suicide to avoid crucifixion, which may have happened to Hanno. |
| 341 | Hasdrubal and Hamilcar return to Sicily with the finest army yet, including the Sacred Battalion of 2500 trained infantry, 7500 other citizen troops and conscripts and mercenaries from Libya and western lands, probably totalling over 50,000. They even bring war chariots. In response, Timoleon marches out with 12,000 volunteers and mercenaries, some of whom quickly desert in the face of the odds. On a June day north of Acragas, the Carthaginians are crossing the river Crimisus when they suddenly come under attack by the Greeks under cover of a giant and sudden thunderstorm. The chariots are useless and thousands of heavily armed men drown or are killed on the banks. Resistance collapses and Timoleon even captures the camp. The Sacred Battalion is obliterated and 10,000 die, including 3000 citizens, and 15,000 others are captured. Upon his return, Hasdrubal is executed. Gisco, son of Hanno the Great, is recalled from exile, given dictatorial powers and authorized to make peace. Gisco symbolically places his foot three times on the necks of his enemies, but lets them live. He brings in fresh troops to suppress raiders pillaging the Panormus area and seeks talks. |
| 340 | Power struggle in Syracuse ends with Timoleon of Corinth victorious. Gisco reaches an agreement with Timoleon whereby Sicily is divided along the Halycus River. Carthage must accept that the western cities of Thermae, Heraclea and Selinus have autonomy. 2nd Sicilian War ends. |
| 338 | Uneasy, yet prosperous peace in Sicily. |
| 336 | The elderly Timoleon, new ruler of Syracuse, dies. |
| 334 | Alexander the Great conquers the Eastern World. Carthage makes peace with the Greek empire. |
| 332 | Alexander the Great learns that some women and children from the Tyre, the city he has just taken, have taken refuge at Carthage. He berates the Carthaginian envoys and Carthage worries that he may invade. |
| 323 | Alexander dies. Gisco has retired and his son Hamilcar and young nephew, Bomilcar, hold the reins. Another faction led by another Hamilcar is almost equally powerful. The latter Hamilcar controls the army in western Sicily for the next decade. First he is drawn in on the side of the oligarchs of Syracuse, but later on the side of Agathocles from Thermae Himeraraeae, who seeks to become the new tyrant in Syracuse. |
| 319 | Agathocles becomes new tyrant in Syracuse. |
| 316 | Agathocles slaughters 4000 aristocrats and their supports in Syracuse. |
| 313 | Hamilcar strikes an agreement with Agathocles, conceding his dominance of most of the Greek cities in Sicily, but in return getting control of cities previously freed by Timoleon. The reaction in Carthage is not positive. Hamilcar is to be recalled and probably crucified, except that he dies a natural death. His replacement is Gisco's son, Hamilcar. |
| 311 | Agathocles takes Messana, then lays siege to Acragas. Hamilcar responds by rushing forces to relieve the siege, only to see Agathocles cross the Halcyus to raid the Punic west, violating the peace treaty. |
| 310 | Carthaginian force under Hamilcar, grandson of Hanno the Great, defeats a Greek force near Gela and begins a siege of Syracuse. Agathocles, leaving his brother in charge of the city, on 14 August (the day before a solar eclipse) sails a force of 14,000 to Africa, landing at Cape Bon and burning his ships. Many rebels in Libya join his army. Carthage meets him with 40,000 foot, 1000 cavalry and 2000 chariots under rivals Bomilcar (Gisco's nephew) and (a new) Hanno. The two fail to cooperate and Hanno dies in battle, leaving Bomilcar the sole general. Greeks are victorious, Carthage losing 3000 on the battlefield, but the city is impregnable. Aristocrats in Carthage perform a mass sacrifice of children to appease the gods. |
| 309 | Trying to resolve the siege of Syracuse, Hamilcar is captured and killed. Agathocles keeps Carthage closely blockaded from his bases at Tunes and another town down the coast. |
| 308 | Agathocles conquers or wins over much of Libya, even Utica and Hippou Acra. He also entices other Greeks in Libya to join him, but murders Ophellas, their general and a potential rival. Bomilcar attemps a coup to make himself tyrant. He may have been in secret contact with Agathocles, who does nothing while this is occurring. However, he loses and the people decide to crucify him. Carthage appoints three new generals: a new Hanno, a new Hamilcar and an Adherbal. |
| 307 | Syracuse is menaced by two Greek armies: one a group of exiles, the other a coalition led by men of Acragas. Carthage occupies the Syracuse harbor for a time. Agathocles hurries back to Syracuse, leaving his elder son in charge. These Greeks send out frequent raiding parties. The three generals cooperate to successfully counterattack these Greek and allied forces, though Hamilcar is captured and killed. The Libyan rebels start to desert the Greeks. Despite Syracusan reinforcement, the Greek cause in Africa is doomed. Greeks desert to Carthaginian commanders Hanno and Himilco in vast numbers. After returning to witness the situation, Agathocles deserts his army to return to Syracuse, leaving two sons behind. Their men kill the sons and accept handsome offers to join service in Carthage. |
| 306 | Treaty favorable to Carthage concluded. Carthage pays Agathocles 300 talents (about $36 million) to restore the borders to those of 313 BCE. Third treaty with Rome, basically renewing the previous terms. The Hanno the Great family dynasty ends. |
| 300 | Greek explorers Pytheas and Euthymenes visit the Atlantic and African coasts, respectively. |
| 289 | Agathocles dies of cancer of the mouth. Third Sicilian War ends. Pre-war division of Sicily resumes. New wars between the Greek city-states of Sicily begin, in particular Hicetas of Syracuse fights Phintias of Acragas. The old mercenaries of Agathocles seize Messana and call themselves Mamertines. They plunder other cities, as far away as Gela. |
| 282 | Carthage tries to stem the anarchy. They force Hicetas to leave other cities alone, protect the Sicels at the center of the island and defeat Hicetas after his victory of Phintias made him too much a threat. Sosistratus, ruler of Acragas, took over Syracuse when Hicetas fell. |
| 281 | Sosistratus and the other Greeks invite Pyrrhus of Epirus, relative of Alexander the Great, son-in-law of Agathocles and currently fighting an unproductive war with Rome, to invade Punic Sicily. |
| 279 | Carthage conclude an agreement with Rome against Pyrrhus. Each commits to not make peace without the other. |
| 278 | A Punic fleet and army preemptively move against Syracuse, but just as before, they make no headway. When Pyrrhus invades Sicily, Carthaginian forces abandon it. |
| 277 | As there is little opposition, Pyrrhus forces Carthage off the island, leaving Lilybaeum as the only remaining stronghold. Desperate, Carthage ignores her treaty with Rome and offers peace terms, but Pyrrhus rejects them anyway. But then, stymied at Lilybaeum, Pyrrhus wants to invade Libya, but the Sicilians, remembering the Agathocles time, do not. He starts to lose his allies. Carthage sinks 70 of Pyrrhus' 110 ships. |
| 276 | Pyrrhus abandons Sicily to return to Italy, and once again fails. His exit ends his war with Carthage. Carthage establishes good relations with the Lagos monarchy in Egypt. Trade between the two empires thrives. |
| 275 | Hiero II, a general and descendant of Gelon, is elected to power in Syracuse and is friendly to Carthage. |
| 272 | A woman hurls a tile from a rooftop as Pyrrhus invests Argos, killing him before he can begin his planned second invasion of Sicily. |
| 270 | Rome basically controls the entirety of the Italian peninsula. |
The Late Republic (265 – 146 BCE)
| 264 | Hiero II defeats the raiding Mamertines and besieges them in Messana. But the Carthaginian general in Sicily sends a small force to help Messana. The Mamertines also request help from Rome and the Senate, after a contentious debate, decide to provide it. The Mamertines preferred Rome, but Carthage was not happy for Rome to own Messana any more than Syracuse. Punic ships and troops under a Hanno besiege Messana. When Appius Claudius arrives at this double siege, he offers talks, but is rejected. So he forces Hiero to retire and then the Carthaginians, as the two besiegers did not stand united. He marches against Syracuse, but lack of supplies forces him home. |
| 263 | Two Roman consuls with double the forces return to fight Syracuse. Its king pays off the Romans with a small indemnity. Consul Manius Valerius raids the Carthaginian domain, responding to a request from Segesta. |
| 262 | Carthage sends an expedition to Sicily, basing it out of Acragas. Rome besieges the city to the end of the year. |
| 261 | Despite Punic attacks, Acragas falls to the Romans. They sell 25,000 of its residents into slavery. Carthage raids the Italian coast. Rome builds its first fleet. |
| 260 | Carthaginian defeat at sea off Mylae. Commander Hannibal crucified. Victory at Thermae. |
| 259 | A bold counteroffensive by a Hamilcar (not the Barcid) captures Camarina and Enna. |
| 256 | An enormous sea battle – 330 Romans v. 350 Punics – off Ecnomus on Sicily's southern coast is another Roman victory. After another sea defeat, Romans led by Atilius Regulus land in Cape Bon and take Tunis, defeating Carthage so badly that they sue for peace. The harshness of the terms – giving up Sicily and Sardinian – is too much, however, and they rethink. |
| 255 | Carthage imports a Spartan mercenary general, Xanthippus. Under his diretion, and that of Hasdrubal and Bostzer, Carthage defeats Rome before the gates, largely with Numidian cavalry, even capturing Regulus. Rome wins another naval victory and is able to evacuate survivors, except that they run into a storm on the way home and 300 ships sink off the Sicilian coast (near Camarina). |
| 254 | Rome takes Panormus. |
| 253 | Rome wins a brilliant naval victory off the Aegates Islands, west of Sicily, cutting off African supply bases. But a summer storm after a raid sinks half their fleet. |
| 250 | A Hannibal (or Hasdrubal?) tries to regain Panormus, but fails and is executed by his own forces. Only Drepana and Lilybaeum hold out and both are under siege. |
| 249 | Naval commanders Adherbal and Carthalo each inflict a disaster on a Roman fleet, the second helped by a sudden storm. Rome laid up for seven years what was left of its navy. |
| 247 | Hamilcar Barca re-organizes forces on Sicily, but receives no reinforcement. They are likely denied by the faction of his rival, a new Hanno the Great, still urging Carthaginian expansion within Africa instead. Hamilcar has the ability to harass Roman operations only, raiding from mountain strongholds or from the seas on the Italian coast. |
| 246 | A son is born to Hamilcar. He names him Hannibal. |
| 242 | Rome creates a new fleet by means of public subscription, copying a captured modern quinquireme of Hannibal the Rhodian. The Punic ports on Sicily are now cut off from resupply by sea. Carthage is late to deploy its own navy in response. |
| 241 | The Roman fleet under Lutatius Catulus intercepts the Punic fleet, overladen with supplies and led by Hanno. Carthage loses 125 ships and 10,000 men. Hanno is crucified on his return. The Romans takes the beaks of the ships as trophies that they install in the Forum where speakers congregate. They are called rostra, from which derives our word rostrum. War ends in defeat. Sicily is lost, fleet destroyed and finances ruined due to crippling indemnity. Carthage must pay 1000 talents and 2200 more over ten years. Mercenaries demand arrears of pay. Hanno the Great fails to bargain them down and then fails to crush the mutiny. The mercenaries revolt and stir up poverty-stricken peasants in Libya and Utica. This is sometimes called The Truceless War. Twenty thousand block the isthmus. Hamilcar's old assistant, Gisco, is brought in to negotiate a settlement, but the agreement founders when a mutiny within the rebellions kills its leaders and appoints three new generals: the Libyan Mathos, the Campania Spendius and the Gallic Autaritus. War will rage for the next three years. This leads to revolts on Sardinia as well. Finally, Carthage reappoints Hamilcar Barca as general. Hanno is sidelined. Carthage does receive aid from Syracuse and Rome forbids its merchants to trade with the rebels. (This period is the setting of Flaubert's Salammbô.) |
| 237 | Hamilcar Barca finally defeats the mercenaries to win the Truceless War, partly because he wins over Naravas, leader of the Numidians, and marries him to his daughter. They drag Mathos back to Carthage to torture in public. Hamilcar receives all the credit. Rome obtains Sardinia-Corsica as price of staying neutral and demand 1200 more talents. Hamilcar Barca travels to Hispania to reconquers the lost lands, taking along his nine year old son, Hannibal. His son-in-law, Hasdrubal, maintains Hamilcar's position in Carthage. For a long time the Barcids will dominate Carthage. |
| 229 | Hamilcar dies fighting in Hispania, is succeeded there by son-in-law Hasdrubal. Hanno the Great still lives, criticizes the Barcids and is admired by the Romans for doing so, but his faction lacks power over the next three decades. |
| 228 | Hasdrubal founds Carthago Nova (i.e. New Carthage, later Cartagena). |
| 226 | Treaty with Rome defines Ebro River as boundary between spheres. |
| 221 | All of southern Hispania is under control of the Barcids. Both Hasdrubal and Hamilcar's son, Hannibal, marry Spanish wives. When Hasdrubal is assassinated, Hannibal becomes supreme general. The Barcids are popular with the people back in Carthage as well. Both Hannibal and Hasdrubal are generals without time limit as the Barcid faction dominate the Senate to almost the end of the second Punic War. An Iberian murders Hasdrubal. He is succeeded by Hannibal. |
| 220 | Hannibal and brother Hasdrubal conquer the entire Iberian peninsula up to the Ebro. |
| 219 | After a seven month siege, Hannibal takes the town of Saguntum, which is south of the Ebro, but allied to Rome. The Senate debates what to do, but reaches no conclusion. They do engage in a short, but profitable war in Illyria. |
| 218 | The Senate sends envoys to Carthage to protest Hannibal's actions, but to no avail. Hannibal marches over the Ebro, into the Alps and invades the Italian peninsula with the help of Gallic allies. Victory over Cornelius Scipio at Ticinus. Victory at Trebia over Sempronius Longus. Rome defeats Hanno in Hispania and is victorious at sea near Lilybaeum – Malta lost to Carthage. |
| 217 | Hannibal defeats Roman force under Flaminius at Lake Trasimene. |
| 216 | Hannibal defeats a double Roman force at Cannae under Terentius Varro. Greek sovereigns Philip V of Macedonia and Hiero of Syracuse join Carthage's cause, though without committing deeply. The former Roman client, Capua, abandons the alliance. Hannibal offers peace talks, but the Romans prefer to fight on. |
| 214 | Syracuse falls to Roman forces commanded by Marcellus. |
| 212 | A Carthaginian army travels to Sicily to help Syracuse. |
| 212 | Tarentum defects to Hannibal. Marcellus seizes western Syracuse. Plague ravages the Carthaginian force and survivors retreat to Acragas. Romans take Syracuse, killing Archimedes along the way. The Punic fleet commander, Bomilcar, avoids the Roman fleet, despite superior numbers, visits Tarentum and returns home. Hanno, the general in Sicily, and his cavalry deputy, Mottones of Hippou Acra, do not get along and the latter defects to the Romans. Thus is Acragas captured and its residents sold into slavery. |
| 211 | Hannibal is unable to protect Capua. It surrenders after a siege. |
| 210 | Scipio begins operations in Hispania. Carthaginian forces in Sicily flee home. |
| 209 | Scipio takes New Carthage. Fabius takes Tarentum. |
| 208 | Scipio defeats a force led by Hannibal's younger brother, Hasdrubal. |
| 207 | Hasdrubal and a relieving force arrive in Italy. Rome's consuls combine to defeat them and kill Hasdrubal. |
| 206 | Scipio with the aid of Numidian Prince Massinissa conquers Hispania for Rome, culminating in the Battle of Ilipa. |
| 205 | Scipio returns home to become consul and plan the invasion of Africa. After a series of defeats and trouble at home, Philip V of Macedon is out of the war. |
| 204 | Scipio allies with Libyans, Moors and Numidians and Numidian Prince Massinissa to take the war to Africa. Carthage backs rival Numidian Syphax who along with Hasdrubal Gisco is defeated by Scipio in two successive battles. Sophoniba, daughter of Hasdrubal and new bride of Massinissa, takes her own life along with her father. Mago is defeated in northern Italy attempting to reinforce Hannibal. A peace treaty is declared and Carthage consent that Hannibal return to Africa. Hannibal ferries his veterans back to Carthage. |
| 202 | Hungry Carthaginians plunder a Roman convoy, which has run aground, reopening the war. Scipio ravages the countryside, but the Libyans do not join his side. Hannibal recruits and trains troops. On the October 19, at the probably misnamed Zama, Scipio defeats Hannibal to end the Second War. Hannibal and only 6000 survive. |
| 201 | Treaty terms are that the fleet is reduced to ten triremes, domain limited to eastern Tunisia, Massinissa installed as king of the Numidians at Cirta (Constantine), an indemnity of 10,000 talents over fifty years. and Carthage denied permission to wage war. The Court of 104 Magistrates expands their power and begins to run the state. The war settlement leaves Carthage open to the conquests of Numidia. Over the next fifty years trade with North Africa and Greece continues. Agriculture improves to bring in new revenues. |
| 196 | Hannibal becomes Suffete as a reaction to the heavy corruption among the 104 Magistrates. He proves a successful political leader, forcing state reform, reducing corruption, introducing new methods of election and ending lifetime tenures. |
| 195 | The outraged magistrates appeal to Rome, alleging he had secret dealings with Antiochus III of the Seleucid empire. Despite the objections of Scipio Africanus, Roman envoys visit Carthage to denounce Hannibal. |
| 194 | Hannibal flees by night to escape his Roman enemies. First he goes to Tyre, then Ephesus where he becomes a military consultant to Antiochus III of Syria, but his advice is not really accepted. In Carthage, his reforms appear to endure. |
| 193 | Hannibal tries to contact his supporters in Carthage, but is unsuccessful. Carthage obeys Rome's demand that she curb his supporters. |
| 191 | Manius Acilius and the Romans rout Antiochus at Thermopylae; Antiochus' forces, including Hannibal, retreat to Asia. Carthage is ready to pay off its war indemnity of 8,000 talents (worth about $960 million today) in a lump sum, but Rome turns them down. |
| 190 | The Romans under Scipio Asiaticus (older brother of Africanus) pursue and defeat Antiochus' Seleucid forces at Magnesia ad Sipylum in Anatolia. Antiochus puts Hannibal in charge of a fleet, but the Romans defeat it near the Eurymedon River. When Antiochus appears ready to surrender, Hannibal flees, probably first to Armenia, then temporarily to Crete, finally to Bithynia, then fighting a Greek ally of Rome, Pergamon. Put in command, Hannibal gains a naval victory over Eumenes – in one battle having pots full of venomous snakes thrown onto the enemy ships – and wins two land battles as well. |
| 188 | Rome is hegemon of the Mediterranean world. |
| 183 | Aiding their ally, the Romans continue to press and at last Bithynia promises to deliver Hannibal over to them. Hannibal flees, however, and at the eastern shore of Marmara, takes poison and dies. |
| 167 | Rome reduces Macedon to a group of weak republics. |
| 165 | Rome backs the Libyan land grabs of Numidian king Masinissa, at the expense of Carthage. |
| 162 | Masinissa takes the rich Emporia region on the southern coast of the Gulf of Sirte. Carthage protests, but Rome tells them they must pay him 500 talents as well. |
| 160 | Carthage makes large-scale improvements to its harbors, indicative of growing prosperity. There are three competing groups in the city. One favors Rome, one the old Numidian king, Masinissa (who was encroaching on Carthage's remaining Libyan territory) and one advocating democracy. |
| 152 | The Roman Cato the Elder visits Carthage and is alarmed by the city's prosperity. Masinissa takes the fertile Great Plains around Bulla Regia and the middle Bagradas. |
| 151 | Masinissa takes wealthy districts close to Carthage in the region of Thugga. This put the faction favoring Masinissa out of favor. |
| 150 | The 88-year old Masinissa strikes again. In desperation, Carthage appoints a Hasdrubal to attack back. Numidia is victorious. The grandson of Scipio Africanus, Scipio Aemilianus, and his Greek friend, Polybius, witness the battle. Carthage executes the faction leaders, except for Hasdrubal, who escapes, and appeals to Rome for a pardon. |
| 149 | Rome declares war in retaliation for treaty violation. Hostile senators led by the octogenarian Cato sent the consuls at the head of an army to Utica. Carthage must surrender all military equipment and give up the children of the aristocracy as hostages. Further indemnities are exacted. They were also required to abandon the city and migrate inland, but refused. |
| 148 | Two Hasdrubals are the city's last leaders, the earlier defeated general and a grandson of Masinissa on his mother's side. One has the other murdered by accusing him of treason and acts as tyrant. |
| 146 | Carthage falls to Scipio Aemilianus. City burnt to the ground. Carthago delenda |
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Games about Great Powers: History of the World Republic of Rome Republic of Carthage Founding Fathers Britannia et al. 7 Ages |
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Richard M. Heli