The surprisingly unknown process of Roman imperialisation began in the Iberian Peninsula.
A)
1)
The process of Roman imperialisation is thought to have begun around 220 BC.
So, what happened around 220 BC?
At that time, the Carthaginian general Hannibal was in a fierce conflict with Rome over the city of Saguntum (now Sagunto) in the eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. This conflict led to the Second Punic War between the two countries.
2)
The Second Punic War was also known as "Hannibal's War," in which the famous general Hannibal played an active role. Even in much later times, people in Rome would say, "Hannibal is coming", to calm down a difficult child.
In the spring of 218 BC, Rome declared war on Carthage, and Hannibal led his army from the Iberian Peninsula across the Pyrenees and into Italy. The famous "Hannibal's Crossing of the Alps" occurred along the way.
How did Rome, shaken by Hannibal's invasion, devise a strategy?
B)
3)
Impact of the "Battle of Cannae"
In 216 BC, the Romans lost patience and four generals, two consuls and two consuls from the previous year, led eight legions as generals and challenged the Carthaginian army. At that time, a corps consisted of about 2,500 infantry and cavalry, including soldiers from allied cities; the total military strength was about 80,000.
4)
The Carthaginian army, on the other hand, was about 50,000 strong, including allied forces and mercenaries who had joined them after the invasion of Italy. These two armies met at Cannae in south-east Italy. This is the famous "Battle of Cannae".
5)
Let me state the results. The Battle of Cannae also ended in a massive victory for Carthage.
The Romans suffered around 70,000 casualties, including three generals. In addition, according to Livy, some 80 members of the Roman Senate and members of the Roman Senate who had taken part in the battle to make it the final battle were killed in the fight.
Not only did Rome suffer a significant defeat and a large number of casualties, but it also lost many people at the helm of national politics.
6)
Polybius tells us that Rome was so shocked after this defeat that it fell silent, and people retired to their homes to catch their breath. It was as if Hannibal himself was approaching from outside the walls.
But Hannibal did not attempt to attack the city of Rome. The Carthaginian army marched slowly across central and southern Italy, urging the Italian city-states to break away from Rome. Many Italian cities were independent states at the time, but their alliances with Rome meant they were effectively subject to Rome.
If these cities sided with Carthage, Rome's control over Italy would disappear, and it would also mean the loss of the Allied forces that had made up a large part of Rome's military power. And conversely, the number of troops siding with Carthage would increase.
C)
7)
At first, the Italian cities remained loyal to Rome and did not heed Hannibal's call. However, after the Battle of Cannae, there were some defections. After the First Punic War, even Syracuse in Sicily, a loyal ally of Rome, defected to the Carthaginian side. As a result, Sicily fell back into Carthaginian hands.
D)
8)
If the defection to Carthage had continued to spread like an avalanche, it would have been fatal for Rome. Or perhaps they were forced to enter humiliating peace negotiations with Carthage before that happened.
In this sense, the Second Punic War was critical for Rome, more than just its repeated military defeats.
9)
Fortunately for Rome, however, the defection to the Carthaginian side did not spread beyond southern Italy. On the contrary, Hannibal's army, having wasted its time on diplomacy, began to suffer from a lack of transport.
The main reason for this was that the Roman army fought well against the Carthaginian army on the Iberian peninsula, which was a supply source for Hannibal's army, and finally succeeded in driving the Carthaginian forces from the Iberian arm in 206 BC.
E)
10)
Scipio the Great
The Roman general who drove the Carthaginians from the Iberian Peninsula was a young nobleman named Scipio. As some of you may have noticed, three Scipios have appeared.
At the beginning of "Introduction," Scipio destroys Carthage.
In the previous chapter, Scipio returned to Italy from the Iberian Peninsula, where he had been sent as an example to explain the original meaning of the word province.
And these are the third Scipio mentioned here.
11)
This person is the son of Scipio, mentioned in the previous chapter. After achieving a great victory on the Iberian Peninsula during the Second Punic War, he marched into Africa, cornered Carthage, won a confrontation with Hannibal, and dragged Carthage to the table for peace negotiations. As a result of this achievement, he gained significant influence in the Senate after the war.
Scipio, introduced in the Introduction, is this man's grandson. Still, he was also a very famous military and politician.
Hence, his grandfather, a victorious general in the Second Punic War, was called "Scipio the Great," his grandson was named "Little Scipio." He is commonly known as "Little Scipio."
Although Scipio is still in his twenties and has no grandchildren, let's call him "Scipio the Great" here.
F)
12)
The Iberian Peninsula was the site of a fierce battle between Rome and Carthage during the Second Punic War because it served as a supply source for Hannibal's army as it marched into Italy. The commander of the military that Rome first sent to the Iberian Peninsula to cut off Carthage's supply route was Scipio, the man mentioned in the previous chapter.
From Italy, where he had returned, he marched again to the Iberian Peninsula, where he and his brother, who accompanied him, fought well. He attracted many native tribes to support the Roman army and, at one point, pushed the Carthaginian military back to the western part of the peninsula.
13)
However, in 211 BC, the Roman army suffered a crushing defeat when it was attacked by local native tribes who sided with Carthage, and the Scipio brothers were killed in battle. The scattered Roman soldiers managed to evade the Carthaginians' pursuit, joined them and retreated.
The Carthaginian forces moved east again. The prospects for Rome looked bleak not only in Italy but also on the Iberian Peninsula.
14)
However, in the following year, 210 BC, the situation of the war changed in Rome's favour. The son of Scipio, who had been killed in battle, was appointed general in the Iberian peninsula. This was Scipio the Great.
He was only 25 years old at the time. According to the customs of the Roman Republic, one could not become a consul or even a praetor at that age. In other words, he was not allowed to be in military command.
G)
15)
It is not known exactly why or how this young man was sent to the Iberian Peninsula as a general, but it is thought that he was probably given the "command of a consul". In other words, although not a consul per se, he was given the same powers as a consul, which is a complicated treatment.
This position would later become critical in the Roman imperial system. At the time, however, this treatment was merely an irregularity during the emergency of the Second Punic War.
H)
16)
Conquest of the Iberian Peninsula
Scipio the Great, who arrived in the Iberian Peninsula in late 210 BC, had an audience with the soldiers who had survived the crushing defeat of the previous year and gave them his support. Early the following year, he advanced south along the coast and captured Carthage Nova. The Carthaginian forces retreated to the west. The war situation generally returned to what it had been before the great defeat.
But Scipio the Great did not stop at recapturing the territories his father and uncle had conquered. The Roman army continued to advance westwards. As victory after victory followed, the natives flocked to the Romans like an avalanche.
17)
Conversely, Carthaginian influence in the Iberian Peninsula declined. Then, in 206 BC, the final battle took place.
At Ilipa (about 10 kilometres north-east of modern Seville), near the Baetis River (modern Guadalquivir), a large river flowing in the southern part of the peninsula, a large Carthaginian army led by two generals, Mago and Hasdrubal (different from the Hasdrubal mentioned above), clashed with the Roman army under the command of Scipio the Great.
18)
After several days of skirmishing, the Romans routed the Carthaginians, who launched a surprise attack on the enemy's main camp before dawn.
A rainstorm forced the Roman army to abandon the pursuit. Two Carthaginian generals barely made it to the southwest coast and, on the advice of powerful native allies, withdrew their entire army to Africa.
The Carthaginian army never returned to the Iberian Peninsula.
I)
19)
End of the Second Punic War
After conquering the Iberian Peninsula, Scipio the Great launched a direct attack on Carthage.
Unable to withstand Scipio's onslaught, Carthage called a truce with Rome, entered peace negotiations and ordered Hannibal to return home. Hannibal was furious but could not disobey his orders and finally returned to Africa in 203 BC.
20)
Buoyed by Hannibal's return, the Carthaginians made a complete turnaround and launched a decisive battle against Rome. 202 BC, "Battle of Zama". The result was a victory for the Roman side, led by Scipio the Great. Carthage accepted peace.
This ended the Second Punic War, which had lasted 17 years.
21)
At the peace treaty of 201 BC, Rome, once again the victor, imposed harsh conditions on the loser, Carthage.
Withdrawal from the Iberian peninsula and the western Mediterranean islands, limitation to 10 warships, renunciation of war elephants, rejection of wars outside Africa, rejection of wars within Africa without Roman consent (this condition was later changed to the third) and the payment of 10,000 talents (about 250 tonnes) of silver within 50 years.
J)
22)
On the other hand, Rome never occupied Carthage, and Carthage was able to maintain its legal, political, economic and religious independence.
Hannibal, feared as a demon by the Romans, retained his position after the war and carried out reforms in the Carthaginian government. However, this made him hated within the country (probably due to Rome's secret efforts), and he eventually fled to the kingdom of Syria.
23)
I will end here with the history of the Second Punic War, and from now on, I would like to take a closer look at the Iberian Peninsula. As mentioned earlier, one of the peace terms in the Second Punic War was Carthage's abandonment of the Iberian Peninsula. Carthage was replaced on this peninsula by Roman power.
K)
24)
An empire that spread on a scale rarely seen in history.
As "globalisation" overwhelmed the Mediterranean world, how did people face the unknown?
What were the "choices" of people living in the Romanising provinces?
Why did the gap between aristocrats and commoners widen?
25)
What was the cause of the turmoil in Senate politics?
Based on the latest research, this book covers the period from the founding of Rome to the birth of the Emperor, including the battle with Hannibal, the reforms of the Gracchus brothers, the death of Caesar and the rise of Augustus, providing an accurate picture of the people who lived in Rome and its provinces.
The surprisingly unknown process of Roman imperialisation began in the Iberian Peninsula.
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