philomaela:

In the 3rd century B.C.
, Carthage is the most powerful state in the Western world.
It builds its wealth through trade, and uses its advanced naval force to dominate the Mediterranean.
Carthage really was Rome’s only competitor as an empire in the central and western Mediterranean.
There were no other great states that could compete with it. Rome is a small but growing republic with outsized ambition.
It knows that to defeat Carthage is to control the ancient world.
The conflict between Rome and Carthage escalated into a life-and-death struggle between the two principle powers in the western Mediterranean.

When the two sides clash over Sicily, Rome is the rising power.
And it’s also adaptable, building a navy from the ground up that deals Carthage a shocking defeat.
Rome forces Carthage to sign a crippling peace treaty in an attempt to break its enemy.
It’s implications for Carthage are pretty stark. Among other things, Carthage is effectively de-militarized or de-navalized. It is also subject to paying a substantial indemnity.

The defeat is a personal humiliation for the Carthaginian General in Command, Hamilcar Barca.
His oldest son, Hannibal, is only nine years old. Hamilcar forced his young son, essentially, to dedicate his entire life to one purpose, the destruction of Rome. ~Barbarians Rising, episode 1