Why did Carthage, who dominated the Mediterranean, lose to the rising star Rome?

in 146 BC, the Romans burned down a North African city and sprinkled crude salt on the ruins to prevent it from regaining its momentum. The city hated by the Romans was Carthage. The Carthaginians who built it had strong comprehensive strength, but they were defeated by the rising star Romans. Rome is not the only one to shoot it on the beach.

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military misconduct

Gartaki has been defeated by Rome three times, exposing its military weakness. Gartaki has always attached great importance to doing business, and the social elite is mainly engaged in business. With his strong economic strength, Gartaki formed a huge army of mercenaries. In the war, mercenaries can not only get a large number of trophies but also get a wristband symbolizing honor every time, which can be described as both fame and fortune.

everything has its advantages and disadvantages. The use of mercenaries does not require the service of national citizens, but mercenaries come from all over the country, take a long time to assemble and train, and lack patriotism and dedication. With the depletion of the war, it is difficult to replenish mercenaries. Hannibal moved to Italy, recruited and hired from Gaul, maintained a force of 50,000, and fought ten times the Roman army for 15 years, and the result was imaginable.

there were three "Punic Wars" between Carthage and Rome, which lasted nearly 120 years. The first Punic War lasted 23 years, and the long confrontation eroded the will and combat effectiveness of the mercenaries, resulting in the defeat of Carthage in the first showdown with Rome. To pay huge reparations, Gartaki misappropriated the payment of mercenaries, which led to mercenaries' mutiny, and finally relied on the Roman army to quell the trouble. The poor military system made Gartaki lift a stone and smash himself in the foot.

Rome adopted the civil soldier system for a long time, which stimulated citizens' sense of expansion. In 218, Hannibal killed 30,000 Roman soldiers in the Battle of the Po River. According to the bad news, "despite the opposition and obstruction of the elders and aristocrats, civilians elected Gaio Flamini, the leader of the democratic camp, as consul, responsible for commanding the army."

with the active participation of citizens, Rome once again formed 13 legions against Hannibal. According to statistics, in the second Punic War, there were 137000 Roman citizens, 100000 joined the army, and at least 22 regiments were formed. The acquired deficiency of the military system caused Carthage to be malnourished and unable to compete with Rome for a long time.

National imbalance

is one of the main differences between Gallic and Rome. Gartaki was built on a loose state machine, and there were only busy economic ties between the colonies, without a strong sense of state. The Gartaki people are only concerned with money and interests and lack a sense of identity and belonging to each other.

French historian du Dan commented: "Commerce dominated by maritime trade is the most important element in Carthaginian economic activities. But its history shows the superficiality and weakness of civilization, in which the main driving force of human activities is to strive for wealth, but not beyond economic power, and rely on economic power to strive for political, intellectual and moral progress. " This system of putting wealth above land lacks the centripetal force at the spiritual level and the agricultural foundation is relatively inadequate. when it comes to the United and tenacious Romans, they are naturally unable to integrate various forces and fight to the death.

before competing with the Carthaginians for the Mediterranean, the Romans acquired a huge amount of land through expansionary wars, annexing 75000 hectares of land only in the last Uighur War. Rome's foreign aggression, to a certain extent, met the needs of civilian land. "according to statistics, from 343 BC to 264 BC, about 60,000 pieces of land were distributed to the Latins and Romans, of which the Romans accounted for about 40,000."

the vast majority of free farmers want Rome to continue to expand in order to increase its wealth. They generally believe: "War is not only good for the country but also good for individual citizens." Under the influence of this thought, Rome organically integrated the will of the state and the fate of the individual.Each country has more vigor and vitality. The concept of money supremacy of the Gartai fund made the country look like loose sand, and it was reasonable to lose again and again in the showdown with Rome.

during the three concealment wars, Carthage made strategic mistakes again and again. During the first Punic War, Rome intended to use Messina as a springboard to occupy Sicily. In response, Gartaki's experienced navy was indifferent and watched Rome seize Messina and Syracuse. In the second Punic War, the famous Roman general Fabian adopted "delaying tactics". Carthage relaxed his guard, prompting the Roman army to blitz North Africa and determine the situation in World War I.

before the third Punic War, Carthage took the lead in attacking the Roman ally Numibia, which destroyed the peace treaty signed in the last war. In the process of negotiation with Rome, Gartaki defaulted twice, and domestic nationalism spread, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the other side. The war and uncertain attitude provided an excuse for Rome to organize the attack again. A spate of strategic mistakes accelerated the empire's march into the abyss.

the ancient Greek historian Thucydides put forward the "Thucydides trap". He believes that when an emerging power rises, it is bound to challenge the traditional powers, and war has become an inevitable choice in the process of competition between the two countries. Gartaki and Rome were obviously in line with this theory, and the institutional advantages of the latter successfully restrained the economic advantages of the former. The emergence of Gartaki posed a great threat to the continuous expansion and national security of Rome. This is the fundamental reason why Rome hated Carthage and did not hesitate to cast a curse.