Summary:
Immediate causes of the 2nd punic war between Rome and Carthage focusing on the battle at Saguntum.
The immediate cause of the 2nd Punic war is generally thought to be Hannibals attack on Saguntum in 219; Polybious, however, prefers to regard this as the first incident in the war rather than the cause
Hannibal is a name that instilled fear in the hearts of many Romans during the 3rd century BC The Punic wars are still recognised today and known as wars that pushed the Roman empire to its limit. There were three Punic wars, the first spanning from 264-241 BC the 2nd Punic war is the best known, it was fought between 218 and 202 BC. This war was Hannibal¡¦s war and it will be the focus of this essay, this war at its completion was basically the end of the Carthaginian Empire as a major power. The third war was more of a slaughter of the Carthage City by Rome than an actual war and this occurred between 149 and 146 BC. However this essay will focus on the causes of the 2nd punic war, in particular looking at whether Hannibals attack on Saguntum was the cause of the war or merely as Polybious puts it the first incident rather than the cause. There are strong arguments for both cases however Polybious¡¦s beliefs are based on wanting to distinguish between a cause, a pretext and a beginning. He sees the causes as being the hatred of Rome by the Hamilcar Barca (the leader of the Carthage armies in Spain) and his family, the injustice felt be Carthage over territory lost in the first war and the success of the Carthage expansion into Spain. He does not specifically state a pretext but he puts Saguntum down as the beginning of the war. This line of argument will be the focus of this essay looking at the war starting because of theses long-term causes rather than just the attack on Saguntum.
Map of areas that were fought over by Rome and Carthage.
At the completion of the first punic war Rome had taken control of the Mediterranean. The war ended without a clear victor however Rome did come out ahead, gaining the island of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia and forcing Carthage to pay a sim of 3,200 talents of silver over a 10 year period. This forced Carthage to forge a new empire, they did this by forging an empire in Spain which was particularly rich in minerals. It was the Barca family (Hannibal's family) who created the empire in Spain and they play the main role in the whole of the conflict with Rome. In 229 BC Hamilcar Barca who began the conquest of Spain drowned and with his own son Hannibal too young to take over it was his son in law Hasdrubal who took over. His role as leader was more diplomatic and in 226 B.C he concluded a treaty whereby Carthage would not extend their territory beyond the Ebro River or cross the river bearing arms. However Saguntum a city in Carthage's sphere of influence had allied with Rome. There is some conjecture as to why Rome allied themselves with Saguntum however some people believe that Saguntum was simply a way for Rome to meddle in affairs in Spain. In 220 BC Hannibal who by now had taken control of the Carthaginan army (after Hasdrubal was assassinated.) besieged and eventually defeated the city of Saguntum. This then caused the Romans to respond and they sent an envoy that gave Carthage the choice of removing Hannibal and punishing him, or war. Carthage didn¡¦t remove Hannibal and Rome declared war in 218 BC.
Whilst Saguntum was the Catalyst for the declaration of war there are a lot of other factors that have to be considered even. The main ones being of course those stipulated by Polybious, however other causes include the general battle for dominance of the Mediterranean between Carthage and Rome. Also Massila an ally of Rome feared loss of trade to the Carthaginians. This is the basis of Polybious¡¦s argument that the war had already begun without it being declared and that Saguntum was merely the first incident in the war. The battle for dominance in the Mediterranean between Carthage and Rome was based mainly from the fear of Carthage by the Romans and their desire to be without any type of competition in the area. It was this built in fear of Carthage by the Romans that eventually lead to the 3rd Punic war. Massila was an ally of Rome who had a lot of interest in Spain, they feared that there would be loss of trade through Carthage¡¦s expansion.
The hatred of Rome by the Barca family began with Hannibal¡¦s father Hamilcar who was the Carthage admiral in the first Punic war. He was a talented general who led his troops well until he was forced to make peace. He harboured a deep resentment for Rome and he passed this on to his son Hannibal. There is a story that the historian Livy tells and has also been accepted by most historians as being correct. The story goes along the lines of Hamilcar making his 9-year-old son Hannibal make an oath whereby ¡§as soon as he should be able he would be declared enemy of the Roman people¡¨. This resentment of Rome by Hannibal has been noted by many sources and it has been said that when he attacked Saguntum he knew the implications. He was warned by Rome that war would follow, in his campaign in Spain, Saguntum was not a vital position that he needed indeed there were many other places that he could of attacked. It therefore becomes apparent that Hannibal wanted a war with Rome, he would fulfil his oath and Saguntum was just the means that he would use to start it.
The fact that Carthage was recovering so quickly after the first Punic war and already forging a new empire in Spain would have been quite worrying for the Romans who seemed to always have a fear of Carthage. Rome¡¦s allegiance with Saguntum has been a topic of great debate, the main point of this debate is when the allegiance was first founded. The Ebro treaty was agreed upon in 226 B.C therefore meaning that if the allegiance was formed after this date than it was illegal and was in defiance of the treaty. Rome may have formed the treaty as a way of getting involved in Spain and getting close to Carthage¡¦s empire. Carthage as a whole still harboured resentment towards Rome for the losses that they had to endure in the First war and this is apparent with the Carthage senate backing Hannibal in his siege of Saguntum.
To say that Saguntum was the sole cause of the 2nd Punic War would be a statement lacking in evidence. The causes of the war are much more than that There is the struggle for power between Rome and Carthage. The anger of the Carthage people towards Rome and in particular the hatred of the Barca family and there quest to gain revenge on Rome. Rome¡¦s fear of Carthage and Carthage expansion into Spain. All of these causes that I have mentioned and others are what led to the war. War between these 2 great empires was inevitable in there power struggle. For Hannibal and Rome Saguntum was merely a way to begin it.
