Consulatul lui Cicero !Partea-2!

 1-Cicero dorea sustinerea trupelor din Macedonia !

2-Prima problema a consulatului lui Cicero  a fost pamantul pentru legiunile veterane .

3-Cicera credea ca Cezar era in spatele acestei legi foarte dificila .

       1-Nu a putut dovedi .

4-Cicera prin refuzul acestei legi a atras ura lui Cezar,Catalina si in general antipatia legiunilor .

5-Pentru multe legiuni era clar un lucru .

         1-Cicero nu era unul de al-lor .

6-Cezar era foarte popular in randul Legiunilor .

     1-La orice reuniune a Senatului acesta cerea pamanturi si banii pentru veterani .

7-Tribunul Poporului nu era de acord cu Cicero .

       1-Veterani trebuiau sa primeasca ceea ce merita pentru luptele duse si victoriile obtinute .

8-Cicero se considera omul potrivit pentru a aduce linistea in Roma !

        1-In special dupa razboiul civil Sulla vs Marius.

9-Cicero dorea un nou consulat !

       1-Chiar daca legea nu ii permitea !

       2-Catalina promitea haos in Roma .

10-Lui Cicero ii era clar ca nu poate obtine al-2 consulat intr-o confruntare cu Catalina si Cezar .

       1-Nu era deloc popular in randul legiunilor .

Consulatul lui Cicero !

 1-63-I-HR .

2-Catalina si Antonius doreau postul de Consul in anul 63-I-HR .

3-Senatori  inca se temeau de Sulla si sustinatori acestuia   si au decis sa apeleze la Cicero .

4-Cicero era un bun administrator .

5-Cicero l-a acuzat pe Catalina de furt !

        1-Din fondurile Senatului .

       2-Catalina dupa Cicero era omul lui Sulla .

6-Cicero i-a mai acuzat pe Catalina si Anonius de alianta cu Cezar .

7-Cicero a castigat Consulatul in anul 63-I-HR .

8-Catalina si Antonius doreau consulatul pt anul 62-I-HR .

      1-Cicero avea talentul sa atraga majoritatea-Senatului de partea sa .

9-Catalina dorea consulatul pentru 62 daca nu reusea cu Antonius !

   1-Ma refer la Consulat .

10-Cicero l-a atras pe Antonius de partea sa !

     1-I-a promis sa conduca in perioada-Consulatului .

     2-Cicero dorea sustinerea-Senatului !

    3-Sustinerea deplina .

Mihai-Viteazul-Partea-5!

 1-Mihai Viteazul a pus enorm baza pe comert si agricultura .

         1-Aici as puncta comertul cu aur si argint .

2-Mihai a adus metode de lucru moderne pentru perioada respectiva din toata lumea si chiar din Imperiul-Otoman .

3-Agricultura a devenit prioritara .

    1-Mai tot ce se producea in acel domeniu era vandut pentru ca Armatele sa aiba banii de campaniii .

    2-Plus hrana necesara .

4-Comertul i-a deschis multe usi lui Mihai Viteazul .

    1-In special cu Tarile Crestine care doreau alianta impotriva Turcilor .

    2-Comertul sa fie corect apreciat .

5-Comertul cu arme era vital pentru Mihai-Viteazul .

   1-Mihai dorea ca armatele sale sa lupte cu cele mai noi arme .

6-Era  important pentru Mihai Viteazul ca resursele din aceste domenii sa curga in continu .

   1-Tara si Armata depindeau de ele .

7-Armata sa inca in urma cu dotarea armelor si pregatirea .

    1-Mihai a luptat mult cu trupe mercenare .

8-Dupa Calugareni a pus baza unei armate profesioniste !

        1-Dorea ca in armata sa intre multi locuitori din Tara-Romaneasca dar nu aveau inca pregatirea .

        2-Era foarte bine vazut in randul mercenarilor .

9-A pus baza pe Agricultura si Comert in Moldova .

     1-Transilvania era mult superioara.

10-Mihai Viteazul a profitat enorm de situatia financiara din Transilvania .

    1-Pe plan intern dar si extern .

  

Noul lider al Marianilor-Cezar!Partea-2!

 1-Cezar a adus de partea lui un orator de top pe nume Apolodoriu !

       1-Acesta avea un dar de al critica pe Cato,Cicero si tabara adverrsa !

      2-Aici ma refer la inamici lui Cezar .

2-Cicero si-a dat seama imediat de uriasul potential pe care il detinea Cezar .

3-Consulul Lepudus si-a dat seama de potentialul lui Cezar si se declara din tabara sa .

4-Lepudus credea ca Cezar este cel mai potrivit pentru preluarea Marianilor .

5-Era clar ca Cezar il va depasi pe Marius !

       1-In special in atentia Poporului-Simplu.

6-Cezar a fost un loial servitor al Poporului .

7-Rascoala din Peninsula-Italica .

    1-Senatul Reactioneaza .

8-Lepudus dorea orasele care au fsot loiale lui Sulla sa se subordoneze lui .

9-Cezar nu avea incredere in politica lui Lepudus .

       1-Politica Militara si Sociala ma refer .

10-Cezar a refuzat o alianta cu Lepudus .

Noul lider al Marianilor-Cezar!Partea-1!

 1-Cu Sulla mort si Mariani imprastiati in toata-Republica,acestia aveau nevoie de o conducere noua.

2-Cezar a lasat Bifinia si s-a intors la Roma .

3-Cezar cu sederea si activitatea din Bifinia reusise ceva important si mai precis isi rezolvase probleme financiare.

4-Dorea un Post-Politic cat mai important .

5-A devenit un expert in justitie si mai ales in procese .

6-L-a judecat pe Consulul-Flavius-Bibulus .

     1-Fost aliat al lui Sulla .

     2-A aratat judecata-impartiala .

     3-Il gaseste nevinovat .

7-L-a condamnat pe Dolobera- un senator foarte important .

      1-Acesta scapa prin coruperea unor Senatori .

      2-Acesttia il scapa prin legile-Senatului .

8-Cezar vs Cato devine un nou razboi in Senat .

9-Dolobela automat apeleaza la Cato .

10-Aceste procese arata darul genial de orator pe  care il detinea Cezar .

Cezar in Britania !Partea-3!

 1-Cezar decide sa se intoarca cu o nava in Galia pentru a stabili situatia de acolo iar pe urma sa se intoarca in Britania .

2-Se intoarce din Galia cu inca 2 legiuni ,hrana,apa ,armure si arme .

3-Cezar se pregatea de atac .

4-Britanici aduna o uriasa armata 75 mii oameni si vin imeidat in fata taberei lui Cezar .

5-Carele-Britanice vs Legiunile lui Cezar .

6- Legiunile lui Cezar sau dovedit prea puternice .

7-Trupele lui Cezar cuceresc totul in fata lor .

      1-Arata o duritate excesiva .

8-Desi victorios Cezar inca se alfa intr-o pozitie periculoasa .

        1-Trupele sale se aprvizionau greu .

        2-Vremea prea rece .

9-Cezar dorea pace cu triburile dusmane.

10-Cezar dorea un schimb de prizonieri !

    1-Multe trupe britanice au fost capturare de legiunile sale .

    2-Cezar pregatea evacuarea .

11-Repara in secret restul flotei .

12-Doar 2 briturie-britanice vin dupa Cezar in Galia .

13-Cezar promitea ca se va intoarce in Britania .

14-Galia era prioritara si automat Roma !

       1-Plus Senatul .

Cezar in Britania !Partea-2!

 1-Cezar si-a facut tabara pe plaja .

2-Nu putea face nimic fara cavalerie .

     1-Aceata cavalerie inca se afla in Galia .

3-Un trib important si anume Sali facuse pace cu Cezar .

4-Comus-un aliat de baza al lui Cezar din Britania este eliberat .

5-Dupa cateva  zile Cezar primeste cavaleria din Galia .

 6-Flota a suferit enorm din cazua vremi.

     1-Vasele de lupta sau ciocnit una de alta .

      2-A fost greu de ajuns la mal .

7-Cezar era prins in Britania .

    1-Aici ma refer la tabara dupa plaja .

8-Britanici au observat slabiciunile lui Cezar .

      1-Era foarte greu pentru Cezar  si aici ma refer la hrana .

9-Trupele lui Cezar sufereau de foame .

    1-Sa nu  uitam de atacurile triburilor -britanice .

10-Cezar decide sa lupte pentru hrana .

      1-A trimis zilnic 1000 oameni pentru hrana la triburile care nu doreau stapanirea-Britanica .

     2-Aici ma refer la triburile din Britania .

Cezar in Britania !Partea-1!

 1-August-55-I-HR .

2-Cezar a fost asteptat de trupele-locale .

    1-Aceste trupe stiau de pericolul enorm si mai ales de inteligenta lui Cezar .

3-Cezar a luat legiunea7 si legiunea 10 !

      1-Restul trupelor urmau sa vina dupa .

4-O parte din Flota lui Cezar s-a intors in Galia !

    1-Vremea a fost de vina .

     2-Triburile Galice nu erau aliati siguri .

    3-Cezar a decis sa lasa o parte din trupe in Galia .

5-Cezar nu debarca imediat in Britania .

     1-Cezar a asteptat vreme mai buna .

6-Navele lui Cezar erau pentru ape adanci nu pentru apa mica .

7-Trupele debarca in ape adanci !

      1-Cezar a riscat ca trupele sale sa sufere .

      2-Aici ma refer la inecat .

8-Legiunea a 10 a debarcat prima .

     1-Legiunea a-7 era formata din trupe terestre .

     2-Au asteptat ceva timp si au urmat trupele din legiunea 10.

9-Cezar si legiunile sale au infrant trupele locale .

        1-Cezar isi stabileste baza pe plaja .

        2-Dupa plaja Cezar putea sa supravegheze debarcarea trupelor ce urma sa vina din Galia .

10-Cezar sufera pierderi dar nu foarte mari .

        1-Cam 700 de legionari .

        2-Fortele locale nu puteau sa tina piept disciplinei pe care o aveau trupele lui Cezar .

Cezar vs Cato!Partea-3!

1-Cezar renunta la functia de Praetor pentru sustinerea lui Nipo-Aliatul sau din Senat !

        1-Un aliat de baza .

2-Cezar era convins ca Senatul il va contrazice in orice lege !

    1-Mai ales prin influienta lui Cato .

3-Cezar nu dorea inca un conflict direct cu Senatul .

4-Senatul aprecia acest gest si ii ofera din nou functia lui Praetor lui Cezar .

5-Cezar refuza .

6-Cezar era aliat cu Pompey .

7-Cato l-a chemat pe Cezar in fata Senatului .

      1-Cezar accepta .

      2-Il baga pe Cato intr-un joc de culise genial .

      3-Cezar arata un mental de top .

8-Sora  lui Cato ii ofera lui Cezar informatii despre Cato .

9-Pe Cezar nu il interesa de legile lui Catalina .

      1-Cezar dorea puterea si automat sa plece in campanii-militare .

10-In 62-I-HR-Cato se declara dusmanul oficial al lui Cezar !

   1-Si aici ma refer ca a facut acest lucru in fata -Senatului .

  

Dusmanul la Poarta!-Partea-48!

 1-Acest articol este copiat !

2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr-1.

3-THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS PART OF HISTORY !

Death Throes of the Republic

146 BC was a triumphant year for the Roman Republic – and a year which sent shockwaves around the Mediterranean. A century earlier, Rome had been a regional power confined to central Italy, at a time when the Mediterranean was dominated by four other powers – Carthage in north Africa and Iberia, Macedon in Greece, the Seleucid Empire in Asia and the Levant, and Ptolemaic Egypt. A century later, Egypt was the only one of these powers that remained, albeit reduced to a Roman vassal, the rest have been crushed by the bulldozer of the Roman legions. In 146 BC Rome destroyed both Corinth and Carthage, adding to its overseas provinces with it firmly established in Greece and Africa. Its remarkable expansion took the legions in every direction, with Scipio himself bringing an end to the decade-long Iberian siege of Numantia, while control of Greece made expansion across the Aegean impossible to resist. Despite this dominance, the cracks in the Roman system were already becoming clear.

The Gracchi brothers were widely regarded as some of the republic’s first demagogues. They identified clear and obvious problems that would – and did – destroy the republic, though the Senators at the time refused to address these problems, and murdered the brothers as they buried their heads in the sand instead. Rome was facing a manpower crisis. Its legions had excelled by using smallholder citizen farmers, who could afford their own equipment, and thus had a stake in the republic which they fought for. Being farmers, this was a suitable model for a city state, when they could return home for the harvest (as the Saxon fjord armies of England a millennia later would do). As Rome began moving abroad to Greece, Africa, Iberia and beyond, these seasonal campaigns became years, even decades long. Not only were huge amounts of men needed, but far more were required as the campaigns expanded, and far more were dying too. Aside from the human toll, their absence from the farms often saw these farms reduced to ruin.

This problem came at the same time as huge amounts of wealth flowing into the Roman upper classes. Rome quickly went from being a regional agrarian power to being an economic behemoth that dominated the Mediterranean. Unsurprisingly, wealth was not evenly distributed as it filtered back, and instead was hoarded by the Senators of the oligarchy. As smallholder farmers faced problems with their lands, so these Senators bought up the Italian estates, reducing the number of men eligible to serve in the legions. Not only was the land bought, but the huge number of slaves flooding into Italia meant that these farms were tended by slaves, not Roman citizens. Rome faced an employment crisis as the rich grew richer. This land was also used for luxuries like figs, olives and wine, rather than grain, which was now being imported from the breadbaskets of Sicily, Sardinia and Africa. Rome had a growing population in poverty, which could not feed itself.

Rome’s management of its provinces only compounded these problems, as tax collecting was essentially subcontracted out. Tax collectors would bid for a contract, pay the Senate an upfront fee, then largely be at liberty to collect what they wanted – which, inevitable, was a profit. People had no recourse against this greed, and in an age of slavery their very person was the guarantee of debt payment – to not pay meant enslavement. Thus when Rome called on allies for auxiliary troops, often they just not have the manpower to make these troops, for so many had been enslaved. When King Mithridates of Pontus expanded into Asia Minor and Greece, many people welcomed him as driving out aggressive Roman tax collectors.

The reforms of the Gracchi brothers included subsidised grain for the masses (so it would maintain a stable price and not be affected by fluctuations caused by things like drought and storms), distribution of land to the masses to ensure more landed citizens who could be legionaries (Rome had masses of “public land” following these conquests), and rolling out citizenship more widely throughout Italia. All these reforms were blocked by the Senators, who grew rich from these problems at the expense of the state – and yet these reforms proved to be strangely prophetic. By the end of the republic, grain would be distributed free to the masses, and become a welfare system so entrenched no emperor dared to interfere with it, land would be allocated for veteran soldiers after each term of service, and the general enfranchisement of Italians became the only way to end the Social War that threatened to destroy Rome.

In the late Second Century BC, when the commander Gaius Marius faced the same manpower shortages in needing to raise legions, he made the obvious decision – to abolish the land requirements. An influx of landless poor now flooded into the legions, and while this solved Rome’s immediate problem (the invasion of the Germanic Cimbri coalition), it ensured that legionaries now had no “stake” in the republic. Their loyalty thus switched from the state to their commander, and legions became the personal playthings of generals. They demanded huge bonuses and land allocations, and generals would wield them against each other. First Sulla and then Marius marched on Rome, making Caesar just the latest to do so when he crossed the Rubicon to begin the war that would end the republic. Augustus made the legions a standing army, and in so doing ensured their loyalty to the emperor, not the republic.

The republic was also shaken by an influx of wealth and goods from abroad, eroding the values of those like Cato who took pride in traditional Roman stoicism. With fine silks and gold pouring into Italia, it was inevitable that as the wealthy became wealthier, so the generations that followed them knew nothing of the poverty their ancestors struggled with. Just as how the Mongols changed completely following the wealth of their conquests, so did the Romans. The generation of Genghis Khan had worn clothes made from the sown together hides of mice, while two generations later Kublai Khan led a generation that ruled over the riches of China and the Islamic Caliphates. How can such generations hold on to the values of their ancestors when their lives are so different? Scipio Africanus would come to be mythologised as the last of the great virtuous Romans, Carthage as the last true enemy to threaten Rome.

All of these factors expediated the malaise of the republic, yet Rome persevered. From the ashes of the decaying republic arose the empire, which would continue dominating the Mediterranean for another 500 years. Carthage was the last external state that posed a threat to the existence of Rome. There would be many more enemies, and many more wars. There would be many defeats, though Rome’s primary enemy from the Punic Wars onwards would always be itself. Disasters like Arausio, Carrhae, Teutoburg and Adrianople would never shape Rome as much as battles like Pharsalus, Phillipi and Milvian Bridge. As with all large empires, Rome eventually turned inward, with these victorious generals fighting amongst themselves. The fall of Rome was due as much to infighting as the great migrations from Germania. Rome’s victory in the Punic Wars laid the path for it to dominate the Mediterranean, but also laid the seeds of its destruction. Despite the empire reaching a greater territorial zenith, many – especially contemporaries – considered the Punic Wars to be the pinnacle of Rome’s cultural and military achievements. With the rest of the existence of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire being a long litany of civil wars, Carthage was arguably Rome’s greatest enemy.

Dusmanul la Poarta!-Partea-47!

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Sack the City

As the Third Punic War entered its fourth year, Scipio Aemilianus had his command prorogued for another year. As Spring began, he launched the final Roman assault. Hasdrubal was expecting the attack, so set fire to nearby warehouses in the harbour area. Despite this, an advanced legionary party broke through to the military harbour and captured it. This assault reached the city’s main square, where the legions camped overnight. The next morning Scipio led a legion to link up with the group at the harbour, which had stalled as it stripped the gold from the Temple of Apollo, which a furious Scipio was helpless to prevent. The Carthaginians forfeited their last chance to sortie as they pulled back to defensible positions, rather than isolate and annihilate the single legion in the square.

Now managing to consolidate the legions, the Romans systematically worked their way through the residential section of the city, killing all they encountered and burning the buildings as they went. The fighting was bitter and brutal, the Punic inhabitants knowing this was their last stand. At times the legionaries had to move across the rooftops to avoid the missiles being hurled down on them from above. This was a brutal and bloody business, with the people of Carthage fighting for the lives of their families, for their homes, for their city, all against an aggressive invader set on destruction because of a conflict that took place half a century ago. There was likely nobody alive during the Second Punic War now fighting in the siege, and yet still the mutual feelings of hatred and bitterness persevered. Rome knew that this war was won from before it began, yet had found its legions frustrated in failing to achieve a swift victory. Now the fury and anger of those legionaries who had stared at the city walls for four years, who had been fed tales from their fathers of the horrors of Hannibal and the valour of Scipio Africanus, were poured out on those citizens who fought for their very lives. The sacking of a city throughout history is a brutal experience, with men and children killed without mercy, women often raped before being killed themselves, and possessions stripped from home – fortunately not an experience we are ever likely to live today, yet one that was incredibly common throughout history. Once a besieging army entered a city, military discipline usually gave way to carnage. Commanders had no control over soldiers who now became looters, rapists and murderers, and often soldiers fought one another over the best loot. If a city surrendered, the commander took the bulk of the loot, so a sacking was often a soldier’s golden opportunity to find treasures for themselves, and a prospect most awaited with relish.

It took six days for the city to be cleared, a testament to the civilian resistance, and finally Scipio agreed to take prisoners. The last holdout included 900 Roman deserters at the Temple of Eshmoun, who burnt it down around themselves rather than surrender, knowing crucifixion would be the likely penalty for defecting. Following this Hasdrubal formally surrendered, on the promise of sparing his own life and freedom. His wife, watching from the ramparts, cursed Hasdrubal and blessed Scipio, then walked herself and her children into the raging inferno of the temple.

Scipio took 50,000 prisoners from Carthage, though this was only a small proportion of the city’s pre-war population. Legionary camps were often followed by slavers, and selling captives into slavery became a hugely profitable businesses – though ruinous for the long-term future of the Roman Republic. What was initially a by-product of war – making slaves of a defeated enemy – would soon become a cause for war. The site of the city was cursed, with the intention being to prevent it ever being resettled (although the idea that salt was sown on the earth was a myth added in the Nineteenth Century). The religious items that Carthage had looted from Sicily during its centuries of warfare on the island were returned, to great fanfare. The First Punic War had seen Carthage ended as a naval power. The Second Punic War had seen Carthage broken as a rival power. The Third Punic War had seen Carthage utterly destroyed, the nation, the city, the very concept of a civilisation that had existed for over half a millennia, which was older than Rome, simply erased. Contemporary observers saw this unprovoked Roman attack on a defeated power as disgraceful, a stain on Rome’s honour – though no power now had the capability to resist Rome in the Mediterranean.

Scipio returned to huge fanfare, and was awarded the agnomen (nickname) of Africanus. The Carthaginian territories were directly annexed by Rome as Africa Province, with its capital at Utica. The province would prove to be a breadbasket, and expediate the process began in Sicily of seeing Italian agricultural land turned over to luxuries like wine and figs, slowly driving out those very citizen smallholder farmers who comprised the legions as grain was increasingly imported from overseas. Scipio’s success in a stalemate siege, following on from his adoptive grandfather’s success at Zama, gave rise to the myth that Romans needed a Scipio to win in Africa. This bizarre myth would persevere for a century, until Julius Caesar crushed the forces ostensibly under Metellus Scipio at the Battle of Thapsus.

Roman expansion into Africa saw Scipio divide the Kingdom of Numidia betwixt various successors following the death of Masinissa, and laid the groundwork for the Jugurthine Wars in the following decades. Various other Punic cities came into the Roman fold, such as Mauretania, though they retained their systems of governance until they were fully incorporated as Roman provinces much later. The Punic language remained widely spoken in north Africa until the Islamic expansion of the Seventh Century.

The year of Carthage’s destruction, 146 BC, also saw the levelling of Corinth. Roman intervention in Greece finally saw the anti-Macedonian league turn again the legions too late, and they were crushed. Mummius destroyed Corinth, while Scipio destroyed Carthage. Destroying cities in strategically vital positions for emotional reasons seem stupid, and unsurprisingly both Carthage and Corinth were rebuilt, both in the time of Caesar. Carthage would become one of the key cities of north Africa for the Roman Empire, and its capture by the Vandals in the Fifth Century was indicative of the malaise of the Western Empire. A joint Eastern – Western counter-attack was called off by the invasion of the East by Atilla the Hun, and the Vandals ruled the city until the Byzantine Emperor Justinian crushed their nation. It would remain an important Byzantine city until the Islamic conquests, when much of the material from the city was used in the construction of Tunis.

Today Carthage is a suburb of Tunis, ten miles east of the modern city. The term “Carthaginian Peace” means to extract a peace so punishing that the enemy is completely crushed and rendered incapable of waging further war. There are many parallels betwixt the Punic Wars and World Wars – a small, regional conflict escalating into involving great powers, those powers committing all of their resources to victory, the grinding down of opponents, the unimaginable loss of life and civilian suffering, an initial peace treaty so punishing it fostered bitterness and made further war inevitable. Does that fact that such mistakes were repeated over two millennia later mean that mankind does not learn the lessons of history? On 5 February 1958, the mayors of Rome and the modern city of Carthage, Ugo Vetere and Chedli Klibi respectively, signed a formal peace treaty some 2,131 years after the war had ended. Although Rome may have won the Punic Wars, the cost of victory would be its very self – for the seeds had been sown for the collapse of the republic which would soon follow.

Dusmanul la Poarta!-Partea-46!

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“The Carthaginian solution.”

As the Allies advanced on Berlin in 1944, there was much discussion over how the war would end. Even when realising defeat was inevitable, many among the Nazi high command envisaged Germany going down in a blaze of glory, everyone fighting to the bitter end for the glory of the Reich, and the formerly prosperous nation being reduced to ash and rubble. The question for the Allies was if Germany could be convinced to surrender, or if they would have to pursue another path – the path of utter destruction. A path they called “the Carthaginian solution”.

The Third Punic War is essentially just a grandiose name for the Siege of Carthage. While the first war had seen two powerful opponents contend for control of Sicily, and the second had seen fighting taker place across Italia, Iberia, Sicily, Greece and Africa, the third was Rome’s final attempt to crush the formerly great power. Despite having hamstrung Carthage as the end of the second war, the economic recovery of the Punic power had emboldened the embittered war faction in Rome’s Senate, led by Cato the Censor, to declare that there could be no coexistence of the two cities. With the flimsiest of pretexts, Rome had embarked on the genocidal path towards the obliteration of a power which, at that time, posed no threat to them. In a modern context it is unimaginable. It is inconceivable that, seeing the economic strength of Berlin and Tokyo in the mid 1990’s, America would decide that it needed to destroy these two nations merely because of their economic prosperity, even though the stipulations of the defeat half a century earlier (Japan having no army, the German army being prohibited from invasions) had neutered either as a threat. Yet that is precisely the path that Rome embarked upon with Carthage.

Despite Rome’s determination to obliterate a defeated foe, the legions and their Consuls were disappointed to find that Carthage was not a city of people meekly waiting to accept their fate. The numerous attempts to storm the city were repulsed with vigour by a resurgent populace who had rearmed themselves remarkable quickly after surrendering their arms to Rome, while too late Carthage realised that citizens fight for home defence far harder than mercenaries. After a year of defeats for Rome in attempts to take the city, 148 BC saw the new Consul Calpurnius Piso take command of the siege, with his adjutant Lucius Mancinius commanding the navy. Realising the failures of his predecessors, he pulled back the close siege of the walls to a looser blockade, attempting to mop up the various cities supporting Carthage first.

Hasdrubal, who had been condemned to death for the Numidian debacle before being relieved to command the Punic field army outside the city, now overthrew the government apparatus of the besieged city and installed himself as commander. A Numidian chief with 800 cavalry defected to Carthage, while the city looked to align itself with Andriscus, the pretender to the Macedonian throne who had invaded Roman Macedon and triggered the Fourth Macedonian War, crowing himself King Philip VI. This war would provide little lasting challenge for the legions, and the ‘alliance’ betwixt Carthage and Macedon would have no lasting benefits. The rest of the year petered out without significant further action.

Scipio Aemilianus planned to stand for election as aedile in 147 BC, a natural political progression for the 36-year-old which would see him rise from his former post of tribune to an administrative role in a city (similar to that of mayor, responsible for things like civic infrastructure). Rome’s mos maiorum dictated loose age limits for when aspiring politicians should stand for roles, such as 38 to make Praetor and 41 to stand as Consul. However public support for the grandson of Aemilius Paullus and the adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus was huge, and the Roman mob demanded that he be appointed as Consul to take command of what was fast becoming the Carthaginian debacle. The Senate thus disregarded the age requirements for all posts that year, with considerable political manoeuvring to ensure he was “elected” as Consul and took sole command of the war in Africa.

The same year saw Mancinius seize an unexpected opportunity to capture a sally port and force 3,500 men into the city. Some 3,000 of these were lightly armed sailors, and Mancinius swiftly asked for reinforcements. However they were hard pressed by a Punic counter attack, and Scipio arrived just in time to evacuate the survivors. Scipio moved the main legionary camp closer to Carthage, shadowed by a Punic detachment of 8,000 soldiers. He made a speech demanding tighter discipline, and dismissed legionaries he considered to be ill disciplined or poorly motivated. A night march saw his force attack a perceived weak point in the Carthaginian main wall, with a gate seized and 4,000 legionaries forcing their way into the city. Panicked in the dark, the Punic defenders fled after brief resistance, but Scipio knew the position would be untenable once the Carthaginians reorganised themselves come daybreak, and so withdrew. Hasdrubal was horrified by the manner of the collapse of resistance, and so brought all Roman prisoners to the walls to have them tortured to death in front of their comrades. Despite being a merchant nation rather than a martial one, Carthage still had a sadistic culture that often saw people and animals crucified for pleasure, and had commanders who had failed routinely killed. Other atrocities were also routine, with no sense of ethical justice or international law to prevent this. Seeing their comrades suffer embittered the Romans, and emboldened the Carthaginians to resist. Any council members who opposed Hasdrubal were immediately killed. There could be no possibility of negotiated peace or surrender now.

The renewed siege prevented landward entry to Carthage, but preventing naval access was impossible. Frustrated by the supplies being shipped into the city, Scipio began construction of an immense mole to cut off access to the harbour. The Carthaginians responded by cutting a new channel from their harbour to the sea. They had built a fleet of 50 new triremes and smaller ships since the sacrifice of their original fleet to Rome two years earlier, and were able to sail these out once the channel was completed. Taking the Romans by surprise, their light craft were able to cause havoc among the Roman fleet in the Battle of the Port of Carthage, sinking several and causing heavy Roman casualties despite their crews’ inexperience. The smaller vessels then looked to block the entrance to their port, forcing the large Roman ships into the shallows, where many were beached. As they then looked to break off and fall back, a collision blocked the new channel and left several Punic ships stranded. Now pinned against the sea wall without room to manoeuvre, the larger Roman ships proceeded to ram several Punic triremes before the blockage was cleared. Despite this setback, the majority were able to get back to the city, although the Carthaginian victory was insufficient to lift the Roman blockade.

The Romans then looked to advance against the Punic defences in the harbour. Carthaginians responded by swimming across their harbour at night, where they set fire to several siege engines. Spooked by the spreading flames in the night, many of the legionaries panicked and fled. Scipio blocked their retreat and ordered a halt, and when this was disregarded his had his mounted bodyguard attack them. Despite the initial success, the Romans eventually gained control of the quay and constructed a brick wall as high as the city wall. It took months to complete, but once done would enable 4,000 legionaries to hurl fire into Carthage. Carthage was enjoying small victories, though none of them were enough to break the Roman siege. While they may have been morale boosting, the city’s doom still seemed inevitable as the Roman juggernaut seemed to shrug off each setback and remain committed to its genocidal goal of destroying the city.

Dusmanul la Poarta!-Partea-45!

 1-Acest articol este copiat !

2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr-1.

“Furthermore, I consider that Carthage must be destroyed.”

As the years ticked down on Carthage’s indemnity payments to Rome, a deputation was sent to Africa to ostensibly arbitrate betwixt the Punic city and King Massinissa of Numidia. Among those leading the mission was the elderly Cato the Censor, who had cut his teeth during the Second Punic War before establishing himself as an advocate of a simple and stoic lifestyle at a time when traditional Roman values were being replaced by Greek hedonism and debauchery as the republic expanded across the Adriatic. Cato was aghast as the growing prosperity of Carthage, and became convinced that the future of Rome was dependent on the annihilation of Carthage. From that point on, all of the Consular’s speeches to the Senate, be they about the price of grain, road repairs, or overflowing sewers, would be finished with the words: “Carthago delanda est” (“Furthermore, I consider that Carthage must be destroyed”). Cato is likely history’s first recorded example of someone being a vocal inciter of genocide.

In 149 BC, the Roman legions under the Consul Manius Manilius and the fleet under his co-Consul Lucius Censorius landed at Utica. Carthaginian attempts to appease Rome continued, and an embassy was sent to Utica. The Consuls demanded that all of the weapons and armoury be handed over, and reluctantly the citizens did, with 20,000 sets of armour and 2,000 catapults forfeited to the legions. All of the Punic warships sailed for Utica, and were burnt in the harbour in an act of psychological warfare that clearly showed Rome’s dominance. Hundreds of the children of the local aristocracy were demanded as Roman hostages, and reluctantly forfeited. Then the obnoxious Romans demanded that the city of Carthage be abandoned, with its citizens relocating ten miles (16km) inland to be cut off from the sea. It was finally abundantly clear that Rome had no intention of being appeased, and that the demands would become increasingly farcical. Finally, Carthage said no, and prepared for war.

Carthage itself was an unusually large city for the time, with an estimated population of 700,000. Its strongly fortified walls were around 20 miles (35km) in circumference, around triple the size, with three lines of defences including a strong, brick-built wall nine metres (30 ft) wide and 20m (70 ft) high, with a 20m wide ditch in front of it. These walls were three times as long as Rome’s Servian Walls, double the height and triple the width. Carthage’s barracks could hold 24,000 soldiers, and although the city had no reliable supply of groundwater, a complex system caught and channelled rainwater into large cisterns for storage.

An initial force to garrison the city was raised from the citizenry and freeing willing slaves, while a 30,000-strong force was placed at Nepheris, 16 miles (25km) south of the city, under the command of Hasdrubal, recently released from his condemned cell. The Roman expeditionary force in Africa had around 50,000 soldiers, plus around 4,000 cavalry. The forces had deployed separately upon landing, Manilius on the isthmus approaching the city, facing the citadel of Byrsa, and Censorinus on the shore of Lake Tunis, opposite the city’s western wall. Manilius planned to fill the ditch facing the southern wall and scale it, while Censorinus would raise ladders against the western wall from the ground and from his ships. Two initial assaults were made, the complacent Consuls thinking the Carthaginians were disarmed, but they were shocked to find out that the city had re-armed, and their attacked were repulsed. Fearing the approach of Hasdrubal’s force on the far side of Lake Tunis, the Consuls fortified their camps.

Censorinus set his men to gathering timber from the far side of Lake Tunis for siege engines, but the Punic cavalry commander Himilco Phameas seized the opportunity to attack. Five hundred Romans were killed in the raid, and their tools and siege works destroyed. Censorinus still managed to gather enough timber for siege towers and ladders, and launched another attack in concert with Manilius, which was again repelled. Manilius decided to launch no further attacks from the isthmus, but Censorinus worked to make two huge battering rams. His assault from the lake breached the walls before being driven back, and the breach hastily repaired. Fearing a second assault, the Carthaginians sallied out to attack the Roman camp, and destroyed more siege engines. The next day Censorinus ordered his men to attempt to breach the wall again, though his military tribune Scipio Aemilianus refused to enter, instead holding his troops in reserve and spacing them at intervals along the wall. Those troops that did enter suffered heavily for it, and had to fall back. It was only Scipio’s men, who had remained calm and collected along the wall, who were able to prevent the Punic counter attack routing their comrades, as his men were now able to defend the retreat.

As the siege dragged on, Censorinius faced an epidemic in his ranks. Many of his troops had been kept on stagnant water with poor airflow from the sea and city walls, and he thus relocated his camp to the sea. Noting the movement of the Roman camp, the Carthaginians launched fire ships from the coastline when the Roman fleet sailed into view. The resulting inferno spread through most of the Roman ships, leaving the fleet devastated. Censorinius would soon after return to Rome to conduct the elections, and Punic attacks on Manilius would be ramped up. Far from being a cowed and broken opponent, the supposedly beaten city of Carthage was proffering stern resistance, and had no intention of meekly surrendering to unprovoked Roman aggression.