Description

Certain foreign policy decisions led to continuing enmity between Carthage and the burgeoning power of Rome and what followed was a series of wars which turned from a battle for Mediterranean hegemony into an allout struggle for survival Although the Romans gained the upper hand in the wake of the First Punic War Hannibal brought the Romans to their knees for over a decade during the Second Punic War While military historians are still amazed that he was able to maintain his army in Italy near Rome for nearly 15 years scholars are still puzzled over some of his decisions including why he never attempted to march on Rome in the first place