MilitaryCampaigns

**__ By Sabina Dang __**
 * __ Military Campaigns of Ancient Rome __**

The Punic Wars, the Macedonian Wars, the Mithridatic Wars, and the conquest of Britain; these are only a few of the military campaigns in ancient Rome. (BBC) In order to understand the military campaigns in Rome, you must learn the reason for them. The main reasons for their many campaigns were: gaining new territories, protecting their own land, eliminating threats, and gaining power. One example is their campaign against Carthage. The Romans thought that the Carthaginians would take control of the Strait of Messina. This eventually caused for a series of wars to erupt. The first Punic War, taking place from 264-141 BC, made the Carthaginians give up claim to Sicily. The second Punic War, taking place from 218-201 BC, made the Carthaginians cede control of their Spanish colonies to Rome. The final Punic War, taking place from 149-146 BC, caused for the Roman to destroy Carthage out of spite. (history.boisestate.edu; BBC) From these examples you can see that military campaigns in Rome were partly used to gain new territories and protect their own. You can also tell that military campaigns in Rome were a way of destroying any threats to their economy. Throughout time, Rome gained many enemies, and so Rome had to have an active army. This is portrayed through the Punic Wars because the reason for the wars was that Rome thought Carthage was a threat. Carthage was a very powerful city in North Africa that controlled the Western Mediterranean. The Romans believed that the Carthaginians were a competitor that might take control of the Adriatic Sea and the Strait of Messina, and so therefore they fought them. It is also shown through Rome’s conquest of Macedonia. The Macedonians were helping out the Carthaginians in the Second Punic Wars, which meant that they became a threat as well. The Romans did not think twice about eliminating that threat. (history.boisestate.edu) The final reason for Rome’s many military campaigns was to gain power. Take Sulla for example. Sulla promoted the idea that is you want something done all you had  to do was threaten the senate with military power. This method allowed for him to become dictator of Rome from 82-81 BC. Julius Caesar also used the military to gain power. He had a war with his former partner, Pompey, whom he defeated in order too become more powerful. Octavian used the exact same method as his relative, Caesar. It was after this that he became Augustus, the first emperor of Rome in 27 BC. (www.roman-empire.net, www.livius.org, www.vroma.org) The Romans did not fight without a reason; the main reasons for their many military campaigns were: gaining land, protecting their own land, eliminating threats, and gaining power. The military of Rome was not only a majr part of their society and one of the strongest armies in history. They were constantly able to adapt and change in order to become more successful. (Southern, 1-2) The Punic Wars are an illustration of this. They only stood a chance against Carthage because they were able to adapt their military for sea battles. (history.boisestate.edu) **__ Bibliography __** 1. "Anthony, Octavian, Cleopatra: The End of the Republic". December 2, 2008 . 2. Berry, Dominic. "Ancient Roman Timeline". BBC. December 2, 2008 . 3. Hatzigeorgiou, Karen. December 3, 2008 . 4. Heritage History. December 2, 2008 . 5. Knox, Skip. "The Punic Wars". Boise State University. December 2, 2008 . 6. "Lucius Cornelius Sulla". December 2, 2008 . 7. Plutarch. http://www.livius.org/caa-can/caesar/caesar_t06.htm. Trans. Robin Seager. 8. Southern, Pat. __The Roman Army A Social & Institutional History__. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2006.