The War Rome Should Have Lost: The Conflict that Destroyed Carthage and Made Rome an Empire

The Epic Struggle for Supremacy in the Ancient World

“In other words, what we know for sure is entirely limited, and all the rest is basically opinion.”
— Robert L. O’Connell

If you visit southern Italy today, you will find luscious farmland spreading throughout the peninsula. Occasionally, small towns dot the countryside, with major cities appearing every so often. A simple life awaits those who still till the fields, growing grapes, figs, tomatoes, lemons, and oranges to be shipped to major cities, bringing profit to local farmers. This diversity of goods has evolved over time, influenced by climate change and the introduction of new crops. Southern Italy has always been profitable to those who knew how to make it so.

Italy was a collection of states before its unification in 1861. Many attempted to rule the entire peninsula but failed due to strong regional ties. For the last 1300 years of its history, many kingdoms ruled different areas, each with strong cultural ties. Few, since the Roman Empire, have unified the north and south, with Rome being the first to do so.

Rome started to expand early in its history. Livy, a writer of the 1st century, explains how the Romans fought…