Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/310

 258 Outlines of European History Section 43. The Carthaginian Wars The Sicilian The Senate needed little persuasion from the wealthy mer- Carthage chants of Rome to intervene in Sicilian affairs, as the Greeks completely lost control in Sicily. The inevitable war^ saw the Roman legions steadily thrusting back the Carthaginian frontier in Sicily by 265 B.C. Carthage, as a wealthy commercial syndi- cate, having no agricultural population to furnish its soldiers, was forced to engage its troops for hire from abroad. Such troops were no match for the Roman legions, and the Carthaginians steadily lost ground. The Romans One great advantage, however, enabled them to defend fleet themselves in a last stronghold at the western end of Sicily. They were masters of the sea, while Rome had no war fleet. The Senate, like Themistocles in Athens (p. 170), at length per- ceived the difficulty. The forests of Italy furnished abundant raw material, and Roman builders were soon able to master the art of building warships. Gradually the new Roman fleet gained experience, and the outcome was the complete destruc- The Sicilian tion of Carthaginian sea power. After twenty-four years of the defeat fighting Carthage w^as forced to make peace, leaving Rome in ?24^TcT^ undisturbed possession of all Sicily (241 B.C.). For the first time Rome held territory outside of Italy, an epoch-making step from which she was never able to draw back — a step which has been compared with the act of the United States in taking Porto Rico and the Philippines. Rome de- Peace between two such rivals could only be temporary, for fc3ts the Gauls, gains the constant expansion of Roman power was a daily menace to vaUey^and Carthage. She looked in vain for some adversary who might rules all Italy humble her proud rival on the Tiber. But she was forced to see the Roman arms again triumphant as they crushed the Gauls of northern Italy, who had taken possession of the valley of the Po. Thenceforth the entire Italian peninsula to the foot 1 Commonly called the " First Punic War." " Punic " is a Latin form of the word " Phoenician," to which race the Carthaginians belonged.