Sicily and the Romans

A Roman province known as Sicily served a level of high importance for the Romans. It was an island south of the Italian peninsula that acted as the empire's granary. An attempt was made during the rule of Emperor Augustus to introduce the Latin Language to the island, but the people of Sicily were allowed to remain largely Greek in culture. A question naturally arises: how did the Romans gain and maintain power over the people and territory of Sicily? Answers may be found in a study of the Punic Wars between the Romans and the North African city called Carthage.

The First Punic War (264–241 BCE) was fought partly on land in Sicily and North Africa. Tensions escalated between the two for control of the island. After the Romans defeated the army of Carthage at the island city called Agrigentum in 262 BCE, the Carthaginian leadership decided to avoid further direct land-based engagements with Roman legions, and focus on the sea where they believed Carthage's large navy had the advantage. At first the Carthaginian navy prevailed. In 260 BC they defeated anunderdeveloped Roman navy at the Battle of the Lipari Islands. Rome responded by greatly enlarging its navy in a short time. Within two months the Romans had a fleet of over one hundred warships. Because they knew that they could not defeat the Carthaginians in the traditional tactics of ramming and sinking enemy ships, the Romans added a device to their ships called the corvus. This device was an assault bridge attached to ships. The hinged bridge would swing onto enemy vessels with a sharp spike and stop them. Roman soldiers could board the enemy ships and capture them. This innovative tactic reduced the Carthaginian navy's advantage in ship-to-ship engagements, and allowed Roman leaders to use their superior infantry during naval conflicts. The corvus was cumbersome and dangerous, and was eventually phased out as the Roman navy became more experienced. The First Punic War was a nearly unbroken string of Roman victories. In 241 BCE, Carthage signed a peace treaty under the terms of which they evacuated Sicily.

The Second Punic War (218 BC – 201 BCE) is well known because of the Carthaginianleader Hannibal. The Roman army fought Hannibal in Italy, Hispania (a Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula), and Sicily. Carthage again tried to take Sicily from the Roman Republic. Eventually, the war was taken to Africa, where Carthage was defeated in the Battle of Zama (201 BCE). The end of this war saw Carthage's control reduced to only the city itself. The Roman consul M. Valerian told the Senate of Rome in 210 BCE, "No Carthaginian remains in Sicily."

The last conflict between Carthage and Rome was the Third Punic War (149–146 BCE). There was a siege of the city of Carthage that ended with complete destruction of the city. Under the command of General Scipio Aemilianus,Romans conducted a three-year siege before he breached the walls, sacked the city, and burned Carthage to the ground in 146 BCE. The city was systematically burned for 17 days. The remaining Carthaginian territories were annexed by Rome and turned into the Roman province of Africa.