The Influence of Sea Power on the Punic Wars

Abstract

European history, and likewise, that of Western Civilization, is inextricably bound in Greco-Roman tradition. This is primarily due to two series of events. First is the Greco-Persian War, appropriately titled "The Battle for the West" by historian Ernle Bradford, in which the Greek victory over King Xerxes of the Persians firmly established the place of Greece in the history of the Occident. The second was the Punic Wars, a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage which saw the emergence and permanence of Roman tradition in Western Civilization. This discussion will focus on the least-appreciated aspect of the conflict between Rome and Carthage, the influence of sea power on an essentially land-based war, the Second Punic War. Despite this, we will discuss the First Punic War, as its result is a key factor in influencing the outcome of the Second Punic War. To briefly introduce the historical context, the First Punic War was a series of naval battles fought for the control of Sicily from 264-241 B.C. The Second Punic War, on the other hand, was essentially a series of campaigns on land, from 218-201 B.C., with little overt significance of naval matters. The Third Punic War was a uneven match fought between 149-146 B.C. that saw the ultimate destruction of Carthage.Given the fact that the Second Punic War was a land-based war fought primarily in Spain and the Italian peninsula, it might seem peculiar to suggest that sea power was a primary, if not the decisive factor in determining the outcome of the war. As Boris Rankov notes,"[t]he war at sea has to a certain extent been seen as a sideshow," and thus it is not surprising to see little historical attention paid to the influence of sea power in this second engagement between Rome and Carthage from 218-201 B.C. Likewise, the military geniuses Hannibal and Scipio Africanus and the historic land battles in which their armies fought overshadow the significance of the decisive role of sea power. This paper will seek to explain how the outcome of the First Punic War, which resulted in decisive Roman sea power, played an important role in the Second Punic War. Roman command of the seas thus gave it an important tool in terms of a "competitive advantage" against Carthage. The concept of competitive advantage, as an analytic tool used as a means of understanding the war's outcome, will be briefly discussed. Furthermore, this paper will then seek to demonstrate that Rome's survival was due to the exploitation of this competitive advantage. Finally, it will conclude that Roman sea power was in fact the decisive factor in rendering the outcome of the Second Punic War.