Treaties between Rome and Carthage
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The '''treaties between Rome and Carthage''' are of fundamental importance towards understanding the relations—diplomatic and otherwise—between the two most important cities of the [[Mediterranean]] in those times. They reveal changes in how Rome perceived itself and how Carthage perceived Rome, and they unmask the difference between perception and the actual state of things. They probably represented the difference between war and peace, victory and destruction, and so influenced the course of history in the [[Mediterranean]] world.
As [[city-state]]s that became [[empire]]s, [[Rome]] and [[Carthage]] eventually found it necessary to formalise their reciprocal interests and zones of influence. For centuries the two operated side by side, even as allies. Their economic interests and methods of expansion were indeed symmetrical: Rome did not look to the sea, engaged as it was first in defending itself against the neighbouring [[Samnium|Samnites]], [[Etruscans]], [[Gauls]], and [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]], then in conquering them. [[Carthage]], lacking a real civic army and repelled in [[Sicily]] by the Greeks, appeared indecisive regarding its expansion strategy: while the aristocratic party was inclined to extend the power of the city into surrounding lands, the commercial party was more interested in exploiting trade routes and markets. All this would not suffice to stem their conflicts, but by stipulating and observing four main treaties, the relations between Rome and Carthage followed a route of reciprocal tolerance for centuries.
==Background==
===Carthage===
{{main|Carthage}}
'''Carthage''' was founded in [[814 BC]] by [[Phoenicia]]n [[Colonies in antiquity|colonists]] from [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]]. By the [[6th century BC]], the sailors and merchants of Carthage were known throughout the western Mediterranean. In the [[4th century BC]], following a series of military conquests, Carthage controlled many territories west of the gulf of [[Sirte]] in present-day [[Libya]], and also much of the coasts of [[Numidia]] and [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]]. The coasts of [[Sardinia]] and [[Corsica]] were already under Carthaginian control when the city-state attempted, in three wars between [[480 BC|480]] and [[307 BC]], to conquer [[Sicily]], but were stopped by the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]], who had already heavily colonized the island. Primarily interested in commerce, Carthage had no standing civic army, and mostly used mercenary forces composed of Libyans and [[Iberians]], augmented by mercenary [[Numidia]]n cavalry.
===Rome===
{{main|History_of_Rome}}
'''Rome''' was founded only seventy years after Carthage ([[753 BC]], following [[Varronian chronology]]). For the first several centuries of its history, Rome was involved in a lengthy series of wars with its surrounding neighbours, which resulted in the specialization of the Roman army in fighting wars on land. Moreover, the Roman economy and social structure began to incorporate the results of these wars: taking loot or tribute, redistributing conquered land, sometimes even using subjugated peoples as military allies (''[[Foederati|socii]]''). As for the maritime commerce, the Romans simply entrusted themselves to the [[Etruscans|Etruscan]] and Greek fleets.
===Commercial control===
In the [[2nd century BC]], a great line divided the commerce of the Mediterranean: the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]], [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] and [[Ionian Sea|Ionian]] seas were largely controlled by the maritime cities of the Greeks (in [[Greece]], [[Asia Minor]], and, after [[Alexander the Great]], [[Egypt]]). The western Mediterranean was the commercial zone of the Carthaginians, with the exception of the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]], in which Carthage shared the waters with the Etruscans and the Greek colonies of southern Italy.
==First treaty 509 BC==
[[Image:West Mediterranean Areas 509 BC.png|thumb|350px|right|Main areas of influence in west Mediterranean in 509 BC. Rome controls a few miles off the wall]]
The first treaty between the two city-states was formed in the year of the founding of the [[Roman Republic]], 509 BC. The dating is [[Varronian chronology|Varronian]] and is slightly different from the calculations made by [[Polybius]]. The Greek historian bases himself on the years of the [[Greco-Persian Wars|Persian expedition]] against the Greek free cities. [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]], the king of [[Persia]], crossed the [[Hellespont]] with his armies in June, 480 BC, and Polybius writes of the treaty,
:''...it is of the time of [[Lucius Junius Brutus]] and [[Marcus Horatius Pulvillus]], the first consuls [...]. These events were twenty-eight years before the passage of Xerxes into Greece. We have transcribed the most precise interpretation possible.''
:''(Polybius, Histories, III, 22)''<ref>Polybius, ''Historiae'', [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+3.23 iii. 23]</ref>
During the war with [[Ardea (RM)|Ardea]], following the overthrow of [[Tarquin the Proud]], the Republic found that it needed to secure itself and its supplies, which were controlled for the most part by Greek and especially Etruscan merchants. (The Etrsucan [[Cerveteri]] and its port of Pyrgi supplied Rome.) Rome therefore tried the support of the Carthaginians—who for their part were already operating in Cerveteri, as evidenced by votive writings found in Etruscan and Phoenician.
At the same time, Carthage was engaged in fighting the [[Greek colonies]] that had spread from Greece across the western Mediterranean. Greek cities along the coasts of southern [[Italy]] and the eastern part of [[Sicily]] limited Phoenician commerce with the populations of the interior. In [[Spain]] and [[Provence]], Carthage fought to compete with [[Phocaea]]n colonies. In Sardinia and Corsica, Carthage was joined by the Etruscans in their competition with the Phocaeans, with the result that the Phocaeans were driven out: Corsica and the Tyrrhenian became Etruscan, and Sardinia and the western half of Sicily Carthaginian (eastern Sicily would remain Greek for centuries). In 510 BC, Carthage had to fight to hold off Spartan incursions into western Sicily.
===Text===
:''Γίνονται τοιγαροῦν συνθῆκαι Ῥωμαίοις καί Καρχηδονίοις πρῶται, κατὰ Λεύκιον Ἰούνιον Βροῦτον καὶ Μάρκον Ὡράτιον, τοὺς πρώτους κατασταθέντας ὑπάτους... ταῦτα δ΄ἔστι πρότερα τῆς Ξέρξου διαβάσεως εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα τριάκοντ΄ἔτεσι λείπουσι δυεῖν. ἃς καθ ὅσον ἦν δθνατὸν ἀκριβέστατα διερμηνεύσαντες ἡμεῖς ὑπογεγράφαμεν.[...]. ἐπὶ τοῖσδε φιλίαν εἶναι Ῥωμαίοις καὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίων σύμμαχοις καὶ Καρχηδονίοις καὶ τοῖς Καρχηδονίων σύμμαχοις μὴ πλεῖν 'Ρωμαίους μηδὲ τοὺς Ῥωμαίων συμμάχους ἐπέκεινα τοῦ Καλοῦ ἀκρωτερίου, ἐὰν μὴ ὑπὸ χειμῶνος ἢ πολεμίων ἀναγχασθῶσιν ἐὰν δέ τις βίᾳ κατενεχθῇ, μὴ ἐξέστω αὐτῷ μηδὲν ἀγοράζειν μηδὲ λαμβάνειν πλὴν ὅσα πρὸς πλοίου ἐπισκευὴν ἢ πρὸς ἱερά, ἐν πέντε δ'ἡμέραις ἀποτρεχέτω. Τοῖς δὲ κατ'ἐμπορίαν παραγινομένοις μηδὲν ἔστω τέλος πλὴν ἐπὶ κήρκι ἢ γραμματεῖ. Ὅσα δ' ἂν τούτων παρόντων πραθῇ, δημοσίᾳ πίστει ὀφειλέσθω τῷ ἀποδομένῳ, ὅσα δ΄ἂν ἢ ἐν Λιβύῃ ἢ ἐν Σαρδόνι πραθῇ. Ἐὰν Ῥωμαίων τις εἰς Σικελίαν παραγίγνεται, ἧς Καρχηδονίοι ἐπάρχουσι, ἴσα ἔστω τὰ Ῥωμαίων πάντα. Καρχηδόνιοι δὲ μὴ άδικείτωσαν δῆμον Ἀρδεατῶν, Ἀντιατῶν, Λαρεντίνων, Κιρκαιιτῶν, Ταρρακινιτῶν, μηδ'ἄλλον μηδένα Λατίνων, ὅσοι ἂν ὑπήκοοι ἐὰν ὡς πολέμιοι εἰς τὴν χώραν εἰσελθῶσιν, ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ μὴ ἐννυκτερευέτωσαν.''
:''(Polybius, Histories, III, 22)''
===Conditions on Rome===
With the treaty of 509, cited by Polybius, Rome and its allies promised not to sail past Cape Bello (i.e., into the gulf of Carthage), unless driven there by storm or enemies; in any case could buy only what was necessary for repairs or religious ceremonies, and must leave again within five days. The merchants could operate in Sardinia and Africa only under the control of auctioneers to guarantee the vendor. In Carthaginian Sicily, however, Romans had the same rights as Carthaginians.
It is notable that Carthage considered Sardinia and Africa wholly its own, while specifying that they only controlled "non-Greek" Sicily.
===Conditions on Carthage===
In the treaty of 509, Carthage and its allies promised not to attack a series of settlements in [[Latium]], which were "subject to the Romans", and also not to attack the independent cities. In the case of conquest, Carthage would restore them to Rome, intact. The Carthaginians could not build fortresses in Latium and could not stay the night there.
It is also notable that Rome considered only Latium to be its territory. The treaty did not speak of [[Campania]], or more significantly of [[Etruria]].
In any case, Roman maritime commerce was nonexistent and Carthage could not even think of operating militarily in Latium, engaged as it was in a war with the Greeks: Both cities promised not to do what they weren't in a position to do anyway.
===Brief analysis===
[[Image:West Mediterranean navigation limit 509 BC.png|thumb|right|250px|Division of the area:<br>1: Area prohibited to Rome<br>2: Area tolerated in emergencies<br>3: Open waters]]
We may observe that Carthage did not renounce any military actions, except against a small territory (Latium) in which it probably had little interest anyway, and maintained a free hand for action against the Greeks and Etruscans—both of whom were militarily and economically more powerful and dangerous than Rome.
In the graphic at right, the following areas signify:
# This area was forbidden to Rome, and in fact Carthage with its navy blocked any competitive actions beyond the channel of Sicily or on the African coast.
# This area was not under such direct Carthaginian control. In fact, Greek and Etruscan mariners sailed here freely. Carthage reserved the right to refuse competition, but "magnanimously" offered the Romans shelter in case of emergencies or bad weather.
# This area was under Greek and Etruscan control, and the Romans were almost exclusively contacted by the Carthaginians for mercenary combatants.
It is worthy of note that some cities in Latium are explicitly cited. Why these and not others? It is possible to hypothesize that Carthage had made motions in these areas before. We recall that the Roman expansion, before the fall of Tarquin the Proud, was directed towards the Tyrrhenian coast to the southwest. The Roman Republic was proclaimed while Tarquin's army was fighting against Ardea.
It can be supposed that Rome, "in its smallness", wanted to formalize the exclusion of competition (i.e., Carthage) while it began pressuring the Greek sphere of influence. Otherwise, the contrast of this diplomacy with the war against Ardea would not be so pronounced, nor would it make sense to specifically exclude Carthaginian fortresses.
[[Titus Livy]] reported:
:''Cum Graecis a Camillo nulla memorabilis gesta res; nec illi tera, nec romano mari bellator erat. [...] Cuius populi ea cuiusque gentis classis fuerit nihil certi est. Maxime Siciliae fuisse tyrannos crederim...''
:''(Titus Livy, History of Rome from its foundation (Ab Urbe condita libri), VII, 26)''
:''Et cum carthaginiensibus legatis romae foedus ictum, cum amicitiam et societatem petentes venissent''
:''(Titus Livy, History of Rome from its foundation (Ab Urbe condita libri), VII, 27)''
==Second treaty 348 BC==
:''ἐπὶ τοῖσδε φιλίαν εἶναι Ῥωμαίοις καὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίων συμμάχοις καὶ Καρχηδονίων καὶ Τυρίων καὶ Ἰτυκαίων δήμῳ καὶ τοῖς τούτων συμμάχοις. τοῦ Καλοῦ ἀκρωτηρίου, Μαστίας Ταρσηίου, μὴ λῄζεσθαι ἐπέκεινα Ῥωμαίουω μηδ' ἐμπορεύεσθαι μηδὲ πόλιν τινὰ μὴ οὖσαν ὑπήκοον Ῥωμαίοις, τὰ χρήματα καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐχέτωσαν, τὴν δὲ πόλιν άποδιδότωσαν. ἐὰν δέ τινες Καρχηδονίων λάβωσί τινας, πρὸς οὓς εἰρήνη μέν ἐστιν ἔγγραπτος Ῥωμαίοις, μὴ ὑποτάττονται δέ τι αὐτοῖς, μὴ καταγέτωσαν εἰς τοὺς Ῥωμαίων λιμένας, ἐὰν δὲ καταχθέντος ἐπιλάβηται ὁ Ῥωμαίοις, ἀφιέσθω. ὡσαύτως δὲ μηδ᾿ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι ποιείτωσαν. Ἂν ἔκ τινος χώρας, ἧς Καρχηδόνιοι ἐπάρχουσιν, ὕδωρ ἢ ἐφόδια λάβῃ ὁ Ῥωμαῖος, μετὰ τούτων τῶν ἐφοδίων μὴ ἀδικείτω μηδένα πρὸς οὓς εἰρήνη καὶ φιλία ἐστὶ Καρκηδονίοις. ὡσαύτως δὲ μηδ᾿ ὁ Καρκηδόνιος ποιείτω. εἰ δέ, μὴ ἰδίᾳ μεταπορευέσθω. ἐὰν δέ τις τοῦτο ποιήσῃ, δημόσιον γινέσθω τὸ ἀδίκημα. Ἐν Σαρδόνι καὶ Λιβύῃ μηδεὶς Ῥωμαίων μήτ᾿ ἐμπορευέσθω μήτε πόλιν κτιζέτω, (...) εἰ μὴ ἕως τοῦ ἐφόδια λαβεῖν ἢ πλοῖον ἐπισκευάσαι. ἐὰν δὲ χειμὼν κατενέγχῃ, ἐν πένθ᾿ ἡμέραις ἀποτρεχέτω. Ἐν Σικελίᾳ ἧς Καρχηδόνιοι ἐπάρχουσι καὶ ἐν Καρχηδόνι πάντα καὶ ποιείτω καὶ πωλείτω ὅσα καὶ τῷ πολίτῃ ἔξεστιν. ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ὁ Καρχηδόνιος ποιείτω ἐν Ῥώμῃ.''
:''(Polybius, Histories, III, 24)''
[[Image:West Mediterranean Areas 348 BC.png|thumb|350px|right|Carthage doesn't improve. The Etruscans are under attack from Rome and Gauls]]
It tried, in practice, to copy the first treaty, with the addition of some cities. For their part, the Carthaginians added [[Tyre]] and [[Utica]], while promising not to attack the coastal cities of Latium that had allied themselves with Rome. Did it succeed? Why did the two cities feel it necessary to repeat what had already been said?
* Rome: after 150 years, it had conquered a good part of Etruria, eliminated [[Veii]], and repelled the Gallic invasion of 390 BC, although it felt threatened by the second invasion of 360 BC. Above all, Rome had been and still was shaken by internal fights, the greater part between the patricians and the plebeians for access to public office and therefore to political activity and the management of land and spoils of the incessant wars. By necessity or by choice, Rome was fighting against the populations of the [[Hernici|Ernici]], the [[Volsci]], the [[Tiburtini]], and the omnipresent Etruscans, and was preparing to do the same with the [[Samnites]], who were coming down from the mountains to raid rich Campania, which Rome also desired.
* In Sicily and in southern Italy, where [[Dionysius I of Syracuse|Dionysis the Great]] had created the beginnings of a unified state, [[Dionysius II of Syracuse|Dionysius the Younger]], his son, tried to enlarge his inheritance, but met with resistance from other Greek forces. A flurry of alliances, including some with the Carthaginians, led to the disintegration of Dionysius's power, and his deposition in 345 BC. Taranto, which had been left out of the fighting, grew in power, and other forces arrived from Greece. Into these struggles, Rome began to insert itself.
* Carthage, after having closed the war with the Cyrenaicans, which stabilized the eastern boundary of the Phoenician territory, was always at war with the Greeks, and in particular with Syracuse, for control of Sicily. It was also in conflict with the Etruscans, who, blocked by the Gauls from northern Italy, and by the Romans from Latium, applied themselves aggressively to the Tyrrhenian Sea to control traffic there.
===Brief analysis===
Obviously Carthage should have watched Rome as a possible adversary, which had resisted invasion and in war was proving itself potentially dangerous, as well as in relation to the large territory it already controlled; larger—if not richer—than its perennial rival Syracuse. Moreover, the fact of obtaining the possibility for the Phoenician merchants of operating in Rome shows how Carthage did not fear commercial competition from Rome, and that it could operate it own territories while the nascent Italian power was becoming a potential client and should be put under its political control.
It is probably to the credit of Carthaginian diplomacy, therefore, that the revision to the 509 treaty imposed additional restrictions on Rome, written at a time when it was heavily engaged in military (and therefore financial) obligations. Another item of interest is the prohibition against Rome's founding of cities. This did not appear in the first treaty, and shows that Carthage may have caught on to the method of Roman expansion. Commerce did not interest Rome as much as the control and exploitation of its territory. If an area was deserted it would be substantially occupied; if the area was inhabited, it would be conquered and forced to pay in assets and troops, and eventually to accept Roman or Latin colonies. This was probably foreign to the commercial mentality of the Carthaginians in 509 BC, who founded colonies almost exclusively to support warehouses.
==Third treaty 306 BC==
[[Image:West Mediterranean Areas 306 BC.png|thumb|350px|right|Carthage operates in Sicily without success. Samnites Wars for Rome]]
In 306 BC was stipulated the third treaty between Rome and Carthage. Polybius claims that this treaty never existed but was a forgery of the pro-carthagininan historian Philinus.<ref> Polybius, ''Historiae'', [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234&layout=&loc=3.26 iii.26]</ref> But, if we follow Philinus, Rome agreed not to enter Sicily, while Carthage agreed not to set foot on the peninsula. This would seem to imply Rome's inferior condition, as the stipulations on Carthage did not change—whereas for Rome, which before had traded under equal conditions, now found itself shut out of the Sicilian market.
There is some debate on the whole as to whether this treaty existed at all. However, recent research suggests that such a treaty did in fact exist.<ref>Classical Quarterly, volume 56, ''Neptun's Altars:The Treaties between Rome and Carthage'', 2006</ref>. Since Polybius did not believe in it we do not have the actual text; therefore we can only speculate as to the condtions laid out in it.
Viewed differently, Rome may have been trying to limit the fronts it had to address while fighting the [[Samnites]], and to prevent any future alliances between the Carthaginians and Etruscans while it fought on the mainland. In fact, Rome, which had in this period put under its control the better part of southern Etruria and the territory of Campania, was in the middle of its wars with the Samnites. Begun in 343 BC, these would not be concluded until 290, and had become, moreover, a global revolt of the populations of Latium and Etruria trying to escape Roman domination.
Carthage, for its part, had to be feeling the convulsions currently sweeping the eastern Mediterranean. In June of 323 BC, Alexander the Great died. The territory he had conquered had become the battleground of the [[Diadochi]], the generals of the Macedonian army, who were now trying to divide its spoils. Egypt, Greece, Macedonia, Asia Minor, and Syria were involved in incessant wars that threatened peaceful trade. In 316 BC, moreover, [[Agathocles]] came to the throne of [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]] and began a campaign to rid Sicily of the Carthaginians. In 311 BC, having been defeated in Sicily, he carried the war to Africa, and in the following year allied himself with [[Cyrenaica]].
Carthage, which had tried to dominate the whole of the western Mediterranean, may now have found it necessary to protect itself with an increasingly powerful Rome. In 303 BC, in fact, Rome and Taranto concluded a treaty that fixed the limits of Roman navigation at the Lacine promontory (see [[Capo Colonna]]) and already by 306 Rome had come to an agreement with [[Rhodes]], another city undergoing strong commercial expansion.
==Fourth treaty 279 BC==
[[Image:West Mediterranean Areas 279 BC.png|thumb|350px|right|Rome controls almost the whole Italian Peninsula. Rome and Carthage, in direct competition]]
Between the first and second treaties, 161 years passed. Between the second and third treaties, 42 years. Between the third and fourth, only 27. The fourth treaty between Rome and Carthage was formalized in 279 BC. What had happened to force the two city-states into a new treaty?
===Taranto===
In 290 BC, the Samnite Wars officially ended. The actions of Rome in its territory had reduced the pressure of the Italic populations on the Greek cities in southern Italy, and in particular [[Taranto]]. Syracuse remained at war with Carthage and—after the death of Agathocles—was further involved in civil war. The Italics were attacked by the Roman legions. Taranto was experiencing a period of splendour and expansion, even to the point of limiting Roman maritime traffic in the 303 treaty. Rome proved a remarkably hard enemy, however, as they had demonstrated against the Samnites. In 282 BC, a squadron of ten Roman ships appeared in Tarantine waters, violating the treaty, but they were destroyed or forced to escape. When a Roman delegation was sent to request restitution for the ships and captured prisoners, it was insulted. War inevitably began in 281 BC. The Tarantines at first tried to form an anti-Roman league with the Italic populations, but it was considered to be insufficient, and thus they requested the assistance of [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]].
===Pyrrhus===
[[Image:Pyrrhus.jpg|thumb|left|140px|Pyrrhus, king of Epirus]]
In 280 BC, Pyrrhus was 39. He had been held hostage in Egypt by [[Cassander]] of Macedonia, was seated on the throne of Epirus in 297 BC by [[Ptolemy I]] Soter. Two years later, he married the daughter of Agathocles of Syracuse, Lanossa, who brought as a dowry Leucade and Corcira. This marriage proved decisive.
In 280 BC, Pyrrhus was called into Italy by Taranto, which was succumbing to the Roman legions. He arrived with an army of 25,000 men and 20 elephants, presenting himself as the champion of Greece against the advance of the Italic barbarians. Pyrrhus' attack on Rome was, initially, heralded as a success: the [[Battle of Heraclea]] in [[Lucania]] against the legions under [[Publius Valerius Levinus]] was won thanks to the use of elephants, which the Romans had never seen. It is quite probable that the sudden appearance of a Carthaginian fleet at the Roman port of [[Ostia Antica (archaeological site)|Ostia]] at this time forced the Romans to remember the presence of the important Phoenician city.
In 279 BC, a second great battle, the [[Battle of Asculum]], at [[Ascoli Satriano]], seen as a victory by the Epirean king over the forces of the consuls [[Publius Supilcius]] and [[Decius Mus]]. This battle, however, exacted heavy losses on the victor—so great that it became the original "[[Pyrrhic victory]]". After this, Pyrrhus returned to Taranto.
===Carthage===
Syracuse, trying to change its lot, and taking advantage of the fact that Pyrrhus had married Agathocles' daughter, offered him the crown of Sicily in exchange for helping them throw off the Carthaginians. Pyrrhus accepted, partly to leave the peninsula and avoid the Romans. Pyrrhus landed in Sicily, initially successful in pushing the Carthaginians to the Lilibeo. These manoeuvres by Syracuse and Pyrrhus prompted Carthage to move against Rome, and thus they signed the fourth treaty.
:''Ἐν αἷς τὰ μὲ ἄλλα τηροῦσι πάντα κατὰ τὰς ὑπαρχούσας ὁμολογίας, πρόσχειται δὲ τούτοις τὰ ὑπογεγραμμένα. Ἐὰν συμμαχίαν ποιῶνται πρὸς Πύρρον ἔγγραπτον ποιείσθωσαν ἀμφότεροι, ἵνα ἐξῇ βοηθεῖν ἀλλήλοις ἐν τῇ τῶν πολεμουμένων χώρᾳ, ὁπότεροι δ᾿ ἂν χρείαν ἔχωσι τῆς βοηθείας, τὰ πλοῖα παρεχέτωσαν Καρκηδόνιοι καὶ εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν ἄφοδον, τὰ δὲ ὀψώνια τοῖς αὑτῶν ἑκάτεροι. Καρκηδόνιοι δὲ καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν Ῥωμαίοις βοηθείτωσαν, ἂν χρεία ᾖ. Τὰ δὲ πληρώματα μηδεὶς ἀναγχαζέτω ἐκβαίνειν ἀκουσίως.''
:''(Polybius, Histories, III, 25)''
===Brief analysis===
An improvement in Rome's condition soon followed, an acknowledgement of its increased military and economic power, while Carthage showed a greater weakness, probably the result of its difficulties in Sicily. Or so it appeared. Carthage "conceded" to Rome an equal role. Polybius notes that Pyrrhus was explicitly cited, and the two parties would not only not deal with him, but would form an alliance in case of attack on their respective territories.
It was an evident attempt by Carthage to drag Rome into a land war in Sicily, having seen that Rome had already fought Pyrrhus to a standstill. The Carthaginians would supply ships for the transport of troops, and would pay the cost of supplies and cargo, but would not commit their forces to land.
This in particular is an important point: ships could not carry many additional passengers, and generals (like [[Publius Cornelius Scipio]] against the Carthaginians themselves, years later in Spain) commonly used the sailors alongside the soldiers when it came time for battle. The help of the Carthaginian navy that was offered against Pyrrhus, was, therefore, consistent. The Phoenicians, evidently, thought of having to fight the Epireans and Greeks only in Sicily on land; sailors were too valuable to waste in combat. But, more than anything, the sailors were Carthaginian, while the larger part of the Carthaginian land forces were mercenaries. In Carthage's view, probably, Rome was nothing more than a source of troops at a good price.
===Various effects===
The two cities were not technically obliged to come to the aid of the other. However, it seems clear that Carthage was attempting to force Rome to bring assistance. Especially in the case of land war, where Carthage felt itself less capable. It also appears clear that Carthage failed to recognize Rome's determination to grow: in the eyes of the Carthaginians, the Romans must have seemed similar to the mercenaries that they and Greeks used in their incessant wars.
In fact, it may have been this very treaty that led the Romans to understand their capacity for development: the importance and the power of the Republic and, above all, the true limits of the power of Carthage. If Rome had ever had an inferiority complex with respect to Carthage, they certainly did not now. Having now defeated Pyrrhus (who in his turn had defeated the Carthaginians), Rome needed only to extend its reach to conquer rich Sicily, with its grain reserves.
In 275 BC, after the defeat of Maleventum ([[Beneventum]]), Pyrrhus returned definitively to Epirus. Rome was left master of the entire Italian peninsula south of the Tusco-Emilian [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]]. Rome was also left in close contact with Greek culture, close to mastery of shipbuilding and management, and aware of the power of its legions: aware of the possibility of expansion.
Fifteen years later, in 264 BC, the [[First Punic war]] began.
==See also==
* [[Rome]]
* [[Carthage]]
* The [[Punic Wars]], specifically, the [[First Punic War]]
* [[Ancient Greece]]
** [[Magna Graecia]]
** [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]]
** [[Alexander the Great]]
==Notes==
<references />
[[Category:Punic Wars]]
[[Category:Treaties of ancient Rome]]
{{Link FA|it}}
[[es:Tratados entre Roma y Cartago]]
[[it:Trattati Roma-Cartagine]]