Quick administrative note here, before we get started. I have realized that my episode numbering system has gotten off a bit. My numbers haven’t been matching the number assigned by the podcast apps. So last episode, which I called episode 15, was numbered 16 by the apps. So in this episode, I’ve corrected that, and from now on, the episode numbers should match. Sorry about that! Rookie mistake.
Anyway, back to Rome.
Throughout Roman history, from the early days of the republic to the last days of the empire, Rome was threatened by barbarian tribes. They came marching down from northern Europe every couple of hundred years, and occasionally captured and burned Rome. But Rome’s biggest threat was not the barbarians, at least, not until the very end. At the height of the strength of the Roman Republic, Rome faced their most dangerous threat, and also suffered their very worst, and most embarrassing, military defeats. That threat was the city of Carthage, and especially their great general, Hannibal.
The Romans called the wars with Carthage the Punic Wars, because the Carthaginians were descended from the Phoenicians, and the Latin word for Phoenicians and Carthaginians as a people is ‘Punicus.’ So therefore, the Punic wars. There were 3 Punic wars, but it was the Second Punic War that was the real threat to Rome.