Hello and welcome to the history of Rome.

Episode 19, Prelude to the First Punic War.

When we last left the Romans, they had driven King Pierce back to Greece and secured complete

control of the Italian peninsula.

As you may recall, Pierce, exhausted from his battles with the Romans, had briefly moved

to his army to Sicily, where he attempted to establish a kingdom for himself.

He found allies among the Greek colonies on the eastern half of the island, but found

enemies amongst the Carthaginians who had settled the western half.

Pierce had been successful in Sicily, but was never able to completely dislodge the

Carthaginians from the island.

He had every intention of widening his war by invading Africa, but a near revolt by

his Sicilian Greek allies caused him to instead abandon Sicily altogether.

As he sailed away, Pierce made a prescient comment, the veracity of which is dubious, like every

other direct quote from the ancient world, but is worth relaying.

The Greek king, a veteran of the post-Alexandrian, dynastic struggles of the eastern Mediterranean,

knew an inevitable great power confrontation when he saw one.

Italy lay equidistant between Roman Carthage, and was too rich not to be coveted by both.

So, while watching the island recede in the distance, he said, what a field we are leaving

for the Romans and Carthaginians to exercise their arms.

Ten years after sailing from Italy for good, Pierce's prediction bore out, and the two

great powers, Roman Carthage, were at war in Sicily.

But before we get too far into this, we should address the question of who the Carthaginians

...