042: The First Punic War - The Sicilian Wrestling Ground

The Hellenistic Age Podcast

History

4.7 • 558 Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2020

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The First Punic War, lasting from 264 to 241 B.C., was the longest uninterrupted war in the ancient world, fought between the Roman Republic and the Phoenician city-state of Carthage. Exploring the origins of the conflict is essential, tracing the earliest instances of Romano-Punic relations to the intervention of Rome on the behalf of the Mamertines in 264. While the Romans may be able to hold their own in land engagements, will they be able to meet the awesome nautical power of Carthage and emerge victorious in the clash off Cape Ecnomus, the largest naval battle in the ancient world? Title Theme: Seikilos Epitapth with the Lyre of Apollo, played by Lina Palera (https://soundcloud.com/user-994392473) Show Links Website/Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2020/03/29/042-the-first-punic-war-the-sicilian-wrestling-ground/) Social Media: Twitter (https://twitter.com/HellenisticPod) Facebook (www.facebook.com/hellenisticagepodcast/) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hellenistic_age_podcast/) Discord (https://discord.gg/VJcyUcN) Show Merchandise: Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/shop/HellenisticAgePod) Donations: Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/hellenisticagepodcast) Amazon Book Wish List (https://tinyurl.com/vfw6ask)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there. You're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast. Episode 42, the First Punic War, the Sicilian Wrestling Ground In the year 276, King Pyrus of Epiottos had left behind the island of Sicily on a warship
0:32.6	in order to continue his war with the Roman Republic.
0:35.6	In one of his many failed campaigns, he had reached
0:39.2	an impasse with the Greeks of Syracuse and the Carthaginians who managed to fend off the
0:43.9	Epirot adventurers' dreams of a foreign kingdom and retain their position in Sicily. According to
0:49.3	Plutarch, in one of those many dubious anecdotes that may not be true, but might as well be,
0:55.2	Pyrrhus gazed from the stern of his ship at the island as it passed into the distance,
0:59.7	and spoke to his entourage, quote,
1:02.9	My friends, what a wrestling ground we are leaving behind us for the Romans and the Carthaginians.
1:09.4	Only 12 years later, this prophecy would manifest into reality, as the Roman Republic and the Carthaginians. Only 12 years later, this prophecy would manifest into reality,
1:13.6	as the Roman Republic and the city-state of Carthage would struggle for control of Sicily in
1:18.2	what would be known as the first of three Punic Wars. The first Punic War would be the longest
1:24.1	uninterrupted conflict in antiquity, stretching from 264 to 241, and costing
1:29.8	hundreds of thousands of lives in the process, as the two powers battled for dominance
1:34.4	in the Mediterranean.
1:36.5	Like the Peloponnesian War, the Punic Wars are unique because they are the only large-scale
1:40.9	conflicts in classical antiquity to involve states that have elected leadership
1:45.1	rather than kings or emperors, and so are immensely important not only to the immediate
1:50.2	Mediterranean and Hellenistic world, but they may provide lessons for the modern world as well.
1:56.2	In terms of our sources, we are relatively lacking when compared to the second Punic War. The Roman historian
2:02.7	Livy's account has been lost, though a summary of his writings have been recovered, and the later
2:07.1	Appian and Cassius Dio covered it to some extent or another. Thankfully, we have a very detailed
	...

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