This is the History of the World Podcast with me Chris Hasler and you're listening to volume three the

classical world episode 31 the late republic Episode 31, the Late Republic. Oh, When we left it

left it chronological story in episode 28 we left it in 146

B.C the year when the Romans destroyed the city of Carthage, therefore ending the mighty Carthaginian

empire which had dominated the seas of the Western Mediterranean for many centuries.

Simultaneously, the Romans were also campaigning in the Balkan Peninsula,

and after defeating the Macedonians a couple of years previous, the Romans defeated the Akeans in Corinth.

So now and very suddenly from the end of the first Punic war where the Romans had

control of the Italian peninsula and the large islands of Sicily, Bar Syracuse,

Sardinia and Corsica. The Romans would now have control over the whole of

Sicily, the former lands of Carthage in North Africa, large swathes of lands

across the Iberian Peninsula, particularly bordering the Mediterranean

coast and now the entire Balkan Peninsula. This was a time of tremendous glory for the Romans, now with

complete control of the Western Mediterranean and a significant and intimidating empire, even though we are still in the years of the Roman

Republic.

This would represent a type of golden age for the Romans with huge amounts of wealth being generated

from the areas of influence such as the Iberian and Balkan Peninsula.

The rich were getting richer.

There was a notable capitalist appetite among individuals in Rome,

but greed is not always regarded as an attractive character trait. Such was the commercial

enterprise of the Romans now that demand for things such as timber for

building projects led to deforestation in the Italian Peninsula

...