To understand why the Second Punic War  started, one must first take a look at the consequences both sides faced after the Romans defeated the Carthaginians. The Romans certainly did not take their time when it came to handing out reparations, but were fair enough to not completely bury the Carthaginians in the ground entirely. The Romans main purpose was  to make sure a type of war with this magnitude wouldn’t take place again anytime soon. The first order of business were the prisoners; there were many on both sides. Carthage was to release all Roman prisoners immediately without any bond or bail,  while on the other side the Romans agreed to release all Carthaginian prisoners who could afford to post a ransom.

Another order of business was future war endeavors for both parties. Rome made it a point for both countries to not get involved with any allies or anything that involves or provokes war in the future. It was clear that there was to be absolutely no war, under any circumstances for the foreseeable future. For many years that was the case; however, Rome wasn’t able to see just how mad Hannibal actually was. Punic advances into Spain, allowed for the Carthaginian’s to make new wealth. Trade networks were also renewed, and Carthage knew that she would be back sooner than expected.

The next order of business was money. Rome wasn’t going to let Carthage walk away without handing over a large amount of talent.  Carthage was to pay the Romans 3,200 talents over the next ten years. They also had to pay an indemnity of 1,000 talents immediately. Rome didn’t expect the Carthaginians to be able to pay the talents quickly. However, they paid it off much quicker than anticipated due to their new trade networks.

Rome wanted to flex its muscles enough that countries knew they were serious about this. Carthage was to pull their troops and evacuate from the Italian Peninsula immediately since it had lost. That wasn’t the only land that Carthage would lose. They would lose all of their troops that were in Sicily and ordered to evacuate the city as well. Finally, Rome demanded that Carthage withdraw from every small island that lies between Sicily and Africa, thus giving Rome almost the entire country back. Rome now owned the largest fleet in the Mediterranean area. Rome wanted to make sure that they would be impossible to defeat if anyone started another war with them . Ultimately, Carthage would be back and stronger than ever only several years later.

Photo Courtesy of Andrea Crisante