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SUBJECT: Ancient History
Weekly Subject: Roman History
GRADE: High School
DATE: (Insert)
Two ancient powerhouses, Rome and Carthage, had had parallel ascents to power. Carthage began as a Phoenician colony in modern Tunisia and rose to dominate the western Mediterranean, while Rome’s similar meteoric rise in Italy sent the two on a collision course for control of the region. The three Punic Wars fought between them saw Carthage topple from its pinnacle to a ruined city destroyed by Rome within a century. Why?
Carthage’s empire was forged on the sea while Rome had not thought much of the water beyond the inland rivers of Italy. How then, could a hitherto landlocked power triumph over the naval master of the western Mediterranean in a mere twenty years? There must have been something in Roman society itself because the Romans consistently rise to meet a new challenge head on. How and why are the Romans so able in overcoming technological infancy and military disaster to triumph over their rival? Why could not the Carthaginians reciprocate Rome’s successes?
- By unit’s end students will have an understanding of the Roman republican system of
government as well as that of ancient Carthage. - They will understand and appreciate the differences between these two ancient societies and contextualize their imperial policies within the Mediterranean of the third and second centuries BCE.
- Become familiar with the political & religious developments of this period
- Trace the cause & effect of political developments in the ancient world &, by extension, in the modern world
- Observe the timelessness of human relations & the similarities of man’s responses to the conditions in which he finds himself across time periods
- Identify the periods of ancient history & major characters of the period
- Become familiar with the map of the ancient world & the seeds of modern conflicts
- Monday: The Rise of Rome – This lesson serves as a precursor to the four that follow. Setting the stage for the Punic Wars (1st and 2nd), and tension with Carthage, this lesson offers prerequisite information necessary for students to contextualize the animosity between the two peoples as well as explain the basic workings of the Roman society.
- Tuesday:The First Punic War – With a stalemate on Sicilian land, the First Punic War would be decided at sea. The Carthaginians, notorious for their sea-faring abilities wouldn’t stand a chance against the Roman fleet, still in infancy. But one battle won does not a war end.
- Wednesday: Hannibal Barca – A boy who wore at the sacrificial altar never the befriend the Roman foe, grew into a man whose every breath seemed to embody that promise. General of the Carthaginian army, like his father before him, Hannibal defeated the Romans one battle at a time, intending not to merely beat them – but end them.
- Thursday: Quintus Fabius Maximus – Nicknamed “the lamb” this Roman leader took a different approach to war. While Hannibal and his men wandered across Italian land, looting and killing – Maximus sought a new tactic – one that greatly resembled pacifism – but only to Hannibal’s army. In reality, waiting out the warmongering General Barca was merely a sleight of hand. he man.
- Friday: The Second Punic War – While Hannibal’s army tramped through Italy, Rome moved secretly in other directions. Those directions were Carthaginian colonies. Wars raged for over a century between the two empires, but here we will see its dramatic end – with Rome standing over Carthage, crumbling in ruin.
- Unit summaries on hunt the past.com. These units to be utilized at teacher’s discretion:
- Books, particularly primary sources, such as histories, particularly Polybius.
- Videos, books, images, activities, and maps provided by hunt the past, as well as any the instructor may deem appropriate are to be utilized as teaching aids.
- RESOURCES
- Primary Sources
Poly. 6.11-14, 3.9.6-11.7, 3.87, 3.11, 3.20.8-10, 3.56.2, 19.3, 3.117, 6.22-23
Pugna…magni victi sumus. Liv. 21.3, 21.38.2, 27.49, 22.8, 34.60, 21.4, 8.8.9-13, 22.7.7
Plut. Fab. 1.3-4.
Polyb. 1.20. Trans. Robin Waterfield. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 19, 1.10-11, 1.23, 1.20
Machiavelli, Niccolo. Discourses on Livy, 1.4, trans. Julia Conway Bondanella and Peter Bondanella. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 29.
Veg. De Re Militari. 1.20;
Inde rem ad triarios redisse. ‘To have come to the triarii.’ Liv. 8.8.11. - Secondary Sources
Aubet, Maria E. The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies, and Trade. Second Edition.
Translated by Mary Turton. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 226 – 228;
Pilkington, Nathan. The Carthaginian Empire: 550 – 202 BCE. (London: Lexington Books, 2019), 110-115.
Crawford, Michael H. The Roman Republic. Second Edition. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992), 22 – 30.
Goldsworthy, Adrian. The Fall of Carthage. (London: Phoenix, 2006), 84-92, 106-9, 146 – 7, 310-16.Lazenby, John F. Hannibal’s War: a Military History of the Second Punic War. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998), 19-32.
Brand, Steele. Killing for the Republic: Citizen Soldiers and the Roman War of War. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019), 51 – 56, 86-92.
Fonda, Michael P. Between Rome and Carthage: Southern Italy during the Second Punic War. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 34 – 37.
Liddell Hart, B.H. Strategy. Second Revised Edition. (New York: Meridian, 1991), 26 – 29.
Lendon. J. E. Soldiers and Ghosts: a History of Battle in Classical Antiquity. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 178 – 181.
- Students will gain an appreciation of ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic, their societies, and military systems.
- Come to understand the nature of competition among emergent empires, especially how geography and sea power can affect the outcomes of conflict.
- Appreciate the capabilities of commanders like Hannibal and Fabius Maximus in harnessing their resources to their fullest affect. Also, come to understand the limitations of even the finest generals in times of war; the difficulties they face, and some reasons why they either emerge victorious or are humbled by defeat.
- Realize, definitively, that Rome’s rise was not assured. The Romans had to fight there way to the top and in so doing overcame disasters that should have broken them.
- And finally, understand some of the origins of US republicanism in the Republic of Rome, whose checks and balanced system of government across three branches provided far greater political and social stability than many of its neighbors.
- Assessment Questions
- Furthering the Lesson: Suggested Reading
- Furthering the Lesson: Videos
- Furthering the Lesson: Suggested Websites
- Furthering the Lesson: Related or Similar Units
- Reflect, Close, & Preface to Next Unit
This lesson plan was written so teachers can print the first few pages and send that to the parents for them to start up conversations at home, while the bottom half is more for teachers only. We want the teachers to have the ability to send a premarked portion home to the parents to spur interesting and engaging conversations beyond the classroom and into the home as well.