First Punic WarThe First Punic War was fought entirely on the island of Sicily, starting in the city of [Messana] and in the seas surrounding the island between Rome and Carthage in 264BC. Roman and Carthaginian navies clashed in battles, and for the first time, the dominant Carthaginian navy lost battles to the Romans. The Romans, in many respects, were incredibly lucky in this war. The majority of the First Punic War was fought on the seas, and Romans previously had no experience in having or fighting with a navy. However, the defeat of the Carthaginian navy by the Romans opened the seas around Sicily for the Romans to sail to Africa and directly attack Carthage. However, Roman attempts failed, and the majority of Roman resources remained on the island of Sicily. Fleets, every year of the war, had from 100-200 ships on either side. Land battles were fought in Corsica, Sardinia, Africa, and Sicily, and armies were consistently kept at about 50,000-70,000 men. The First Punic War ended in 241BC, and if anybody actually won the war is a source of debate. Some historians have said the First Punic War ended in a draw because neither Rome or Carthage could be considered winners. Both sides lost tremendous amounts of people and supplies. However, others, more justly, have felt that Rome won this first conflict, despite the weakness of the Roman empire in a conflict (because having a new batch of officials and generals elected every year did not always prove to be an effective means of government). A treaty was signed between the two city-states, and the Romans, in all reality, fared better than the Carthaginians. In the treaty, Carthage gave up Sicily and paid the Romans compensation for the cost of the war. The acquisition of Sicily was one of the first provinces in the creation of the Roman Empire, and also showed Romans to fight a better sea battle and have a massive-scale war. From the First Punic War, Rome became a viable power in the [Mediterranean]. During the chaos that remained after the war, Rome took over the island of Corsica in 238BC. This moved was considered illogical by even Roman scholars, but Rome chose to take the island to create more breathing space between them and Carthage, because Romans did fear Carthaginian power. In response, the Carthaginians began to extend their influence further in the Iberian peninsula. Slowly but surely, more conflict between the two city-states occurred, eventually launching Second Punic War. Second Punic War See also Punic Wars | 