Wikipedia:Featured topics/Punic Wars

The Punic Wars were a series of three wars between 264 and 146BC fought by the states of Rome and Carthage. All three were won by Rome. The First Punic War broke out in Sicily in 264BC and lasted 23 years, until 241BC, when after immense materiel and human losses on both sides the Carthaginians were defeated. The end of the war sparked a major but unsuccessful four-year-long revolt within the Carthaginian Empire known as the Mercenary War. The Second Punic War began in 218BC and witnessed Hannibal's crossing of the Alps and invasion of mainland Italy. The successful Roman invasion of the Carthaginian homeland in Africa in 204BC led to Hannibal's recall and to Carthage suing for peace after 17 years of war. Carthage ceased to be a military threat but Rome contrived a justification to declare war again in 149BC in the Third Punic War. The Romans stormed the city of Carthage in 146BC, sacked it, slaughtered, or enslaved most of its population and completely demolished it.