Alliance between Rome and Carthage

Justin wrote that in 279 BC the Carthaginians were worried that Pyrrhus might get involved in Sicily, where they had possessions in the west of the island, to help the Greek cities in eastern and southern Sicily against them. There had been reports that the Sicilian Greeks had asked him for his assistance. Justin wrote that Mago, a Carthaginian commander was sent the port of Rome with 120 ships and met the RomanThe Roman Republic was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire, Rome's control rapidly expanded during this period - from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.Roman senate to offer help. The senate declined the assistance. The Carthaginians, who were hoping that war with Rome would prevent Pyrrhus from going to Sicily, were worried about Pyrrhus putting the Romans in distress. A few days later Mago went to meet Pyrrhus privately, "as if to be a peace-maker from the people of Carthage, but in reality to discover the king's views with regard to Sicily, to which island it was reported that he was sent for." Justin placed these events before Gaius Fabricius' embassy to Pyrrhus and Cineas' trip to Rome.

Polybius discovered the documents of a series of treaties between Rome and Carthage in a library in Rome. One of them, the fourth one, was against Pyrrhus. It stipulated that: "If they make an alliance with Pyrrhus, both shall make it an express condition that they may go to the help of each other in whichever country is attacked. No matter which require help, the Carthaginians are to provide the ships for transport and hostilities, but each country shall provide the pay for its own men. The Carthaginians, if necessary, shall come to the help of the Romans by sea too, but no one shall compel the crews to land against their will." Livy's Periochae placed the conclusion of this treaty after the Battle of Asculum.

The two parties collaborated in only one instance. There was no Roman assistance when Pyrrhus campaigned in Sicily and no Carthaginian assistance when Pyrrhus returned to Italy. Diodorus Siculus wrote that after making the alliance and before Pyrrhus' crossing from Italy to Sicily, the Carthaginians took 500 Roman legionaries on board their ships and sailed across to Rhegium (presumably from Sicily). They besieged the rebel Roman garrison which had seized the city, but gave the siege up, but not before setting fire to some timber which had been gathered for shipbuilding. They remained and kept a watch on the narrow Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily, looking out for any attempt by Pyrrhus to cross it. This must have been the first action against the rebel Roman garrison at Rhegium. The consul Gaius Fabricius Luscinus eventually defeated the garrison and restored the city to its people.

• Outline of the Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC)
  

  HISTORIC BATTLES

  Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC)

  The Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC) was a war Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, in Greece, fought in southern Italy and Sicily. Pyrrhus was asked by the people of the Greek city of Tarentum in southern Italy to go to Italy to help them in their war with the Roman Republic. View Historic Battle »

  Background: Rome had become the dominant power. Rome's concerns were still restricted to Italy and she had never been involved in the larger international affairs of the Mediterranean, nor pitted its military strength against any of the Hellenistic states in the eastern Mediterranean.

  Tarentum asks Pyrrhus for help: They brought gifts and claimed if he went to Italy he would find a force of 50,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry gathered from Tarentum, Messapia, Lucania and Samnium. This got Pyrrhus excited and made the Epirotes eager to fight in Italy.

  Battle of Heraclea (280 BC) and subsequent negotiations: Pyrrhus had not yet been joined by his allies and took to the field with his forces. He set up his camp on the plain between the cities of Pandosia and Heracleia.

  Battle of Asculum (279 BC): The Romans came upon him near Asculum and encamped opposite him. The two sides avoided each other for several days.

  Alliance between Rome and Carthage: The Carthaginians were worried that Pyrrhus might get involved in Sicily, where they had possessions in the west of the island, to help the Greek cities in eastern and southern Sicily against them.

  Sicilian campaign (278-75 BC): Pyrrhus went to Sicily and took the leadership of the Greek cities of eastern and southern Sicily in a war against the Carthaginians in western Sicily.

  Return to Italy, Battle of Beneventum and end of the war: They came down and threw javelins at the elephants, forcing them to turn round. They ran through the ranks of Pyrrhus, which were thrown into disarray, and, as a result, the Romans won the battle.

  Aftermath: The Pyrrhic War was Rome's first confrontation with the professional armies and mercenaries of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the eastern Mediterranean.

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pyrrhic War", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.