Carthage against Rome; the Punic Wars Over the course of one hundred years, the antiquity of the Mediterranean was shaken by an ancient cold war between the North African maritime state of Carthage and the newly formed city of Rome located on the Italian peninsula. Over the course of two great wars and a prolonged three-year siege of Carthage itself, Rome conquered its last great enemy and transformed the Mediterranean into a Roman lake. As is so often the case, history is written by the side that wins and in the case of the Punic Wars and Carthage itself, most of the information available today comes from Roman sources and authors whose knowledge has been passed down over the centuries. According to legend Carthage was initially founded as a Phoenician trading colony (the word "Punic" is Latin for Phoenician) in 813 BC by the Phoenician queen Elissa (Mark). From Carthage's privileged position as a trading port, its power and prestige grew rather rapidly, and its expansion brought the city into conflict with another increasingly ambitious city-state called Rome. The epicenter of Carthage was its massive and extensive trading port, incorporating a large circle copied from Greek architecture that was capable of accommodating more than 220 ships of various sizes (Mark). It was from this port that Carthage accumulated its wealth and became the dominant naval and commercial power of the Mediterranean. Along with its strong navy, Carthage used large numbers of mercenaries to strengthen its land forces and extend its influence on islands abroad. The history of the Roman Republic, and later the Roman Empire, has been well documented over the centuries. The brothers Romulus and Remus were orphaned as children but were found by a she-wolf and raised to adulthood;...... middle of paper ......rks, nd Web. April 16, 2014."Punic Wars ." Homeschool History Curriculum. Np, nd Web. April 15, 2014. Warmington, BH Carthage. New York: Praeger, 1960. Print.Polybius and W.R. Paton. Polybius. The Stories. London: Heinemann, 1960. Print. Asdrubale, Ali. "The Second Punic War". The Second Punic War. Np, nd Web. April 20, 2014. Wallinga, Herman Tammo. The Roman embarkation bridge: its construction and its function in the naval tactics of the First Punic War. Groningen: JB Wolters, 1956. Print. Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization. Minneapolis/St. Paul: West, 1994. Print.Knox, EL "The Punic Wars." Hannibal crosses the Alps. Np, nd Web. 3 May 2014. Lazenby, The War of John F. Hannibal: a soldier of the Second Punic War. Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1978. Print.Mellor, Ronald. Roman historians. London: Routledge, 1999. Print.