Third Punic War

The Third Punic War between Rome and Carthage was fought for revenge, a chance for Rome to punish Carthage because they could. Carthage was a mere shell of its former self and Rome had been flexing its muscle more and more since their earlier victories over Carthage had made them the dominant power in the region.

The Romans destroyed Carthage in 146 B.C., and sold all of the inhabitants as slaves. They also salted its farms to make it impossible to grow crops. The Romans then went into Macedonia and Greece to defeat them in revenge for having helped Hannibal. By the end, Rome controlled all around the Mediterranean Sea, which was the entire western civilized world. The Roman senator Cato the Elder encouraged this revenge by ending every speech with the conclusion, Carthago delenda est: "Carthage must be destroyed." The Roman soldiers returned home with their winnings, and with Greek knowledge. Rome itself became Hellenistic, fascinated by the culture of the Greeks, including their architecture, their language, and their system of justice. The Roman empire helped spread Greek knowledge further than the Greeks themselves could.