The conquest of Italy made Rome one of the five leading states of the Mediterranean world. In the East there were the kingdoms of Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt, which had inherited the dominions of Alexander the Great. In the West there were Carthage and Rome, once in friendly alliance, but now to become the bitterest foes. Rome had scarcely reached the headship of united Italy before she was involved in a life-and-death struggle with this rival power. The three wars between them are known as the Punic wars; they are the most famous contests that ancient history records; and they ended in the complete destruction of Carthage. FOUNDATION OF CARTHAGE More than a century before the traditional date at which Rome rose upon her seven hills, Phoenician colonists laid the foundations of a second Tyre. The new city occupied an admirable site, for it bordered on rich farming land and had the largest harbor of the north African coast. A position at the junction of the eastern and western basins of the Mediterranean gave it unsurpassed opportunities for trade. At the same time Carthage was far enough away to be out of the reach of Persian or Macedonian conquerors. COMMERCIAL EMPIRE OF CARTHAGE By the middle of the third century B.C. the Carthaginians had formed an imposing commercial empire. Their African dominions included the strip of coast from Cyrene westward to the strait of Gibraltar. Their colonies covered the shores of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and southern Spain. The western half of the Mediterranean had become a Carthaginian lake. CARTHAGINIAN CIVILIZATION Before the opening of the Punic wars Carthage had been much enlarged by emigrants from Tyre, after the capture of that city by Alexander. [2] The Phoenician colonists kept their own language, customs, and beliefs and did not mingle with the native African peoples. Carthage in form was a republic, but the real power lay in the hands of one hundred men, selected from the great merchant families. It was a government by capitalists who cared very little for the welfare of the poor freemen and slaves over whom they ruled. The wealth of Carthage enabled her to raise huge armies of mercenary soldiers and to build warships which in size, number, and equipment surpassed those of any other Mediterranean state. Mistress of a wide realm, strong both by land and sea, Carthage was now to prove herself Rome's most dangerous foe. [Illustration: COLUMN OF DUILIUS (RESTORED) The Roman admiral, Duilius, who won a great victory in 260 B.C., was honored by a triumphal column set up in the Forum. The monument was adorned with the brazen beaks of the captured Carthaginian vessels. Part of the inscription, reciting the achievements of the Roman fleet, has been preserved.] ORIGIN OF THE FIRST PUNIC WAR