In the brief period of maximum territorial expansion following the
defeat and destruction of Carthage, the frontiers of the Roman Empire
were pushed out ruthlessly, North, East, West and South. In the
hurly-burly of rapid expansion individual rights were ignored, local
communities and entire regions were overrun, depopulated and resettled
with the tough disregard of individual and local interests that must
characterize any quick, general movement--economic, sociological or
military. If the expansion, expulsion and rehabilitation had produced
greater degrees of stability and security for individuals and social
groups they might have been tolerated and assimilated by the diverse
populations caught up in the maelstrom of drastic expansion. But rapid,
coercive social transformation produces neither stability nor security.
Its normal consequence is chaos, conflict and further change. In the
course of these internal conflicts the Roman Republic was gradually
phased out. In theory it persisted until the establishment of the
military dictatorship of Julius Caesar. Practically, while many of its
forms remained, the conduct of public affairs passed more and more into
the hands of political leaders who were able to command the backing of
the legions.
When the first war against Carthage was launched in 265 B.C., Carthage
was at the height of her power. Situated on the North African Coast
almost directly across the Mediterranean from Italy, the Carthaginians
were in effective control of the western Mediterranean.
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