We often imagine the Punic Wars as a series of glorious battles, but the true war against Carthage was fought in the fields and markets of Sicily and North Africa. This episode explores the systematic economic warfare waged by Rome after the Second Punic War, focusing on the destruction of Carthaginian agriculture through the hands of Gaius Laelius and the subsequent colonization efforts. We look at how Scipio Africanus’s victory at Zama did not bring immediate peace for Carthage but rather a decade of economic suffocation that left their city-state bankrupt and vulnerable. By examining the role of Roman land agents, the confiscation of fertile lands, and the deliberate suppression of Carthaginian trade networks, we uncover how Rome engineered Carthage’s decline long before Scipio Aemilianus burned the city to the ground. You will hear about the specific policies enacted by the Roman Senate, the suffering of the Carthaginian peasantry, and the diplomatic maneuvering that kept Carthage alive just enough to remain a threat, setting the stage for the final destruction.
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