264 BC

The man called Carthage looked across the waters of the Mediterranean and was troubled. What had a few centuries ago been nothing more than a small settlement of soldiers had grown into something that could challenge him, and he did not like the thought of competition.

He had met this Rome several times already and had fought by his side more than once. But Carthage considered him an arrogant fool who charged into battle recklessly and without thought. Rome was a determined bastard whose reach was ever expanding, and he would not be content with just the Italian peninsula, eventually he would want more.

The thought made Carthage tighten the grip on his sword. Already the Carthaginian Senate was frothing at the mouth as Rome's borders crept ever closer to their territory. It was only a matter of time before the two nations came to blows.

It was from Sicily that the pretext came. The city of Messana was seized by a group of mercenaries who called themselves the Mamertines, who in desperation asked for assistance from both Carthage and Rome against the city of Syracuse.

Carthage once again came face to face with Rome and found that even the sight of the man made his blood boil. They said nothing, just watching each other with the wariness common among warriors, but the tension made the air crackle.

"We are allies, are we not?" Rome asked under his breath, sensing the other man's enmity. "It was together that we defeated King Pyrrhus and drove him from our lands, surely that is worth something to you."

"That was long ago," Carthage snapped. "And had I known you would grow to be such an insatiable pup I would have let Greece overrun you and take back what was hers in the first place!"

Rome's nostrils flared and his eyes widened, but he said nothing even as Carthage moved to tower over him.

"You will not have Sicily. I am the greatest naval power in the world and you are as helpless as a cat thrown overboard. You are no match for me at sea."

"Is that a challenge?" Rome asked, his eyes glittering.

"I'd love to see you try," Carthage snorted as he turned to leave.

He came to rue those words, and in time Rome came to seize Sicily and besiege the city of Syracuse, who bent the knee as soon as soon as they saw the Roman legions approaching. Many more cities soon followed, and it was clear to Carthage that though the island might be lost Rome himself could still be crushed. All he had to do was take the conflict offshore.

Soon Carthage stood confidently on the deck of his flagship and waited for the Roman fleet. He was confident that whatever victories Rome had gained on land would be undone by his inexperience at sea. Carthage watched the horizon until the first Roman ships came into view, but instead of confidence he only felt rage.

"You wolf-suckled bastard!" he cried, for he could see that the Romans had simply taken captured Carthaginian ships and copied the design. But they went one step further than that. In their twisted ingenuity they had invented a bridge they could swing between ships, allowing them to take their military tactics out to sea and deal blow after blow to the Carthaginian navy.

Carthage soon found that what Rome lacked in knowledge he made up for in raw determination, and though both sides lost hundreds of ships Rome still sent wave after wave of men, undaunted even by raids along his coast that struck close to his capital. The Carthaginian Senate knew they could not win and sued for peace, but with nothing left to bargain with the terms of the treaty cut deep. Their treasury was emptied, and colonies that had been theirs for centuries were ceded to Rome. Carthage watched this all with hands clenched at his sides.

But the worst blow was to their navy, which had once been the pride of the Empire. Rome watched smugly as Carthage was forced to torch what remained of his once proud fleet and set them to burn at sea.

"Who is the pup now?" Rome demanded, grabbing Carthage by the collar so they were face to face. "Do not forget this, for the next time you challenge me I'll take more than just your ships!" Rome threw him the ground and strode off, his head high and his chest puffed out while Carthage bit the inside of his cheek until it bled.

"This is not over…!" he hissed, for even as he spoke one general was already planning Rome's defeat. This man, Hamilcar Barca, had by his side his lion's brood of children, first among them a boy named Hannibal.

To Be Continued…

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Notes:I'm very briefly talking about a lof of the conflict in a lot of this since otherwise we'd be here for days, but this is the gist of what went on. There are a few references in here that I'll make note of as well.

Pyrrhus of Epirus: He was a Greek who took over Sicily and soundly beat the Romans on their own land in 280 BC. He came into conflict with Carthage when he took over Sicily, which eventually lead to his retreat.