Historia
Strategy and Cost: Carthaginian Naval Strategy in the First Punic War Reappraised
Volume 69, December 2020, Issue 4, pp 459-481
Original language: English
Beitrag
https://doi.org/10.25162/historia-2020-0020
About this journal
Original language: English
Beitrag
https://doi.org/10.25162/historia-2020-0020
About this journal
Strategy and Cost: Carthaginian Naval Strategy in the First Punic War Reappraised
This article reassesses the quality and character of Carthaginian strategy during the First Punic War. It uses the ship count figures contained in Polybius’ account, combined with comparative evidence from the Athenian navy to estimate the relative cost of naval operations for both Carthage and Rome. It shows that, contrary to prevailing scholarly opinion, Carthage’s naval effort was no less extensive than Rome’s. In conclusion, it seeks to explain Carthaginian strategy as a result of limitations imposed by cost and geography. Consequently, the critical scholarly consensus rendered against Carthaginian strategy in this war is to be revised.
Roman Navy
Carthaginian Navy
First Punic War
Naval Finance
Carthaginian Navy
First Punic War
Naval Finance
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