Punic Wars

American

plural noun

the three wars waged by Rome against Carthage, 264–241, 218–201, and 149–146 b.c., resulting in the destruction of Carthage and the annexation of its territory by Rome.

Punic Wars British

plural noun

three wars (264–241 _bc , 218–201 _bc , and 149–146 _bc ), in which Rome crushed Carthaginian power, destroying Carthage itself

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Punic Wars Cultural

Three wars between ancient Carthage and Rome in the third and second centuries b.c. Hannibal led the forces of Carthage in the second Punic War. Carthage was destroyed after the third Punic War.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It is thought he took soldiers and animals from Carthage through Spain and France to invade Italy, crossing the Alps with 37 elephants in 218 BCE during the second of the so-called Punic Wars.

From BBC

Before the Punic Wars, Carthage alternately supported and clashed with the Sicilian city of Syracuse, ruled by the tyrant-king Agathocles from 317 B.C. to 289 B.C.

From The Wall Street Journal

While the outcome of the Punic Wars is clear, Ms. MacDonald rejects the Roman fancy that both sides had been “two equal powers whose dispute was over the ‘empire of the world.’”

From The Wall Street Journal

Later Roman writers dressed up the Punic Wars as an ancestral vendetta of the Barcids, the family to which Hannibal belonged.

From The Wall Street Journal

A retired classics professor at the University of Sydney, Mr. Hoyos has written extensively on the Punic Wars, the series of contests for supremacy in the Mediterranean between ancient Rome and the North African city of Carthage.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023