Opinion | As US-China tensions rise, the Punic wars offer a cautionary tale

Rather than rely on the recently popular ‘Thucydides trap’, the clashes between Carthage and Rome might provide better insight into our current predicament

The triumph of political will, military technology and economic power over calls for peace and respect for the environment show how dire succumbing to war can be

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US President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali, Indonesia, on November 14, 2022. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:00am, 20 May 2023Updated: 3:38am, 20 May 2023

As the United States and China face off in the latest clash between great powers, we need to delve into history to see whether there are parallels from which we can learn. I have previously pointed out how the “Thucydides trap” – an idea popularised by Harvard scholar Graham Allison based on Greek historian Thucydides’ description of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta – might not be the most appropriate analogy for the modern age.

A more interesting historical clash of great powers would have been Rome versus Han China, but that never happened. In comparative terms, the Roman empire had an estimated 75 million people at one point and covered an area of about 5 million sq km. Meanwhile, the Han dynasty had roughly 60 million people and controlled an area of about 6.5 million sq km.

Rome exercised both land and naval power, whereas Han China was essentially land-based. The two empires never clashed because they were separated by vast geographical distance. The first recorded direct contact between the two empires was through Roman emissaries sent to the Han court during the reign of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

The more telling clash of empires was between Rome and Carthage during the three Punic wars. Carthage was essentially an older, Phoenician maritime power that controlled trade in the Mediterranean Sea, backed up by fertile lands in northern Africa.

Rome was the rising power, expanding outward at the time of the first Punic war. Carthage was more interested in guarding its trading monopoly in the western Mediterranean, whereas Rome was invested in expansion through conquest.

The first Punic war began with Carthage being the dominant naval power while Rome had the stronger land army. Before the outbreak of war, Rome and Carthage had good commercial ties and friendly relations, but one can imagine that Carthage probably ran trade surpluses with Rome since it controlled the Mediterranean trade.

Carthage relied more on hiring mercenaries and less on its own citizens to fight in wars. Rome, on the other hand, had mostly citizen-soldiers whose fortunes depended largely on victory and conquest.

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