The Roman people were not seafaring by nature. The city was 16 miles from the coast and their focus had always been on agriculture rather than trade. Before the advent of the Punic Wars Rome did not possess navy or merchant marine because she did not need them. Her wars were fought on land and she relied on the Greek traders of Magna Graecia to carry her cargo. Carthage was the opposite -- a great seafaring nation of the western Mediterranean whose ships traveled the waters from England to Egypt. Not belligerent by nature, the Carthaginians maintained a substantial navy which was necessary to protect their trade interests in the Mediterranean and beyond.
You are viewing a single comment's thread from: