> Phoenicians made a strategic mistake at the outset of the Punic wars
Out of curiosity, what would that be? I'd argue Rome's ability to sustain martial force well beyond what others would have considered reasonable was decisive in their advantage. Their culture, meanwhile, in assimilating and appropriating from outsiders meant Scipio was able to learn from Hannibal, and the Senate was willing to support his novel ideas. (Granted, Carthage is a bad example since they were a diversified maritime empire. They just got conquered.)
> Out of curiosity, what would that be? I'd argue Rome's ability to sustain martial force well beyond what others would have considered reasonable was decisive in their advantage.
To look at it in another light, it was actually perfectly reasonable. The Carthaginians simply took the Romans to be tribal upstarts at the beginning, rather than a budding empire. When the Elder Council realized Rome was another Assyria, they dumped out the war chests. If they did that from the beginning in 264, they would have rolled over Rome. It was too late for that when the war was taken to the sea.
Out of curiosity, what would that be? I'd argue Rome's ability to sustain martial force well beyond what others would have considered reasonable was decisive in their advantage. Their culture, meanwhile, in assimilating and appropriating from outsiders meant Scipio was able to learn from Hannibal, and the Senate was willing to support his novel ideas. (Granted, Carthage is a bad example since they were a diversified maritime empire. They just got conquered.)