Brennus drew his sword, proclaimed "Woe to the vanquished." (Vae victis) and tossed his sword on the scales.

Then Marcus Furius Camillus arrived from exile with the rallied army of Rome following its defeat, in turn proclaimed "Not with gold, but with iron, is the fatherland regained." and defeated Brennus in battle.

By then, Rome had the message.

Conquer or be conquered.

<:powerful:595334910764515338>

Rome's proper expansionism was pretty late into their history actually.

Italy was not fully consolidated until about 89 BC.

Because they kept getting DLCs

Iberia was only acquired after the Second Punic War.

Expansions east were facilitated by the Macedonian Wars.

North Africa only taken after the Third Punic War.

Whilst the acquisition of Asia Minor, Syria, Gaul, and Egypt all took place pretty much within the last century of the Republic's 500 year history

Well, Carthage was kind of a big deal back then so they couldn't really expand to Iberia before

Basically Carthage was the Rome of Rome's time <:smugon:512048583806025739>

a bunch of old dudes bumming each other?

That was Greece

And yeah Carthage was the superpower of the age

Rome entered the First Punic War not even knowing how to build a navy against the naval superpower

They then won the largest naval battle in history

Rome's early history is not just surviving shit that should be impossible, but actively fucking over the enemy in the process.

^this guy definitely joined caesars legion when given the choice

Second Punic War for example.

In 18 months, Rome lost 1/5th of its adult male population to Carthaginian victories. 40% of its Italian allies changed sides. And Macedon declared war from the other side of the sea.

Rome continued to fight the war for another 15 years and win.

To be fair Hannibal kinda fucked around even after he took control of the countryside

Waited for the perfect opportunity while his armies dwindled

Yeah, he never attacked Rome directly. No one's sure if he could've.

But Rome's total unwillingness to even consider surrender in the face of Hannibal?

Strong shit. They didn't know he wouldn't attack.

Benefit of hindsight gives us that. For all they knew they were facing the imminent destruction of their civilisation.

True. Not many of their vassals switched sides

40% did.

The real deep shit is why 60% didn't.

Did they? I thought that only few of them joined Hannibal and he just plundered the rest when he could and remained neutral-ish when he couldn't

But yea, Rome was on the brink of destruction. Apparently after one massive defeat, they even resorted to human sacrifices.

*After the death or imprisonment of 130,000 Roman troops in two years, 40% of Rome's Italian allies defected to Carthage, giving it control over most of southern Italy.*

wew

Three massive defeats actually. But Cannae was the worst.

Trebia, Trasimene, and then Cannae.

And yes.

Eventually they resorted to human sacrifice