3684 - The Punic Wars: Carthage vs. Rome (Peter Campos)
Course Description
Instructor: Peter Campos
2,000 years ago, Carthage was dominant in trade across the entire Mediterranean Sea, whereas Rome barely had conquered local tribes on the Italian peninsula. Carthage had a 500-year-old empire; Rome was just one of many city states. Carthage had a powerful navy and strong mercenary armies; Rome had no navy and struggled to maintain dominance over Etruscans and other conquered states. As Rome expanded, conflict between these two was inevitable; they clashed in three epic wars within a century: The Punic Wars. The outcome was the annihilation of Carthage and the elevation of Rome as the dominant power in the region for the next 600 years. We will examine what caused these wars, how they were executed, and why Rome was victorious in each. Travel around the Mediterranean, from modern Tunisia to Spain, Italy, and Alpine regions. We will entertain what our world would be like today had Rome lost one, two, or all three of these conflicts. The social, scientific, religious, linguistic, and legal ramifications are staggering!
Bio: Peter Campos is a retired clinical psychologist who was on faculty at SUNY-Binghamton’s Psychology Department and at Emory Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He began teaching 40 years ago in Honolulu as a graduate student at the University of Hawaii, and has since taught at Chaminade University, Georgia State University, Mercer University, and Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu. He taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in psychology, behavior disorders, research methods, and applied statistics. His lifelong “passion subjects” include history and travelogues, which he shares as an OLLI-at-Emory instructor.