Arif Hodzic

The Roman victory came as a shock to Carthage.

The Carthaginians were also angered by the perceived cowardice of their general, who was executed on his return home.

The Romans, encouraged by their success in Massana, then attempted, less successfully, to take the city of Syracuse.

So, why didn't it stop here?

Rome had achieved its initial goal, and presumably, a lengthy war was in nobody's interests.

From the Romans' perspective, perhaps there was an attitude of, why not?

They had made it this far, so why not try to take control of Sicily and see off the competition?

The Roman Republic was on a path of rapid expansion.

Over the past century,

the Romans had conquered southern mainland Italy.

So, they probably felt confident that they could carry on in Sicily.

Carthage, on the other hand, probably felt equally confident that the Romans would soon run out of steam.

Of the two, Carthage was arguably the greater power.

At the very least, it seemed to be at an advantage, given its superior navy.

At the start of the war, Carthage was the main naval power in this part of the Mediterranean.

It had hundreds of large warships and centuries of experience.

In contrast, the Romans were fairly inexperienced and didn't have a standing fleet.

They were used to borrowing ships from their allies.

However, in the early years of the First Punic War, during battles fought on land, Rome was able to establish a strong foothold in Sicily.

Another notable development was that Syracuse switched sides.