Why was Rome was so successful in the Punic Wars

The first Punic War was mainly a naval war. Rome did not have a navy to speak of and built her first large navy. Her inexperienced sailors were not a match for the highly skilled ones of Carthage. Thus, the Romans equipped their ships with the corvus, a boarding bridge with a heavy spike at the bottom, to make up for her disadvantage. Instead of the complicated manoeuvre of heading the front of the ship towards the enemy ships to ram it, the Romans could flank it, pin it to the corvus and board it, which was easier. This proved successful and the Romans won most naval battles.

In the second Punic war Hannibal invaded Italy from Spain, but could not attack Rome because he lost his siege machines while crossing the Alps. Instead he went to southern Italy. He routed the Roman armies three times. After this many of Rome’s allies in the south went over to him. However, he failed to make this gain decisive. He established his base at Italy’s second largest city, Capua (near Naples) which went over to him. However, he failed to seize or retain two key strategic towns, armies bringing reinforcements form further south were routed twice, and the Romans besieged Capua. Hannibal had to leave the area and move further south. Meanwhile, three Roman armies headed south to retake it and Hannibal was not able to stop them.
Hannibal needed reinforcements. His tactics had turned more defensive as he had lost many of his best infantry and half of his cavalry. His brother Hasdrubal brought reinforcements and siege machines from Spain. However, he was intercepted and routed in central Italy. Hannibal’s campaign came to a dead end.
Part of the success of the Romans in this war was due to weaknesses in Hannibal’s strategy. His smallish invading force needed support from Rome’s allies in Italy, but when this happened in the south it was insufficient to break the Romans. With his gamble to cross the Alps in the winter he lost his siege machines. Part of it was due to the great superiority in manpower that her italian allies in gave her (her allies in central Italy remained loyal) and her ability to deploy armies on several fronts. She fought further south and in Sicily while fighting near Capua, she co-ordinated three armies on three fronts to retake the south. She fought Hasdrubal in central Italy while having deployments in the south. She also fought campaigns in Spain and Greece. The Romans also adopted a strategy of attrition when Hannibal’s army was superior: they avoided open battle and harassed him with guerrilla tactics to wear him down.

In the Third Punic War Carthage was much weaker. She had lost her territories in Spain and the Numidians of Algeria had switched their alliance form Carthage to Rome. She was confined to her original and smallish territory in Tunisia.