Punic Wars

       The Punic Wars were definitely the most important era of the Republic. First of all Rome gained a new island, Sicily, that expanded their borders to make their first province outside of Italy. This is also speculated to be the beginning of the Roman Empire. It was also important because the plebeian leaders who had been against Fabius and wanted to battle Hannibal (when they got slaughtered) were taken off of leadership, and the senate became the dominating power which lasted for along time afterwards. Another impact the Punic Wars had on Rome was the scorching of the southern plains to starve Hannibal. The Romans burned the earth in southern Italy because that's where Hannibal was staying, and they wanted to starve him of resources. This resulted in the agriculture being completely destroyed in those parts of Italy, and this has had an affect on the land until modern times. And finally, in the Second Punic War, Rome's enemy Carthage was destroyed, and Rome gained many resources and prestige for their success which made them into a higher power.