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What if Carthage won the 1st Punic War? The POD in this case would be better naval leadership and/or better marines leading to Carthage retaining its thalassocracy. While the Roman state was admirably resilient, its resources were not infinite, despite the impressions engendered at times during the wars, moreso in case of naval resources. Unlike land defeats, naval defeats tended to be far more decisive because they absorbed so much more in men and materiel. How many Drepana could Rome have taken before they sued for peace? What interests me is its implications vis-à-vis Greeks. Roman hegemony over the Greeks was achieved in a remarkably short period, and was contemporaneous with the Punic Wars. Between 1st and 2nd Punic Wars, both Macedon and the Seleucids were being reinvigorated under Philip and Antiochus, respectively. Antiochus especially ran out of time to consolidate and strengthen his realm before Rome cast its covetous eyes across the Adriatic. How do you think the Roman defeat in the 1st Punic War have affected the Greek world? Would the Romans have even engaged in the Illyrian Wars? I don't think Carthage, with its well-deserved reputation for inertia, would initiate another war with Rome without provocation, and if Rome went for a revenge, the Barcids with thalassocracy would've made Rome pay dearly. Assuming Carthaginian inaction for at least 241 - 210 BCE (perhaps even down to 188), how do you think Rome would've flexed its muscles in the meantime and how differently would it been treated in the power calculus of the East in light of its defeat, e.g., would Pergamenes, Aetolians, and other thorns in the flesh of Antigonids and Seleucids been so bold in their opposition, etcetera.
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