Punic Wars worksheet - Free Printable

Let’s go through each part of the storyboard to understand what happened in each Punic War, and then we’ll fix any mistakes or unclear parts so everything makes sense.

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First Punic War (Top Left & Bottom Left)

- The Romans wanted Sicily → They said “We are going to take over Sicily.”
- War lasted from 264 BC to 241 BC → That’s 23 years, not 20. (264 - 241 = 23)
- Romans won → Made Carthage pay a huge fine.
- In the bottom left picture, it says “VICTORY” — that’s correct for Rome.

✔ Fix: Change “The war lasted 20 years” to “The war lasted 23 years.”

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Second Punic War (Top Middle & Bottom Middle)

- Hannibal marched elephants across the Alps → Cool fact! He had about 37 elephants at start, but many died on the way.
- He reached Italy in 218 BC → Correct.
- Weather killed half his men and most elephants → True.
- Carthage lost again → Had to build navy, give up land, pay more money.
- Bottom middle says: “The Romans won and the next Punic war would see who takes over Sicily. They both wanted Sicily but they both couldn’t have it. Only one army will win. Who will it be?”

⚠️ Problem: This is confusing. Sicily was already taken by Rome after the First Punic War. The Second Punic War wasn’t really about Sicily anymore — it was about stopping Hannibal and protecting Rome itself. Also, the Third Punic War wasn’t about Sicily either — it was about destroying Carthage completely.

✔ Fix: Rewrite that box to say:
“The Romans won again. Hannibal was defeated. Carthage lost even more land and power. But Rome still didn’t destroy Carthage yet…”

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Third Punic War (Top Right & Bottom Right)

- Top right says: “Romans won and Carthage united with the Romans.” → ✘ WRONG.
Carthage did NOT unite with Rome. Rome destroyed Carthage completely.

- It also says: “More than 50,000 men, women and children were enslaved.” → That’s true.

- Bottom right says: “Rome burnt down Carthage and spread salt all over the ground...” → This is a famous story, though historians debate if salt was actually used. But for school purposes, it’s okay to include as a symbol of total destruction.

- Reason given: “because they could have took over that land but since they had so much property already they didn’t that land.” → This doesn’t make sense. Rome destroyed Carthage because they saw it as a threat — even though Carthage was weak, Rome wanted to make sure it never rose again.

✔ Fix: Rewrite top right box:
“Romans won and destroyed Carthage completely. More than 50,000 people were sold into slavery. Rome burned the city and made sure no one could live there again.”

Rewrite bottom right reason:
“Rome destroyed Carthage because they feared it might become powerful again. Even though Carthage was weak, Rome wanted to end the threat forever.”

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Now let’s put it all together correctly:

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Final Answer:

Here is the corrected version of your storyboard:

First Punic War
- Started in 264 BC, ended in 241 BC → 23 years long.
- Fought over Sicily.
- Rome won → Made Carthage pay a big fine.

Second Punic War
- Hannibal crossed Alps with elephants → Reached Italy in 218 BC.
- Many soldiers and elephants died from cold and weather.
- Rome won again → Carthage lost more land, had to pay more, build new navy.
- *Note: Not about Sicily anymore — this war was about survival for Rome.*

Third Punic War
- Rome attacked Carthage one last time.
- Burned the city, sold 50,000+ people into slavery.
- Spread salt on fields (symbolic act) so nothing could grow.
- Done because Rome wanted to make sure Carthage could never threaten them again.

All three wars ended with Roman victories — and by the end, Carthage was gone forever.