Causes of the Second Punic War
Some historians of the Hannibalian war, when they wish
note
to point out to us the causes of this contest
between Rome and Carthage, allege first the
siege of Saguntum by the Carthaginians, and,
secondly, their breach of treaty by crossing the river called by
the natives the Iber. note But though I should call these the
first actions in the war, I cannot admit them
to be its causes. One might just as well say
that the crossing of Alexander the Great into Asia was the
cause of the Persian war, and the descent of
Antiochus upon Demetrias the cause of his war
with Rome. note In neither would it be a probable or ture statement. In the first case, this action of Alexander's could not be
called the cause of a war, for which both he and his father
Philip in his lifetime had made elaborate preparations: and in
the second case, we know that the Aetolian league had done
the same, with a view to a war with Rome, before Antiochus
came upon the scene. Such definitions are only worthy of men
who cannot distinguish between a first overt act and a cause or
pretext; and who do not perceive that a cause is the first in
a series of events of which such an overt act is the last. I
shall therefore regard the first attempt to put into execution
what had already been determined as a "beginning," but I
shall look for "causes" in the motives which suggested such
action and the policy which dictated it; for it is by these, and
the calculations to which they give rise, that men are led to
decide upon a particular line of conduct. The Soundness of
this method will be proved by the following considerations.
The true causes and origin of the invasion of Persia by Alexander are patent
to everybody. note note They were,
first, the return march of the Greeks under
Xenophon through the country from the upper Satrapies;
in the course of which, though throughout Asia all the populations were hostile, not a single barbarian ventured to face
them: secondly, the invasion of Asia by the
Spartan king Agesilaus, in which, though he was
obliged by troubles in Greece to return in the middle of his
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expedition without effecting his object, he yet found no resistance of any
importance or adequacy. It was these circumstances which convinced Philip of the cowardice and inefficiency
of the Persians; and comparing them with his own high state
of efficiency for war, and that of his Macedonian subjects, and
placing before his eyes the splendour of the rewards to be
gained by such a war, and the popularity which it would bring
him in Greece, he seized on the pretext of avenging the injuries done by Persia to Greece, and determined with great
eagerness to undertake this war; and was in fact at the time
of his death engaged in making every kind of preparation for it.
Here we have the cause and the pretext of the Persian war.
Alexander's expedition into Asia was the first action in it.
