Are wars between great powers simply inevitable? Neither Rome,

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Are wars between great powers simply inevitable? Neither Rome, nor Carthage, had any great hatred for the other. In fact, they had a long and mutually beneficial trading relationship. At one point, there was even an agreement between the two cities where merchants from one city would have the rights of citizens while operating in the other city. There was even an incident where, upon triumphing in a local war, the city of Rome received a golden crown as a gift from Carthage, which the Romans adored so much that they had in displayed in the Temple of Jupiter, their most holy temple. And to hammer in the point just a bit more, Carthage even sent soldiers to Italy to defend Rome during the Pyrrhic War.

All of this only changed when Rome became so powerful that Carthage began to see Rome as a threat to its own power.