EVERY dg has his day.
A tennisr track champin winsver thene wh was champin befre and then has a few years during which her she is unbeaten. Snerr later， hwever， sme yunger and better athlete wins and in turn takes the champinship.
It seems almst the same way with cuntries as with peple.ne cuntry wins the champinship frm anther， hlds it fr a few years， and then， whenlder， finally lses it t sme newcmer.
We have seen that
Nineveh was champin fr a while； then
Babyln had a turn； then
Persia had a turn； then
Greece； and， lastly，
Macednia.
Yu may wnder wh was t be the next champin after Alexander"s empire went t pieces-wh was t have the next turn.
When Alexander was cnquering the wrld， he went east tward the rising sun， and suth. He paid little attentin t the cuntry t the west tward the setting sun. Rme， which we have nt heardf fr sme time， was thennly a small twn with narrw streets and frame huses. It was nt nearly imprtant enugh fr Alexander t think much abut. Rme itself was nt thinkingf anything then except keeping the neighbring sldiersut.
In the cursef time， hwever， Rme began t grw up and was ntnly able t take caref itself but culd put up a very stiff fight. Rme fught and wn battles with mstf thether twns in Italy， until at last Rme became champinf the whlef the bt. Then the Rmans began t lk arund t see whatther cuntries there wereutsidef Italy that they might cnquer.
Perhaps yu have nticed that Italy， the bt， seems abut t kick a little island as if it were a ftball. This island is Sicily， and justppsite Sicily acrss the Mediterranean in Nrth Africa was a city called Carthage.
Mapf Mediterranean shwing Carthage， Spain， etc.
（标示迦太基、西班牙等的地中海地图）
Carthage had been funded by the Phenicians many years befre and had becme a very rich and pwerful city.ver the years， Phenicians mixed with the lcal Nrth Africans called Berbers and frmed a unique culture.
They planted big farms with fruit trees andlive trees. Theywned herdsf cattle and sheep and hrses. Wealthy familieswned large cuntry estates.
As Carthage was by the sea， it had built many ships and traded with all thether seaprts alng the Mediterranean， just as theld Phenician citiesf Tyre and Sidn had dne. By nw， Carthage cntrlled the whle western endf the Mediterranean Sea.
Carthage did nt like t see Rme getting s strng and grwing s big and becming s pwerful. Inther wrds， Carthage felt challenged by Rme.
Rme，n her side， was jealusf the wealth and tradef Carthage. S Rmans anxiusly lked arund fr sme excuse t get int a fight with their rival acrss the sea.
Nw， yu knw hw easy it is t pick a quarrel and start a fight when yu are lking fr truble.ne by sticksut his tngue， thether gives him a kick， and the fight isn.
Well， tw cuntries are at times just like little bys； they start a fight with just as little excuse， and thugh they call the fight war it is nthing but a scrap.nly there are n parents t cme alng and make them bth g hme.
It didn"t take lng fr Rme and Carthage t find an excuse， and a war was started between them. The Rmans called this fight a Punic War， fr Punic was their name fr Phenician， and the Carthaginiansriginally were Phenicians.
As Carthage was acrss the water， the Rmans culd nt get there except in bats. But Rme had n bats. Rme was ntn the seashre and knew nthing abut making bats， nr abut sailing them.
The Carthaginians，n thether hand， had many， many bats， and wereld and experienced sailrs.
Rmans happened t find the wreckf a Carthaginian ship that had been cast ashre， and they atnce set t wrk t make a cpyf it. In a remarkably shrt time they had builtne ship， then anther and anther， until they had a great many ships. Then， thugh the Rmans were new at the game， they attacked the Carthaginian fleet.
It wuld seem that the Carthaginians culd easily have wn， fr the Rmans knew s little abut bats. In sea battles， befre this， the fighting had been dne by running int the enemy and ramming and sinking their ships.
The Rmans knew they were n match fr the Carthaginians in this srtffighting. S they thught up a way in which they culd fight them asn land.
T d this they invented a kindf big hk which they called a crw. The idea was fr a ship t run clse alngside a Carthaginian ship and， insteadf trying t sink her， t thrwut this big hkr crw， catch hldf thether ship， and pull bth bats clse tgether. The Rman sldiers wuld then scramblever the sides int the enemy"s bat and fight them the same way they wuldn land.
The scheme wrked.
This new kindf fighting tk the Carthaginians by surprise， and they were n match fr the Rmans at first.
Rme did nt have things all herwn way by any means. The Carthaginians sn learned hw t fight in this fashin， t. S Rme lst， as well as wn， battles bthn land andn sea. At last Rme did win， and the Carthaginians were beaten. Thus ended the first Punic War.
【中文阅读】
有一句谚语说："人人皆有得意时。" 一位网球或田径冠军赢了上一任冠军，然后有那么几年，他（她）都保持不败，但是，早晚会有更年轻、更优秀的运动员出现，继而赢得冠军的宝座。 国家的兴衰沉浮似乎也和人一样。一个国家从另一个国家那里赢得霸主地位，把这个位置保持几年，然后，国家变得衰弱了，最终又由后起之秀接替了它的地位。 我们看到尼尼微一度曾是霸主；接下来 轮到了巴比伦；接下来轮到了波斯；接下来 是希腊；接着，最后是马其顿。
你们可能会猜想亚历山大的帝国瓦解后，谁会是下一任霸主--谁会来接这个 班呢？
亚历山大在征服世界的时候，他向着太阳升起的东方和南方挺进，而不大留意 日落方向的西方国家。我们有些时候没听说罗马了，当时的罗马仅是个街道狭窄的 小城镇，房子也都是些小木屋。这种微不足道的地方亚历山大是不会放在心上的。 那时罗马除了要维持自身的安全，防止邻国军队侵犯，并无其他非分之想。
但是，罗马逐渐成长起来，终于不仅能保全自己，而且有能力打一场硬仗了。 罗马和意大利大多数城邦都打了仗，而且都打赢了，最终成了整个"靴子"的霸主。 接着，罗马开始环顾四周，看看意大利之外有哪些其他国家可以让他们征服。
可能你已经注意到了，意大利这只"靴子"看上去好像正要把它前面的一个小 岛当足球踢走。这个岛就是西西里，在西西里岛正对面隔着地中海，是北非的一个 城市，叫迦太基。
迦太基是多年前腓尼基人建造的，已经发展为一个非常富裕、强大的城市。多 年来，腓尼基人和当地叫"柏柏尔人"的北非人交往融合，形成了一种独特的文明。 他们在农场里种植了大片的果树和橄榄树，拥有成群的牛、羊和马。富裕的人家拥有巨大的庄园。 迦太基临海，所以造了很多的船只，和地中海沿岸的其他海港城市进行贸易往来，这与古代腓尼基的城市蒂尔和西顿的做法是一样的。到这个时候，迦太基已经 控制了地中海的整个西部地区。
迦太基不愿看到罗马变得这么强大、发展得这么庞大和拥有这么大的权势。换 句话说，迦太基感到受到了罗马的挑战。
而罗马这一方，也嫉妒迦太基的富庶和海上贸易。因此，罗马人急切地四下找 借口要和他们隔海相望的对手打一仗。
你现在明白了吧，如果是成心想找麻烦，那挑起争端和引发战争是再容易不过 啦。一个男孩伸了伸舌头，另一个男孩踢了他一脚，然后架就打了起来。
哈，两个国家有时就像两个小男孩一样，找个碴儿就打起来了，尽管他们把这 叫做"战争"，其实与小孩打架没什么区别，只不过，没有家长过来，各自把自己的 孩子领回家。
罗马和迦太基没过多久就找到了交战的理由，于是双方之间的战争就开始了。 罗马人把这场战争称为"布匿战争"，因为"布匿"就是他们对腓尼基人的称呼，而 迦太基人原本就是腓尼基人的后代。
因为迦太基在海的那边，所以罗马人除了坐船无法到对岸去。但是，罗马没有 船。罗马不在海边，对于造船一无所知，也不会驾船航行。
而另一方面，迦太基人却有很多很多的船，有很多经验丰富的老水手。 罗马人碰巧发现了一艘被丢弃在岸边的迦太基人的船只残骸，他们立刻行动起来，按这条船的样子来复制一条船。在非常短的时间内，他们就造出了一艘船，然 后造了一艘又一艘，最后他们拥有了大量的船只。接着，罗马人攻击了迦太基的舰 队，尽管他们在海战方面还是新手。
迦太基人似乎本可以轻易获胜，因为罗马人对于船还很生疏。在这以前的海战 中，一般作战方式都是驾船直接冲向敌船，撞毁和撞沉对方的战船。
罗马人知道以这种方式作战，他们肯定不是迦太基人的对手。因此，他们想出 了一个办法，用这个办法他们可以像在陆地上一样和迦太基人打海战。
为了做到这一点，他们发明了一种巨大的钩子，把它叫做"乌鸦"。他们打算让 自己的船驶近迦太基人战船的一侧，不是去撞沉它，而是扔出这个巨大的钩子，也 就是"乌鸦"，勾住对方的船，再把两艘船拉近到一起。接下来，罗马士兵就从这两 艘船的船舷爬过去登上敌人的船，然后他们就像在陆地上作战一样和敌人短兵相接。
这个方案奏效了。 这种新的作战方式使迦太基人措手不及，刚开始他们敌不过罗马人。 但罗马人并不是想赢就能赢。迦太基人很快也学会了用这种方式作战。因此，在海陆大战中罗马有赢也有输。最后，罗马赢了，迦太基人被打败了。第一次"布 匿战争"就这样结束了。