The Punic Wars
The First Punic War: 264-241 BC
The first Punic War started when the Carthaginians and the Messanians had a dispute. The Messanians called on the Romans for help, the Romans agreed ("Hey, we'll fight anyone over anything..."). 
The Second Punic War: 218-202 BC
This was the war in which the famed Carthaginian General, Hannibal Barca, fought. He managed to lead elephants across the alps, which was a very daring feat. He could have won the battle, except he had a shortage of troops and he had to return to Carthage to battle against the Romans as they created a counter-attack.
The Third Punic War: 149-146 BC
The Romans won the final war. They did not take their victory quietly: they sold Carthage's inhabitants into slavery, ravaged the city, and then spread salt across the land so it would never be fertile again.
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Images courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Bust_of_Hannibal.jpg
http://www.sbceo.k12.ca.us/~vms/carlton/hannibal3.jpg