The Punic Wars were the most important institution underlying Rome’s expansion to include societies east and west. Of all the wars involving Rome, none were more important than the three on-and-off outbursts of fighting known collectively as the Punic Wars. This series of battles began in 264 BCE and ended almost a century later, in 146 BCE. The Punic Wars together amounted to a long-lasting conflict between Rome and Carthage, a powerful rival citystate and society to the south, founded originally by the Phoenicians, that arose in what is now Tunisia, on the southern coast of the Mediterranean.