In the third and second centuries BC the powers of the Mediterranean were the Roman Republic and Carthage in the west and the Hellenistic (Greek) kingdoms in the east. At the beginning of this period Rome was very small. Carthage was a large commercial empire based in the north Africa that also held land in Iberia (Spain). The Hellenistic states were the result of the brief but brilliant life of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC). He quickly conquered a massive amount of territory then died, and his inner circle of generals claimed the spoils, ruling kingdoms in Macedonia (just north of Greece), Anatolia (Turkey), Persia and Egypt. These kingdoms were rivals but they were all thoroughly Greek. The so-called Hellenistic period was the peak of ancient Greek culture, as it was spread much further than ever before.
The growth of Rome during this time is something to behold, thanks to almost constant war. They defeated the Samnites to control most of central Italy by 290 BC. They won the Pyrrhic War (yes, origin of the term 'pyrrhic victory') to claim southern Italy by 275 BC. They ended the centuries-long conflict with Etruria, to their north, by 264 BC. In less than 100 years (343-264 BC) the republic grew from only the territory surrounding the city to nearly the entire peninsula. But it didn't stop there, as 264 BC was the start of Rome's first war with Carthage.
Ancient Carthage was a force in the Mediterranean and Rome's primary rival during its initial expansion. Founded by Phoenicians in 814 BC, becoming independent in the seventh century BC, Carthage in the third century BC was a huge city at the center of a maritime commercial empire. It was the most powerful civilization in the western Mediterranean. If Rome was going to expand beyond the Italian peninsula they would have to come into conflict with Carthage, and that's exactly what happened. The Punic Wars were much larger in scale and in total loss of life than previous Roman conflicts and featured some of the most famous battles in antiquity. Carthage was defeated in the First Punic War (264-241 BC) and Sicily was added to Roman territory. The Second Punic War (218-202 BC) was with Hannibal, who crossed the Alps from Iberia with war elephants and annihilated the Romans at Cannae (216 BC), and won a couple other victories, before a retreat to Africa and defeat at Zama (202 BC). This was the end of Carthage as a military power, but their culture survived.
The Third Punic War (149-146 BC) was Carthage's last gasp. The once great empire was prohibited from waging war without permission but was repeatedly raided by an African Roman ally and attempted to defend itself. Rome did not approve and launched an invasion. Carthage did surprisingly well for a time but, in 146 BC, the city fell and their civilization was ended permanently. The city and its population (750k!) were systematically destroyed, with only about 50,000 surviving to be sold into slavery. This is supposedly when Rome 'salted the earth,' though that seems to have been a modern invention. Either way this was vengeance, and it was complete. Another 100+ years would pass before Rome rebuilt the city, under Augustus.
Meanwhile, throughout all this, Rome was increasingly involved in the Greek east through the Macedonian Wars (214-148 BC). All of this is pretty complex and I want to do some more reading on it sometime soon. It seems that Rome didn't initially want to get between the several Hellenistic states, but eventually intervened in the interest of stability. The Second Macedonian War (200-196 BC) came about following what was basically a secret alliance between the kingdoms in Macedonia (the Antigonid dynasty) and Persia (the Seleucid Empire), who wanted to divide up the weakened state in Egypt (the Ptolemaic Kingdom). It was smaller, still independent Greek states that presented evidence of this to Rome in what was a pretty major shake-up of the relationship between east and west. Rome first intervened in Macedonia, leading to several more wars, all won by Rome, and the gradual weakening of the Hellenistic states created further power vacuums that needed to be filled. The largest war was with the strong Seleucid Empire (192-188 BC), requiring a huge mobilization and involved the first Roman incursion into Asia. There were multiple further conflicts in Greece proper as well (172-168 BC, 150-148 BC), with Rome finally deciding the Greeks couldn't be left to their own devices.
The final war between Rome and portions of Greece was the Achaean War (146 BC). A group of small southern Greek states (in the Peloponnese), called the Achaean League, had been Roman allies for a while. But they had expansionist ambitions of their own, even if relatively modest compared to those of the Hellenistic states. This League's suicidal rebellion ended at the battle of Corinth, which is the battle you find if you Google 'when did Rome defeat Greece.' From this point Rome controlled all of mainland Greece directly. To solidify their point Rome leveled the city of Corinth and killed or enslaved its people. It was a significant departure to how Rome had treated any part of Greece to this point, all to make an example.
So, from 264-202 BC Rome was primarily focused on Carthage. From 200-148 BC Rome was repeatedly pulled into events in the Greek east. In 146 both long-term problems were ended.
That's what I've been building to here. It's wild how Rome, no matter how clearly ascendant, finished off its major rival and wrapped up the problems presented by Greece (less than 200 years after Alexander's empire) in the same year. And they did it with dramatic (and brutal) flourish through the absolute destruction of two cities. Maybe it's a silly comparison, but it reminds of the end of The Godfather (1972), where Michael settles all family business on the same day and takes over.
Maybe you're wondering how Rome pulled all this off. That's certainly worthy of a deeper dive that's not all going to fit here. A quick attempt at an answer is two-fold. It begins with manpower. When Rome grew, within the Italian peninsula and later elsewhere, or faced destruction, such as from Hannibal during the Second Punic War, they expanded the citizenry. Citizens were required to serve in the army and Rome could effectively raise armies with incredible rapidity when required. Second, the Roman legion itself was innovative and flexible, an evolution from the rigid Greek phalanx. The Macedonian Wars proved the legion's superiority.
Of course Rome wasn't done growing. This is still about 100 years before Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul, for example. But this was a pretty big year nonetheless.
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