[Savage Beast]

"Carthage, on the other hand, treated its conquered African provinces like cash cows to be milked dry. "

Always a bad idea.

"It saw no reason to shed the blood of its sons in combat when there were men who, for a fee, would do their fighting for them."

Another bad idea.

[HeadOn]

Great observations. I was made aware of an excellent book on one of these posts - "Carnage and Culture", which gives many examples to prove one main point: The West has defeated armies throughout history and basically conquered the world, because free men fighting to preserve their way of life have far more at stake, and are much more resourceful than royal subjects or hired soldiers.

Nero here is a perfect example - an independent thinker breaking serious rules TWICE in order to ensure victory.