Speech therapy portal / Speech therapists / Carthage - an empire - its history and death. Carthage. History of the Phoenicians in North Africa How the name of the leader of the Carthaginians is translated

Carthage - an empire - its history and death. Carthage. History of the Phoenicians in North Africa How the name of the leader of the Carthaginians is translated

20.10.2020

Existed in those places 2500 years ago.

Ancient Carthage is the ruins of Roman buildings that rose above Cartaga in the Punic or Phoenician era.

"Carthage was once the richest city in the world. Agriculture, which underpinned its wealth, was considered an honorable occupation..

The turbulent history of Carthage - now a clean and prosperous suburb located 20 kilometers from Tunisia - began in 814 BC. Queen Dido or Elissa, pursued by her brother, the ruler of the Phoenician city of Tire Pygmalion, after a long wandering landed on the northern coast of Tunisia. Dido asked the local king to grant her shelter and allow her to build a house. The king never wanted to give his consent. Then Dido asked to give her as much land as the skin of a bull could cover. The king was in good spirits and was delighted with the new entertainment. Dido ordered the largest bull to be slaughtered, and then cut his skin into very narrow strips, and surrounded a large area with them. According to the legend about the founding of the city, Dido, who was allowed to occupy as much land as a bull's hide, took possession of a large plot by cutting the hide into narrow belts. That is why the citadel placed on this place bore the name Birsa (which means "skin").

So, according to legend, Carthage was founded.
CHAPTER 1

HISTORY OF ANCIENT CARPHAGEN

1.1 ANCIENT CARPHAGEN.

Carthage (which means "new city" in Phoenician) was founded in 814 BC. NS. colonists from the Phoenician city of Tire. The Romans called him Carthago, the Greeks - Carhedon.

After the fall of Phoenician influence in the Western Mediterranean, Carthage takes over the former Phoenician colonies. By the 3rd century BC. NS. he becomes the largest state in the west of the Mediterranean Sea, subjugating Southern Spain, North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica.

The city was surrounded by a 34-kilometer strip of walls nine meters thick and fifteen meters high. Inside the walls there were several hundred fighting elephants in corrals, forage depots; there were stables for four thousand horses and barracks for 20 thousand infantrymen. Our minds have a hard time comprehending what expenditure of energy and human lives it took the Romans to crush these fiercely defended Cyclopean structures.

Situated on an easily guarded peninsula with an unlimited supply of fish, ancient Carthage flourished as one of the richest cities in the world at that time. However, the wealth of Carthage haunted the city's longtime rivals. And Rome bided its time - in 146 BC. after more than a century of fighting, Rome destroyed the city.

In IV BC. NS. the city of Carthage expanded greatly and began to be populated by merchants, artisans and landowners. A vast residential area of Megara, built up with multi-storey buildings, arose near Birsa. Carthage developed as a large slave state who owned many colonies. The merciless exploitation of the enslaved peoples and the slave trade provided a huge influx of wealth. In the ancient Roman annals, the Carthaginians are called Punas and characterize them as cruel and treacherous enemies who know no mercy for the vanquished. As a military-trade and slave-owning power, Carthage constantly needed a navy and an army. Carthage had a first-class fleet and army, which held the peoples subject to Carthage in unconditional obedience. The army was recruited from among foreign mercenaries. Out of every Oh nationalities formed a special type of troops. For example, the Libyans made up the infantry, and the Numidians made up the cavalry. The inhabitants of the Balearic Islands supplied detachments of slingers - stone throwers to the Carthaginian army. The multi-tribal, multilingual Carthaginian army was ruled by local leaders, who were commanded by the Carthaginian generals and officers. The Puni Carthaginians did not carry out ordinary military service. In the Carthaginian army there were permanent units armed with stone throwers and ramming machines to take fortresses. Special units of the army had war elephants, which were used to break through enemy ranks and destroy enemy manpower during battle.

Even more important was the navy. In navigation, the Carthaginians used the centuries-old experience of the Phoenicians. They were the first to start building large five-deck ships - penters, easily overtaking and destroying Roman and Greek triremes and galleys in battle. The flagship ships of the Carthaginians were seven-decked and were called hepters.

The National Museum of Carthage, located on the hill of Birsa, where the fortress was formerly located, is a great place to start exploring these places. The museum presents an extensive collection of archaeological finds - ceramics, oil lamps, utensils, mosaics - reflecting the peculiarities of the Carthaginian life more than a millennium ago.

Huge reservoirs have been preserved in the ruins of Carthage. A group of such tanks is located near the suburbs of Mars, and has more than 25 containers. Another group is located near the suburb of Malga. There were at least 40 containers here. Not far from them are the ruins of a large aqueduct that supplied water to Carthage from a ridge in the mountains of the Tunisian Atlas. The aqueduct has a total length of 132 km. The water was supplied by gravity, passing through several large valleys, where the aqueduct had a height of more than 20 m. This aqueduct was founded by the Carthaginians, rebuilt in 136 AD. NS. Romans (under Emperor Hadrian, 117 - 138). Under Emperor Septimius Severus (193 - 211), it was rebuilt again. The aqueduct was destroyed and rebuilt by vandals. The ruins of the aqueduct are still striking in their grandiose size. It was the longest aqueduct in ancient times. The second longest aqueduct is located near Rome.
At the very top of the Carthage Upland, in the area of the village of Sidi-Bou-Said, at a considerable distance from Birsa, there are ruins of early Christian religious buildings. This is the Basilica of Damos el Carita. It was a huge structure: about 65 meters long and at least 45 meters wide. The basilica had nine naves. The central nave had a span of 13 m. South of this nave was the apse of the basilica. Four columns point to the iconostasis that once stood here.

There are only two monuments of the Punic era in Carthage - the ruins of the temples of Tanit and Baal-Hammon and the cemetery of sacrifices to the goddess Tanit (each family, including the royal one, sacrificed a baby).

Tinnit (Tanit) is a strange goddess. It is unknown how her cult came about. Tinnit was identified with Astarte, the goddess of fertility and love in Syria, Phenicia and Palestine; in Hellenistic times - with the mother of the gods Juno, with Aphrodite Urania or Artemis.

She is a virgin and at the same time a spouse; "eye and face" of the supreme deity, Baal Hammon, goddess of the moon, sky, fertility, patroness of childbirth.

At the same time, Tinnit does not shine with female beauty and article. The ancient sculptor depicted her as a squat woman with a lion's head; later, the "great mother" was represented as a winged woman with a lunar disk in her hands. In various images, Tinnit is surrounded by monstrous creatures: winged bulls, elephants flying with their trunks raised, fish with human heads, and many-legged snakes.

Modern Tunisia, on the territory of which Carthage was once located, is a small prosperous Mediterranean state, which is not without reason called "the most European country of North Africa".
1.2 CITY AND POWER

Carthage owned fertile lands in the interior of the mainland, it had an advantageous geographical position that favored trade, and in addition, it allowed to control the waters between Africa and Sicily, preventing foreign ships from sailing further west.

Compared to many famous cities of antiquity, Punic (from the Latin punicus or poenicus - Phoenician) Carthage is not so rich in finds, since in 146 G BC. the Romans methodically destroyed the city, and in Roman Carthage, founded on the same site in 44 BC, intensive construction was carried out. G the city of Carthage was surrounded by powerful walls approx. 30 km. Its population is unknown. The citadel was greatly fortified. The city had a market square, a council building, a court and temples. The quarter called Megara was full of vegetable gardens, orchards, and winding canals. The ships entered the trading harbor through a narrow passage. For loading and unloading ashore, it was possible to pull out simultaneously up to 220 ships (ancient ships should, if possible, be kept on land). A military harbor and an arsenal were located behind the commercial harbor.

Regions and cities.The agricultural areas in mainland Africa - the area inhabited by the Carthaginians proper - approximately correspond to the territory of modern Tunisia, although other lands fell under the rule of the city. When the ancient writers speak of the numerous cities that were in the possession of Carthage, they undoubtedly mean ordinary villages. However, there were also real Phoenician colonies - Utica, Leptis, Gadrumet and others. The cities of the Tunisian coast showed independence in their politics only in 149 BC, when it became obvious that Rome intended to destroy Carthage. Some of them then submitted to Rome. In general, Carthage was able (probably after 500 BC) to choose a political line, which was joined by the rest of the Phoenician cities both in Africa and on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Carthaginian state was very extensive. In Africa, its easternmost city was located more than 300 km east of Ei (modern Tripoli). The ruins of a number of ancient Phoenician and Carthaginian cities have been discovered between it and the Atlantic Ocean. Around 500 BC or a little later the navigator Gannon led an expedition that founded several colonies on the Atlantic coast of Africa. He ventured far to the south and left a description of gorillas, tom-toms and other African sights rarely mentioned by ancient authors.

The colonies and trading posts were for the most part located at a distance of about one day of sailing from each other. They were usually found on islands near the coast, on headlands, in river estuaries, or in those places on the mainland from which it was easy to reach the sea. For example, Leptis, located not far from modern Tripoli, in the Roman era served as the final coastal point of the great caravan route from the interior regions, from where merchants carried slaves and golden sand. This trade probably began early in the history of Carthage.

The state included Malta and two neighboring islands. For centuries Carthage waged a struggle with the Sicilian Greeks, under its rule were Lilybey and other reliably fortified ports in the west of Sicily, as well as, at various times, and other areas on the island's territory (it happened that in his hands was almost all of Sicily, except Syracuse). Gradually, Carthage established control over the fertile regions of Sardinia, while the inhabitants of the mountainous regions of the island remained unconquered. Foreign merchants were denied access to the island. At the beginning of the 5th century. BC. the Carthaginians began to master Corsica. Carthaginian colonies and trading settlements also existed on the southern coast of Spain, while the Greeks settled on the eastern coast.

Apparently, when creating its own power scattered across different territories, Carthage did not set other goals than establishing control over them in order to obtain the maximum possible profit.

CHAPTER
II

CARPHAGENIAN CIVILIZATION

2.1 Agriculture.

Unlike republican Rome, small farmers in Carthage did not form the backbone of society. Most of the African possessions of Carthage were divided among the wealthy Carthaginians, in whose large estates the economy was conducted on a scientific basis. A certain Magon, who probably lived in the 3rd c. BC, wrote a manual for farming. After the fall of Carthage, the Roman Senate, wishing to attract wealthy people to restore production in some of its lands, ordered to transfer this leadership to Latin language... Passages from the work cited in Roman sources indicate that Mago used Greek manuals on agriculture, but tried to adapt them to local conditions. He wrote about large farms and dealt with all aspects of agricultural production. Probably, local residents - Berbers, and sometimes groups of slaves led by overseers worked as tenants, or sharecroppers. The emphasis was mainly on cash crops, vegetable oil and wine, but the nature of the area inevitably implied specialization: more hilly areas were set aside for orchards, vineyards or pastures. There were also medium-sized peasant farms.

In addition to houses, temples and palaces of the nobility, there were many workshops in the city: they worked iron, copper, lead, bronze and precious metals, forged weapons, made leather, weaved and dyed fabrics, made furniture, ceramic dishes, jewelry from precious stones, gold , ivory and glass.

Carthaginian artisans specialized in the production of cheap products, mostly replicating Egyptian, Phoenician and Greek designs and intended for sale in the western Mediterranean, where Carthage conquered all markets. The production of luxury goods, such as the bright purple paint commonly known as Tyrian purple, is known in the later Roman period in North Africa, but it can be said to have existed before the fall of Carthage. Crimson, a sea snail containing this dye, was best harvested in the fall and winter, during seasons not suitable for seafaring. Permanent settlements were established in Morocco and on the island of Djerba, in the best places for obtaining murex.

In accordance with Eastern traditions, the state was a slave owner who used slave labor in arsenals, in shipyards or in construction. Archaeologists have not found data that would indicate the presence of large private craft enterprises, whose products would be distributed on the western market closed to outsiders, while there are many small workshops. It is often very difficult to distinguish among the finds of Carthaginian products from items imported from Phenicia or Greece. Artisans successfully reproduced simple items, and it seems that the Carthaginians were not too eager to make anything other than copies.

Some Punic craftsmen were very skilled, especially in carpentry and metalwork. A Carthaginian carpenter could use cedar wood for work, the properties of which were known from ancient times by the masters of Ancient Phenicia, who worked with Lebanese cedar. Due to the constant need for ships, both carpenters and metalworkers were invariably distinguished by a high level of craftsmanship. There is evidence of their skill in the processing of iron and bronze. The amount of jewelry found during excavations is small, but it seems that these people were not inclined to place expensive objects in tombs to please the souls of the departed.

The largest of the handicraft industries, apparently, was the manufacture of ceramics. The remains of workshops and pottery kilns were found, filled with items that were intended for firing. Every Punic settlement in Africa produced pottery found throughout the Carthage region - Malta, Sicily, Sardinia and Spain. From time to time, Carthaginian pottery is also found on the coast of France and northern Italy, where the Greeks from Massalia (modern-day Marseille) dominated trade and where the Carthaginians were probably still allowed to trade.

Archaeological finds paint a picture of the stable production of simple pottery not only in Carthage itself, but also in many other Punic cities. These are bowls, vases, dishes, cups, pot-bellied jugs for various purposes, called amphoras, water jugs and lamps. Research shows that their production existed from ancient times until the death of Carthage in 146 BC. Early products mostly reproduced Phoenician samples, which in turn were often copies of Egyptian ones. It looks like the 4th and 3rd centuries. BC. The Carthaginians especially valued Greek products, which was manifested in the imitation of Greek ceramics and sculpture and the presence of a large number of Greek products of this period in materials from excavations in Carthage.
2.2 TRADING POLICY

The Carthaginians were particularly successful in trade. Carthage may well be called a trading state, since in its policy it was largely guided by commercial considerations. Many of his colonies and trading settlements were undoubtedly founded in order to expand trade. It is known about some expeditions undertaken by the Carthaginian rulers, the reason for which was also the desire for wider trade relations. In the treaty concluded by Carthage in 508 BC. with the Roman Republic, which had just arisen after the expulsion of the Etruscan kings from Rome, it was envisaged that Roman ships could not sail into the western part of the sea, but they could use the harbor of Carthage. In the event of a forced landing elsewhere in Punic territory, they asked for official protection from the authorities and, after repairing the ship and replenishing food supplies, they immediately sailed away. Carthage agreed to recognize the borders of Rome and respect its people, as well as its allies.

The Carthaginians entered into agreements and, if necessary, made concessions. They also resorted to force in order not to allow rivals into the waters of the western Mediterranean, which they considered as their fiefdom, with the exception of the coast of Gaul and the adjacent shores of Spain and Italy. They also fought against piracy. The authorities maintained the complex structures of Carthage's commercial harbor, as well as its naval harbor, which, apparently, was open to ships from foreign ships, but few seafarers entered it.

It is striking that a trading state like Carthage did not pay due attention to the minting of the coin. Apparently, there was no own coin here until the 4th century. BC, when silver coins were issued, which, if the surviving specimens are considered typical, varied significantly in weight and quality. Perhaps the Carthaginians preferred to use the reliable silver coin of Athens and other states, and most of the transactions were made through direct exchange.

Goods and trade routes. Specific data on Carthage's trade items is surprisingly sparse, although evidence of its trade interests is plentiful. Typical of such evidence is the story of Herodotus about how trade took place on the west coast of Africa. The Carthaginians disembarked at a certain place and laid out the goods, after which they retired to their ships. Then the locals appeared and put a certain amount of gold next to the goods. If there was enough of it, the Carthaginians took the gold and sailed away. Otherwise, they left it untouched and returned to the ships, and the natives brought more gold. What kind of goods they were is not mentioned in the story.

Apparently, the Carthaginians brought simple pottery for sale or exchange to those western regions where they were monopolists, and also traded in amulets, jewelry, simple metal utensils and simple glass products. Some of them were produced in Carthage, some in the Punic colonies. According to several accounts, Punic traders offered wine, women, and clothing to the natives of the Balearic Islands in exchange for slaves.

It can be assumed that they were engaged in extensive purchases of goods in other craft centers - Egypt, Phenicia, Greece, southern Italy - and transported them to those areas where they enjoyed a monopoly. Punic traders were famous in the harbors of these craft centers. Finds of non-Carthaginian items during archaeological excavations of western settlements suggest that they were brought there on Punic ships.

Some mentions in Roman literature indicate that the Carthaginians imported various valuable goods to Italy, where ivory was highly valued from Africa. During the empire, a huge number of wild animals were delivered from Roman North Africa for the device of games. Figs and honey are also mentioned.

It is believed that Carthaginian ships sailed across the Atlantic Ocean for tin from Cornwall. The Carthaginians themselves produced bronze and may have brought some of the tin to other places where it was required for similar production. Through their colonies in Spain, they sought to obtain silver and lead, which could be exchanged for the goods they brought. The ropes for the Punic warships were made from the esparto herb native to Spain and North Africa. An important trade item, due to its high price, was the purple dye made from crimson. In many localities, traders bought hides and skins and found markets to sell them.

As in later times, caravans from the south must have arrived at the ports of Leptis and Ei, as well as Gigtis, which lay a little to the west. They carried ostrich feathers and eggs popular in antiquity, which served as decorations or bowls. In Carthage, they were painted with fierce faces and used, it is said, as masks to scare away demons. Ivory and slaves were also brought with caravans. But the most important cargo was golden sand from the Gold Coast or Guinea.

Some of the best goods the Carthaginians imported for their own consumption. Some of the pottery found in Carthage was brought from Greece or from Campania in southern Italy, where it was produced by visiting Greeks. The characteristic handles from Rhodes amphorae found during the excavations of Carthage show that wine was brought here from Rhodes. Surprisingly, high-quality Attic ceramics are not found here.

O Carthaginian culturealmost nothing is known in the history of ancient Carthage... The only lengthy texts that have come down to us in their language are contained in the play by Plautus Puniyets, where one of the characters, Gannon, delivers a monologue, apparently in a genuine Punic dialect, followed by a significant portion of it in Latin. In addition, a lot of Gannon's remarks are scattered over the play, also with a translation into Latin. Unfortunately, scribes who did not understand the text distorted it. In addition, the Carthaginian language is known only by geographical names, technical terms, proper names and individual words given by Greek and Latin authors. In interpreting these passages, the similarity between Punic and Hebrew is very helpful.

The Carthaginians did not have their own artistic traditions. Apparently, in everything that can be attributed to the sphere of art, this people limited themselves to copying other people's ideas and techniques. In ceramics, jewelry and sculpture, they were content with imitation, and sometimes copied not the best examples. As for the literature, there is no evidence of their writing any other works besides purely practical ones, such as the manual on agriculture of Magon, and one or two smaller compiled texts in Greek. We are not aware of the presence in Carthage of anything that could be called "fine literature."

Carthage had an official priesthood, temples and its own religious calendar. The main deities were Baal (Baal) - the Semitic god known from the Old Testament, and the goddess Tanit (Tinnit), the heavenly queen. Virgil in Aeneid called Juno a goddess who favored the Carthaginians, since he identified her with Tanith. The religion of the Carthaginians is characterized by human sacrifice, especially widely practiced during periods of disaster. The main thing in this religion is the belief in the effectiveness of the cult practice for communication with the invisible world. In light of this, it is especially surprising that in the 4th and 3rd centuries. BC. the Carthaginians actively joined the mystical Greek cult of Demeter and Persephone; in any case, the material traces of this cult are quite numerous.

2.4 RELATIONS WITH OTHER PEOPLES

The oldest rivals of the Carthaginians were the Phoenician colonies in Africa, Utica and Hadrumet. It is unclear when and how they had to submit to Carthage: there is no written evidence of any wars.

Union with the Etruscans.The Etruscans of northern Italy were both allies and trade rivals of Carthage. These enterprising sailors, traders and pirates dominated the 6th century. BC. over a large part of Italy. The main area of their settlement was located directly north of Rome. They also owned Rome and the lands to the south - right up to the border where they came into conflict with the Greeks of southern Italy. Having entered into an alliance with the Etruscans, the Carthaginians in 535 BC. won a major naval victory over the Phocians, the Greeks, who occupied Corsica.

The Etruscans occupied Corsica and held the island for about two generations. In 509 BC. the Romans drove them out of Rome and Latium. Soon thereafter, the Greeks of southern Italy, enlisting the support of the Sicilian Greeks, increased pressure on the Etruscans and in 474 BC. put an end to their power at sea, inflicting a crushing defeat on them near Qom in the Gulf of Naples. The Carthaginians moved to Corsica, already having a foothold in Sardinia.

Fight for Sicily.Even before the great defeat of the Etruscans, Carthage had a chance to measure strength with the Sicilian Greeks. The Punic cities in the west of Sicily, founded at least not later than Carthage, were forced to submit to him, like the cities of Africa. The rise of two powerful Greek tyrants, Gelon in Syracuse and Ferona in Akragante, clearly foreshadowed the Carthaginians that the Greeks would launch a powerful offensive against them to drive them out of Sicily, just as happened with the Etruscans in southern Italy. The Carthaginians accepted the challenge and for three years actively prepared for the conquest of all of eastern Sicily. They acted in concert with the Persians, who were preparing an invasion of Greece itself. According to a later tradition (undoubtedly wrong), the defeat of the Persians at Salamis and the equally decisive defeat of the Carthaginians in the land battle of Gimera in Sicily took place in 480 BC. in the same day. Confirming the worst fears of the Carthaginians, Feron and Gelon put forward an irresistible force.

It took a long time before the Carthaginians again launched an offensive against Sicily. After successfully repelling the invasion of the Athenians (415-413 BC), defeating them completely, they sought to subjugate other Greek cities in Sicily. Then these cities began to turn to Carthage for help, who did not hesitate to take advantage of this and sent a huge army to the island. The Carthaginians were close to capturing the entire eastern part of Sicily. At this moment, the famous Dionysius I came to power in Syracuse, who founded the power of Syracuse on a cruel tyranny and fought against the Carthaginians with varying success for forty years. At the end of hostilities in 367 BC. The Carthaginians again had to come to terms with the impossibility of establishing full control over the island. The lawlessness and inhumanity perpetrated by Dionysius were partially compensated by the help he provided to the Sicilian Greeks in their struggle against Carthage. The persistent Carthaginians made another attempt to subjugate eastern Sicily during the tyranny of Dionysius the Younger, who became his father's successor. However, this again did not achieve the goal, and in 338 BC, after several years of hostilities, which did not allow speaking about the advantage of either side, peace was concluded.

There is an opinion that Alexander the Great saw his ultimate goal in establishing dominion over the West as well. After Alexander's return from a great campaign to India, shortly before his death, the Carthaginians, like other peoples, sent an embassy to him, trying to find out his intentions. Perhaps the untimely death of Alexander in 323 BC. saved Carthage from many troubles.

In 311 BC. the Carthaginians made another attempt to occupy the eastern part of Sicily. The new tyrant Agathocles ruled in Syracuse. The Carthaginians had already laid siege to him in Syracuse and, it seemed, had the opportunity to capture this main stronghold of the Greeks, but Agathocles with an army sailed from the harbor and attacked the Carthaginian possessions in Africa, posing a threat to Carthage itself. From that moment until the death of Agathocles in 289 BC. the usual war continued with varying degrees of success.

In 278 BC. the Greeks went on the offensive. The famous Greek general Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, arrived in Italy to fight against the Romans on the side of the South Italian Greeks. Having won two victories over the Romans with great damage to himself ("Pyrrhic victory"), he crossed over to Sicily. There he pushed the Carthaginians back and almost cleared the island of them, but in 276 BC. with his characteristic fatal inconstancy, he abandoned further struggle and returned to Italy, from where he was soon expelled by the Romans.

Wars with Rome. The Carthaginians could hardly have foreseen that their city was destined to perish as a result of a series of military conflicts with Rome, known as the Punic Wars. The reason for the war was the episode with the Mamertines, the Italic mercenaries who were in the service of Agathocles. In 288 BC. part of them captured the Sicilian city of Messana (modern Messina), and when in 264 BC. Hieron II, ruler of Syracuse, began to overpower them, they asked for help from Carthage and at the same time from Rome. For a variety of reasons, the Romans responded to the request and came into conflict with the Carthaginians.

The war went on for 24 years (264–241 BC). The Romans landed troops in Sicily and at first achieved some success, but the army that landed in Africa under the command of Regulus was defeated near Carthage. After repeated failures caused by storms at sea, as well as a number of defeats on land (the army of the Carthaginians in Sicily was commanded by Hamilcar Barca), the Romans in 241 BC. won a naval battle near the Aegadian Islands, near the western coast of Sicily. The war brought huge losses and losses to both sides, while Carthage finally lost Sicily, and soon lost Sardinia and Corsica. In 240 BC. A dangerous uprising of the Carthaginian mercenaries, dissatisfied with the delay in money, broke out, which was suppressed only in 238 BC.

In 237 BC, just four years after the end of the first war, Hamilcar Barca traveled to Spain and began the conquest of the interior. The Roman embassy, which appeared with a question about his intentions, he replied that he was looking for a way to pay Rome an indemnity as soon as possible. The wealth of Spain - flora and fauna, minerals, not to mention its inhabitants - could quickly compensate the Carthaginians for the loss of Sicily. However, a conflict erupted again between the two powers, this time due to unrelenting pressure from Rome. In 218 BC. Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, traveled overland from Spain across the Alps to Italy and defeated the Roman army with several brilliant victories, the most important of which took place in 216 BC. at the battle of Cannes. However, Rome did not ask for peace. On the contrary, he recruited new troops and, after several years of confrontation in Italy, moved fighting to North Africa, where he achieved victory at the Battle of Zama (202 BC).

In Rome, Cato presented luxurious olives to the senators, declaring with disarming directness: "The land where they grow is located only three days by sea." It was on that day that the phrase, thanks to which Cato went down in history, was first heard. Cato understood a lot about olives and the fate of the world: he was an agronomist and a writer ...

"... Carthage must be destroyed!" - these famous words Consul Cato the Elder finished his historic speech in the Roman Senate. His words turned out to be prophetic - the army of Carthage was defeated. The mighty state of Hannibal, which once conquered all of North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia and even southern Spain, ceased to exist, and the once prosperous Mediterranean Carthage was turned into ruins. Even the land on which the city stood was ordered to be sprinkled with a thick layer of salt.

In 149 BC. the exorbitant demands of Rome forced the weakened but still wealthy North African state to enter the third war. After three years of heroic resistance, the city fell. The Romans razed it to the ground, sold the surviving inhabitants into slavery, and sprinkled salt on the soil. However, five centuries later, the Punic language was still spoken in some rural areas of North Africa, and many of the people who lived there probably had Punic blood in their veins. Carthage was rebuilt in 44 BC. and turned into one of the major cities of the Roman Empire, but the Carthaginian state ceased to exist.
CHAPTER
III

ROMAN CARPHAGEN

3.1 CARPHAGENE
HOW LARGE
TH CITY
OH CENTER
.

Julius Caesar, who had a practical fold, ordered the founding of a new Carthage, since he considered it senseless to leave such an advantageous place in many respects unused. In 44 BC, 102 years after the death, the city began a new life. From the very beginning, it flourished as the administrative center and port of an area rich in agricultural production. This period in the history of Carthage lasted for almost 750 years.

Carthage became the main city of the Roman provinces in North Africa and the third (after Rome and Alexandria) city in the empire. It served as the seat of the proconsul of the province of Africa, which, in the eyes of the Romans, more or less coincided with the ancient Carthaginian territory. The administration of the imperial land holdings, which constituted a significant part of the province, was also located here.

Many famous Romans are associated with Carthage and its surroundings. The writer and philosopher Apuleius studied in Carthage in his youth, and later achieved such fame there thanks to his Greek and Latin speeches that statues were erected in his honor. A native of North Africa was Marcus Cornelius Fronton, mentor to Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and also Emperor Septimius Sever.

The ancient Punic religion survived in a romanized form, and the goddess Tanit was worshiped as Juno of Heaven, and the image of Baal merged with Cronus (Saturn). Nevertheless, it was North Africa that became the stronghold of the Christian faith, and Carthage gained fame in the early history of Christianity and was the site of a number of important church councils. In the 3rd century. Cyprian was the Carthaginian bishop, and Tertullian spent most of his life here. The city was considered one of the largest centers of Latin scholarship in the empire; St. Augustine in his Confessions gives us some vivid sketches of the life of students who attended the rhetorical school of Carthage at the end of the 4th century.

However, Carthage remained only a large urban center and had no political significance.The history of Roman Carthage mentionsstories about the public executions of Christians, about Tertullian's furious attacks on the noble outstanding personalities caught up in Carthage in important points stories, but it never rises above the level of a large provincial city. For some time there was the capital of the Vandals (429–533 AD), who, like pirates once, set sail from the harbor that dominated the Mediterranean straits. Then this area was conquered by the Byzantines, who held it until in 697 Carthage fell under the onslaught of the Arabs.

In 439 A.D. NS. Vandals led by King Hanzerich defeated the Roman troops, and Carthage became the capital of their state. A hundred years later, he passed to the Byzantines and vegetated in provincial silence, until the Arabs in 698 again swept him off the face of the earth - this time irrevocably.

For several centuries Carthage remained the most powerful state in the Western Mediterranean.

At the same time, we know extremely little about him, and this information does not inspire confidence, since it was received from peoples hostile to Carthage.

Written sources left by the Carthaginians have not reached us, only numerous legends about the glorious Carthaginian navigators and commanders - Hannon, Hamilcar and Hannibal - have survived. Queen Dido buys land.

Carthage arose 70 years earlier than Rome, and its birth, like the birth of other cities, is covered with legends.

According to one of them, in Tire, the Phoenician city-state located on the territory of present-day Lebanon, after the death of the king, power was inherited by his adult daughter Dido and his young son Pygmalion. Growing up, Pygmalion ordered the murder of his sister's husband, who actually ruled the city, after which Dido. fearing that the same fate awaited her, she decided to flee.

Equipping a fleet, she went to the shores of North Africa. Having conceived to build a city here, Dido asked the Libyan king to sell her a suitable piece of land for a precious stone. And he supposedly answered that he was ready to give a piece of land that could be covered ... with the skin of a bull. On reflection, Dido agreed. At night, she ordered to cut the skin given to her by the king into cords and, stretching them, fenced off a fair area. Amazed by the cunning of the queen and struck by her beauty, the king allocated her a piece of land on which Carthage grew up.

Tragedy after the wedding

A small village that emerged on the Birsa (Shkura) hill and on the adjacent seashore was named the New City - in Phoenician Karthadasht; in Greek Carhedon; in Russian Carthage - from the Latin Carthago.
After the death of Queen Dido, the townspeople abolished the monarchy, and Carthage became an oligarchic republic. However, a little more about Dido.

According to one of the legends, the Libyan king, the one who was struck by her beauty, long and in vain coveted her hand and in the end threatened that if she did not marry him, he would level Carthage to the ground. The queen was forced to agree, taking from the king a promise that if she became his wife, he would not harm the city. As soon as the wedding ceremony was over, she threw herself from the fortress wall and crashed to her death. And the city survived, its inhabitants became related with the local population and began to call themselves not Phoenicians, but Punyans.
The convenient position of Carthage contributed to its growth: Phoenicians, Greeks, Etruscans, and then the Romans began to come here for trade affairs. The Carthaginians built many shipyards and an artificial port, consisting of two parts, connected by a narrow channel, Carthage became one of the largest port cities of its time.

Rival Rome

The industrious and skillful inhabitants of Carthage planted olive groves (the export of olive oil, along with tourism, is the main source of income of today's Tunisia), fished, cultivated wheat, planted gardens and vineyards, erected multi-storey buildings, invented various mechanisms, watched the stars. wrote books.

The glass they made was known throughout the ancient world, the magnificent purple fabrics, the secret of color of which was carefully hidden, were highly valued.

It was the Phoenicians who invented the same alphabet of 22 letters, which served as the basis for the Greek and Latin writing, and subsequently spread throughout Europe.

By the 5th century BC. NS. Carthage became one of the largest empires in the Mediterranean. The empire included a significant territory of North Africa, Spain and Sicily.

The Carthaginian fleet, consisting of battle galleys and merchant sailing ships, was unmatched in the Mediterranean, the ships of the Carthaginians went out to the Atlantic Ocean, reached England, Ireland and Cameroon.

By that time, the influence of Greece, the constant enemy of Carthage, had significantly decreased, but Rome had turned into a strong power.

Historical oversight

It is well known how the confrontation between Rome and Carthage ended.

As a result of the three Punic Wars, which lasted from 264 to 146. BC e., Mark Porcius Cato, each of his speeches in the Roman Senate ended with the phrase: "Still, Carthage must be destroyed!" - has achieved his goal.

The state of Carthage ceased to exist, its capital was destroyed. The citizens who escaped death (55,000 people) out of those who once lived in it were sold into slavery.

It is said that Emilian Scipio, whose troops took Carthage by storm, wept as he watched the capital of a mighty state perish.

By the way, from a legal point of view, the third Punic War lasted 2131. The Romans did not conclude a peace treaty with Carthage due to the destruction of the latter. The historical oversight was corrected on February 2, 1985, when the mayor of Rome, Hugo Vetere, and the mayor of the revived Carthage, Shadli Klibi, entered into an agreement of peace and cooperation. Now everything is in order on paper.

A reality similar to a myth. According to Pliny, Seneca, Valerius Maximus and other Roman historians, in 244 BC. NS. Roman galleys and transport ships under the command of the consul Marcus Atilius Regulus entered the delta of the Bagrida River - now Megera in Tunisia.

They came here to decide by force of arms who will win the war between Rome and Carthage.

But some of the legionnaires did not even live to see the first battle, and died in the river delta under the terrible blows of a huge monster that lived in its waters. Only by using catapults, skilled warriors killed the monster.

By order of the consul, the skin was removed from him, and the unprecedented trophy was sent on a passing ship to Rome. The length of the monster from head to end of tail was 120 steps - about 36 meters.

The trophy was displayed in Rome for public viewing and remained intact until 133. His further fate is unknown.

Traceless disappearance

The winners not only took away all the gold, silver and jewelry that had accumulated in Carthage, but almost all the books and chronicles about the Punic Wars were destroyed in the fires. The famous Carthaginian library also disappeared without a trace.

From the former greatness of the city, which ruled over half of the ancient world, there was nothing left but
fragments of columns and blocks of yellow stone in the place where the palace of the admiral of the Carthaginian fleet stood. From the acropolis and the foundations of the temple of the gods Tanit and Bala, who, thanks to the Romans, gained foul glory, only heaps of stones remained.

The Romans loved to portray their opponents as cruel savages, and the Carthaginians were no exception.

They were credited with savage customs, they were accused of sacrificing the firstborn of the most noble families to their gods, and slaves were slaughtered on altars without counting.

Meanwhile, the only evidence of cruelty - the sacrifice of prisoners of war to the gods - was committed by the Phoenicians on the walls of Tire, and not at all in Carthage, when in the 4th century BC. NS. the city was besieged by the Greco-Macedonian troops.

The stories of babies being thrown into the mouth of the copper statue of Moloch, or Baal, are either sheer slander or the fruit of the wild fantasy of the enemies of Carthage.

Probably, if Rome was defeated in this war, it was about its citizens the Carthaginians, and after them we would be telling tales from which the blood runs cold.

Recent archaeological research has led scientists to believe that on the territory of Carthage, like other cities formed by the Phoenicians, there were children's cemeteries where the dead babies of noble families were buried - infant mortality c. the ancient world was quite high.

Perhaps they gave birth to monstrous stories, which Christian priests still like to regale parishioners with, depicting the terrible customs of the pagans.

Founding of ancient Carthage

In the first volume of our work, we got acquainted with the different areas of activity of the Phoenicians; we have seen that they had dominion over the Mediterranean before the development of Greek trade; that the enterprising merchants of Tire and Sidon founded settlements on all the shores and islands of this sea, fished for purple shells, developed mines in areas rich in metals, conducted an extremely profitable exchange trade with semi-savage native tribes; that the riches of Spain and Africa were brought on "Tarshish ships" to the magnificent trading cities of Phenicia, that the tyrant, under the auspices of Melqart, "king" of their "city", founded trading posts and cities in places convenient for trade on the Mediterranean coast. We have also seen that due to internal strife (I, 505 et seq.), Some of the wealthy citizens left Tire and founded Carthage, the "New City" on the African coast against Sicily; that thanks to the fertility of the surroundings, the favorable position for trade, the enterprise, education and business experience of its inhabitants, this city soon achieved great power, became much richer and stronger than Tyr.

Expansion of the dominion of Carthage in Africa

At first, the main concern of the Carthaginians was to consolidate their power over the surrounding areas. At first, they were forced to give tribute or gifts to the kings of neighboring agricultural and pastoral tribes, so that the predatory natives would refrain from attacking them. But soon they, partly by mental superiority and dexterous politics, partly by force of arms and the establishment of colonies in the lands of these tribes, managed to subjugate them. The Carthaginians tied the Numidian kings to themselves with honors, gifts, and other means, among other things, by giving them girls from their noble families.

By founding their trading colonies, the Carthaginians achieved the same benefits. as the Romans founded military colonies: they rid the capital of the restless poor, gave these poor people prosperity, spread their language. their religious and civil institutions, their nationality, and thus consolidated their dominion over vast areas. The settlers from Phenicia strengthened the Canaanite element in north africa, so that the Livofinikians, a people descended from the mixing of colonists with natives, became predominant not only in the coastal regions of Zeugitana and Bizakia, but also at a great distance from the sea. The Phoenician language and civilization penetrated far into the depths of Libya; at the courts of the kings of the nomadic tribes, they spoke and wrote in Phoenician.

The Livofenikians, who lived throughout the country in villages and small unfortified cities, were very useful to the citizens of the trading cities of the seaside. Receiving a large income from agriculture, they paid Carthage a significant land tax, supplied the trading cities with food supplies and various other goods; kept from raids by the shepherd Numidian tribes, roaming on the abundant pastures on the slopes of the Atlas, accustomed them to agriculture, a sedentary lifestyle; constituted the bulk of the Carthaginian troops and the main element of the settlers in the establishment of colonies overseas; were porters and workers at the Carthaginian wharf, sailors and warriors on Carthaginian ships.

The mercenary troops of the Carthaginians were recruited for the most part from the Livofenician settlers, strong people, accustomed to enduring labor and hardship. The cavalry of the Phoenicians was delivered by the Numidian tribes who roamed the outskirts of the desert. Carthaginian citizens formed a sacred detachment that surrounded the military leaders. Livofenician infantry with Numidian cavalry and not a large number the Carthaginians formed a brave army, which fought well under the command of the Carthaginian generals in Africa, and at sea, and in foreign lands. But the greedy merchants of Carthage oppressed the agricultural and pastoral population of Africa, incurred their hatred, which often manifested itself in dangerous uprisings, accompanied by fierce revenge.

Ruins of Ancient Carthage on Bierse Hill

Having reached great power, Carthage easily acquired dominion over those Phoenician colonies that were founded before him: Hippon, Hadrumet, Big Leptida, Little Leptida, Phaps and other cities of that coast (I, 524) were forced to recognize the power of Carthage over themselves and pay him tribute; some of them submitted voluntarily, others were subdued by force; only Utica retained some independence. The Phoenician cities of Africa subject to Carthage gave him an army and paid taxes, the amount of which was generally significant; in return, their citizens could acquire land ownership in the Carthaginian possessions; their marriages with Carthaginian families were full-fledged, and they themselves enjoyed the protection of Carthaginian laws.

The navigation of ancient Carthage

Conquering the neighboring regions, the Carthaginians undertook distant voyages and trade on a wide scale. A Greek translation of the account of the expedition of Hannon, a courageous Carthaginian sailor, who wrote a story about his discoveries in Phoenician and gave it to the temple of Baal for preservation, has reached us. With 60 ships and a large number of settlers, he set out for the Pillars of Hercules, sailed along the western coast of Africa, rounded the "Southern Cape" and founded five settlements behind it, the southernmost of which was on the island of Kerne (I, 524). The Carthaginians carried on a lucrative trade there, exchanging ivory, leopard and lion skins from the smooth-haired blacks of that coast for clothes and beautiful dishes.

They say that the Carthaginians knew the island of Madeira, that they thought to move there in the event that the enemies overpowered them in their homeland. About the same time as Gannon made his voyage, another trading expedition of the Carthaginians, following the example of the Tyrians, went along the western coast of Ireland (I, 527). Through the pastoral tribes, the Carthaginians conducted an active trade with central Africa. In present-day Fezzan, caravan routes converged from the Egyptian Thebes, the southern deserts and Carthage; there the Carthaginians traded gold dust, precious stones and black slaves for dates, palm wine and salt.

Filenas

After a long struggle with the Cyrene Greeks, the Carthaginians agreed on where the border between their possessions should be; she was led through the desert and determined to be very beneficial for the Carthaginians, thanks to the self-sacrifice of the Phylenes, who agreed to die for the benefit of the homeland.

The condition was that at the same time ambassadors would leave Cyrene and Carthage to meet each other, and that where they converged, there would be a border. The Carthaginian ambassadors were two brothers of Filena. They walked very hastily and went much further than the Kyrenians had expected. The Cyrene ambassadors, angry and afraid of being punished in their homeland, began to accuse them of deception and finally offered them a choice either to be buried alive in the place about which they argued that there should be a border here, or to allow it to be moved further from Cyrene; the Cyrene ambassadors themselves volunteered to be buried in the place where they wanted to set the border. Filena sacrificed their lives for their homeland and were buried in the place they reached. It became the border. The Carthaginians put on their graves “altars of Filen” and erected monuments in honor of them.

Colonies of ancient Carthage

Carthaginian possessions were not limited to African lands. When the Nineveh and Babylonian kings began to attack Phenicia and its power fell, and then the Persians conquered it and forced the Phoenician sailors to engage in service on warships instead of trading (I, 509, 534 next), Carthage, considering itself the heir of Tire, whose citizens it was founded, assumed dominion over the Phoenician colonies across the sea. We saw (I, 517 et seq., 521 next) that the rule of Tire in Spain stretched very far, that its citizens mined precious metals there, exported wool, fish from there, fished purple shells off the Spanish coast, that Tarshian ships loaded silver, were the pride of Tire, astonished the peoples neighboring Phenicia; all the Spanish possessions of Tire, which had the rich Hades as their center, submitted to Carthage either voluntarily or by duress; the Phoenician colonies on the Balearic and Pitius Islands also obeyed. The wealth of these trading posts and the treasures of the Spanish mines now went to Carthage; the colonies of Tire in southern Spain began, like the African ones, to pay tribute, to give an army to Carthage. The Phoenician colonies on the Italic islands also submitted to him. Between 550 and 450, the chiefs of the Carthaginian fleets and troops Magon, his sons (Gazdrubal, Hamilcar) and grandchildren conquered Carthage all the colonies and trading posts of Tire in Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Malta and many native tribes of these islands. The old Phoenician colony, on the island of Sardinia, Caralis (Cagliari), was enlarged by new settlers; Libyan colonists began to cultivate the fertile coastal parts of the island, the natives went to the mountains of the central part from slavery. The Carthaginians exported honey and wax from Corsica; on the Elbe (Etalia), rich in iron ore, iron was mined.

When the Phocians, who fled from the Persians, wanted to settle in Corsica, the Carthaginians, having united with the Etruscans, drove them away (II, 387). The Carthaginians did their best to prevent their dangerous rivals, the Greeks, to settle on the coast of the western Mediterranean and, if possible, to constrain those of their colonies that were already founded there. For this they entered into a trade agreement with Rome and Latium, which we have already mentioned; their squadrons went from the Spanish islands to attack Massalia; simultaneously with Xerxes' invasion of Greece, Hamilcar sailed with a huge army to Sicily; this expedition ended, as we know, with his defeat at Gimer (II, 513 next). The Carthaginians had under their rule the old Phoenician colonies in Sicily: Motia, Solunt and Panorm, founded there Lilybey; this beautiful island, rich in bread, wine and olive oil, with such a favorable position for trade, they considered extremely important for their trade and colonization activities. In the next section we will see how stubbornly they fought for a century and a half with the Greeks for dominion over Sicily; but they firmly owned only the western part of it up to the Galika River; the rest of the coastal areas were held by the Greeks, and in the mountains of the central part the natives continued to graze their herds: Elim, Sikan, Sikel, and served as mercenaries either in the Carthaginian or in the Greek armies. On the neighboring islands of Sicily, Lipari, Aegat and other small islands and in Malta, the Carthaginians had marinas and warehouses for goods.

Carthaginian power

Thus, from the Tyrian trading post, Carthage became the capital of a vast state, a city so rich that there were hardly any other trading cities equal to its power before. From Tingis to great Sirte, all the cities and tribes of northern Africa obeyed him: some paid tribute, others gave an army, or cultivated the fields of Carthaginian citizens. Owning many cities, marinas and fortifications along all the shores and islands of the western Mediterranean, the Carthaginians considered it their property and left little room for Etruscan and Greek trade there. Knowing how to use the products of those countries, acquiring enormous wealth from them, they also used the forces of the natives for their wars. Almost all western tribes served under the Carthaginian banners. Next to the detachments of Carthaginian citizens, shining with rich weapons, the Libyan infantry with long spears went into battle. Numidian horsemen, clad in skins, rode hot little horses and fought with darts; Spanish and Gallic mercenaries in colorful national costumes, lightly armed Ligurians and Campanians helped them; the fearsome Balearic slingers threw lead bullets with their belts with such force that it was like the action of rifle shots.

Prosperity of the Carthage region

Carthage's income was enormous. Little Leptida paid him 365 talents annually (over 500,000 rubles); from this it can be seen that the amount of tribute, from all regions of the state, reached a colossal figure; in addition, large revenues were brought by mines, customs duties, and land tax from the villagers. State revenues were so great that Carthaginian citizens did not have to pay any taxes. They enjoyed a flourishing estate. In addition to income from extensive trade, from factories, they received cash payments, or part of the product from their estates lying in an extremely fertile country, occupied lucrative positions as tax collectors and rulers in the cities and districts subject to Carthage. Descriptions of Carthage and its environs by Polybius, Diodorus and other ancient writers show that the wealth of the Carthaginians was very great. These descriptions say that the Carthaginian region was covered with gardens and plantations, because everywhere in it were canals that provided sufficient irrigation. Country houses stretched in continuous rows, testifying by their magnificence to the wealth of their owners. The dwellings of the Carthaginians were filled with all sorts of things needed for convenience and enjoyment. Taking advantage of the long-lasting peace, the Carthaginians gathered huge reserves of them. Everywhere in the Carthaginian region there were many vineyards, olive groves, orchards. Herds of cattle, sheep and goats grazed in the beautiful meadows; in the lowlands there were huge horse farms. Bread grew luxuriously on the fields; especially there was a lot of wheat and barley. Countless cities and towns of the fertile Carthaginian region were surrounded by vineyards, pomegranates, fig trees, and all sorts of other orchards. Everywhere prosperity was visible, because the noble Carthaginians loved to live on their estates and competed with each other for their improvement. Agriculture was flourishing among the Carthaginians; they had such good agronomic writings that the Romans subsequently translated these books into their own language, and the Roman government recommended them to Italian farmers. How general form the country testified to the wealth of the Carthaginians, so the vastness and beauty of the capital, the enormity of its fortifications, the splendor of public buildings, showed the power of the state, the wisdom and generosity of its government.

Geographical location of Carthage

Carthage stood on a promontory connected to the mainland only by a narrow isthmus; this location was very beneficial for maritime trade and, at the same time, it was convenient for defense. The coast was steep, by the flood from the sea, the city was surrounded by only one wall, but on the mainland side it was protected by a triple row of walls, 30 cubits high and fortified by towers. Between the walls there were dwellings for warriors, warehouses of food supplies, stables for cavalry, sheds for war elephants. A harbor on the side of the high seas was designated for merchant ships, and another, called Coton, after the island that was in it, served for warships. There were arsenals on the island. Near the military harbor there was a popular assembly square. From the square, a wide, lined with tall buildings, the main street of the city led to a citadel called Birsa: from Birsa, a 60-step climb led to the top of a hill on which stood the rich, famous temple of Aesculapius (Esmuna).

State structure of ancient Carthage

Now we must tell about the state structure of Carthage, as far as we know from the meager fragmentary news.

Aristotle says that aristocratic and democratic elements were combined in the state system of Carthage, but aristocratic ones prevailed; he finds it very good that the state was ruled by noble families among the Carthaginians, but the people were not completely removed from participation in government. From this we see that Carthage preserved in general outline those institutions that existed in Tire and belonged to all Phoenician cities (I, 511 et seq.). Noble families retained all government power in their hands, but they owed their influential position not only to their nobility, but also to wealth, the personal merits of their members were also of great importance. The government council, which the Greeks call gerusia and the Romans call the senate, was made up of aristocrats; the number of its members was 300; he possessed the greatest power over state affairs; its committee was another council, consisting of either 10 or 30 members. The council was chaired by two dignitaries, called sufets (judges); ancient writers compare them sometimes with the Spartan kings, sometimes with the Roman consuls; therefore some scholars think that their dignity was for life, while others that they were elected for a year. The second opinion must be considered the most probable: annual elections are more consistent with the character of an aristocratic republic than the life of a dignity. Current affairs were probably managed by a council of ten (or thirty) senators with the participation of the Sufis; Roman writers call the members of this council principes; important matters were of course decided by the General Assembly of the Senate. Those questions, the decision of which exceeded the power of the Senate, or on which the Sufets and the Senate could not agree with each other, were left to the decision of the People's Assembly, which, it seems, also belonged to the power to approve or reject the elections of dignitaries and military leaders made by the Senate. But generally speaking, the popular assembly had little influence. Senate presidents, sufets. also presided over the court. We do not know whether the Sufis were commanders-in-chief by their very rank, or whether they received the power of commanders-in-chief only for a specific purpose; Whether both of them could go on a campaign, or one of them had to stay in the city to manage administrative and judicial affairs, we also do not know. The military power of the commander-in-chief was unlimited; but at the conclusion of treaties, he had to obey the opinion of the committee of senators who accompanied the army. To protect the state from the lust for power of the generals, the aristocracy has long established the "Council of the Hundred", which was the keeper of the existing order, who had the right to subject military leaders to their own judgment and punish all sorts of malicious intent.

In aristocratic states, there are always several surnames that enjoy very great influence on state affairs for their enormous wealth. If any of these surnames gains special fame for their merits, has great commanders who pass on their military experience to children, then it gains such a predominance in the state that thoughts about the subordination of the homeland to its dominion can easily arise in it. In the first half of the 6th century, the military leader Malchus (Malchus), punished by exile for failure in the war on the island of Sardinia, went with an army to Carthage and crucified ten senators hostile to him. The Senate managed to defeat this ambitious person, but other such attempts could be feared. The danger has become especially great since the time when the surname of Magon, the founder of the power of the Carthaginians at sea, the first commander who made great conquests outside Africa, gained tremendous influence; his gifts were hereditary in three generations of his offspring. To protect the state from the ambition of the military leaders, the Senate chose from among its members the Council of the Hundred, which was charged with examining the actions of the military leaders upon their return from the war and keeping them in obedience to the laws. This was the origin of the formidable collegium called the Council of the Hundred. It was established, as we can see, to preserve the republican order, but later became a political inquisition, before the despotic power of which everyone had to bow down. Aristotle compares the advice of the Hundred with the Spartan efhora. This council was not content to curb the machinations of military leaders and other ambitious people; it arrogated to itself the right to observe the way of life of the citizens. He punished military leaders who failed with such merciless cruelty that many took their own lives, preferring it to his fierce judgment. Moreover, the advice of the Sta was very biased. "In Carthage". says Livy (XXXIII, 46) "The Committee of Judges" (ie, the Council of the Hundred), elected for life, acts autonomously. The property, honor, life of everyone are in their hands. Whoever has one of them as his enemy has all of them as enemies, and when judges are hostile to man, there will be no shortage of accusers. " The members of the Council of the Hundred conferred life on their rank and strengthened their strength, which they themselves chose as a comrade for vacancies... Hannibal, with the assistance of a democratic party imbued with patriotism and striving to transform the state, took the life of dignity from the members of the Council of the Hundred and introduced an annual election of its members; this reform was an important step towards replacing oligarchic rule with democratic one.

Religion of ancient Carthage

As in the state structure, the Carthaginians retained the order that existed in Tire, so in religion they adhered to Phoenician beliefs and rituals, although they borrowed from other peoples some deities and forms of worship that were related to their familiar ones. The Phoenician deities of nature, who were the personification of her forces, remained forever the dominant deities of the Carthaginians. The Tire Melqart also retained the meaning of the supreme tribal god among the Carthaginians, as we see, by the way, from the fact that they constantly sent embassies and gifts to his Tire temple. The presented about him personified the wanderings of the people who were engaged in sea trade; he was in symbolic alliance with Astarte-Dido, the patroness of Carthage; serving him was a link connecting all Phoenician settlements; therefore he was of great importance to the Carthaginians, and his cult was the most important among them. We have already seen (I, 538 et seq.) That they preserved in all his horror a terrible service to the god of the sun and fire, Moloch, whose sacrifices received such a tragic development. Deeply rooted in the national character of the Phoenicians were the contrasts of voluptuousness and sadness, pampered devotion to pleasures and the capacity for extraordinary efforts, readiness for self-torture, courageous energy and sluggish despair, arrogance and servility, love for exquisite pleasures and crude ferocity; these contrasts were expressed in the service of Astarte and Moloch; because the Carthaginians loved him to such an extent that voluptuous rituals and human sacrifices to Moloch remained with them in full force, when in Tire itself this debauchery and this inhumanity had already been destroyed by the influence of the Persians and Greeks and the development of humanity.

“The religious worldview of the Carthaginians was harsh and gloomy,” says Boetticher: “with longing in her soul, but with a forced smile, to please the deity, the mother sacrificed her beloved child to the terrible idol; such was the whole character of the life of the people. As the religion of the Carthaginians was cruel and servile, so they themselves were gloomy, slavishly obedient to the government, cruel to subjects and foreigners, arrogant in anger, timid in fear. Vile sacrifices to Moloch drowned out all human feelings in them; therefore, it is not surprising that with cold cruelty they mercilessly tortured and killed the defeated enemies, did not spare in their fanaticism either the temples or the tombs of the enemy land. " On the island of Sardinia, prisoners of war and old people were also sacrificed to God with forced laughter (from this laughter, some produce an expression of sardonic laughter). It would be better for the Carthaginians not to believe in any gods than to believe in such, says Plutarch, in indignation at these religious horrors.

Liturgical rites among the Carthaginians were as inextricably linked with all matters of political and military life as among the Romans. The generals made sacrifices before the battle and during the battle itself; with the army there were interpreters of the will of the gods, which had to be obeyed; trophies of victories were brought to the temples; at the founding of a new colony, first of all, they built a temple of the deity, who would be its patron; at the conclusion of contracts, the highest deities were called to witnesses, and in particular the deities of fire, earth, air, water, meadows and rivers; altars and temples were erected in honor of people who rendered great services to the fatherland; for example, Hamilcar, who sacrificed himself in the battle of Hymer to the god of fire, the brothers of Philene, Alet, who discovered silver ore in New Carthage, were honored as heroes, and temples were set up on altars to them. Both in Tire and in Carthage, the high priest was the first dignitary after the main rulers of the state.

Character of the Carthaginians

Observing the institutions and customs of the Carthaginians, we see that they brought to an extreme development the traits of the general character of the Semitic tribe, and especially its Phoenician branch. All Semites have a sharp manifestation of selfishness: it is also manifested in their inclination to gain profit from trade and industry and in their fragmentation into small closed states, clans and families. He favored the development of energy and prevented the emergence of Eastern despotism, in which the individual is swallowed up by the universal, enslavement; but he directed his thoughts exclusively to concerns about real life, rejected from any ideal and humane aspirations, often forced to sacrifice the good of society for the benefits of the party, or for personal interests. The Carthaginians had many qualities worthy of high respect; courageous enterprise led them to great discoveries, found trade routes to distant unknown countries; their practical mind improved the inventions made in Phenicia, contributed to the development of human culture; their patriotism was so strong that they willingly sacrificed everything for the good of their homeland; their troops were well organized; their fleets dominated the western seas; their ships surpassed all others in size and speed; their state life was more comfortable and durable than in most of the other republics the ancient world; their cities and villages were rich. But with these venerable qualities they combined great flaws and vices. Enviously, they tried by all means, both by force and by cunning, to eliminate other peoples from participating in their trade and, abusing their power at sea, often engaged in piracy; they were cruel to their subjects to the point of ruthlessness, did not allow them to derive any benefit from the victories won with their assistance, did not bother to tie them to themselves with good, fair relations; they were ferocious to their slaves, countless of whom worked on their ships, in their mines, in their commercial and industrial pursuits; they were stern and ungrateful about their mercenary troops. Their state life suffered from aristocratic despotism, the combination of several positions in one hand, venality of dignitaries, disregard for the common good because of the benefits of the party. Wealth and an innate inclination to sensual pleasures produced such luxury and immorality in them that all the peoples of the ancient world condemned their debauchery; developed by their religious rites, it reached the point of disgust among them. Gifted with a strong mind, they used their abilities not so much for the development of science, for literary and artistic activities, as for inventing tricks, for gaining benefits for themselves by deceit. They so selfishly used to the detriment of other semitic peoples innate insight and flexibility of mind that the expression "Punic", that is, Carthaginian "conscientiousness" became a proverb to denote shameless treachery.

Literature and Science of Ancient Carthage

They did not strive for ideal goals, did not value higher mental activities; did not create a culture like the Greeks did not create a legal state order as the Romans did not create astronomy as the Babylonians and Egyptians; even in the technical arts, they seem not only to have not surpassed the Tyrians, but also did not equal them. Perhaps their literature was not as insignificant as it seems when all her works were destroyed; maybe they had good books destroyed by terrible military storms that devastated the Carthaginian country; but the very fact that all Carthaginian literature perished proves that it did not have great inner dignity; otherwise all of it would not have disappeared almost without a trace in times that were far from devoid of intellectual interests, more would have survived from it than the account of Hannon's expedition to Greek translation, Mago's treatise on agriculture and vague news that the Romans gave their allies, the native kings, Carthaginian books of historical content and some others literary works... The field of poetry was alien to the Carthaginians, philosophy was an unknown mystery to them; their art served only luxury and splendor. Caring exclusively about real life, they did not know the highest aspirations, did not know the peace of mind and happiness that love for ideal goods brings, did not know the eternally young kingdom of fantasy, not destroyed by any blows of fate.

The content of the article

CARTHAGE, an ancient city (near modern Tunisia) and a state that existed in the 7th and 2nd centuries. BC. in the western Mediterranean. Carthage (which means "new city" in Phoenician) was founded by immigrants from Phoenician Tire (the traditional date of foundation is 814 BC, in fact it was founded a little later, possibly around 750 BC). The Romans called him Carthago, the Greeks - Carhedon.

According to legend, Carthage was founded by the queen Elissa (Dido), who fled from Tire after her brother Pygmalion, king of Tire, killed her husband Sychei in order to take possession of his wealth. Throughout the history of Carthage, the city's inhabitants have been renowned for their business acumen. According to the legend about the founding of the city, Dido, who was allowed to occupy as much land as a bull's hide, took possession of a large plot by cutting the hide into narrow belts. That is why the citadel placed on this place bore the name Birsa (which means "skin").

Carthage was not the oldest of the Phoenician colonies. Long before him, Utica was founded a little further north (the traditional date is about 1100 BC). Probably about the same time, Gadrumet and Leptis were founded, located on the east coast of Tunisia to the south, Hippon on the north coast, and Lix on the Atlantic coast of modern Morocco.

Long before the founding of the Phoenician colonies, ships sailed from Egypt, Mycenaean Greece and Crete. The political and military setbacks of these powers from around 1200 BC. provided the Phoenicians with freedom of action in the Mediterranean and an opportunity to acquire skills in navigation and trade. 1100 to 800 BC the Phoenicians actually dominated the sea, where only rare Greek ships dared to go. The Phoenicians explored lands in the west up to the Atlantic coast of Africa and Europe, which later came in handy for Carthage.

CITY AND POWER

Compared to many famous cities of antiquity, Punic (from the Latin punicus or poenicus - Phoenician) Carthage is not so rich in finds, since in 146 BC. the Romans methodically destroyed the city, and in Roman Carthage, founded on the same site in 44 BC, intensive construction was carried out. Based on the scant evidence of ancient authors and their often obscure topographic indications, we know that the city of Carthage was surrounded by powerful walls ca. 30 km. Its population is unknown. The citadel was greatly fortified. The city had a market square, a council building, a court and temples. The quarter called Megara was full of vegetable gardens, orchards, and winding canals. The ships entered the trading harbor through a narrow passage. For loading and unloading ashore, it was possible to pull out simultaneously up to 220 ships (ancient ships should, if possible, be kept on land). A military harbor and an arsenal were located behind the commercial harbor.

System of government.

According to its state structure, Carthage was an oligarchy. Despite the fact that at home, in Phenicia, power belonged to the kings and the founder of Carthage, according to legend, was the queen Dido, we know almost nothing about the royal power here. The ancient authors, who for the most part admired the structure of Carthage, compared it with the political system of Sparta and Rome. Power here belonged to the Senate, which was in charge of finances, foreign policy, the declaration of war and peace, and also carried out the general conduct of the war. The executive power was entrusted to two elected magistrates-Suffets (the Romans called them sufetes, this is the same office as "shofetim", that is, judges, in the Old Testament). Obviously, these were senators, and their duties were exclusively civil, not involving control over the army. Together with the commanders of the army, they were elected by the people's assembly. The same posts were established in the cities under the rule of Carthage. Although many aristocrats owned vast agricultural land, land ownership was not the only basis for achieving high social status. Trade was considered a very respectable occupation, and the wealth obtained in this way was treated with respect. Nevertheless, some aristocrats from time to time actively opposed the dominance of merchants, such as, for example, Hannon the Great in the 3rd century. BC.

Regions and cities.

The agricultural areas in mainland Africa - the area inhabited by the Carthaginians proper - roughly correspond to the territory of modern Tunisia, although other lands fell under the rule of the city. When the ancient writers speak of the numerous cities that were in the possession of Carthage, they undoubtedly mean ordinary villages. However, there were also real Phoenician colonies - Utica, Leptis, Gadrumet and others. Information about the relations of Carthage with these cities and some Phoenician settlements in Africa or elsewhere is scarce. The cities of the Tunisian coast showed independence in their politics only in 149 BC, when it became obvious that Rome intended to destroy Carthage. Some of them then submitted to Rome. In general, Carthage was able (probably after 500 BC) to choose a political line, which was joined by the rest of the Phoenician cities both in Africa and on the other side of the Mediterranean.

The Carthaginian state was very extensive. In Africa, its easternmost city was located more than 300 km east of Ei (present-day Tripoli). The ruins of a number of ancient Phoenician and Carthaginian cities have been discovered between it and the Atlantic Ocean. Around 500 BC or a little later, the navigator Gannon led an expedition that founded several colonies on the Atlantic coast of Africa. He ventured far to the south and left a description of gorillas, tom-toms and other African sights rarely mentioned by ancient authors.

The colonies and trading posts were for the most part located at a distance of about one day of sailing from each other. They were usually found on islands near the coast, on headlands, in river estuaries, or in those places of the mainland from where it was easy to get to the sea. For example, Leptis, located not far from modern Tripoli, in the Roman era served as the final coastal point of the great caravan route from the interior regions, from where merchants carried slaves and golden sand. This trade probably began early in the history of Carthage.

The state included Malta and two neighboring islands. For centuries Carthage waged a struggle with the Sicilian Greeks, under his rule were Lilybey and other reliably fortified ports in the west of Sicily, as well as, at various times, other areas on the island's territory (it happened that in his hands was almost all of Sicily, except Syracuse). Gradually, Carthage established control over the fertile regions of Sardinia, while the inhabitants of the mountainous regions of the island remained unconquered. Foreign merchants were denied access to the island. At the beginning of the 5th century. BC. the Carthaginians began to master Corsica. Carthaginian colonies and trading settlements also existed on the southern coast of Spain, while the Greeks settled on the eastern coast. Since arriving here in 237 BC. Hamilcar Barca and before Hannibal's campaign in Italy, great strides were made in subduing the interior regions of Spain. Apparently, when creating its own power scattered across different territories, Carthage did not set other goals than establishing control over them in order to obtain the maximum possible profit.

CARPHAGENIAN CIVILIZATION

Agriculture.

The Carthaginians were skilled farmers. Wheat and barley were the most important cereals. Some grain probably came from Sicily and Sardinia. Medium quality wine was produced for sale. Fragments of ceramic containers found during archaeological excavations in Carthage indicate that the Carthaginians imported wines of higher quality from Greece or from the island of Rhodes. The Carthaginians were famous for their excessive addiction to wine, even special laws against drunkenness were adopted, for example, prohibiting the use of wine by soldiers. In North Africa, olive oil was produced in large quantities, albeit of low quality. Figs, pomegranates, almonds, date palms grew here, and ancient authors have mentions of such vegetables as cabbage, peas and artichokes. In Carthage, horses, mules, cows, sheep and goats were bred. The Numidians, who lived to the west, in the territory of modern Algeria, preferred thoroughbred horses and were famous as riders. Apparently, the Carthaginians, who had strong trade ties with the Numidians, bought horses from them. Later, gourmets of imperial Rome highly prized poultry from Africa.

Unlike republican Rome, small farmers in Carthage did not form the backbone of society. Most of the African possessions of Carthage were divided among the wealthy Carthaginians, in whose large estates the economy was conducted on a scientific basis. A certain Magon, who probably lived in the 3rd c. BC, wrote a manual for farming. After the fall of Carthage, the Roman Senate, wishing to attract wealthy people to restore production in some of its lands, ordered the translation of this manual into Latin. Passages from the work cited in Roman sources indicate that Mago used Greek manuals on agriculture, but tried to adapt them to local conditions. He wrote about large farms and dealt with all aspects of agricultural production. Probably, local residents - Berbers, and sometimes groups of slaves led by overseers, worked as tenants, or sharecroppers. The emphasis was mainly on cash crops, vegetable oil and wine, but the nature of the area inevitably implied specialization: more hilly areas were set aside for orchards, vineyards or pastures. There were also medium-sized peasant farms.

Craft.

Trade policy.

Goods and trade routes.

Specific data on Carthage's trade items is surprisingly sparse, although evidence of its trade interests is plentiful. Typical of such evidence is the story of Herodotus about how trade took place on the west coast of Africa. The Carthaginians disembarked at a certain place and laid out the goods, after which they retired to their ships. Then the locals appeared and put a certain amount of gold next to the goods. If there was enough of it, the Carthaginians took the gold and sailed away. Otherwise, they left it untouched and returned to the ships, and the natives brought more gold. What kind of goods they were is not mentioned in the story.

Apparently, the Carthaginians brought simple pottery for sale or exchange to those western regions where they were monopolists, and also traded in amulets, jewelry, simple metal utensils and simple glassware. Some of them were produced in Carthage, some in the Punic colonies. According to several accounts, Punic traders offered wine, women and clothing to the natives of the Balearic Islands in exchange for slaves.

Language, art and religion.

We know almost nothing about the culture of the Carthaginians. The only lengthy texts that have come down to us in their language are contained in the play by Plautus Puniyets, where one of the characters, Gannon, delivers a monologue, apparently in a genuine Punic dialect, followed by a significant portion of it in Latin. In addition, a lot of Gannon's remarks are scattered over the play, also with a translation into Latin. Unfortunately, scribes who did not understand the text distorted it. In addition, the Carthaginian language is known only by geographical names, technical terms, proper names and individual words given by Greek and Latin authors. In interpreting these passages, the similarity between Punic and Hebrew is very helpful.

The Carthaginians did not have their own artistic traditions. Apparently, in everything that can be attributed to the sphere of art, this people limited themselves to copying other people's ideas and techniques. In ceramics, jewelry and sculpture, they were content with imitation, and sometimes copied not the best examples. As far as literature is concerned, we have no data on their creation of any other writings besides purely practical ones, such as the manual on agriculture of Mago, and one or two smaller compiled texts in Greek. We are not aware of the presence in Carthage of anything that could be called "fine literature."

RELATIONS WITH OTHER PEOPLES

The oldest rivals of the Carthaginians were the Phoenician colonies in Africa, Utica and Hadrumet. It is unclear when and how they had to submit to Carthage: there is no written evidence of any wars.

Union with the Etruscans.

The Etruscans of northern Italy were both allies and trade rivals of Carthage. These enterprising sailors, traders and pirates dominated the 6th century. BC. over a large part of Italy. The main area of their settlement was located directly north of Rome. They also owned Rome and the lands to the south - right up to the border where they came into conflict with the Greeks of southern Italy. Having entered into an alliance with the Etruscans, the Carthaginians in 535 BC. won a major naval victory over the Phocians, the Greeks, who occupied Corsica.

Fight for Sicily.

Even before the great defeat of the Etruscans, Carthage had a chance to measure strength with the Sicilian Greeks. The Punic cities in the west of Sicily, founded at least not later than Carthage, were forced to submit to him, like the cities of Africa. The rise of two powerful Greek tyrants, Gelon in Syracuse and Ferona in Akragante, clearly foreshadowed the Carthaginians that the Greeks would launch a powerful offensive against them to drive them out of Sicily, just as happened with the Etruscans in southern Italy. The Carthaginians accepted the challenge and for three years actively prepared for the conquest of all of eastern Sicily. They acted in concert with the Persians, who were preparing an invasion of Greece itself. According to a later tradition (undoubtedly wrong), the defeat of the Persians at Salamis and the equally decisive defeat of the Carthaginians in the land battle of Gimera in Sicily took place in 480 BC. in the same day. Confirming the worst fears of the Carthaginians, Feron and Gelon put forward an irresistible force.

It is believed that Alexander the Great saw his ultimate goal in establishing dominion over the West as well. After Alexander's return from a great campaign to India, shortly before his death, the Carthaginians, like other peoples, sent an embassy to him, trying to find out his intentions. Perhaps the untimely death of Alexander in 323 BC. saved Carthage from many troubles.

Wars with Rome.

The Carthaginians could hardly have foreseen that their city was destined to perish as a result of a series of military conflicts with Rome, known as the Punic Wars. The reason for the war was the episode with the Mamertines, the Italic mercenaries who were in the service of Agathocles. In 288 BC. part of them captured the Sicilian city of Messana (modern Messina), and when in 264 BC. Hieron II, ruler of Syracuse, began to overpower them, they asked for help from Carthage and at the same time from Rome. For a variety of reasons, the Romans responded to the request and came into conflict with the Carthaginians.

In 237 BC, just four years after the end of the first war, Hamilcar Barca traveled to Spain and began the conquest of the interior. The Roman embassy, which appeared with a question about his intentions, he replied that he was looking for a way to pay Rome an indemnity as soon as possible. The wealth of Spain - flora and fauna, minerals, not to mention its inhabitants - could quickly compensate the Carthaginians for the loss of Sicily. However, a conflict erupted again between the two powers, this time due to unrelenting pressure from Rome. In 218 BC. Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, traveled overland from Spain across the Alps to Italy and defeated the Roman army with several brilliant victories, the most important of which took place in 216 BC. at the battle of Cannes. However, Rome did not ask for peace. On the contrary, he recruited new troops and, after several years of confrontation in Italy, moved the fighting to North Africa, where he achieved victory at the Battle of Zama (202 BC).

Carthage lost Spain and finally lost the position of a state capable of challenging Rome. However, the Romans feared the revival of Carthage. They say that Cato the Elder ended every speech in the Senate with the words "Delenda est Carthago" - "Carthage must be destroyed." In 149 BC. the exorbitant demands of Rome forced the weakened but still wealthy North African state to enter the third war. After three years of heroic resistance, the city fell. The Romans razed it to the ground, sold the surviving inhabitants into slavery, and sprinkled salt on the soil. However, five centuries later, the Punic language was still spoken in some rural areas of North Africa, and many of the people who lived there probably had Punic blood in their veins. Carthage was rebuilt in 44 BC. and turned into one of the major cities of the Roman Empire, but the Carthaginian state ceased to exist.

ROMAN CARPHAGEN

However, Carthage remained only a large urban center and had no political significance. Are we listening to stories about the public executions of Christians, are we reading about Tertullian's violent attacks on noble Carthaginian women who came to church in magnificent worldly attire, or do we come across mentions of some outstanding personalities who found themselves in Carthage at important moments in history, above the level of a large provincial city it never rises again. For some time there was the capital of the Vandals (429–533 AD), who, like pirates once, set sail from the harbor that dominated the Mediterranean straits. Then this area was conquered by the Byzantines, who held it until in 697 Carthage fell under the onslaught of the Arabs.

Carthage- an ancient state, presumably founded in 814 BC. NS. Phoenicians. Phoenicians- the people who inhabited the eastern coast of the Mediterranean in ancient times. These people have created a powerful civilization with a rich culture. This civilization consisted of independent city-states. The greatest power was possessed by the city of Tire (located in the south of modern Lebanon). It was the settlers from Tire who founded the city of Carthage (translated from the Phoenician "New City"), which became the capital of the state of the same name.

This is what the city of Carthage looked like.

According to legend, the city of Carthage was founded by Queen Dido (Elissa). Her brother Pygmalion reigned in Tire. And Dido's husband was Shechei, the richest man in Tire. Pygmalion was haunted by his wealth. In the 7th year of his reign, he killed Shechei. The widow had no choice but to flee from Tire.

She sailed on a ship to the west, surrounded by people loyal to her. After long days of sailing, the ship landed on the shores of Libya (North Africa). There, the fugitives from distant lands were met by the local king Iarbant. Dido asked him to give her a piece of land. The king agreed to give as much land as a cowhide would cover.

Then the queen cut the skin into thin strips and surrounded the whole mountain with them. A fortress (citadel) called Birsa was built on this mountain - this is how the history of Carthage began. The location of the city turned out to be extremely favorable for trade. In the north and south, it had access to the sea. Two artificial harbors were dug for the military and merchant fleets.

State of Carthage at the beginning of the 3rd century BC NS. on the map

The city was located on the northern tip of Africa, and it was not far from it to Sicily. Merchant ships scurried hither and thither in the Mediterranean Sea and constantly called at this convenient and well-protected seaport. Trade was active, and therefore Carthage began to grow rich and gain strength.

A favorable situation developed in the 8th century BC. BC when Assyria captured Phenicia... As a result, refugees from the Phoenician cities poured into Carthage. The city's status immediately rose, and it began to form its own colonies along the coast of North Africa and southern Spain. The Phoenicians called Carthage "a brilliant city", and over time it united 300 cities, leading the Phoenician world.

Along with Carthage, the ancient Greeks were also engaged in the colonization of the Mediterranean. They settled in Sicily, seeking complete control over the central regions of the Mediterranean. The dominant position among the Greeks was taken by the city of Syracuse. It was Sicily that became the arena in which the military conflict broke out between the Greeks and Phoenicians.

Carthage had war elephants in its army

This confrontation resulted in the Sicilian Wars. The Battle of Gimer in 480 BC was of great historical importance. NS. for hegemony over Sicily. The Carthaginian army was defeated in this battle. After that, Sicily became an obsession for Carthage. A series of continuous skirmishes began, and by 340 BC. NS. the Phoenicians managed to settle in the southwestern part of the island. And by 307 BC. NS. they fortified almost the entire territory of Sicily.

By the beginning of the 3rd century BC. NS. Carthage has become the most powerful and richest ancient state... The population of the city itself has reached 700 thousand people. The state treasury was simply bursting with gold, and it seemed that there was no state capable of challenging the Phoenician power. But it was at this time that the Roman Republic began to lay claim to serious conquests.

The Romans strove for absolute dominance in the Mediterranean, and their excessive ambitions clashed with the equal ambitions of Carthage. The Romans called the Phoenicians in the Latin manner Punians. In 264 BC. NS. the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage began. It lasted until 241 BC. NS. and ended for the latter with the loss of Sicily and a large indemnity in favor of Rome.

The storming of Carthage by the Romans

The Second Punic War lasted from 218 to 201 BC. NS. Here the Carthaginian general Hannibal (247-183 BC) entered the political arena. On the eve of this war, Carthage fortified itself in Spain. The city of New Carthage (Cartagena) was founded there, which turned into a major administrative and commercial center of the Western Mediterranean.

It was Spain that Hannibal chose as a springboard for his attack on Rome. And in the spring of 218 BC. NS. he with a strong army, which numbered 59 thousand soldiers and 37 elephants, through the Pyrenees and Gaul went to the Alps. Then the historic crossing of the Alps took place, and Hannibal's army ended up in Italy. At first, this expansion was extremely successful for the Punyans. In the course of hostilities, the Romans were severely defeated.

The Battle of Cannes in 216 BC was of great importance. NS. The Roman legions were completely defeated, and Hannibal was victorious. However, the commander did not dare to go to Rome and settled in the south of Italy. After that, military happiness betrayed him. He got bogged down in Italy, while the Romans defeated the Punyans in Spain. In the end, Hannibal was forced to leave Italy and sail to Africa with a small army.

The second Punic War ended with the complete defeat of Carthage. He paid Rome a huge indemnity, lost the entire fleet, colonies and the right to wage wars without the permission of Rome. The 17-year war ended ingloriously for the Punyans, and the Roman Republic became the most powerful state in the Mediterranean.

The Phoenician state was finally destroyed as a result of the Third Punic War in 149-146 BC. NS . The whole war consisted of the siege of the city of Carthage by the Romans. The siege lasted for 3 years, and ended with the fall of the great city in 146 BC. NS. It was completely destroyed and burned, and every tenth inhabitant was sold into slavery. On the site of the richest trade center in the Mediterranean, only ruins remain.

Ruins of Carthage, but not Phoenician, but Roman

Thus, Carthage, as an ancient state of the Phoenicians, existed from 814 BC. NS. to 146 BC e., that is, 668 years. This is a very long time. And during this time he experienced both true greatness and a shameful fall. And the Romans, 100 years after the victory, founded their colony on the site of the Phoenician capital, the population of which reached 300 thousand people. In the newly rebuilt city there was a huge circus, baths, and an aqueduct.

Once the mighty stronghold of the Phoenicians received a second, no less brilliant life, but in 439 it was plundered by vandals. Then the Byzantines tried to restore, but in 698 the Arabs captured and used stones, marble and granite to build Tunisia. Currently, the ruins of Carthage are located in the suburbs of Tunisia and attract many tourists.

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