Ccitta.dir 171 Carthage, ruins of the Punic fortress - 6-5th cent. BC
ÑCcitta.dir 172 Carthage, panorama
ÑCcitta.dir 173 Carthage, Punic ruins
ÑCcitta.dir 201 At the moment of its foundation Carthage was just one of many Phoenician colonies in the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians had established settlements at other localities on the coasts of North Africa, such as Leptis Magna and Utica. The creation of the Carthaginian empire was based initially on control of the African territories, and it was not until later that it also pushed into the Mediterranean, reaching Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain.
ÑCcitta.dir 202 At the end of the fourth century BC Carthage controlled an area of North Africa equivalent to little more than half of present-day Tunisia, and then set out to expand its possessions in this region. This was done by means of a fanwise maneuver, directed both to the southeast, toward what is now Libya, and to the northwest, along the coast of present-day Algeria and Morocco. These lands, which passed into the hands of Carthaginian nobles, were intensively cultivated and produced the food required to sustain the city.
ÑCcitta.dir 203 In spite of the total destruction wreaked by the Roman armies in 146 BC, it is still possible to reconstruct some elements of the urban layout of Carthage. The city stood on the promontory between the lagoons of Sebkha er-Riana and Tunis. By the third century BC at least, Carthage was completely ringed by walls: on the inland side the system of defenses consisted of three successive walls, up to 17 meters in height and with projecting towers. The coastal plain was bounded by a wall that was over 5 meters thick and studded with towers and gates. The exterior was covered with white plaster.
ÑCcitta.dir 204 The extension of the defensive system along the coastline in the second century BC permitted the expansion of the city as far as the sea walls. It is in this area that the large houses of the wealthiest inhabitants of Carthage were located, with rooms facing onto an inner court in the plan typical of the Punic world. The acropolis of Byrsa, which had its own ring of fortifications and contained the shrine of the god Eshmun (Asclepius), was built on three low hills and represented the Carthaginian's last bulwark of defense against the Romans.
ÑCcitta.dir 205 The districts inhabited by the common people were situated at the foot of the acropolis: the historian Appianus speaks of houses of five or six stories, packed closely together.
The necropolises extended to the northeast of the acropolis; numerous anthropomorphic sarcophagi have been found in them. In Carthage the dead were generally buried in pit, dromic, or well tombs, but the rite of cremation began to take hold from the beginning of the third century BC onward, as a result of Greek influence.
The harbor was located in the area to the south of the promontory and consisted of two basins dug out of the rock:
ÑCcitta.dir 206 a rectangular one used by merchant vessels and a circular one for warships. In the center of the latter stood the small island of the admiralty, with its administrative buildings. Both the island and the harbor were lined with quays that could accommodate up to 220 ships. In front of each wharf stood two Ionic columns, conferring the appearance of an enormous colonnade on the circumference of the harbor and island. When the warships were not in service they were beached in covered and sloping dry docks, set in line with the wharves. The tophet was located about fifty meters from the rectangular basin.
ÑCeco.dir 171 Protome of bull, 3rd millennium - Beirut, National Museum
ÑCeco.dir 172 Phoenician farmers with oxen, terra-cotta. Beginning of 2nd millennium
ÑCeco.dir 173 Still life with fruit, Roman painting
ÑCeco.dir 174 Fisshing scene, Roman mosaic
ÑCeco.dir 201 One of Carthage's principal resources was agriculture. The fertile land around the city, owned by the aristocracy, was subjected to intensive cultivation at an early date. Punic agriculture was renowned in antiquity for its fruit trees and vines. In addition stock raising and the production of garum were very common. There is evidence for numerous specialized craft activities, from the working of metals to the weaving of cloth and the production of objects in wood, glass, and ivory. The need to obtain raw materials for these industries was a major stimulus for the development of trade, especially by sea. Sources of precious metals were of fundamental importance to the Carthaginians, who made them into jewelry and sold them in all the principal markets of the Mediterranean. Silver was obtained from Spain, while gold came from the African interior.
ÑCeco.dir 202 AGRICULTURE
Carthaginian experience in the field of agriculture was described in the writings of Mago, who probably lived at the end of the fourth century BC. Our knowledge of these texts comes from quotations in the works of Latin authors, which tell us what was grown in the Carthaginian territories: in the first place the vine and the olive, but other crops included the pomegranate, known in Latin as the malum punicum (Punic apple) and imported from Asia, the almond, and the fig.
ÑCeco.dir 203 GARUM
Garum was a sauce used for seasoning made from fish pickled in oil and salt. The city most famous for the production of this sauce in ancient times was the Spanish colony of Gades, and the classical sources speak of garum gaditanum. In reality this process for the production of salted fish was widespread in North Africa: in particular a much appreciated garum came from the region of Carthage.
ÑCistit.dir 171 Bearded statuette, bronze. 19-18th cent. BC - Beirut, National Museum
ÑCistit.dir 172 Group of statuettes, 19-18th cent. BC - Beirut National Museum
ÑCistit.dir 173 Procession, detail from a sarcophagus of the 13th cent. BC
ÑCistit.dir 201 THE PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY
The people's assembly was composed of all free, adult citizens with a minimum degree of wealth. It was consulted in case of disagreement between the sufeti and senate. The assembly was responsible for the appointment of military leaders and sufeti.
ÑCistit.dir 202 Unlike the centers of the Phoenician motherland, it appears that a republican organization was the typical form of government in Carthage and all the other Phoenician colonies in the West. The literary and epigraphic sources tell us that there were three institutions in Carthage: two supreme magistrates or sufeti (suffetes), a senate of three hundred members, with a smaller council of about a hundred representatives, and a people's assembly.
ÑCistit.dir 203 THE SUFETI
The highest office in the Carthaginian system of administration was that of the sufes. There were two of these and they held office for a year. The sufeti were elected from the aristocratic families. As well as dispensing justice (the term means ╟judge╚ in Phoenician), their function was to convene the senate, preside over it, and submit questions to it.
ÑCistit.dir 204 THE SENATE
The senate was the true center of legislative activity in Carthage. It was made up of representatives of the city's noble families, who were duly elected for a fixed period of time. It was the duty of this assembly to enact laws, control administration and taxes, supervise the conduct of military leaders, and define the lines of foreign policy.
The council of one hundred (or one hundred and four) appears to have been a subdivision of the senate with judicial functions.
ÑCstoria.dir 201 Carthage, whose name means ╟new city,╚ was founded by colonists from Tyre at the end of the ninth or, at the latest, during the first few decades of the eighth century BC. Over the course of two centuries favorable political and economic conditions led to the North African city becoming the main Phoenician colony in the West.
A policy of expansion into the Mediterranean inevitably brought Carthage into conflict with all the great powers of the time. From the middle of the sixth century BC onward they clashed with the Greeks in northwest Sicily, where the Phoenician colonies of Moyta, Panormus, and Solus were located.
ÑCstoria.dir 202 In the central and northern Tyrrhenian Sea they fought with the Phocians, who operated as pirates from their base at Alalia in Corsica. They were defeated in 535 BC by the Carthaginians in alliance with the Etruscans.
In the third century BC Carthage encountered the emerging power of Rome: the conflict assumed dramatic proportions for it was not just control of the Mediterranean that was at stake but the very survival of the two powerful cities and their civilizations. This marked the beginning of the so-called ╟Punic Wars,╚ which were brought to an end in 146 BC with the definitive destruction of Carthage by the armies of Scipio Aemilianus.
ÑCstoria.dir 203 RELATIONS WITH ROME
The Roman name of ╟Punic╚ for the Phoenicians was a Latin adaptation of the word Phoenikes, used by the Greeks to describe the coastal populations of Phoenicia, Syria, and Anatolia. For this reason the wars between Rome and Carthage were referred to as ╟Punic╚ by Latin historians. Before they came into direct conflict, however, the Romans and Carthaginians established sound political and commercial relations, sanctioned by four successive treaties.
ÑCstoria.dir 204 But the expansionist aims of Rome led to a deterioration of relations in the third century BC. In 264 the First Punic War (264-241 BC) broke out, and the Carthaginians were repeatedly defeated by the Romans in the waters off Sicily. In the Second Punic War (219-202 BC), the Carthaginians succeeded in taking the war to Italy, under the leadership of Hannibal. After a series of brilliant victories, the Carthaginian general tried to get the Italic peoples to rise against Rome, but had little success and from this point on his enterprise began to fail. Its energies revived, Rome decided to attack Carthage in Africa, where Scipio landed in 204 BC, earning himself the name of Africanus, or the African. Recalled home hastily, Hannibal fought and lost the last and decisive battle at Zama.
The Third Punic War (149-146 BC) concluded with the destruction of Carthage, burned to the ground by the armies of Scipio Aemilianus.
ÑCstoria.dir 205 814-13 BC:
Date of the foundation of Carthage by Elissa (Dido), the sister of Pygmalion, king of Tyre.
ÑCstoria.dir 206 550 BC:
Start of Carthaginian military intervention in Sicily with the victorious expedition led by General Malko.
ÑCstoria.dir 207 545-535 BC:
Malco's campaign in Sardinia, the first attempt by Carthage to take control of the island.
ÑCstoria.dir 208 535 BC:
Battle of Alalia. Victory over the Phocians by the combined Carthaginian and Etruscan fleets.
ÑCstoria.dir 209 Ca. 525-515 BC:
The Carthaginian generals Hasdrubal and Hamilcar add Sardinia to the possessions of Carthage.
ÑCstoria.dir 210 509 BC:
First treaty between Carthage and Rome.
ÑCstoria.dir 211 406 BC:
The Carthaginian generals Hannibal and Imilcon lead a successful expedition against Agrigentum. Carthage's possessions in Sicily reach their maximum extension.
ÑCstoria.dir 212 398-397 BC:
Dionysius of Syracuse wages war on Carthage, re-conquering the Greek territories and taking Moyta by storm.
ÑCstoria.dir 213 348 BC:
Second treaty between Carthage and Rome.
ÑCstoria.dir 214 265 BC:
The Carthaginians set out to conquer Massana (Messina). The ╟Mamertines╚ who occupy the city appeal for help to Rome. This marks the start of the First Punic War.
ÑCstoria.dir 215 240 BC:
Battle of the Aegates Islands (Egadi). Victory of Consul Lutatius Catulus and end of the First Punic War. The Carthaginians lose Sicily.
ÑCstoria.dir 216 238 BC: Revolt of the Carthaginian mercenaries in Sardinia. The mercenaries turn for help to Rome, which responds by occupying both Sardinia and the neighboring island of Corsica.
ÑCstoria.dir 217 218-216 BC:
Hannibal conquers Saguntum: Beginning of the Second Punic War.
Hannibal puts the Romans to rout in a series of victorious battles at Ticinus, Trebia, Lake Trasimene, and Cannae.
ÑCstoria.dir 218 202 BC:
Battle of Zama: Scipio defeats Hannibal after his precipitate return home. End of Second Punic War.
ÑCstoria.dir 219 212-209 BC: Resurgence of Rome, which captures Syracuse, Capua, and Cartagena from Hannibal.
ÑCstoria.dir 220 207 BC:
Defeat of Hannibal at the Metaurus river.
ÑCstoria.dir 221 149-146 BC: Third Punic War and destruction of Carthage.
