The Carthaginians reveals the complex
culture, society and achievements of a famous, yet
misunderstood, ancient people. Beginning as Phoenician
settlers in North Africa, the Carthaginians then
broadened their civilization with influences from
neighbouring North African peoples, Egypt, and the Greek
world. Their own cultural influence in turn spread
across the Western Mediterranean as they imposed
dominance over Sardinia, western Sicily, and finally
southern Spain. As a stable republic Carthage earned
respectful praise from Greek observers, notably
Aristotle, and from many Romans – even Cato, otherwise
notorious for insisting that ‘Carthage must be
destroyed’. Carthage matched the great city-state of
Syracuse in power and ambition, then clashed with Rome
for mastery of the Mediterranean West. For a time, led
by her greatest general Hannibal, she did become the
leading power between the Atlantic and the Adriatic.
It was chiefly after her destruction in 146 BC that
Carthage came to be depicted by Greeks and Romans as an
alien civilization, harsh, gloomy and bloodstained.
Demonising the victim eased the embarrassment of Rome’s
aggression; Virgil in his Aeneid was one of the few to
offer a more sensitive vision. Exploring both written
and archaeological evidence, The Carthaginians
reveals a complex, multicultural and innovative people
whose achievements left an indelible impact on their
Roman conquerors and on history.
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