Welcome to Chapter 4 of the series! This 1st episode takes a look at the Carthaginian Empire's beginnings from the late 800s BCE as rulers of the West Mediterranean, until its inevitable clash with Rome in the 200s BCE.
Carthage was a settlement in modern Tunisia that later became a city-state and then an empire. Founded by the Phoenicians in the ninth century BC, it would survive until the Roman siege. At its height in the fourth century BC, Carthage was one of the largest metropolises in the world, and the centre of the Carthaginian Empire, a major power in the ancient world that dominated the western Mediterranean.
Carthage was settled around 814 BC by colonists from Tyre, a leading Phoenician city-state located in present day Lebanon. In the seventh century BC, following Phoenicia's conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Carthage became independent, gradually expanding its economic and political hegemony across the western Mediterranean. By 300 BC, through its vast patchwork of colonies, vassals, and satellite states, Carthage controlled the largest territory in the region, including the coast of northwest Africa, southern Iberia (Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar) and the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Malta, and the Balearic archipelago.
Among the ancient world's largest and richest cities, Carthage's strategic location provided access to abundant fertile land and major maritime trade routes. Its extensive mercantile network reached as far as west Asia, west Africa and northern Europe, providing an array of commodities from all over the ancient world, in addition to lucrative exports of agricultural products and manufactured goods. This commercial empire was secured by one of the largest and most powerful navies in the ancient Mediterranean, and an army composed heavily of foreign mercenaries and auxiliaries, particularly Iberians, Balearics, Celtic Gauls, Sicilians, Italians, Greeks, Numidians and Libyans.
In spite of the cosmopolitan character of its empire, Carthage's culture and identity remained rooted in its Phoenician-Canaanite heritage, albeit a localised variety known as Punic. Like other Phoenician people, its society was urban, commercial, and oriented towards seafaring and trade; this is reflected in part by its more famous innovations, including serial production, uncolored glass, the threshing board, and the cothon harbor. Carthaginians were renowned for their commercial prowess, ambitious explorations, and unique system of government, which combined elements of democracy, oligarchy, and republicanism, including modern examples of checks and balances.
Welcome to our new MADE IN ANCIENT HISTORY series! This series is meant to be a deep dive into the Ancient and Classical periods all over the WORLD! This 4th Chapter is called Rise of Rome, and deals with how Rome, after they consolidated Italy, clashed with both Greece and Carthage, the 2 biggest Mediterranean powers.
The serene waves of the Mediterranean are about to crash. For centuries, Carthage ruled in the
West, Greece in the East. But there is one other, destined to take on both. This is the rise of
Rome. Last chapter, we left the Hellenistic world flourishing in Greece, Egypt, the Middle East,
and beyond. But in the West, the landscape looked quite different. Rome tightened its hold on
central Italy, and now look south to the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia, or Great Greece.
Many of these city-states had been around since Greece's archaic period,
centuries earlier, in the 700s BCE. One of their cities, Neapolis, meaning New City,
and is today the city of Naples, was the first Greek city the Romans absorbed, during the Samnite
Wars. Despite this, the Greeks never worried too much about their barbarian northern neighbors.
They were more concerned with the Mediterranean's hegemonic power, the Carthaginians.
Starting off as a small settlement in North Africa, Carthage eventually became one of the
largest cities in the world. If you recall from our video on the Bronze Age Collapse,
one of the main new civilizations to thrive in the new climate, was the Phoenicians.
Always looking outwards towards the Mediterranean, the Semitic Phoenicians
spread across the sea, setting up trading posts and colonies. Carthage itself, was founded around
814 BCE, by colonists from Tyre. Legends say it was Queen Dido that founded the city,
but whether she existed or not, is still up for debate. Nevertheless, the city quickly became
prosperous through trade and commercial expansion. After the original land of the Phoenicians was
conquered by the Neo-Assyrians during their expansion in the 600s BCE, the Carthaginians
would become the successors of the Phoenician tradition, and would be called Punyx, derived
from the Greek, Phoenix. In the next few hundred years, the Carthaginians would create their own
empire in the western Mediterranean. The furthest western Greek city had been Massalia, now Marseille
in France, but Carthage controlled regions on the coast in northwestern Africa, southern Iberia,
the Balearics, Corsica, Sardinia, and part of Sicily. The city of Carthage was at the center
of a maritime trade network that exchanged as far as the west African coast, and even northern Europe.
As with many ancient civilizations, there aren't many remaining documents,
or records of life in Carthage, foreshadowing what is to come. Their religion was most likely
similar to the Phoenician religion, like the Polytheist Semitics from the Levant,
but would over time create their own variation. Their main deities were Balehamun, the chief god,
and Tarnet, goddess of war and fertility. While older sources state the Carthaginians
practiced human sacrifice, there is still no definitive answer. Mass graves for children
have been discovered though, leading historians to believe the Carthaginians performed rituals
of child sacrifice, perhaps in times of drought. We are more certain that the Carthaginians
developed a fairly unique government. It began as a monarchy, but was reformed in the 400s BCE.
By the 300s BCE, Carthage was an oligarchic republic. At the top were two sufites, or
shoppets. These were the two chief magistrates who took care of affairs. Like the Roman consuls,
they ruled together for short terms, overseeing trials, and dealing with assemblies. Unlike Rome
though, the Sufites had no control over the military. That honor was given to a general.
During reforms, a new tribunal was installed to make sure the generals were indeed competent,
and working in Carthage's best interests. This tribunal was called the 104, and would over time,
become quite draconian. They scrutinized generals after a failed campaign,
and if they deemed one guilty, the penalty was execution, often crucifixion.
The Carthaginians also had a type of senate, called the adirim, meaning supreme council.
Council members were from the richest families in Carthage, but could be kicked out if they
ever lost their wealth. Conversely, citizens could accumulate enough wealth to be invited
into the council. There was a popular assembly, which had a voice, and in rare instances became
the deciding vote in cases where the Sufites and adirim disagreed. The Greeks praised the
Carthaginian government as more of a meritocracy than any other. Aristotle, even praised the
Carthaginians as being the only non-Greek society to also create a polis. But with that respect,
also came caution. The Greek city-states on Sicily shared the island with the Carthaginians,
leading to a series of wars called the Sicilian Wars. We briefly touched on the First Sicilian
War, in our first episode of Chapter 2. It significantly weakened Carthaginian influence
on Sicily, and the influx of Punic slaves helped make Syracuse the richest, and most powerful Greek
city in the West. After being humiliated in the first of these in 480 BCE, Carthage stayed out of
Greek affairs on Sicily for decades. They used this time to expand their empire further. The
Sicilian Wars would continue on and off until around 306 BCE, with both Carthage and Syracuse,
the richest and most powerful of the Greek cities in Magna Graecia, sharing the island in a stalemate.
Despite the Greeks being powerful to contend with, the Carthaginians did have a formidable
army of their own. They were first and foremost a trading culture, reflecting their Phoenician
origins, and this helped them develop the best navy in the Western Mediterranean.
One of their most recognizable constructions was their famous Port of Carthage.
This was a kothun, or enclosed harbor, that could hold up to 220 ships.
The Carthaginians employed citizen soldiers during the Sicilian Wars,
including the Sacred Band of Carthage, an elite infantry force. By the end of the Sicilian Wars
though, they were destroyed. Because of the empire's relatively small population of citizens,
the main crux of the army began to rely on foreign mercenaries and auxiliary troops.
Their cavalry force in North Africa was the Numidian cavalry. They were composed of the
native Berber population in Numidia, and, according to Livy, became renowned as the
best horsemen in Africa. They had no armor, just a small leather shield and wore leopard skin,
but hurled their javelins with deadly accuracy. Another troop with even greater eagle-eye
ability were the Balearic slingers. From the Balearic archipelago, these slingers would use
the slingshot to snipe targets up to 400 meters, or 1,300 feet away. Hitting up to 160 kilometers,
or 100 miles per hour, the rocks thrown by the slingers could kill instantly. An experienced
slinger could accurately throw seven stones per minute, more than once every ten seconds.
Infantry was mainly made up of Iberians and Celts. This was a true hodgepodge of troops from all over
the empire, like we've seen with the Achaemenid Empire in the east. During the two centuries of
wars over Sicily though, to the north, Rome had been expanding. The Carthaginians knew of Rome,
and even congratulated them during some of their previous campaigns against the other
Italic tribes, but they certainly never thought Rome would be a threat, especially without a navy.
Magna Graecia, with most of its cities being on the peninsula in southern Italy,
had no such luxury. Rome was coming, so it was time to stop them in their tracks.
They called for aid from Greece itself. What they got was this man. Pyrrhus of Epirus.
