One of the main reasons why the story of Carthage is so important to the story of Rome is because Carthage was its own empire large enough and strong enough to rival Rome. Carthage was originally a Phoenician colony, but while it inherited many of the characteristics of the Phoenicians, it developed its own personality in the Hellenistic era. Carthage had several advantages that gave it strength: its efficient exploitation of agricultural and natural resources, its network of trading posts throughout the Mediterranean, and its extremely strong navy. I’ll begin by telling Carthage’s story, but mainly relying on archaeological sources instead of literature sources. One of the hardest things to study about Carthage is how the biases and mistellings of their history by the Greeks and Romans. Carthage was founded sometime between 1200 and 800 BCE by the Phoenicians, as one of their many Mediterranean colonies (archaeology suggests around 814, literature suggests earlier). The Phoenician MO was to set up a trading post on a coastal bar parallel to the mainland, and then establish a few buildings like a temple, mint, and a port for exporting (it’s like a Civ game!). While these colonies were mostly just for producing raw materials, eventually Carthage was one of the few colonies to become a full fledged city. Around 550 BCE, the Phoenician empire was defeated by the neo-Babylonians, and Carthage lost contact with the homeland of Tyre. This marks the beginning of the Punic period. Before about 650 BCE, Carthage was a small city that stretched a few hundred meters from the sea to Byrsa:

1. the hill where the city was allegedly founded. Around Byrsa was a ring of workshops, where metalworkers, fullers, dyers, and potters would work downwind of everyone else. We even know that there is a parking lot that has been an empty plot of land for 3000 years! After 650 BCE, there was a housing explosion and the city had to be reorganized, moving the tombs around and expanding the city outwards – pushing the workshops into the necropolis and the necropolis outside the city. On an agricultural level, some of what the Carthaginians surpassed the Romans, but while Mago’s works on agriculture were renowned throughout the ancient world, they have been lost to time. Eventually, Carthage developed its incredibly strong navy and began expanding around the Mediterranean. They built this beautiful harbor:

1. places for both civilian and military ships, and their naval expeditions reached far south into Africa. Carthaginian ships were named for the number of decks, so a bireme would have 2 decks of rowers while a trireme would have three decks. They even got up to quinqueremes! People could row the ship below while soldiers fought on top. During a time period when the Egyptians and Etruscans were lacing their ships together with rope, the Carthaginians used mortar and tendon construction to make more durable ships. This allowed them to set up colonies all along North Africa, Spain, and islands in the middle of the Mediterranean. Politically, we know very little about how Carthage worked. It had some republican attributes, as we know there was a Senate and a Court of 104, we just aren’t sure what those were. There were also 2 suffettes who led the government for a year long term, similar to the Roman consuls, and were chosen by merit. However, all of the sources for the Carthaginian government come from Greco-Roman interpretation, so it is hard to be sure. There also is evidence that the government was mainly an oligarchy, which is unsurprising considering that Carthage was built off of trade and money, not conquest. This sets the stage for Carthage going into the Punic wars: a superpower in the Mediterranean, with many colonies, a strong navy, and an advanced economy and political structure. Eventually, they clashed with Rome over some minor disputes, repeatedly, until the end of the second Punic war, which began a whole new period for Carthage.
2. The reason for the third Punic War was that Rome was afraid of just how powerful Carthage could become, not how powerful they actually were. After Carthage was defeated in 202 BCE, Hannibal was elected suffette in 196 BCE, and began reforming the city. There was a great intensification of agriculture, particularly valuable olive oil, which Carthage then sold around the Mediterranean for a massive profit. Hannibal also focused on improving the lives and political power of the middle class in the city, by raising taxes on the rich and gifting political clout to every day people. For example, this inscription called the “Avenue de la Republique inscription”:

1. attests the new main street to the common tradesmen and workers who built the roads. Making this new road was also a part of the new city planning, with standardized blocks, drainage systems, and apartments: Appian claimed that they reached up to 6 stories (!). Despite the massive reparations, and the loss of land, and the loss of prestige and manpower, Carthage still managed to rise back up as a civil power. Unfortunately, Rome does not tolerate a challenge, and without the military power to defend itself Carthage was burned to the ground by Rome. The earth was not salted, but Rome left it for a hundred years to sulk before repopulating the city. Even then, Carthage rose up to become an important Roman colony and produced several emperors, but the true Carthage was obliterated after the third Punic War.