Carthage in Tunisia what city. Carthage. History of the Phoenicians in North Africa. National Museum of Carthage

Existed in those places 2500 years ago.

“Carthage was at one time the richest city in the world. Agriculture, which was the basis of its wealth, was considered an honorable occupation.

The turbulent history of Carthage - now a clean and prosperous suburb located 20 kilometers from Tunis - began in 814 BC. Queen Dido or Elissa, pursued by her brother, the ruler of the Phoenician city of Tyre, Pygmalion, after long wanderings, landed on the northern coast of Tunisia. Dido asked the local king to provide her with refuge and permission to build a house. The king did not want to give consent for anything. Then Dido asked to be given as much land as the skin of a bull could cover. The king was in good spirits and rejoiced at the new entertainment. Dido ordered the largest bull to be slaughtered, and then cut its skin into very narrow strips, and surrounded a large area with them. According to the legend of the city's founding, Dido, who was allowed to occupy as much land as an ox's hide would cover, took possession of a large area by cutting the hide into narrow strips. That is why the citadel erected at this place was called Birsa (which means “skin”).

This is how, according to legend, Carthage was founded.
CHAPTER 1

HISTORY OF ANCIENT CARTHAGE

1.1 ANCIENT CARTHAGE.

Carthage (meaning "new city" in Phoenician) was founded in 814 BC. e. colonists from the Phoenician city of Tire. The Romans called it Carthago, the Greeks called it Carchedon.

After the fall of Phoenician influence in the Western Mediterranean, Carthage reassigned the former Phoenician colonies. By the 3rd century BC. e. it becomes the largest state in the western Mediterranean, subjugating Southern Spain, North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica.

The city was surrounded by a 34-kilometer ribbon of walls nine meters thick and fifteen meters high. Inside the walls there were several hundred war elephants in pens and fodder warehouses; there were stables for four thousand horses and barracks for 20 thousand infantry. It is difficult for our minds to comprehend the expenditure of energy and human lives required by the Romans to destroy these fiercely defended Cyclopean structures.

Situated on a lightly guarded peninsula with an unlimited supply of fish, ancient Carthage flourished, becoming one of the richest cities in the world at that time. However, the wealth of Carthage haunted the city's longtime competitors. And Rome waited in the wings - in 146 BC. After more than a century of fighting, Rome destroyed the city.

In IV BC. e. the city of Carthage expanded greatly and began to be populated by merchants, artisans and landowners. Near Birsa, a vast residential area of ​​Megara arose, built up with multi-storey buildings. Carthage developed as a large slave state that owned many colonies. The merciless exploitation of enslaved peoples and the slave trade provided a huge influx of wealth. In the ancient Roman annals, the Carthaginians are called Punes and are characterized as cruel and treacherous enemies who know no mercy for the vanquished. As a military-trading and slave-holding power, Carthage constantly needed a fleet and army. Carthage had a first-class fleet and army, which kept the peoples subject to Carthage in unconditional obedience. The army was recruited from among foreign mercenaries. From each Ouch nationalities formed a special branch of the army. 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, multi-lingual Carthaginian army was controlled by local leaders, who were commanded by Carthaginian military leaders and officers. The Punic-Carthaginians did not perform ordinary military service. The Carthaginian army had permanent units armed with stone-throwing and ramming machines for capturing fortresses. Special units of the army had war elephants, which were used to break through enemy ranks and exterminate enemy personnel during battle.

The navy was even more important. In navigation, the Carthaginians used the centuries-old experience of the Phoenicians. They were the first to build large five-deck ships - penterae, which easily overtook and destroyed Roman and Greek triremes and galleys in battle. The flagship ships of the Carthaginians had seven decks and were called heptera.

The National Museum of Carthage, located on Byrsa Hill, where the former fortress was 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 life of the Carthaginians more than a millennium ago.

Huge reservoirs remain in the ruins of Carthage. A group of such tanks is located near the suburbs of Mars and has more than 25 tanks. 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 Tunisian Atlas mountains. The aqueduct has a total length of 132 km. 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 and rebuilt in 136 AD. e. by the 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 still amaze with its grandiose size. It was the longest aqueduct in ancient times. The second longest aqueduct is located near Rome.
At the very top of the Carthaginian Hills, in the area of ​​the village of Sidi Bou Said, at a considerable distance from Birsa, there are the ruins of early Christian religious buildings. This is the Basilica of Damos el Karita. It was a huge structure: about 65 m long and at least 45 m wide. The basilica had nine naves. The central nave had a span of 13 m wide. To the south of this nave there was the apse of the basilica. Four columns indicate an iconostasis that once stood here.

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

Tinnit (Tanit) is a strange goddess. It is unknown how her cult appeared. 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. An ancient sculptor depicted her as a squat woman with the head of a lion; 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, flying elephants with their trunks raised, fish with human heads, multi-legged snakes.

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

Carthage owned fertile lands in the interior of the continent, it had an advantageous geographical position, which was conducive to trade, and also allowed it to control the waters between Africa and Sicily, preventing foreign ships from sailing further to the 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 intensive construction took place in Roman Carthage, founded on the same site in 44 BC. G The city of Carthage was surrounded by powerful walls with a length of approx. 30 km. Its population is unknown. The citadel was very strongly fortified. The city had a market square, a council building, a court and temples. The quarter, called Megara, had many vegetable gardens, orchards and winding canals. The ships entered the trading harbor through a narrow passage. For loading and unloading, up to 220 ships could be pulled ashore at the same time (ancient ships should have been kept on land if possible). Behind the trading harbor there was a military harbor and an arsenal.

Regions and cities.The agricultural areas in mainland Africa - the area inhabited by the Carthaginians themselves - roughly correspond to the territory of modern Tunisia, although other lands also fell under the city’s rule. When ancient authors speak of the numerous cities that were in the possession of Carthage, they undoubtedly mean ordinary villages. However, there were also real Phoenician colonies here - Utica, Leptis, Hadrumet, etc. 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 power was very extensive. In Africa, its easternmost city was more than 300 km east of Eia (modern Tripoli). Between it and the Atlantic Ocean the ruins of a number of ancient Phoenician and Carthaginian cities were discovered. Around 500 BC or a little later, the navigator Hanno 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.

Colonies and trading posts were for the most part located approximately one day's sailing distance from each other. Usually they were located on islands near the coast, on capes, at the mouths of rivers, or in those places on the mainland of the country from where it was easy to reach the sea. For example, Leptis, located near modern Tripoli, in the Roman era served as the final coastal point of the great caravan route from the interior, from where merchants brought slaves and gold sand. This trade probably began early in Carthage's history.

The power included Malta and two neighboring islands. Carthage fought against the Sicilian Greeks for centuries, under its rule were Lilybaeum and other reliably fortified ports in the west of Sicily, as well as, at various periods, other areas on the island (it so happened that almost all of Sicily was in its hands, 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 prohibited from entering the island. At the beginning of the 5th century. BC. The Carthaginians began to explore Corsica. Carthaginian colonies and trading settlements also existed on the southern coast of Spain, while the Greeks gained a foothold on the eastern coast.

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

CHAPTER
II

CARTAGE CIVILIZATION

2.1Agriculture.

The Carthaginians were skilled farmers. The most important grain crops were wheat and barley. Some grain was probably delivered from Sicily and Sardinia. Average quality wine was produced for sale. Fragments of ceramic containers found during archaeological excavations in Carthage indicate that the Carthaginians imported higher quality wines from Greece or 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 consumption of wine by soldiers. Figs, pomegranates, almonds, date palms grew here. Horses, mules, cows, sheep and goats were bred in Carthage.

Unlike Republican Rome, in Carthage small farmers did not form the backbone of society. Most of Carthage's African possessions were divided among wealthy Carthaginians, in whose large estates farming was carried out on a scientific basis. A certain Mago, who probably lived in the 3rd century. BC, wrote a guide to farming. After the fall of Carthage, the Roman Senate, wanting 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 agricultural manuals, but tried to adapt them to local conditions. He wrote about large farms and touched on all aspects of agricultural production. Probably local Berbers, and sometimes groups of slaves under the leadership of overseers, worked as tenants or sharecroppers. The emphasis was mainly on cash crops, vegetable oil and wine, but the nature of the area inevitably suggested specialization: the hillier areas were devoted to orchards, vineyards or pastures. There were also medium-sized peasant farms.

In addition to the houses, temples and palaces of the nobility, the city had many workshops: they processed iron, copper, lead, bronze and precious metals, forged weapons, tanned leather, wove 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 reproducing Egyptian, Phoenician and Greek designs and intended for sale in the western Mediterranean, where Carthage captured all markets. The production of luxury goods, such as the vibrant purple dye commonly known as Tyrian purple, dates back to the later period of Roman rule in North Africa, but may be thought to have existed before the fall of Carthage. Purple slug, a sea snail containing this dye, was best collected in the fall and winter—the unseaworthy seasons. Permanent settlements were founded 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, using slave labor in arsenals, shipyards or construction. Archaeologists have not found evidence that would indicate the presence of large private craft enterprises, whose products would be distributed in the Western market closed to outsiders, while many small workshops have been noted. It is often very difficult to distinguish among finds Carthaginian products from objects imported from Phenicia or Greece. Craftsmen were successful in reproducing simple items, and the Carthaginians do not seem to have been too keen on making 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 craftsmen of Ancient Phenicia who worked with Lebanese cedar. Due to the constant need for ships, both carpenters and metal workers were invariably distinguished by a high level of skill. There is evidence of their skill in working 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 dead.

The largest of the handicraft industries, apparently, was the manufacture of ceramic products. The remains of workshops and pottery kilns filled with products intended for firing were discovered. Every Punic settlement in Africa produced pottery, which is found throughout the areas that were part of Carthage's sphere - Malta, Sicily, Sardinia and Spain. Carthaginian pottery is also found from time to time on the coast of France and Northern Italy - where the Greeks from Massalia (modern Marseille) occupied a dominant position in trade and where the Carthaginians were probably still allowed to trade.

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

The Carthaginians were especially successful in trade. Carthage can well be called a trading state, since its policies were largely guided by commercial considerations. Many of its colonies and trading settlements were undoubtedly founded for the purpose of expanding 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 a treaty concluded by Carthage in 508 BC. with the Roman Republic, which had just emerged after the expulsion of the Etruscan kings from Rome, it was stipulated 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, immediately set sail. Carthage agreed to recognize Rome's borders and respect its people as well as its allies.

The Carthaginians entered into agreements and, if necessary, made concessions. They also resorted to force to prevent rivals from entering the waters of the western Mediterranean, which they considered as their patrimony, with the exception of the coast of Gaul and the adjacent coasts of Spain and Italy. They also fought against piracy. The authorities maintained the complex structures of Carthage's trading harbor in good repair, as well as its military harbor, which was apparently open to foreign ships, but few sailors entered it.

It is striking that such a trading state as Carthage did not show due attention to coinage. Apparently, there was no own coin here until the 4th century. BC, when silver coins were issued which, if the surviving examples are considered typical, varied considerably in weight and quality. Perhaps the Carthaginians preferred to use the reliable silver coins of Athens and other states, and most transactions were carried out through direct barter.

Goods and trade routes. Specific data on Carthage's trade items is surprisingly scant, although evidence of its trading interests is quite numerous. Typical of such evidence is Herodotus' story about how trade took place on the west coast of Africa. The Carthaginians landed at a certain place and laid out goods, after which they retired to their ships. Then local residents appeared and placed 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 these were is not mentioned in the story.

Apparently, the Carthaginians brought simple pottery for sale or exchange to those western regions where they had a monopoly, 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 some evidence, 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 references in Roman literature indicate that the Carthaginians brought various valuable goods to Italy, where ivory from Africa was highly valued. During the empire, huge quantities of wild animals were brought from Roman North Africa for games. Figs and honey are also mentioned.

It is believed that Carthaginian ships sailed the Atlantic Ocean to obtain tin from Cornwall. The Carthaginians themselves produced bronze and may have shipped some tin to other places where it was needed 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 Punic warships were made from esparto grass, native to Spain and North Africa. An important trade item, due to its high price, was the purple dye from scarlet. In many areas, traders purchased wild animal skins and leather and found markets to sell them.

As in later times, caravans from the south must have arrived at the ports of Leptis and Aea, as well as Gigtis, which lay somewhat to the west. They carried ostrich feathers and eggs, popular in ancient times, which served as decorations or bowls. In Carthage, they were painted with fierce faces and used, as they say, as masks to scare away demons. The caravans also brought ivory and slaves. But the most important cargo was gold sand from the Gold Coast or Guinea.

The Carthaginians imported some of the best goods for their own use. Some of the pottery found in Carthage came from Greece or from Campania in southern Italy, where it was produced by visiting Greeks. The characteristic handles of Rhodian amphorae found during excavations in Carthage show that wine was brought here from Rhodes. Surprisingly, no high-quality Attic ceramics are found here.

ABOUT Carthaginian culturealmost nothing is known about the history of ancient Carthage. The only lengthy texts in their language that have come down to us are contained in the play of Plautus Punic, where one of the characters, Hanno, delivers a monologue, apparently in genuine Punic dialect, followed by a significant part of it in Latin. In addition, there are many replicas of the same Gannon scattered throughout the play, also translated into Latin. Unfortunately, the 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 of the Punic language to the Hebrew language is very helpful.

The Carthaginians did not have their own artistic traditions. Apparently, in everything that can be classified as art, these people limited themselves to copying other people's ideas and techniques. In ceramics, jewelry and sculpture, they were content with imitation, and sometimes they copied not the best examples. As far as literature is concerned, there is no evidence that they produced any works other than purely practical ones, such as Mago's manual on agriculture, and one or two smaller compilations of 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) - a 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 Tanit. The religion of the Carthaginians is characterized by human sacrifices, which were especially widely practiced during periods of disaster. The main thing in this religion is the belief in the effectiveness of cult practice for communicating 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 most ancient 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.

Alliance 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. Their main area of ​​settlement was immediately north of Rome. They also owned Rome and the lands to the south - right up to the point where they came into conflict with the Greeks of southern Italy. Having concluded 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 expelled them from Rome and Latium. Soon after this, 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 bridgehead in Sardinia.

The fight for Sicily.Even before the major defeat of the Etruscans, Carthage had the opportunity to measure its strength with the Sicilian Greeks. The Punic cities in western Sicily, founded at least no 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 Pheron in Acragantum, clearly foreshadowed to 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 to conquer all of eastern Sicily. They acted together with the Persians, who were preparing an invasion of Greece itself. According to later tradition (no doubt erroneous), the defeat of the Persians at Salamis and the equally decisive defeat of the Carthaginians in the land battle of Himera in Sicily occurred in 480 BC. in the same day. Having confirmed the worst fears of the Carthaginians, Feron and Gelon put up an irresistible force.

Much time passed before the Carthaginians again launched an attack on Sicily. After Syracuse successfully repelled an Athenian invasion (415–413 BC), utterly defeating them, it sought to subjugate other Greek cities in Sicily. Then these cities began to turn to Carthage for help, which was not slow 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 based the power of Syracuse on cruel tyranny and for forty years fought against the Carthaginians with varying success. At the end of hostilities in 367 BC. The Carthaginians again had to come to terms with the impossibility of establishing complete control over the island. The lawlessness and inhumanity committed by Dionysius were partly compensated by the assistance he provided to the Sicilian Greeks in their fight against Carthage. The persistent Carthaginians made another attempt to subjugate eastern Sicily during the tyranny of Dionysius the Younger, who succeeded his father. However, this again did not achieve its goal, and in 338 BC, after several years of fighting, which made it impossible to talk 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 the great campaign in India, shortly before his death, the Carthaginians, like other nations, sent an embassy to him, trying to find out his intentions. Perhaps Alexander's untimely death in 323 BC. saved Carthage from many troubles.

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

In 278 BC The Greeks went on the offensive. The famous Greek commander Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, arrived in Italy to fight against the Romans on the side of the southern Italian Greeks. Having won two victories over the Romans with great damage to himself (“Pyrrhic victory”), he crossed over to Sicily. There he pushed back the Carthaginians 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, Italian 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, the ruler of Syracuse, began to overcome 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 lasted 24 years (264–241 BC). The Romans landed troops in Sicily and initially achieved some successes, but the army that landed in Africa under the command of Regulus was defeated near Carthage. After repeated failures at sea caused by storms, as well as a number of defeats on land (the Carthaginian army in Sicily was commanded by Hamilcar Barca), the Romans in 241 BC. won a naval battle off the Aegadian Islands, off the western coast of Sicily. The war brought enormous damage and losses to both sides, Carthage finally lost Sicily, and soon lost Sardinia and Corsica. In 240 BC a dangerous uprising of Carthaginian mercenaries dissatisfied with the delay of 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 went to Spain and began the conquest of the interior. To the Roman embassy, ​​who came with a question about his intentions, he replied that he was looking for a way to pay the indemnity to Rome as quickly as possible. The riches of Spain - flora and fauna, minerals, not to mention its inhabitants - could quickly compensate the Carthaginians for the loss of Sicily. However, conflict began again between the two powers, this time due to unrelenting pressure from Rome. In 218 BC Hannibal, the great Carthaginian commander, traveled overland from Spain through the Alps to Italy and defeated the Roman army, winning several brilliant victories, the most important of which took place in 216 BC. at the Battle of Cannae. Nevertheless, Rome did not ask for peace. On the contrary, he recruited new troops and, after several years of confrontation in Italy, transferred the fighting to North Africa, where he achieved victory at the Battle of Zama (202 BC).

Carthage lost Spain and finally lost its position as a state capable of challenging Rome. However, the Romans feared the revival of Carthage. They say that Cato the Elder ended each of his speeches in the Senate with the words “Delenda est Carthago” - “Carthage must be destroyed.” They say that it was the magnificent Carthaginian olives that prompted Senator Cato to think about the need to destroy Carthage, a prosperous city despite the wars. He visited here as part of the Roman embassy in the middle of the 2nd century BC. e. and collected a handful of fruits into a leather bag.

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

"...Carthage must be destroyed!" - with these famous words, consul Cato the Elder ended his historical speech in the Roman Senate. His words turned out to be prophetic - the army of Carthage was defeated. The powerful state of Hannibal, which had 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 ground on which the city stood was ordered to be sprinkled with a thick layer of salt.

In 149 BC Rome's exorbitant demands forced the weakened but still wealthy North African state into a 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 the soil with salt. However, five centuries later, Punic 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 CARTHAGE

3.1 CARTHAGE
HOW LARGE
Y GORODSK
OH CENTER
.

Julius Caesar, who had a practical bent, ordered the founding of a new Carthage, since he considered it pointless to leave such an advantageous place in many respects unused. In 44 BC, 102 years after its destruction, the city began a new life. From the very beginning it prospered as the administrative center and port of an area with rich agricultural production. This period of Carthage's history lasted 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 residence of the proconsul of the province of Africa, which, in the minds of the Romans, more or less coincided with the ancient Carthaginian territory. The administration of the imperial land holdings, which made up 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 as a youth, and later achieved such fame there for his Greek and Latin speeches that statues were erected in his honor. A native of North Africa was Marcus Cornelius Fronto, the mentor of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, as well as Emperor Septimius Severus.

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

However, Carthage remained only a major urban center and had no political significance.Mentioned in the history of Roman Carthagestories about public executions of Christians, about Tertullian’s furious attacks on noble Carthaginian women who came to church in magnificent secular attire, mentions of some outstanding personalities who found themselves in Carthage at important moments in history, But it never rises above the level of a large provincial city. For some time here was the capital of the Vandals (429–533 AD), who, like pirates once, set sail from the harbor that dominated the Mediterranean straits. This area was then conquered by the Byzantines, who held it until Carthage fell to the Arabs in 697.

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

Tunisia, 22.09 - 29.09.2013
Carthage, 09/25/2013

Legend of Carthage begins with the Phoenician city of Tyre, the beautiful princess Dido, betrayal, greed, lust for power that destroyed the royal family.
Saving her life, Dido fled to an unknown country in northern Africa and there she persuaded the locals to sell her a piece of land that could be covered with the hide of a bull. Clever and cunning Dido cut the bull's skin into the thinnest strips, tied them and laid them out, separating a whole mountain. On the mountain, under the leadership of Dido, the Birsa fortress was built, which means skin, and around the fortress the city of Kart Hadasht - the New City - Carthage grew.
The founding date of Carthage is considered to be 814. BC e.

Over the next centuries Carthage strengthened his position by establishing colonies in Corsica, Ibiza and northern Africa and re-subordinating the former Phoenician colonies.
Thanks to numerous trade routes, Carthage by the 1st century. BC e. became one of the largest cities in the world and the capital of the largest state.

The Carthaginians surrounded their city with impregnable walls. The length of the massive city walls was 37 kilometers and the height was 12 meters. The city had temples, markets, administrative buildings, towers, a cemetery and a theater. There was a fortress in the center of the city, and a port on the coast.
Ancient builders built residential buildings from limestone that reached 6 floors in height. These houses had bathtubs, sinks and even showers. By 600 BC. e. In ancient Carthage, a unified water supply system appeared, consisting of cisterns, canals, pipes and a 132-meter aqueduct. Putting a bathtub and running water to it is half the battle. It was necessary to remove the used water and the ancient builders created a unified sewage system in Carthage.

Reconstruction of ancient Punic Carthage from the National Museum of Carthage.

My main pride Carthage was its harbor, built in the 2nd century. BC e. It had no analogue in the ancient world. The harbor contained two separate ports. The first is for merchant ships; merchant ships from all over the world came here. The second is a circular port with numerous docks in the center and hundreds of warships. Carthaginian warship - quinquereme. These are powerful and fast warships with five rows of oars. Quinquereme could pierce through an enemy ship at high speed. The Carthaginians put production of such ships on stream.

Excavations on Birsa Hill, remains of Phoenician buildings of the 2nd century BC. e.

The main opponent Carthage was Ancient Rome. The size of Carthage's army was smaller, but Carthage had the most powerful fleet of antiquity; for several centuries Carthage dominated the Mediterranean Sea.

History brings to us the names of the great commanders of Carthage: Hamilcar, Hasdrubal, Hannibal.

The wars between Carthage and Rome went down in history as the Punic. The Romans considered Carthage a constant threat to their empire. Only one winner could emerge from this mortal battle; the vanquished must be wiped off the face of the earth.

Remains of a Phoenician city on the hill of Byrsa.

The battles went on with varying degrees of success, but Carthage lost both the first and second Punic Wars.

In 202 BC. e. Roman senator Marcus Cato saw the wealth of Carthage, which had recovered from its defeats in the Punic Wars, and again felt threatened by it. Since then, the famous phrase “Carthage must be destroyed” became the leitmotif of all his speeches in the Senate.

In 149 BC. e. Rome began the third Punic War. Carthage held off the siege of Rome for 3 years, but in the spring of 146 BC. e. Carthage was destroyed to the ground and burned. Its area was forever cursed, the ground was sprinkled with salt as a sign that no one should ever settle here.

However, 100 years later Julius Caesar decided to establish a colony here. Roman engineers removed about 100,000 cubic meters. meters of land, destroying the top of Birsa Hill to level the surface and destroy traces of the past.

Over time Carthage became the second largest city in the West after Rome. Temples, a circus, an amphitheater, a theater, baths, and an aqueduct were built here.

At the top of the hill is the Cathedral of St. Louis (1897). Currently there is a concert hall here.

But the Roman Empire fell into decline and Carthage was captured by the Vandals, then by the Byzantines, and in 698 AD. e. Arabs. Its stones served to build the city of Tunis. In the following centuries, the marble and granite that once adorned the Roman city were plundered and taken out of the country.

Today it's a suburb Tunisia.
Present-day Carthage shows tourists three cultural layers - the very modest remains of a Phoenician city on the hill of Byrsa, numerous ancient Roman ruins and a modern suburb Tunisia with the presidential palace.

The Roman era is represented by numerous mosaics, sculptures and bas-reliefs.

Next to the cathedral is the entrance to the National Museum Carthage, located in the building of a former monastery, whose monks laid the foundation for the collection.

On the outer walls there are paintings with Roman mosaics.

On the ground floor of the museum there is a huge panel of Roman mosaics.

Roman statues and bas-reliefs dedicated mainly to the god of wine, Bacchus.

Marble sarcophagi of the Punic era (15th century BC) Priest...

...and the priestess.

Copy of the giant head of Princess Antonina found in Carthage (original in the Louvre).

Punic masks.

Punic pottery.

Phoenician glass.

Entrance to the Archaeological Park of the Baths of Antonia Pius.

This is the most picturesque of all the surviving sites of Carthage. The park area is more than 4 hectares, it is lined with rectangular alleys. During excavations, remains of various eras were also discovered here - Punic burials, Roman buildings, Byzantine churches.

On the sides of the entrance alley there are small sarcophagi for the burial of children sacrificed to the god Baal.
This is an infamous fact from history Carthage. Archaeologists have discovered a site where urns containing the charred remains of animals and small children were found. 20,000 children were sacrificed over 200 years. Although, perhaps, it was a children's cemetery, and the terrible rumors were black PR for the ancient Romans.

The entrance alley divides the park into two parts. On the left side are ancient underground cisterns, which now contain fragments of statues, mosaics, and ruins of houses with swimming pools. On the right are the ruins of the thermal baths.

Byzantine church with interesting mosaics.

An ancient dwelling where a collection of statues was found.

Mosaic floors in Roman houses.

Near the sea - the baths of Anthony Pius.

The baths were built in 147-162. n. e. under the Roman Emperor Antoninus.

Visiting baths in the Roman Empire was a way of life. Here they communicated, conducted business negotiations, made deals, relaxed, had fun, and made important decisions. “The patrician went to the bathhouse and washed himself at the same time” - an ancient Roman proverb.

What we see now is only the first floor of the baths. There were three in total.
On an area of ​​approximately 2 hectares there were gardens surrounded by a colonnade, huge halls with hot baths, steam rooms, halls for gymnastic exercises, for relaxation and conversation, and public toilets. The baths had open pools by the sea and terraces - solariums, a marble staircase led to the seashore.

The floors of all rooms were covered with mosaics, the walls were lined with marble, and the halls were decorated with marble statues.

The baths were destroyed by vandals in 439. All that remained of the huge complex was the lower utility floor, where the water was heated and from where hot air was supplied to the steam rooms.

Archaeologists installed individual surviving 20-meter columns to show the height of the structure.

Behind the white fence is the presidential palace.

To be continued...

Ancient Carthage was founded in 814 BC. colonists from the Phoenician city of Fez. According to ancient legend, Carthage was founded by Queen Elissa (Dido), who was forced to flee Fez after her brother Pygmalion, the king of Tyre, killed her husband Sycheus in order to take possession of his wealth.

Its name in Phoenician “Kart-Hadasht” means “New City”, perhaps in contrast to the more ancient colony of Utica.

According to another legend about the founding of the city, Elissa was allowed to occupy as much land as an ox's hide could cover. She acted quite cunningly - taking possession of a large plot of land, cutting the skin into narrow belts. Therefore, the citadel erected at this place began to be called Birsa (which means “skin”).

Carthage was originally a small city, not much different from other Phoenician colonies on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, except for the significant fact that it was not part of the Tyrian state, although it retained spiritual ties with the metropolis.

The city's economy was based primarily on intermediary trade. The craft was little developed and in its basic technical and aesthetic characteristics did not differ from the East. There was no agriculture. The Carthaginians did not have possessions beyond the narrow space of the city itself, and they had to pay tribute to the local population for the land on which the city stood. The political system of Carthage was originally a monarchy, and the head of the state was the founder of the city. With her death, probably the only member of the royal family who was in Carthage disappeared. As a result, a republic was established in Carthage, and power passed to the ten “princeps” who had previously surrounded the queen.

Territorial expansion of Carthage

Terracotta mask. III-II centuries BC. Carthage.

In the first half of the 7th century. BC. A new stage in the history of Carthage begins. It is possible that many new immigrants from the metropolis moved there due to fear of the Assyrian invasion, and this led to the expansion of the city, attested by archeology. This strengthened it and allowed it to move to more active trade - in particular, Carthage replaced Phenicia proper in trade with Etruria. All this leads to significant changes in Carthage, the external expression of which is a change in the forms of ceramics, the revival of old Canaanite traditions already abandoned in the East, the emergence of new, original forms of artistic and craft products.

Already at the beginning of the second stage of its history, Carthage becomes such a significant city that it can begin its own colonization. The first colony was established by the Carthaginians around the middle of the 7th century. BC. on Ebes Island off the east coast of Spain. Apparently, the Carthaginians did not want to oppose the interests of the metropolis in Southern Spain and were looking for workarounds to Spanish silver and tin. However, Carthaginian activity in the area soon ran into competition with the Greeks, who settled at the beginning of the 6th century. BC. in southern Gaul and eastern Spain. The first round of the Carthaginian-Greek wars was left to the Greeks, who, although they did not oust the Carthaginians from Ebes, managed to paralyze this important point.

Failure in the extreme west of the Mediterranean forced the Carthaginians to turn to its center. They founded a number of colonies east and west of their city and subjugated the old Phoenician colonies in Africa. Having strengthened, the Carthaginians could no longer tolerate such a situation that they paid tribute to the Libyans for their own territory. The attempt to free ourselves from tribute is associated with the name of the commander Malchus, who, having won victories in Africa, freed Carthage from tribute.

Somewhat later, in the 60-50s of the 6th century. BC, the same Malchus fought in Sicily, the result of which, apparently, was the subjugation of the Phoenician colonies on the island. And after victories in Sicily, Malchus crossed to Sardinia, but was defeated there. This defeat became for the Carthaginian oligarchs, who were afraid of the too victorious commander, a reason to sentence him to exile. In response, Malchus returned to Carthage and seized power. However, he was soon defeated and executed. Magon took the leading place in the state.

Mago and his successors had to solve difficult problems. To the west of Italy, the Greeks established themselves, threatening the interests of both the Carthaginians and some Etruscan cities. With one of these cities, Caere, Carthage was in particularly close economic and cultural contacts. In the middle of the 5th century. BC. The Carthaginians and Ceretians entered into an alliance directed against the Greeks who settled in Corsica. Around 535 BC At the Battle of Alalia, the Greeks defeated the combined Carthaginian-Ceretian fleet, but suffered such heavy losses that they were forced to leave Corsica. The Battle of Alalia contributed to a clearer distribution of spheres of influence in the center of the Mediterranean. Sardinia was included in the Carthaginian sphere, which was confirmed by the treaty of Carthage with Rome in 509 BC. However, the Carthaginians were never able to completely capture Sardinia. A whole system of fortresses, ramparts and ditches separated their possessions from the territory of the free Sardis.

The Carthaginians, led by rulers and generals from the Magonid family, fought a stubborn struggle on all fronts: in Africa, Spain and Sicily. In Africa, they subjugated all the Phoenician colonies located there, including ancient Utica, which for a long time did not want to become part of their power, waged war with the Greek colony of Cyrene, located between Carthage and Egypt, repulsed the attempt of the Spartan prince Dorieus to establish himself east of Carthage and ousted the Greeks from the emerging there were their cities to the west of the capital. They launched an offensive against the local tribes. In a stubborn struggle, the Magonids managed to subdue them. Part of the conquered territory was directly subordinated to Carthage, forming its agricultural territory - chora. The other part was left to the Libyans, but was subject to the strict control of the Carthaginians, and the Libyans had to pay heavy taxes to their masters and serve in their army. The heavy Carthaginian yoke more than once caused powerful uprisings of the Libyans.

Phoenician ring with comb. Carthage. Gold. VI-V centuries BC.

In Spain at the end of the 6th century. BC. The Carthaginians took advantage of the Tartessian attack on Gades to, under the pretext of protecting their half-blooded city, intervene in the affairs of the Iberian Peninsula. They captured Hades, which did not want to peacefully submit to its “savior,” which was followed by the collapse of the Tartessian state. Carthaginians at the beginning of the 5th century. BC. established control over its remains. However, the attempt to extend it to South-Eastern Spain caused strong resistance from the Greeks. At the naval battle of Artemisium, the Carthaginians were defeated and were forced to abandon their attempt. But the strait at the Pillars of Hercules remained under their control.

At the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th century. BC. Sicily became the scene of a fierce Carthaginian-Greek battle. Having failed in Africa, Dorieus decided to establish himself in the west of Sicily, but was defeated by the Carthaginians and killed.

His death became the reason for the Syracusan tyrant Gelon to war with Carthage. In 480 BC. The Carthaginians, having entered into an alliance with Xerxes, who was advancing on Balkan Greece at that time, and taking advantage of the difficult political situation in Sicily, where some of the Greek cities opposed Syracuse and entered into an alliance with Carthage, launched an attack on the Greek part of the island. But in the fierce battle of Himera they were completely defeated, and their commander Hamilcar, son of Mago, died. As a result, the Carthaginians had difficulty holding on to the small part of Sicily they had previously captured.

The Magonids made attempts to establish themselves on the Atlantic coasts of Africa and Europe. For this purpose, in the first half of the 5th century. BC. two expeditions were undertaken:

1. in a southerly direction under the leadership of Hanno,
2. in the north, led by Gimilkon.

So in the middle of the 5th century. BC. The Carthaginian state was formed, which at that time became the largest and one of the strongest states in the Western Mediterranean. It included -

• the northern coast of Africa west of Greek Cyrenaica and a number of inland areas of that continent, as well as a small part of the Atlantic coast immediately south of the Pillars of Hercules;
• the southwestern part of Spain and a significant part of the Balearic Islands off the eastern coast of this country;
• Sardinia (actually only part of it);
• Phoenician cities in western Sicily;
• islands between Sicily and Africa.

The internal situation of the Carthaginian state

Position of the cities, allies and subjects of Carthage

The supreme god of the Carthaginians is Baal Hammon. Terracotta. I century AD Carthage.

This power was a complex phenomenon. Its core consisted of Carthage itself with the territory directly subordinate to it - Chora. Chora was located directly outside the city walls and was divided into separate territorial districts, governed by a special official; each district included several communities.

With the expansion of the Carthaginian power, non-African possessions were sometimes included in the chorus, such as the part of Sardinia captured by the Carthaginians. Another component of the power were the Carthaginian colonies, which exercised supervision over the surrounding lands, were in some cases centers of trade and craft, and served as a reservoir for absorbing the “surplus” population. They had certain rights, but were under the control of a special resident sent from the capital.

The power included the old colonies of Tire. Some of them (Gades, Utica, Kossoura) were officially considered equal to the capital, others legally occupied a lower position. But the official position and the true role in the power of these cities did not always coincide. Thus, Utica was practically completely subordinate to Carthage (which later led more than once to the fact that this city, under favorable conditions for it, took an anti-Carthaginian position), and the legally inferior cities of Sicily, in whose loyalty the Carthaginians were especially interested, enjoyed significant privileges.

The power included tribes and cities that were subject to Carthage. These were Libyans outside the Chora and subject tribes of Sardinia and Spain. They were also in different positions. The Carthaginians did not interfere unnecessarily in their internal affairs, limiting themselves to taking hostages, recruiting them for military service and a rather heavy tax.

The Carthaginians also ruled over their “allies.” They governed themselves, but were deprived of foreign policy initiative and had to supply contingents to the Carthaginian army. Their attempt to evade submission to the Carthaginians was considered a rebellion. Some of them were also subject to taxes, their loyalty was ensured by hostages. But the further from the borders of the power, the more independent the local kings, dynasts and tribes became. A grid of territorial divisions was superimposed on this entire complex conglomerate of cities, peoples and tribes.

Economics and social structure

The creation of the power led to significant changes in the economic and social structure of Carthage. With the advent of land holdings, where the estates of aristocrats were located, a variety of agriculture began to develop in Carthage. It provided even more food to the Carthaginian merchants (however, the merchants were often wealthy landowners themselves), and this stimulated the further growth of Carthaginian trade. Carthage becomes one of the largest trading centers in the Mediterranean.

A large number of subordinate populations appeared, located at different levels of the social ladder. At the very top of this ladder stood the Carthaginian slave-owning aristocracy, which constituted the top of the Carthaginian citizenship - the “people of Carthage”, and at the very bottom were slaves and related groups of the dependent population. Between these extremes there was a whole range of foreigners, "metecs", the so-called "Sidonian men" and other categories of the incomplete, semi-dependent and dependent population, including residents of subordinate territories.

A contrast arose between Carthaginian citizenship and the rest of the population of the state, including slaves. The civil collective itself consisted of two groups -

1. aristocrats, or "powerful ones", and
2. “small”, i.e. plebs.

Despite the division into two groups, citizens acted together as a cohesive natural association of oppressors, interested in the exploitation of all other inhabitants of the state.

System of property and power in Carthage

The material basis of the civil collective was communal property, which appeared in two forms: the property of the entire community (for example, an arsenal, shipyards, etc.) and the property of individual citizens (lands, workshops, shops, ships, except state ones, especially military ones, etc.). d.). Along with communal property, there was no other sector. Even the property of temples was brought under the control of the community.

Sarcophagus of the priestess. Marble. IV-III centuries BC. Carthage.

The civil collective, in theory, also possessed full state power. We do not know exactly what positions were occupied by Malchus, who seized power, and the Magonids who came after him to rule the state (sources in this regard are very contradictory). In fact, their situation seemed to resemble that of the Greek tyrants. Under the leadership of the Magonids, the Carthaginian state was actually created. But then it seemed to the Carthaginian aristocrats that this family had become “difficult for the freedom of the state,” and the grandchildren of Mago were expelled. Expulsion of the Magonids in the middle of the 5th century. BC. led to the establishment of a republican form of government.

The highest power in the republic, at least officially, and at critical moments in fact, belonged to the people's assembly, which embodied the sovereign will of the civil collective. In fact, leadership was exercised by oligarchic councils and magistrates elected from among wealthy and noble citizens, primarily two sufet, in whose hands executive power was held throughout the year.

The people could intervene in the affairs of government only in case of disagreements among the rulers, which arose during periods of political crises. The people also had the right to choose, although very limited, councilors and magistrates. In addition, the “people of Carthage” were tamed in every possible way by the aristocrats, who gave them a share of the benefits from the existence of the power: not only the “mighty”, but also the “small” made profits from the maritime and trading power of Carthage, people sent for supervision were recruited from the “plebs” over subordinate communities and tribes, participation in wars provided a certain benefit, for in the presence of a significant mercenary army, citizens were still not completely separated from military service, they were represented at various levels of the land army, from privates to commanders, and especially in the fleet.

Thus, a self-sufficient civil collective was formed in Carthage, possessing sovereign power and relying on communal property, next to which there was neither royal power standing above citizenship nor a non-communal sector in socio-economic terms. Therefore, we can say that the polis arose here, i.e. this form of economic, social and political organization of citizens, which is characteristic of the ancient version of ancient society. Comparing the situation in Carthage with the situation in the metropolis, it should be noted that the cities of Phenicia itself, with all the development of the commodity economy, remained within the framework of the eastern version of the development of ancient society, and Carthage became an ancient state.

The formation of the Carthaginian polis and the formation of a power were the main content of the second stage of the history of Carthage. The Carthaginian power arose during the fierce struggle of the Carthaginians with both the local population and the Greeks. Wars with the latter were of a distinctly imperialist nature, because they were fought for the seizure and exploitation of foreign territories and peoples.

Rise of Carthage

From the second half of the 5th century. BC. The third stage of Carthaginian history begins. The power had already been created, and now the talk was about its expansion and attempts to establish hegemony in the Western Mediterranean. The main obstacle to this was initially the same Western Greeks. In 409 BC. The Carthaginian commander Hannibal landed in Motia, and a new round of wars in Sicily began, which lasted intermittently for more than a century and a half.

Gilded bronze cuirass. III-II centuries BC. Carthage.

Initially, success leaned towards Carthage. The Carthaginians subdued the Elims and Sicans who lived in western Sicily and began an attack on Syracuse, the most powerful Greek city on the island and the most implacable enemy of Carthage. In 406, the Carthaginians besieged Syracuse, and only the plague that began in the Carthaginian camp saved the Syracusans. World 405 BC assigned the western part of Sicily to Carthage. True, this success turned out to be fragile, and the border between Carthaginian and Greek Sicily always remained pulsating, moving either to the east or to the west as one side or another succeeded.

The failures of the Carthaginian army almost immediately responded to the aggravation of internal contradictions in Carthage, including powerful uprisings of the Libyans and slaves. End of the 5th - first half of the 4th century. BC. were a time of intense clashes within citizenship, both between separate groups of aristocrats, and, apparently, between the “plebs” involved in these clashes and aristocratic groups. At the same time, slaves rose up against their masters, and subject peoples against the Carthaginians. And only with calm within the state was the Carthaginian government able in the middle of the 4th century. BC. resume external expansion.

The Carthaginians then established control over southeast Spain, something they had tried unsuccessfully to do a century and a half earlier. In Sicily, they launched a new offensive against the Greeks and achieved a number of successes, once again finding themselves under the walls of Syracuse and even capturing their port. The Syracusans were forced to turn to their metropolis Corinth for help, and from there an army arrived led by the capable commander Timoleon. The commander of the Carthaginian forces in Sicily, Hanno, failed to prevent Timoleon's landing and was recalled to Africa, while his successor was defeated and cleared Syracuse harbor. Hanno, returning to Carthage, decided to take advantage of the situation that arose in connection with this and seize power. After the failure of the coup, he fled the city, armed 20 thousand slaves and called the Libyans and Moors to arms. The rebellion was defeated, Hanno, along with all his relatives, was executed, and only his son Gisgon managed to escape death and was expelled from Carthage.

However, soon the turn of affairs in Sicily forced the Carthaginian government to turn to Gisgono. The Carthaginians suffered a severe defeat from Timoleon, and then a new army led by Gisgon was sent there. Gisgon entered into an alliance with some of the tyrants of the Greek cities of the island and defeated individual detachments of Timoleon's army. This allowed in 339 BC. conclude a peace relatively beneficial for Carthage, according to which he retained his possessions in Sicily. After these events, the Hannonid family became the most influential in Carthage for a long time, although there could be no talk of any tyranny, as was the case with the Magonids.

The wars with the Syracusan Greeks went on as usual and with varying degrees of success. At the end of the 4th century. BC. the Greeks even landed in Africa, directly threatening Carthage. The Carthaginian commander Bomilcar decided to take advantage of the opportunity and seize power. But the citizens spoke out against him, suppressing the rebellion. And soon the Greeks were repulsed from the Carthaginian walls and returned to Sicily. The attempt of the Epirus king Pyrrhus to oust the Carthaginians from Sicily in the 70s was also unsuccessful. III century BC. All these endless and tedious wars showed that neither the Carthaginians nor the Greeks had the strength to take Sicily from each other.

The emergence of a new rival - Rome

The situation changed in the 60s. III century BC, when a new predator intervened in this fight - Rome. In 264, the first war began between Carthage and Rome. In 241 it ended with the complete loss of Sicily.

This outcome of the war exacerbated the contradictions in Carthage and gave rise to an acute internal crisis there. Its most striking manifestation was a powerful uprising, in which mercenary soldiers took part, dissatisfied with the non-payment of money owed to them, the local population, who sought to throw off the heavy Carthaginian oppression, and slaves who hated their masters. The uprising took place in the immediate vicinity of Carthage, probably also covering Sardinia and Spain. The fate of Carthage hung in the balance. With great difficulty and at the cost of incredible cruelty, Hamilcar, who had previously become famous in Sicily, managed to suppress this uprising, and then went to Spain, continuing the “pacification” of the Carthaginian possessions. Sardinia had to say goodbye, losing it to Rome, which threatened a new war.

The second aspect of the crisis was the increasing role of citizenship. The rank and file, who in theory held sovereign power, now sought to transform theory into practice. A democratic “party” arose led by Hasdrubal. A split also occurred among the oligarchy, in which two factions emerged.

1. One was led by Hanno from the influential Hannonid family - they stood for a cautious and peaceful policy that excluded a new conflict with Rome;
2. and the other - Hamilcar, representing the Barkids family (nicknamed Hamilcar - Barca, lit., “lightning”) - they were active, with the goal of taking revenge from the Romans.

Rise of the Barcids and the war with Rome

Presumably a bust of Hannibal Barca. Found in Capua in 1932

Wide circles of citizens were also interested in revenge, for whom the influx of wealth from the subject lands and from the monopoly of maritime trade was beneficial. Therefore, an alliance arose between the Barcids and the Democrats, sealed by the marriage of Hasdrubal with the daughter of Hamilcar. Relying on the support of democracy, Hamilcar managed to overcome the machinations of his enemies and go to Spain. In Spain, Hamilcar and his successors from the Barcid family, including his son-in-law Hasdrubal, greatly expanded the Carthaginian possessions.

After the overthrow of the Magonids, the ruling circles of Carthage did not allow the unification of military and civil functions in the same hands. However, during the war with Rome, they began to practice similar things, following the example of the Hellenistic states, but not at the national level, as was the case under the Magonids, but at the local level. Such was the power of the Barkids in Spain. But the Barkids exercised their powers on the Iberian Peninsula independently. Strong reliance on the army, close ties with democratic circles in Carthage itself and the special relations established between the Barcids and the local population contributed to the emergence in Spain of a semi-independent Barcid power, essentially of a Hellenistic type.

Hamilcar already considered Spain as a springboard for a new war with Rome. His son Hannibal in 218 BC provoked this war. The Second Punic War began. Hannibal himself went to Italy, leaving his brother in Spain. Military operations unfolded on several fronts, and the Carthaginian commanders (especially Hannibal) won a number of victories. But victory in the war remained with Rome.

World 201 BC deprived Carthage of the navy and all non-African possessions and forced the Carthaginians to recognize the independence of Numidia in Africa, to whose king the Carthaginians had to return all the possessions of his ancestors (this article placed a “time bomb” under Carthage), and the Carthaginians themselves had no right to wage war without permission Rome. This war not only deprived Carthage of its position as a great power, but also significantly limited its sovereignty. The third stage of Carthaginian history, which began with such happy omens, ended with the bankruptcy of the Carthaginian aristocracy, which had ruled the republic for so long.

Internal position

At this stage, there was no radical transformation in the economic, social and political life of Carthage. But certain changes still took place. In the 4th century. BC. Carthage began minting its own coins. A certain Hellenization of part of the Carthaginian aristocracy occurs, and two cultures emerge in Carthaginian society, as is typical for the Hellenistic world. As in the Hellenistic states, in a number of cases civil and military power was concentrated in the same hands. In Spain, a semi-independent Barkid power emerged, the heads of which felt a kinship with the then rulers of the Middle East, and where a system of relations between the conquerors and the local population appeared, similar to that existing in the Hellenistic states.

Carthage had large expanses of land suitable for cultivation. In contrast to other Phoenician city-states, Carthage developed large agricultural plantation farms on a large scale, employing the labor of numerous slaves. The plantation economy of Carthage played a very important role in the economic history of the ancient world, since it influenced the development of the same type of slave economy, first in Sicily and then in Italy.

In the VI century. BC. or maybe in the 5th century. BC. in Carthage lived the writer and theorist of the plantation slave economy Mago, whose great work enjoyed such fame that the Roman army that besieged Carthage in the middle of the 2nd century. BC, an order was given to preserve this work. And it was really saved. By decree of the Roman Senate, Mago's work was translated from Phoenician into Latin, and then was used by all agricultural theorists in Rome. For their plantation economy, for their craft workshops and for their galleys, the Carthaginians needed a huge number of slaves, selected by them from among prisoners of war and purchased.

Sunset of Carthage

The defeat in the second war with Rome opened the last stage of Carthaginian history. Carthage lost its power, and its possessions were reduced to a small district near the city itself. Opportunities to exploit the non-Carthaginian population disappeared. Large groups of dependent and semi-dependent populations escaped the control of the Carthaginian aristocracy. The agricultural area shrank sharply, and trade again assumed predominant importance.

Glass vessels for ointments and balms. OK. 200 BC

If earlier not only the nobility, but also the “plebs” received certain benefits from the existence of the power, now they have disappeared. This naturally caused an acute social and political crisis, which now went beyond the existing institutions.

In 195 BC. Hannibal, having become a Sufet, carried out a reform of the state structure that dealt a blow to the very foundations of the previous system with its dominance of the aristocracy and opened the way to practical power, on the one hand, for broad layers of the civilian population, and on the other, for demagogues who could take advantage of the movement of these layers. Under these conditions, a fierce political struggle unfolded in Carthage, reflecting acute contradictions within the civil collective. First, the Carthaginian oligarchy managed to take revenge, with the help of the Romans, forcing Hannibal to flee without completing the work he started. But the oligarchs were unable to maintain their power intact.

By the middle of the 2nd century. BC. Three political factions fought in Carthage. During this struggle, Hasdrubal became the leading figure, heading the anti-Roman group, and his position led to the establishment of a regime similar to the Greek minor tyranny. The rise of Hasdrubal frightened the Romans. In 149 BC. Rome began a third war with Carthage. This time, for the Carthaginians, it was no longer about domination over certain subjects and not about hegemony, but about their own life and death. The war practically came down to the siege of Carthage. Despite the heroic resistance of citizens, in 146 BC. the city fell and was destroyed. Most of the citizens died in the war, and the rest were taken into slavery by the Romans. The history of Phoenician Carthage is over.

The history of Carthage shows the process of transformation of the eastern city into an ancient state and the formation of a polis. And having become a polis, Carthage also experienced a crisis of this form of organization of ancient society. At the same time, it must be emphasized that we do not know what the way out of the crisis could be here, since the natural course of events was interrupted by Rome, which dealt a fatal blow to Carthage. The Phoenician cities of the metropolis, which developed in different historical conditions, remained within the framework of the eastern version of the ancient world and, having become part of the Hellenistic states, already within them moved to a new historical path.

The beautiful city of Carthage was built. The city had a rich history, which, unfortunately, in our time can only be recalled by small fragments of former buildings. The ruins of Carthage were included in the UNESCO heritage list in 1979.

Exists legend, it says that Queen Dido decided to buy land in these parts in order to found a city. She was allowed to buy territory that could be covered by one bull hide. The quick-witted person, without thinking for a long time, cut the skin into thin strips and tied them together - the resulting “rope” marked the boundaries of her possessions. Therefore, the erected citadel in the center of Carthage was named Birsa, which means "skin".

Carthage, or "New City" in Phoenician, was founded with the hope of great success, and he was able to earn the status of the largest power in the Mediterranean. Passing from hand to hand during wars, it either flourished in luxury and beautiful architectural decoration, or went out like a fire doused with water.

During Punic War Carthage was defeated by the Romans, then rebuilt and turned into an important city of the Roman Empire. Later it became an early Christian church center. As a result, Carthage was captured during the Arab conquest and finally destroyed.

Territory, as befits such places, is surrounded by many secrets. Scientists from different parts of the world are engaged in excavations. Every year, more and more new artifacts are found that confirm or refute the history of the city described in the books.

Only a small part has survived fragments for the Punic period: several buildings, part of the street And port, and Tophet. Tophet was the name of the place of sacrifice, and the remains of animals and people were discovered here.

The remaining parts of Carthage have already been preserved from the time when the Romans came to power. Fragments of traditional Roman Empire amphitheater, which at one time was built with 10 thousand seats. Interesting to study are parts of the Roman water supply And aqueduct. The thermal complex (baths) of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius is represented today only by the ruins of basements where steam was produced and water was heated. In ancient times, it was a fairly large structure with large halls where there were hot baths, palaestrae where gymnastic exercises were performed, rest rooms for conversations and utility rooms.

The heritage of the Punic (Carthaginian), Roman and Byzantine periods, obtained during excavations by archaeologists, is exhibited in the National Museum of Carthage (Musee National de Carthage) on Birsa Hill.

Nowadays, the great Carthage is a suburb of the city Tunisia. The residence of the country's president and the University of Carthage are located here.

Today we will talk about the once powerful and richest city - Carthage. Nowadays, only picturesque ruins remain from it. Today Carthage is also a revered city; for example, the residence of the President of Tunisia is located here. However, only memories remain of its former greatness. Today, a photo of Carthage in Tunisia is available in all tourist brochures of this country. Therefore, we invite you to take a closer look at this ancient city, its history, culture and location.

Carthage (Tunisia): history

According to legend, this city was founded by the Tyrian princess Elissa, who was forced to flee her native place after a palace coup. This happened in 814 BC. Elissa and her supporters sailed across the sea for a long time until they reached the African shores, where they landed on land in the Gulf of Tunisia. The local residents were very happy to see the strangers, who brought with them many amazing goods. The fugitive queen wanted to buy a plot of land equal in area to the size of an oxhide. The local leader was very surprised at this proposal and made fun of Elissa for a long time. He was sure that all her people would never be able to fit into such a small space, but still agreed to the deal. The next night, Elissa ordered the ox skin to be cut into thin strips and surrounded with them over a fairly large area of ​​land, thus marking her new possessions. This is how the city of Carthage in Tunisia was founded. It is no coincidence that the citadel built in its center is called Birsa, which means “skin.”

By the 3rd century BC, Carthage (Tunisia) had become the largest state in the western Mediterranean. Its geographical position made it possible to control all ships passing by. The Carthaginians were very businesslike, resourceful and warlike. They surrounded themselves with a high fortress wall, and along with the merchant fleet, they created their own military fleet, numbering more than two hundred ships. Thus, Carthage turned out to be impregnable both from land and sea.

Carthage was not ruled by a senate, where the best people of their time were elected, as in Rome. Here all decisions were made by the plebs, that is, the people. However, some scholars are confident that in fact in Carthage everything was run by the oligarchy (a group of the richest citizens). Be that as it may, along with Rome, this city was the most cultural and developed at that time.

The Carthaginians actively sailed to other countries and subjugated a number of lands in Southern Spain, North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. At first they were on good terms with Rome. Both states supported each other in military operations. However, tensions soon arose between them over the ownership of Sicily, as a result of which the First Punic War began in 264 BC. Military operations proceeded with varying degrees of success. However, in the end the Carthaginians were defeated. However, they were a tenacious people and were able to recover. This was followed by two more, which ultimately ended in complete victory for the Romans. This is how the call of a Roman statesman named Marcus Porcius Cato came true, who ended each of his speeches with the phrase that later became popular: “Carthage must be destroyed!” The wars of the Roman Empire destroyed the city of half a million. The surviving inhabitants were sold into slavery, and the ruins of Carthage were sprinkled with salt so that no one would have the desire to settle here. However, after some time, the Romans regretted the complete destruction of the city, because they could only get by with the liquidation of its army. Eventually they began to rebuild and repopulate Carthage. After some time, the city became the main center of Africa.

In the 2nd century AD, the Carthaginians converted to Christianity. In the 6th century, along with the collapse of the Roman Empire, this once majestic city also fell into decay. Just a hundred years later it was captured by the Arabs. The new rulers of Carthage used the remains of local structures to build a new city - Tunisia. Today Carthage is a suburb of Tunis. And due to its greatest historical value, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Carthage (Tunisia): description and geographical location

So, today this city is one of the main ones. Few tourists who find themselves in this region deprive themselves of the opportunity to touch the ancient history of once great empires. Carthage is not difficult to find on a map of Tunisia. It is located in the northern part of this state on the shores of the Gulf of Tunisia, which is part of the Mediterranean Sea.

Carthage Hotels

The number of rooms in this locality can be called modest. This is due to the fact that Carthage is a unique place; there is no possibility of building hotels here. The only option for travelers who want to definitely stay here is the five-star Villa Didon hotel with 20 rooms. If you are looking for a more budget option, then it makes sense to choose a hotel in the city of Tunis or Gammarth.

Excursions

One of the must-see places in Carthage is the Baths of Antonine. In size they were second only to their Roman counterpart. Today, little remains of its former grandeur, but you can appreciate the scale of the construction by looking at the model erected here. As a rule, no excursion to Carthage (Tunisia) is complete without a visit to Tophet, which is an open-air burial altar. Here the Phoenicians sacrificed their firstborns in order to appease the gods. In addition, it is worth looking at the Roman amphitheater, which accommodated 36 thousand spectators, the remains of a huge aqueduct, as well as the Maalga water tanks.

Shopping

In addition to the standard souvenirs for any country in the form of magnets, key rings, postcards, etc., merchants here offer tourists items that supposedly have historical value: coins, mosaics, pieces of steles and columns, etc. You should not fall for this fishing rod You can buy such things only as a souvenir, and do not hesitate to bargain.

Cafes and restaurants

On both sides of Habib Bourguiba Avenue, which runs along the coastline, there are a whole host of cafes where you can quench your thirst with a cool juice or have lunch. If you want to pamper both your stomach and your eyes, then visit the restaurant at the five-star Villa Dido hotel, which offers stunning views of the whole of Carthage.