Destroyed city in Tunisia. Carthage (Tunisia): photos and reviews. Planning a trip to Carthage: transport, accommodation, visa, safety

Not far from the city of Tunis is Carthage, a city that was founded by the Phoenicians sometime in 814 BC. In those days, several trading colonies were established on the Tunisian coast to carry out barter trade with the local population.

By the 5th century BC, these settlements had turned into one large maritime power, which was called Carthage; in the 3rd century BC, this state became a powerful opponent of Rome. The hostility between the two powers turned into three wars that shook the ancient world.

Carthage and its mercenary army, war elephants and generals terrified the inhabitants of Rome, for many people today the word “Carthage” evokes an association with the phrase: “Carthage must be destroyed.” This expression was used in ancient times by the senator of Rome, Cato the Elder, at the end of his speech.

The last war between the countries ended with the defeat of Carthage in 146 BC. There was nothing left of the power; the Romans tried to scatter 400 carts of salt on the ruins, so that even the local land would be barren for many more years.

Throughout the 19-20 centuries and to this day, excavations of the ruins of the ancient city continue. Today, anyone who comes to Tunisia can visit these places, but almost no one can see everything at once, because work is underway on one part, and part has a special regime status , the rest is located on a vast territory. It is unrealistic to walk around the entire area in one day, so tourists are better off choosing the most significant objects and studying them, or coming here several times.

Among all the splendor that can still be explored, I would especially like to note the ruins of the Antonine Baths - one of the largest resorts of the ancient era. These baths are second in size only to the Baths of Trajan in Rome. Also noteworthy is the Roman amphitheater, which could accommodate up to 50,000 people at a time, as well as the aqueduct.

Also not far from Tunisia, in its suburbs there is the Bardo National Museum - one of the largest repositories of ancient valuables. You will not find such a number of unique exhibits anywhere else.

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.

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...

For the average modern person ancient Carthage, most likely, is associated with Hannibal, Rome and the fact that it certainly had to be destroyed. Someone might remember where was Carthage and that it was the Carthaginians who began to use elephants on the battlefield. At this point, the stock of knowledge about this ancient city will most likely be exhausted.

In fact Carthage was one of the most powerful states of antiquity, and not only in military terms. In its heyday, this state, located in the north of what is now Tunisia, controlled vast territories in northern Africa and Europe. The Carthaginians monopolized shipping in the western Mediterranean. This monopoly was an inexhaustible source of replenishment of the treasury, allowing it to maintain a powerful army and an excellent navy. Agriculture provided great income in an almost ideal climate.

Carthage - stages of the history of the ancient city

As often happens in history, it was power that destroyed Carthage. Rome could not tolerate such a strong neighbor at hand. As a result of the three Punic Wars, Carthage suffered an unconditional defeat.

The hatred of Senator Cato Sr., who mentioned the destruction of Carthage even in speeches dedicated to the budget of Rome, materialized. The city was wiped off the face of the earth, and the ruins were also covered with salt. But the strategic location of Carthage was so advantageous that the Romans soon came to their senses and built a new beautiful and modern city for those times on the site of ancient Carthage. After the Romans, the city was ruled by Vandals and Arabs. History of Carthage tells about at least four eras of prosperity and decline.

Due to the concentration of archaeological artifacts in a relatively small area, modern archaeologists have to work hard to correctly date and classify their finds, so multi-layered are the excavations.

Bardo Museum

Research that began at the end of the 19th century immediately brought such a number of finds that it became clear that they would not fit into any existing museum. The French colonial authorities gave away an entire palace for the new museum. Now it is called the Bardo Museum. But a huge palace was not enough - many exhibits are located in the open air.

Despite the predominance of Roman and Muslim artifacts, a whole hall is dedicated to monuments of the Punic era (the Romans called the Carthaginians Punics) in the Bardo Museum. The main and most controversial exhibit in the hall is considered to be a stele depicting a scene of the sacrifice of a small child. A number of scientists and historians are confident that the Carthaginians sacrificed infants and the stela “priest with child” is convincing evidence of this. In addition to the heritage of the Carthaginians, the museum widely displays exhibits dating back to the times of the Roman possession of Carthage and the Muslim conquest.

In memory of the Romans, sculptures, weapons and coins remained. The Muslim period enriched the museum's treasury with beautiful mosaics.

The stela with the image of the unfortunate child was delivered to the Bardo Museum from Tophet. This place is believed to have served as both an altar and a cemetery. The remains of small burnt bodies found here spoke in favor of human sacrifice. But later studies showed that most of the buried children were either stillborn or died of natural causes at an early age. Most likely, very young children who died from illnesses were simply buried in Tophet. Nevertheless, the gloomy aura of the cemetery at this altar still remains - in later times, the first Christians buried their dead here.

National Museum of Carthage

A very impressive collection of antiquities is also collected in the National Museum of Carthage. It was originally located in the building from which the Romans began rebuilding Carthage at the beginning of our era. On Birsa Hill, strategically dominating the area, the ruins of the Carthaginian citadel still remained, and have survived to this day. Gradually, other buildings were added to the museum, and as a result, the National Museum has now become a gigantic complex, which is very difficult to get acquainted with without prior preparation in just one day.

The museum building itself is made of white marble. Inside there are several rooms of different sizes. They present works of art and folk art, sorted in chronological order: Punic Carthage, the era of Roman rule, the period of the Arab conquest. There are also exhibits brought from other places and associated with Carthage solely by the time of creation. The National Museum houses one of the largest collections of ancient and medieval coins.

Baths of Antoni Pius

Emperor Antony Pius is not very famous in history. No wonder - he did not wage major wars and did not annex new provinces to Rome. He paid primary attention to improving the well-being of the inhabitants of the empire. And his name is in city ​​of Carthage immortalized in the name of the baths. From the actual baths, only fragments of walls and several columns have been preserved, only one of which stands in its proper place.

It is not very convenient for a modern person to walk on the hewn stones with which the road is paved. But when you go to the Baths of Antonius Pius, you really get in touch with antiquity. The baths had direct access to the sea, but the marble staircase along which the Romans descended to the shore has not survived to this day.

Cathedral of Saint Louis

On Birsa Hill is located the relatively new, by the standards of Carthage, St. Louis Cathedral. A very beautiful building was built at the end of the 19th century on the site of a crusader camp in which the French king Louis IX died during the Eighth Crusade.

The cathedral dominates the area and is clearly visible from all sides. For some time, St. Louis Cathedral was considered the main Catholic church on the continent. After Tunisia became an independent state from a French colony in 1964, the relics of the holy king were taken to France, and Catholic services in the cathedral ceased. Since 1994, the temple has been used only as a concert hall and museum.

Hill of Jupiter

Somewhat north of Birsa Hill there is another noticeable hill - Jupiter Hill. Unlike the remains of buildings preserved on Birsa Hill, the ruins here have not been identified. Archaeologists have not yet figured out the purpose of the vast buildings and colonnades. There was once a Christian monastery on the hill, but the surviving fragments clearly do not belong to it.

Carthaginian aqueduct

After the recreated Carthage became the center of a large Roman province, the city became attractive to the nobility and the rich. The still preserved ruins of Roman villas eloquently indicate that, as in other centers of Ancient Rome, there was competition among the ruling elite in the size, beauty and functionality of the villas, the owners of which spent at most a couple of months a year in them. Some villas were as tall as today's six-story buildings.

Water supply to dense and fairly high-rise buildings was not a problem for the Romans. In Carthage, for this purpose, they built a giant aqueduct. Water was supplied to the city from a distance of 132 kilometers, from the foot of the Tunisian mountains.

The average height of the aqueduct was 20 meters. Now parts of the aqueduct are destroyed, but the surviving sections are enough to evoke admiration for ancient engineering and the amount of labor spent on the construction of the water pipeline. According to the calculations of modern experts, the carrying capacity of the Carthage Aqueduct was up to 400 liters per second.

Amphitheater and modern Carthage

An amphitheater was just as important an attribute of a large Roman city as an aqueduct. There was also an amphitheater in Carthage. The building was multi-purpose. Not only gladiator fights took place there, but also naval battles (the arena could be turned into a lake), and the executions of the first Christians. It is estimated that in the Roman era the amphitheater could accommodate up to 50,000 spectators.

It has now been restored on a much smaller scale, with only minor fragments remaining of the Roman structure.

The modern name of Carthage is Carthage. This is a suburb of the capital of Tunisia - the city of Tunis, in which, in addition to historical buildings, there is also the residence of the president and a university.

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.