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Carthage

Author(s): H. H. ScullardSource: Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Oct., 1955), pp. 98-107Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/641578 .

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CARTHAGEBy H. H. SCULLARD

F EW cities, perhaps, have enjoyed two periods of prosperousexistence, each lasting some seven hundred years but separated bythe gulf of a century when the city lay in utter ruin and desolation. Yetsuch was the history of Carthage: Punic Carthagewhich had dominatedthe western Mediterranean for centuries was wiped off the map byRome in 146 B.c., only to be revived a century later as a Roman creationand to become one of the most flourishing cities of the Empire, survivinguntil its destruction by the Arabs at the end of the seventh century A.D.A centenary of the end of Punic Carthage, as of independent Corinth,falls this year and thus calls for a brief remembrance. This the Romanswould doubtless have welcomed, not only as recalling their eliminationof a secular, though weakened, enemy, but also because they likedcelebrating anniversaries. It has indeed recently been suggested (byM. Grant, Roman Anniversary Issues, pp. 4, I20) that Julius Caesardeliberately planned the colonization of Carthage in 46 B.C.,just onehundred years after its destruction, while Septimius Severus, himself anAfrican, records on his coinage his favour to the city (INDVLGENTIAA VGG. IN CAR TH.) in the quarter-millennaryof the foundation plan.Whether or not such precise dating can be established, it is certain thatthe Romans enjoyed celebrating anniversaries and that the anniversaryof the fall of Carthage marks an event of far-reaching significance: ifCarthage had in fact succeeded in conquering Rome, the history ofWestern Europe would certainly have taken a very different turn.

Carthageowed much to the perspicuity of the earlyPhoenician settlerswho recognized the value of the site which they chose for their new home.The city occupied a magnificent geographical position (Fig. I): it roseon low hills near the beach of a peninsula which was roomy enough toallow for expansion and whose narrow neck offered the possibility ofeasy defence against attack from any natives of the interior. Further,the hinterland was fertile, while the city lay sheltered in the heart of abay. As her strength increased, so the value of her central position inthe Mediterranean became more obvious (Fig. 2). While at all times itallowed her to trade easily with both east and west, at first she couldwatch over the shipping which sailed along the coast of N. Africa, butlater when she controlled the western end of Sicily she could largelydominate the whole western Mediterranean: the only entrance into this

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CARTHAGE 99

'o?SEE/fRET ER RIANA G or Remel , Cape Gamarr

OR

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QUADRILATERALSYRSA C/DOOene FOUNDATIONSDOUARCHOT. trraces of FortificationE/ Auina

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OBLONG TONGUE OF LANDbetween lake and sea

EL BAHIRA OR LAKE OF TUNIS LA GOULETTE

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MAXULA

RADES V,c~IL

FIG. I. Sketch-map of the Carthage peninsula.(Reprinted from D. B. Harden, 'The Topography of Punic Carthage',Greece & Rome, ix (1939), No. 25.)area left open to rival traders from the east was the narrow gap betweenthe toe of Italy and Sicily, between Scylla and Charybdis, and anymerchantman that ventured through this gap into the open waters ofthe west would find Carthaginian ships on the alert.Cities are made not by geographical factors, however favourable, but


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mporiae RSagunbum IsulaeBale , SAR

?Z

:aralesae- Insu/aeGadesCarhago Nova 0

TLingi s .CSiccaVen\e~'

Approxirmateextent of tAe CarthagiinianEmpire, c 2648.C.Expansionof Bdrcids n Spain.237-21/g8.C.

FIG. 2. The Carthaginian Empire.


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CARTHAGE ioIby men. And when we ask what manner of men the Carthaginianswere,we face a difficulty: Carthage has left no written documents (apart froma few inscriptions) which record the thoughts or achievements of hercitizens. We have to rely on but two sources of information. One con-sists of the somewhat scant material remains of her civilization. Exceptfor tombs and the sanctuary of Tanit at Salammb6, few of these remainscan be seen on the site itself, thanks partly to the thoroughness of theRoman destruction in 146 B.c., and to the builders of Roman Carthage(which itself in turn formed a quarry for the builders of modern Tunis);the mushroom growth of modern villas on the site has limited stillfurther the area of investigation and discovery. Most of what survivesis to be found in the museums (especially the Lavigerie Museum atCarthage itself and the Bardo at Tunis), with parallel material fromother Punic sites in N. Africa or in her overseas empire. The secondsource comprises the Greek and Latin writers, whose references areoften scrappy: unfortunately the emperor Claudius' eight books onCarthaginian history do not survive. Also although some authors, asAristotle and Cicero, recognized some good in the political achieve-ments of Carthage, most Roman writers suffered from a natural bias indescribing the exploits of their national enemy, and where prejudicewas lacking ignorance might sometimes take its place. The Carthaginiandoes not appear as an attractive or cultured figure in Latin literature,but rather as a hard and wily business-man, often corrupt and cruel.But while recalling Punica fides and the foedifragi Poeni, we must notforget Dido and Virgil.But though Dido is a tragic figure, the story of how when seeking landfor the new settlement she got the better of the natives in a business dealreveals an essential aspect of the Carthaginian character: when grantedas much land as a cowhide (byrsa) would cover, she cut it into narrowstrips and thus stretched it around the top of a hill which became thecitadel (Byrsa) of her new city. Of the city itself little need be said,though details of its topography have given rise to many a fierce con-troversy. We may soon be able to form a clearer picture of what theearly city looked like, since there has recently been discovered on CapBon the remains of a Punic settlement on a site which has not been dis-turbed since the town ceased to exist, apparently some time in the thirdcentury B.C. If this site is scientifically excavated it should throw muchlight on Punic life in N. Africa. At Carthage, where there is no certainarchaeological evidence earlier than the eighth century (a time not farremoved from the more probable of the traditional dates of its founding),the earliest tombs of the eighth to seventh century lie between the Byrsa


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102 CARTHAGEand the sea, while the strata in the urn-field in the sanctuary to Tanit,excavated at Salammb6, reveal deposits ranging from the eighth to thesecond century B.C. But little remains of the city itself. It is nowgenerally agreed that the Byrsa was situated on the hill of St. Louis,where later was the geometric centre of Colonia lulia Carthago. On thehill are scant traces, just south of the Cathedral, of a Punic building (3rdcent. B.C.)though the adjacent stretch of wall may be a supporting wallrather than part of the main wall of the Punic citadel. As the city beganto grow, the other hills were gradually occupied, much of the groundforming a residential and cultivated, rather than a built-up, area. Toprotect the whole settlement, the famous Triple Walls ran across theneck of the peninsula behind the city. This work comprised ditches andpalisades together with the main wall which Livy alleged was 21 mileslong; within the walls were the stables for 400 war-elephants and 4,000horses. A stretch of this fortification system, over a mile in length, hasrecently been observed from the air. It lies near Chott Bahira andappears to consist of two ditches separatedby a rocky strip which showstraces of a palisade; but of the main wall nothing has been seen. Of thecity as it was at the time of the Punic Wars we can form some fair idea.The old city, clustering around the Byrsa, probably remained an over-crowded beehive of activity, with high flat-roofed houses almost touch-ing each other across the narrow streets. But on the sea side there grewup a modern city, with fine public buildings, laid out in accordance withHellenistic town-planning schemes under Greek influence. Around themarket-place ran colonnades adorned with fine Greek statues pillagedfrom the cities of Sicily; here too were the lawcourts and official build-ings, together with a temple of Apollo. Then came the two harbourswhich are almost certainly now represented by the lagoons at Salammb6:the inner circular naval harbour and the outer rectangular commercialone with its quays and warehouses. All that remains is a square of largestones under the water in the Bay of el Kram; they now carry Romanwork which emerges above the sea.The external history of Carthage, which is mainly the story of herattempt to build up and maintain her trade, falls into three obviousperiods: the early effort to dominate the other Phoenician settlementsand the native population in N. Africa; then her bid for the exclusivecontrol of the western Mediterranean which resulted in centuries ofwarfare with the Greeks; and finally her three wars with Rome. Theaccomplishment of her first aim, which was achieved by the middle ofthe sixth century, made her a Great Power. Soon after this, in 535 B.C.,her navy fought its earliest known action when, in alliance with the


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CARTHAGE 103Etruscans, it defeated the Phocaeans off Alalia in Corsica. Before theend of the century, when after the expulsion of the Etruscan kings fromRome she had probably made a treaty with the new Republic, Carthagecontrolled Sardinia and the western end of Sicily; she also had settle-ments on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, while her admiral Hannowas establishing trading posts in Morocco and exploring the sea-routeto tropical Africa. The next round, however, went to the Greeks whenGelon of Syracuse and his allies smashed the Carthaginian invasion of480 B.C. at the battle of Himera. Thereafter Punic expansion in theMediterranean stopped. For more than the next half-century Carthageexpanded her power in Africa towards the interior; many of her leadingmen turned from commerce to agriculture and developed into a classof landed proprietors. At the same time her imports decreased involume and she began to develop her own industry, so that locally madeimitations are increasingly found in the tombs in place of the earlierEgyptian, Greek, and Etruscan wares. At the end of the fifth century(in 409) Carthage, encouraged by the exhaustion of Syracuse after theAthenian expedition, turned again to Sicily and renewed her attempt toconquer the eastern half. Thanks to the efforts of Dionysius I and II ofSyracuse (403-344) Carthage was halted, and when next Carthaginianand Greek forces met, the former were routed by Timoleon (344) whohad brought help to Syracuse from Greece itself. Later another rulerat Syracuse, Agathocles, moved to the offensive; after several reverseshe adventurously decided to strike at Carthage itself. Landing in N.Africa (31o) he seriously threatened Carthage, but he was at lengthcompelled to withdraw, though not before he had demonstrated thatCarthage could be attacked 'on her own ground'. The attempt ofPyrrhus to roll back Carthaginian power in Sicily (277-275) wasspectacular but without permanence. Thus, while failing to overrunGreek Sicily, Carthage tenaciously held her end of the island. How shewas driven out by the Romans in the First Punic War, how Hannibalrenewed the contest in Italy until Scipio Africanus followed in the foot-steps of Agathocles and Regulus to Africa, though with greater success;how the Third Punic War was brought to its end and the city to utterdestruction in 146 B.c. by Scipio's adopted grandson Aemilianus; andhow the Roman province of Africa replaced the independent realm ofCarthage-all this is too well known to need repeating here.It is clear that Carthage could not have thus dominated N. Africaand the western Mediterranean for so long and have resisted Greeksand Romans so stoutly, had she not possessed many great qualities.Attempts to assess her contribution to world history have varied


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104 CARTHAGEconsiderably, but on the whole the verdict seems unfavourable. First,we may recall some of her more admirable achievements. The felicity ofher empire rested upon the unusual political stability which her 'mixed'constitution produced. Beside the Suffetes, Senate, and popularassembly, there emerged other somewhat mysterious bodies: the Courtof the Hundred and Four Judges, the Council of Thirty, and the Boardsof Five. Thus there developed that system of checks and balances whichwon the admiration of Aristotle: it was devised partly in order to obviaterevolutionary clashes between the ruling oligarchy and any nobles orgenerals whose ambitions might appear dangerous. But while thissystem had many merits, it did not lack weaknesses, chiefly because ofthe Carthaginian character: even in Aristotle's day the highest officescould be bought, while two hundred years later corruption had greatlyincreased and Polybius contrasted the open bribery that was rife inCarthage with the much stricter public morality of the Romans. TheState Militant also had its peculiar qualities and defects. The Cartha-ginians often fought with intense courage, skill, and determination-the last defence of the city proves that beyond doubt-and they producedmany competent generals and at least one of real genius, but a peoplewho preferred to devote themselves to money-making and to pay othersto fight their battles for them laid themselves open to some obviousdangers, as demonstrated by the grim life-and-death struggle of theTruceless War in which Carthage had to grapple with her own mer-cenaries. It was rather at sea, in the arts of navigation and commerce,that the Carthaginians made their greatest contribution. Here thedescendants of the Phoenicians showed great skill and daring. In theirsearch for wealth Punic sailors ventured out beyond the Pillars ofHercules into the wilder Atlantic to seek, besides the silver of Spain,the tin of Brittany and Cornwall, and the gold of West Africa as farsouth as the Cameroons. Of all this activity one dramatic record remains:the account of the exploration of the west coast of Africa made by theadmiral Hanno, probably c. 500 B.C. This story was originally inscribedin the temple of Melkart at Carthage, and a Greek translation of it hasluckily survived. Here we learn of strange new lands and of wildcreatures 'whose bodies were hairy and whom our interpreters calledgorillas'. In agriculture also the Carthaginians attained great skill andtechnical knowledge: here they received a testimonial from the Romans,themselves no mean agriculturalists, when the Roman Senate ordereda translation of Mago's work on agriculture to be made. We hear tooof some Carthaginian histories, while St. Augustine said that 'inCarthaginian books there were many things wisely handed down to


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CARTHAGE 105memory'. But since neither technical manuals nor necessarily evenhistories need be great literature, we lack evidence that Carthage madeany considerable contribution to the world's literature, either in proseor poetry. The Punic language, however, which is akin to Hebrew,survived the destruction of the city: though gradually modified in form,it was spoken widely in Roman N. Africa until the Moslem conquest,when it was gradually absorbed by the kindred Arabic.Less attractive features of Carthaginian civilization are seen in itscommerce, industry, art, and religion. While Carthage showed greatenergy in building up commercial contacts, her trade consisted partlyof the products of her own industry and partly in the carriage of theproducts of other countries, especially those of the eastern Mediter-ranean. Here the Carthaginiansproved themselves most useful middle-men. In exchange for the raw metals of the west, for the ivory, marble,and timber of N. Africa and for the precious stones and ostrich feathersfrom the Sahara, the Carthaginians passed on Greek pottery and metal-work, spices from Syria, and incense from Arabia. Her own exportsinclude salt and some agricultural products as wax, honey, and figs,together with her own manufactured goods, especially textiles andpottery. But the pottery was cheap and unartistic, while it is note-worthy that imported products found at Carthage are generally of thepoorest quality: unlike the Etruscans, who imported Greek vases ofgreat artistic merit, the Carthaginians appear, from the examples foundon the site, generally to have obtained only common specimens. Thisis not to say, of course, that they lacked all appreciation of good art:they probably encouraged Greek architects, possibly also Greek artists,to work for them; they decorated their city with pillaged Greek statues;but we have too little evidence to provide a clear picture. Their ownart was unoriginal, and where it showed any merit this was due mainlyto Egyptian or Greek influence. Their religious cults, which derivedfrom the nature-worship of their Canaanitish ancestors, were equallyunattractive and repulsive: to Tanit Pene Baal, a sky and fertilitygoddess, and to the great male deity Baal Hammon were offered sacri-fices of children, attested not only by Roman denunciations but byarchaeological evidence. Cruel, gloomy, and licentious, Carthaginiancult may have inspired fanatical devotion, but scarcely affection, in itsfollowers. Yet despite all the grave blemishes and defects of Cartha-ginian civilization, it is well to recall that it was from the pen of a greathumanist and a Roman that Carthage received a fine tribute. Cicerowrote: 'Carthage would not have held an empire for six hundred yearshad it not been governed with wisdom and statecraft.'


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io6 CARTHAGEIn view of the great contribution that Rome made to western civiliza-tion both through her own peculiar qualities and by the wisdom sheshowed in accepting the legacy of Greece and passing it on to latergenerations, the verdict must surely be that it was in the interest ofmankind that Rome rather than Carthage should emerge as victor fromthe Punic Wars. But while some of the shortcomings of Carthage are

only too obvious, it is well to recall also the extraordinary cruelty anddeceit shown by the Romans in their final attack on their old enemy,who was virtually defenceless and unoffending. As Polybius noted,the Roman character also was beginning to deteriorate, and far-seeingRomans realized that not all was well with the State. Since it is Rome'sfinal act of cruelty of 2,I00 years ago that we are now remembering, wemay well close by recalling one of the most dramatic scenes in ancienthistory recorded by an eyewitness, Polybius, who stood at Scipio's sideas Carthage finally went down in flames. Polybius' account, preservedby Appian, tells how Scipio, beholding a city which had flourished forseven hundred years and had ruled over many lands, islands, and seas,as rich in arms and fleets, elephants, and money as the mightiest empiresbut far surpassing them in daring and high spirit (since, when strippedof all its ships and arms, it had sustained famine and a great war forthree years)-Scipio, beholding this city now come to its end in totaldestruction, shed tears and openly lamented the fortune of the enemy.After meditating long on the inevitable fall of cities and nations, uponthe fate of Troy and the empires of Assyria, Media, Persia, and Mace-don, he was heard to quote Homer's lines:

EOOe-Ta'rtQapra TroT" XcbAuXiIo& pi1Kali-fpiaioS Kai Ac6SOllEXico pi'pvoio.Then (and we have this on the direct testimony of Polybius himself)Scipio grasped Polybius by the hand and said: 'A glorious moment,Polybius; but I have a dread foreboding that some day the same doomwill be pronounced upon my own country.' Nor were Scipio's fearsungrounded: a century after the fall of the Carthaginian Republic, theRoman Republic had also fallen, assaulted from within, not at the handsof external foes. But that was not the end of the story: from the ashesarose the Roman Empire, and within it there flourished a Carthagorediviva.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTESFor earlier works see, e.g., Oxford ClassicalDictionary,s.v. 'Carthage'.Recent works include the following: Carthagepunique(Paris, 1942) andCarthageatine(Paris,1950) by G.-G. LapeyreandA. Pellegrin,two popular


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CARTHAGE 107but not unuseful books; Rom und Karthago (1945), a number of essays ofvarying value, edited by J. Vogt; Carthage (Paris, 1951) by Colette Picard,mainly topographical; a much-needed work on Punic pottery, Cdramiquepunique (195o) by P. Cintas; and a new periodical named Karthago (from1949). Two works of outstanding importance are partly relevant to Cartha-ginian affairs: M. Rostovtzeff, Social and Economic History of the HellenisticWorld (Oxford, 1940) and T. J. Dunbabin, The Western Greeks (Oxford,1948). The following references may be added: for the Punic village on CapBon see Comptes Rendus de l'Acadimie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres, 1953,256 ff.; for the Punic building on the Byrsa, Karthago, iii (1951-2), 177 ff.;for the trenches on the isthmus, Compt. Rend., 1950, 53 ff. Nearly 300 Punicand Neopunic dedicatory inscriptions have recently been discovered at Con-stantine (Cirta): see A. Berthier and R. Charlier, Le Sanctuaire puniqued'El-Hafra ' Constantine (Paris, 1955). For a discussion of some recentattempts to lower the date of the foundation of Carthage (even to theseventh century B.C.) see E. Frezouls, Bull. Corresp. Hellenique lxxix (1955),152 ff.

CARTHAGE AND CORINTH:THE TWO VICTORS COMPARED

EODEM anno, quo Carthago concidit, L. Mummius Corinthum post annosnongentos quinquaginta duos, quam ab Alete Hippotis filio erat condita,funditus eruit. uterque imperator deuictae a se gentis nomine honoratus, alterAfricanus, alter appellatus est Achaicus; nec quisquam ex nouis hominibusprior Mummio cognomen uirtute partum uindicauit.Diuersi imperatoribus mores, diuersa fuere studia: quippe Scipio tamelegans liberalium studiorum omnisque doctrinae et auctor et admirator fuitut Polybium Panaetiumque, praecellentes ingenio uiros, domi militiaequesecum habuerit. neque enim quisquam hoc Scipione elegantius interuallanegotiorum otio dispunxit semperque aut belli aut pacis seruiit artibus; semperinter arma ac studia uersatus aut corpus periculis aut animum disciplinis ex-ercuit. Mummius tam rudis fuit ut capta Corintho cum maximorum artificumperfectas manibus tabulas ac statuas in Italiam portandas locaret, iuberetpraedici conducentibus, si eas perdidissent, nouas eos reddituros.VELLEIUS ATERCULUS,Roman History, i. 13. 1-4-

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