Carthage(The capital of the Phoenicians)

Carthage(The capital of the Phoenicians)


Roman Naval Attack on Carthage

Carthage was a Phoenician city-state on the coast of North Africa (the site of modern-day Tunis) which, prior the conflict with Rome known as the Punic Wars (264-146 BCE), was the largest, most affluent, and powerful political entity in the Mediterranean. The city was originally known as Kart-hadasht (new city) to distinguish it from the older Phoenician city of Utica nearby. The Greeks called the city Karchedon and the Romans turned this name into Carthago.
It was founded c. 814 BCE by the legendary Phoenician queen Dido, increased in size after an influx of refugees from the city of Tyre following Alexander the Great's conquests of 332 BCE, and afterwards expanded until it was the seat of the Carthaginian Empire with colonies (such as Sabratha) along the North African coast, in Sicily, Spain, and elsewhere; these would all be lost following the Punic Wars which elevated Rome to Carthage's former position as the greatest Mediterranean power.
The history of the ancient city is usually divided into five periods:
Ancient Carthage (Punic Republic) – c. 814-146 BCE
Roman Carthage – 146 BCE - 439 CE
Vandal Carthage – 439-534 CE
Byzantine Carthage (Exarchate of Africa) – 534-698 CE
Muslim Arab Carthage (Islamic Carthage) – 698-1270 CE
Owing to limitations of space, this article will primarily deal with Ancient Carthage/the Punic Republic.
In 698 CE, the city was conquered during the Muslim Arab invasion of North Africa and destroyed. It would be rebuilt, though on a modest scale compared with the city at its height, until it was completely destroyed under the reign of Muhammad I al-Mustansir (r. 1228-1277 CE) after defeating the European Christian invasion of the Eighth Crusade of 1270 CE. The site would continue to be inhabited, though the ancient ruins were neglected until the 1830s CE when modern excavations began.
Foundation & Expansion
According to legend, Carthage was founded by the Phoenician Queen Elissa (better known as Dido) c. 814 BCE; although Dido's historicity has been challenged, the founding does date to about this time. Dido was allegedly fleeing the tyranny of her brother Pygmalion of Lebanon, landed on the coast of North Africa, and established the city on the high hill later known as the Byrsa. The legend claims that the Berber chieftain who controlled the region told her she could have as much land as an ox hide would cover; Dido cut a single ox hide into thin strips and lay them end-to-end around the hill, successfully claiming it for her people.
THE CITY DEVELOPED SIGNIFICANTLY FOLLOWING ALEXANDER'S DESTRUCTION OF THE GREAT INDUSTRIAL & TRADE CENTER OF TYRE WHEN REFUGEES FLED TO CARTHAGE.
Dido's reign is described by the Roman poet Virgil (l. 70-19 BCE), and others, as impressive, noting how the city grew from the small community on the hill to a grand metropolis. This account, and others like it, are legendary but Carthage, which seems to initially have been a minor port on the coast where Phoenician traders stopped to resupply or repair their ships, was clearly a major center of trade by the 4th century BCE.
The city developed significantly following Alexander's destruction of the great industrial and trade center of Tyre (considered Carthage's mother-city) in 332 BCE when Phoenician refugees fled from there to Carthage. These Tyrians arrived with whatever wealth they had and, since many whom Alexander spared were those rich enough to buy their lives, they landed in the city with considerable means which established Carthage as the new center of Phoenician trade.
The Carthaginians then established a working relationship with the tribes known as the Masaesyli and the Massylii of the North African Berber (Imazighen) Kingdom of Numidia who would fill the ranks of their military, primarily as formidable cavalry troops. From a small town on the coast, the city grew in size and grandeur with enormous estates covering miles of acreage. Carthage quickly became the richest and most powerful city in the Mediterranean.
Carthaginian government, formerly a monarchy, was a republic based on meritocracy (rule of the elite) by the 4th century BCE. The top position was held by two elected magistrates known as suffetes (“judges”) who governed in conjunction with a senate of between 200-300 members who held the position for life. Laws were passed by an assembly of citizens who would vote on measures proposed by the suffetes and senate. The aristocrats lived in palaces, the less affluent in modest but attractive homes, and the lower classes in apartments or huts outside the city.
Tribute and tariffs regularly increased the city's wealth on top of the lucrative business in maritime trade. The city's harbors were immense, with 220 docks, and gleaming columns which rose around it in a half-circle, in front of towering arches and buildings ornamented with Greek sculpture. There were two harbors, one for trade and the other for warships, which operated constantly in resupplying, repairing, and outfitting vessels. The Carthaginian trading ships sailed daily to ports all around the Mediterranean Sea while their navy, supreme in the region, kept them safe and, also, opened new territories for trade and resources through conquest as the Carthaginians built their empire.


Carthage and its Harbour

The city had four residential sections, which grew up around the citadel of the Byrsa in the center, and was surrounded by walls which stretched 23 miles (37 kilometers) in length from the harbors inland. The city had all the accommodations and refinements of any great ancient city – a theater for entertainment, temples for religious observances, a necropolis, an agora (marketplace) – but on a much grander scale. Its patron deity was the goddess of love and fertility, Tanit who was worshipped alongside her consort Baal-Hamon. It is possible that children were sacrificed to Tanit in the sacred precinct known as the Tophet, but this claim has been challenged, and it is equally likely that the Tophet of Carthage was simply a necropolis reserved for infants and the young.
Affluence & Invasion
The city's wealth was due not only to its advantageous position on the North African coast, from which it could control sea traffic between itself and its colony on Sicily, but also to the people's skill in agriculture. The writer Mago of Carthage (dates unknown) wrote a work of 28 volumes devoted to agriculture and veterinarian science which was considered the most comprehensive on the subject of its time and reflects the Carthaginian's intense interest in farming and animal husbandry. Mago's works were considered so important that they were among the few that would be spared by the Romans after Carthage's final defeat in 146 BCE. Roman references to the books are now all that remain of them.
The Carthaginians planted fruit trees, grapes, olive trees, and vegetables in a ring of gardens irrigated by small canals and then expanded their cultivation outward beyond the city walls to fields of grains. The fertility of the land, and their expertise in cultivation, increased the city's wealth through trade with the interior as well as maritime trade elsewhere as Carthage continued to flourish.


Seasons Mosaic, Carthage

It was this expansion that first brought Carthage into conflict with others. In 310-307 BCE, North Africa was invaded by Agathocles of Syracuse (r. 317-289 BCE) who sought to subdue Carthage and use her wealth to fund his wars. Agathocles was able to feed his army easily off the land because the crops grew in such abundance. He was only defeated because the Libyans and Berbers, who worked the land, sided with the Carthaginians who had treated them well. Agathocles was driven from North Africa and Carthage continued to prosper until it became involved in a conflict with Rome, then just a small city-state on the Tiber River in Italy, in 264 BCE.
The Punic Wars
Control of Sicily was divided between Rome and Carthage who supported opposing factions on the island which quickly brought both parties into conflict directly with each other. These conflicts would be known as the Punic Wars from the Phoenician word for the citizens of Carthage (given in Greek as Phoinix and in Latin as Punicus). When Rome was weaker than Carthage, they posed no threat. The Carthaginian navy had long been able to enforce the treaty which kept the Roman Republic from trading in the western Mediterranean. When the First Punic War (264-241 BCE) began, however, Rome proved far more resourceful than Carthage could have imagined.
Though they had no navy and knew nothing of fighting on the sea, Rome quickly built 330 ships which they equipped with clever ramps and gangways (the corvus) which could be lowered onto an enemy ship and secured; thus turning a sea battle into a land battle. After an initial struggle with military tactics, Rome won a series of victories and finally defeated Carthage in 241 BCE. Carthage was forced to cede Sicily to Rome and pay a heavy war indemnity.


Territories During the Second Punic War

Following this war, Carthage became embroiled in what is known as The Mercenary War (241-237 BCE) which started when the Carthaginian army of mercenaries demanded the payment Carthage owed them. This war was finally won by Carthage through the efforts of the general Hamilcar Barca (l. c. 285 - c. 228 BCE), father of the famous Hannibal Barca (l. 247-183 BCE) of the Second Punic War.
Carthage suffered greatly from the First Punic and Mercenary War and, when Rome occupied the Carthaginian colonies of Sardinia and Corsica, there was nothing the Carthaginians could do about it. They tried to make the best of their situation by expanding holdings in Spain but again went to war with Rome when Hannibal attacked the city of Saguntum, an ally of Rome in Spain, in 218 BCE.
The Second Punic War (218-202 BCE) was fought largely in northern Italy as Hannibal invaded Italy from Spain by marching his forces over the Alps. Hannibal won every engagement against the Romans in Italy. In 216 BCE he won his greatest victory at the Battle of Cannae but, lacking sufficient troops and supplies, could not build on his successes. He was finally drawn from Italy and defeated by the Roman general Scipio Africanus (l. 236-183 BCE) at the Battle of Zama, in North Africa, in 202 BCE and Carthage again sued for peace.
Placed, again, under a heavy war indemnity by Rome, Carthage struggled to pay their debt while also trying to fend off incursions from neighboring Numidia under the king Masinissa (r. c. 202-148 BCE). Masinissa had been Rome's ally in the Second Punic War and was encouraged by Rome to raid Carthaginian territory at will. Carthage went to war against Numidia and, in so doing, broke the peace treaty with Rome which forbid Carthage from mobilizing an army.
Carthage felt it had no choice but to defend itself against Masinissa's invasions but was censured by Rome and ordered to pay a new war debt to Numidia. Having only recently paid off their debt to Rome, they now owed a new crippling war debt. Rome was not concerned with whatever conflict Carthage and Numidia were involved in but did not care for the sudden revitalization of the Carthaginian military.


Punic Cuirass

Carthage believed that their treaty with Rome was ended when their war debt was paid; Rome disagreed. The Romans felt that Carthage was still obliged to bend to Roman will; so much so that the Roman Senator Cato the Elder ended all of his speeches, no matter what the subject, with the phrase, “Further, I think that Carthage must be destroyed.” In 149 BCE, Rome decided upon just that course of action.
A Roman embassy to Carthage presented a list of demands which included the stipulation that Carthage be dismantled and then rebuilt further inland, thus negating the long-recognized advantage it had in trade from its position on the coast. The Carthaginians, understandably, refused to do so and the Third Punic War (149-146 BCE) began.
The Roman general Scipio Aemilianus (l. 185-129 BCE) besieged Carthage for three years until it fell. After sacking the city, the Romans burned it to the ground, leaving not one stone on top of another. A modern myth has grown up that the Roman forces then sowed the ruins with salt so nothing would ever grow there again but this claim has no basis in fact. It is said that Scipio Aemilianus wept when he ordered the destruction of the city and behaved virtuously toward the survivors of the siege.
Later History
POWER SHIFTED FROM UTICA BACK TO CARTHAGE & IT REMAINED AN IMPORTANT ROMAN COLONY UNTIL IT FELL TO THE VANDALS.
Utica now became the capital of Rome's African provinces and Carthage lay in ruin until 122 BCE when Gaius Sempronius Gracchus (l. 154-121 BCE) the Roman tribune, founded a small colony there. Gaius' political problems, and the memory of the Punic wars still being too fresh, however, caused the colony to fail. Julius Caesar proposed and planned the rebuilding of Carthage and, five years after his death, Carthage rose again. Power now shifted from Utica back to Carthage – which became Rome's breadbasket owing to the same agricultural success which had enriched it before - and it remained an important Roman colony until it fell to the Vandals under their king Gaiseric (r. 428-478 CE) in 439 CE.
Carthage had risen in prominence as Christianity grew and Augustine of Hippo (St. Augustine, l. 354-430 CE) contributed to its prestige by living and teaching there. The city was considered so illustrious, in fact, that the Council of Carthage of 397 CE was held there; the series of synods which would confirm the biblical canon for the Western Church, legitimizing the narratives which would come to be known as the Bible. The Vandal invasion of North Africa did nothing to halt Christianity's development there, but tensions would rise between the Arian Christians (the Vandals primarily) and Trinitarian Christians just as they did elsewhere.
The Vandals under Gaiseric took full advantage of the location of their new city and plundered passing ships at will while also raiding coastal cities. Roman attempts to dislodge them failed and so a treaty was signed in 442 CE between Gaiseric and Valentinian III (r. 425-455 CE) acknowledging the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa as a legitimate political entity and establishing peaceful relations. When Valentinian III was assassinated in 455 CE, however, Gaiseric disregarded the treaty, believing it was an agreement only between himself and the emperor, and sailed for Rome. He looted the city but, in accordance with the request of Pope Leo I (served 440-461 CE), did not damage it nor harm the populace. The Vandals would continue to hold Carthage, and profit from its location, until after Gaiseric's death.


Coin of King Gelimer

The later Vandal king Gelimer (r. 530-534 CE), an Arian Christian, reinstituted the persecution of Trinitarian Christians which enraged the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565 CE), a trinitarian, who sent his great general Belisarius (l. 505-565 CE) to North Africa. Belisarius won the short-lived Vandalic War (533-534 CE), brought Gelimer back to Constantinople in chains, and restored Carthage to the Byzantine Empire (330-1453 CE) under which it continued to flourish.
Under the Byzantines, Carthage prospered through trade and as a major source of grain for the Eastern Roman Empire (the Western Roman Empire having fallen c. 476 CE). Around 585 CE, Carthage became the seat of the Exarchate of Africa under the Byzantine emperor Maurice (r. 582-602 CE), a separate administrative region established for more effective rule of the western areas of the empire.
In 698 CE, the Muslims defeated the Byzantine forces at the Battle of Carthage, destroyed the city completely, and drove the Byzantines from Africa. They then fortified and developed the neighboring city of Tunis and established it as the new center for trade and governorship of the region. Under the Arab Muslims, Tunis fared better than Carthage, but the city continued to thrive until the Eighth Crusade of 1270 CE when it was taken by the European Crusaders who fortified the citadel of the Byrsa. Once they were defeated, Muhammad I al-Mustansir had the city's defenses torn down and many of the buildings razed to prevent any further such occupation.




Conclusion
The site of the ancient city continued to be inhabited and was included in the region taken by the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922 CE) who had no interest in excavating the ruins. The stones of the fallen houses, temples, and walls were carried off for personal or administrative building projects or left where they had been found. Modern archaeological excavation began in the 1830s CE through the efforts of the Danish consulate and continued under the French between c. 1860-1900 CE.
Further work at the site was undertaken throughout the first part of the 20th century CE but, as at Sabratha and other sites, the archaeologists were more interested in the Roman history of Carthage. The political and cultural zeitgeist of the time defined the Carthaginians, who were Semites, as a people of little value, and anti-Semitism significantly influenced not only the interpretation of physical evidence but the choice of what was kept for placement in museums or discarded.



The history of the period of Ancient Carthage, therefore, suffered as much from these modern-day excavations as from the city's destruction by Rome or later conflicts. It was not until after World War II that systematic, unbiased, work at Carthage would begin; a paradigm consistent with the excavation and interpretation of many other ancient sites.
Carthage still lies in ruin in modern-day Tunisia and remains an important tourist attraction and archaeological site. The outline of the great harbor can still be seen as well as the ruins of the homes, public baths, temples, and palaces from the time when the city of Carthage ruled the Mediterranean as the most opulent jewel of the North African coast.


L'Ascension de Carthage DOCUMENTAIRE



Bibliography
Adkins, L & Adkins, R. A. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, 1998.
Appian. Roman History. Harvard University Press, 1913.
Durant, W. Caesar and Christ. Simon & Schuster, 1980.
Grant, M. Readings in the Classical Historians. Scribner, 1993.
Lewis, J. E. The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome. Running Press, 2003.
Matyszak, P. The Enemies of Rome: From Hannibal to Attila the Hun. Thames & Hudson, 2009.
Mellor, R. The Historians of Ancient Rome. Routledge, 2012.
Miles, R. Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization. Penguin Books, 2012.
Nardo, D. Living in Ancient Rome. Thompson/Gale Publishers, 2004.
Warmington, B. H. Carthage: A History. Barnes & Noble Inc, 1999.

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Hamilcar Barca


Hamilcar Barca

Hamilcar Barca (c. 285 – c. 228 BCE) was a Carthaginian general active in the First Punic War (264-241 BCE). He then quashed a rebellion closer to home between 241 and 237 BCE before returning abroad, where he successfully expanded Carthaginian interests in southern Spain. In these conflicts, Hamilcar had switched Carthage from a naval power to a land power with great success, and he firmly established the Barcid family as the ruling house of Carthage. He was the father of Hannibal Barca who continued his father's tactics and won major land battles in Italy during the Second Punic War.
Name & Family
'Hamilcar', from the Punic hml-qrt, means follower or servant of Melqart, the Phoenician/Punic god whilst 'Barca' is thought to derive from the Punic word barqa, meaning lightning, and was used in reference to Hamilcar's guerrilla tactics used in the First Punic War.
Hamilcar Barca was a member of the Barcid clan of Carthage and the father of Hannibal Barca, Rome's most notorious enemy, who crossed the Alps and caused havoc in Italy in the Second Punic War (218 - 201 BCE). In 237 BCE Hamilcar had famously taken his son, then nine years old, to the temple of Baal in Carthage and made him swear never to be a friend of Rome. Hamilcar's other two sons were Hasdrubal Barca and Hasdrubal Gisco, both of whom commanded during the Second Punic War.
HAMILCAR & THE BARCID LINE WOULD DOMINATE THE CARTHAGINIAN POLITICAL & MILITARY ARENAS FOR THE NEXT 35 YEARS.
First Punic War
After 15 years of fighting, there was still no end in sight to the Second Punic War. Carthage had beaten a Roman army in Africa, but Rome seemed able to replace their naval fleets at will. Sicily had been the principal battleground but had yet to see a decisive victory for either side. Then the enterprising Hamilcar Barca came to the fore. He replaced Carthalo, who had not been altogether unsuccessful, as the commander of the Carthaginian fleet.
Hamilcar first raided the Italian coast at Bruttium in 247 BCE, perhaps in search of booty to pay his mercenaries, and then landed on Sicily at Heircte near Panormus (Palermo). This position allowed Hamilcar to hold a mountain base and harass the rear of the Roman forces who were besieging Drepana and Lilybaeum, which were Carthage's last remaining strongholds on Sicily. The Romans responded by blockading Hamilcar, but he seems to have been able to break out regularly and continue his guerrilla tactics. As Carthage no longer had the resources for a large army, he could not face the enemy in an all-out battle, but he did manage to capture Eryx in 244 BCE, which became his new base. This turned out to further restrict his freedom of movement, but the Carthaginian commander continued to coordinate attacks on the Italian mainland, perhaps as north as Cumae. Still, without a significant force at his disposal (fewer than 20,000 men) and despite Polybius' praise that he was the best Carthaginian general of the war, Hamilcar's effect on the conflict was ultimately a limited one.


Roman Beach Attack

The end finally came on 10th March 241 BCE when the Romans defeated a Carthaginian fleet led by Hanno sent to relieve the besieged city of Drepana off the Aegates Islands (Isole Egadi). 50 Carthaginian ships were sunk, 70 captured and 10,000 prisoners taken. This loss was not huge, but after decades of war, it drove the cash-strapped Carthaginians to instruct Hamilcar to seek peace terms. Hamilcar then resigned his command but he would be needed again within months.
The Truceless War
Not only did the Carthaginians lose the First Punic War and so the control of Sicily but they were also compelled to pay huge reparations to Rome. Then the so-called Truceless War (also Mercenary War) broke out in 241 BCE. Carthage faced a joint rebellion of mercenary troops, understandably upset at not having been paid for their efforts in the first Punic War, Libyan groups seizing the opportunity of a weakened Carthage to rebel, and several cities looking for independence such as Tunis and Utica. Hamilcar Barca was recalled from Sicily and he joined Hanno the Great, who had made significant conquests in Libya while Hamilcar had been in Sicily, to quash the rebellion. First, Hamilcar broke the rebel siege of Carthage and then defeated an army led by Spendius near the Bagradas River. Hamilcar had managed to persuade the Numidian prince Naravas to defect with his cavalry force to the Carthaginian side, lured by the promise of Hamilcar's daughter for his wife. Hamilcar now had an army of 12,000 and 70 elephants with which to face the rebels.
Elsewhere, things did not go so well. Hippacra and Utica were both besieged, and Hanno was unable to free them. In 239 BCE a mercenary force took control of Sardinia and then defeated a Carthaginian army sent to re-take the island. In the same year, both Hippacra and Utica joined the rebels. The war was now becoming particularly brutal with atrocities committed on both sides. The rebels mutilated prisoners, and Hamilcar had his captives trampled on by elephants. Long-time rivals Hamilcar and Hanno could not agree on the best strategy and eventually the army was permitted to choose which general should lead them. They chose Hamilcar.


Carthage and its Harbour

The war started to improve for Carthage when they were aided by Rome, who repatriated captured Carthaginian soldiers for free, and the tyrant of Syracuse Hiero, who feared that without Carthage then Rome might act at will in the central Mediterranean. Hamilcar broke off the second siege of Carthage by Mathos and headed inland where a rebel army awaited him. There, after several skirmishes, Hamilcar cornered the enemy at 'the Saw' (Prion), a ridge in the Libyan mountains. The rebel army was starved of supplies and eventually sought to surrender. Hamilcar refused and slaughtered all of them except for the commanders. These were taken to Tunis, the rebel capital, and crucified in full sight of Mathos' army. Meanwhile, Mathos had defeated a Carthaginian army, and he dealt the same treatment to the captured Carthaginian general. Mathos could not, though, resist a joint army of Hamilcar and Hanno, and he was driven out of the city and defeated at Byzacium. Finally, with the fall of the rebel capital in 237 BCE, Hippacra and Utica back on the Carthaginian side, and Libya now compliant, Carthage had regained control of its African empire. Hamilcar and the Barcid line would now dominate the Carthaginian political and military arenas for the next 35 years.
Hamilcar in Spain
Carthage was on the rise again and eager to create a wider Mediterranean empire. Without a significant fleet and having lost their strategically important fortresses in Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia, the Carthaginians, though, had to look elsewhere for a source of money to fund their armies. The answer was Spain. They had long since had control of the old Phoenician colonies there, and it had already proven a rich source of silver. Accordingly, Hamilcar Barca was dispatched in 237 BCE to expand Carthaginian territory, which he did, establishing his base at Gades (Cadiz) and founding a new city of Acra Leuce. He supplemented his original force of some 25,000 with local recruits and amassed a 50,000-strong army which included a corps of Numidian cavalry (supplied by Prince Naravas) and 100 elephants. Using a blend of terror and diplomacy Hamilcar relentlessly expanded his control over southern Spain. The riches from these campaigns were channelled back to Carthage. Hamilcar's move away from the traditional naval power of Carthage to a land force was reaping fantastic rewards.


Territories During the Second Punic War

By the time Hamilcar had conquered southern and south-east Spain, Rome became suspicious of their old enemy's intentions. Envoys were sent to Hamilcar demanding an explanation. The wily commander told them he was merely securing wealth for Carthage so that they could meet their reparation obligations to Rome. Certainly, tribute in money, if not men, was extracted from local cities and new silver mines were worked. The Carthaginian's, in any case, continued campaigning in Spain. After the siege of Helice and betrayed by local allies, Hamilcar retreated and drowned while crossing a river in the winter of 229/228 BCE. Hasdrubal the Fair then took over command of the Carthaginian army. When he was replaced by Hannibal in 221 BCE, the Carthaginians broke the territorial agreement with Rome of 226 BCE not to cross the River Ebro and attacked Rome's ally Saguntum (Sagunto). This led to the Second Punic War and Hannibal taking the army across the Alps into Italy. Hamilcar had indeed got his wish that the Barcid line would be no friend of Rome.



Hamilcar Barça



Bibliography
Bagnal, N. Punic Wars. Thomas Dune s, Hardcover(2005), 2016.
Bagnall, R. et al. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012
Hornblower, S. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2012.
Hoyos, D. et al. A Companion to the Punic Wars. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
Hoyos, D. The Carthaginians. Routledge, 2016.
Steinby, C. Rome versus Carthage. Pen & Sword Maritime (2014-10-30), 2016.

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Carthaginian Naval Warfare


Roman Naval Attack on Carthage

The Carthaginians were famed in antiquity for their seafaring skills and innovation in ship design. The empire their navy protected stretched from Sicily to the Atlantic coast of Africa. Able to match the tyrants of Sicily and the Hellenistic kingdoms Carthage's dominance of the seas would be challenged and ultimately replaced by the Romans, who were able to create a navy that became just as successful as their land army.
The Carthaginian Empire
Carthage took over the old Phoenician colonies in the Mediterranean and created many new ones so that its empire included North Africa, the Iberian peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and many other islands. To maintain trade contacts between these cities and to police their interests the Carthaginians used a naval fleet which became the envy of the ancient world. Such was its strength that Rome, although successful in land battles, was forced to build its first ever fleet in order to defeat Carthage and claim the western Mediterranean for its own. For three centuries prior to the Punic Wars, though, the Carthaginian fleet ruled the waves.
Carthaginian Ships
Inheriting the skills passed on to them by the mother country Phoenicia the Carthaginians were admired across the ancient Mediterranean not only for their seamanship but also the quality of their ships. Such were the requirements of Carthage's large navy that ships were constructed using mass-produced pieces marked with numbers for ease of assembly. The wood used for ships was oak, fir, and pine. The size of the fleet changed depending on the period, but according to the ancient historian Polybius, Carthage had a fleet of 350 ships in 256 BCE. During the Punic Wars with Rome between 264 BCE and 146 BCE the fleet had to be constantly renewed to recover from losses in battles and storms.
THE NAVAL FLEET OF CARTHAGE WAS COMPOSED OF LARGE WARSHIPS PROPELLED BY SAIL & OARS WHICH WERE USED TO RAM ENEMY VESSELS.
The naval fleet of Carthage was composed of large warships propelled by sail and oars which were used to ram enemy vessels using a bronze ram mounted on the prow below the waterline. Direction was controlled by two steering-oars fixed to either side of the stern. Each oar was fitted with a horizontal bar for the helmsmen to handle. The Phoenicians had invented the trireme with three banks of rowers, but after using these in their early history the Carthaginians would later progress in the 4th century BCE to the bigger and faster ships with four and five men per oar, the quadrireme and quinquereme. The quinquereme, so called for its arrangement of five rowers per vertical line of three oars, became the most widely used in the Punic fleet. Catapults could be mounted on the deck of these large vessels but were probably limited to siege warfare and not used in ship-to-ship battles.
Tactics
The main aim in a naval battle was to ram and hole an enemy vessel or break its bank of oars. Sails were not used in battle conditions, but oar-power could give a ship a speed of 7-8 knots. Crews had to be well-trained to not only manoeuvre a ship as best as possible but also know when not to drive too far into an enemy ship and so become stuck when the ram impaled it. The second stage was to assault the enemy with missiles and, if necessary, board using grappling hooks and fight hand-to-hand. Polybius describes the skills and tactics of the Carthaginian navy in battle thus,
They much surpassed the Romans in speed, owing to the superior build of their ships and the better training of the rowers, as they had freely developed their line [formation] in the open sea. For if any ships found themselves hard pressed by the enemy it was easy for them, owing to their speed, to retreat safely to open water and from thence, fetching round on the ships that pursued…them, they either got in their rear or attacked them in the flank. As the enemy then had to turn round they found themselves in difficulty owing to the weight of the hulls and the poor oarsmanship of the crews, [so the Carthaginians] rammed them repeatedly and sunk many. (quoted in Salimbeti, 49)
Attempts to ram enemy ships could be made in two ways. The first, the diekplous or breakthrough, was when ships formed a single line and sailed right through the enemy lines at a selected weak point. The defending ships would try not to create any gaps in their formation and perhaps stagger their lines to counter the diekplous. The diekplous was used with great effect in 217 BCE by a Roman fleet to defeat the Carthaginians at the battle of Ebro. The second tactic, known as periplous, was to try and sail down the flanks of the enemy formation and attack from the sides and rear. This strategy could be countered by spreading one's ships as wide as possible but not too much so as to allow a diekplous attack. Positioning a fleet with one flank protected by a shoreline could also help counter a periplous manoeuvre, especially from a more numerous enemy. While all this chaotic ramming was going on, smaller vessels were used to haul stricken ships away from the battle lines or even to tow away captured vessels.


Carthaginian Ship's Ram

Aside from naval battles, the Carthaginian fleet was also vital for transporting armies, resupplying them by providing an escort for transport ships, coastal raids, attacking enemy supply ships, blockading enemy ports, and relieving Carthaginian forces when they were themselves besieged. The Carthaginian navy was also employed to sink trading vessels from rival states if they attempted to promote commercial activity in places Carthage considered it held a trade monopoly.
Commanders & Crew
Command of the navy was in the hands of an admiral selected by the council of Carthage. He had equal status to the commander of the land army, and only very rarely were the two forces commanded by the same person. Each ship was run by three officers, one of whom was the navigator. A typical quinquereme crew would have consisted of 300 rowers taken from the citizenry of Carthage and allied cities such as Utica. In later times slaves were also used to meet the high demands of warfare. The lesser-skilled slaves could be used to good effect in the larger ships where two men manipulated most of the oars. This arrangement allowed one skilled oarsman to guide the oar but also benefit from the power of the second man. The find of the Marsala shipwreck, a 3rd-century BCE Carthaginian naval vessel that sank off Sicily, revealed not only the labelled pieces of the ship's hull for easy assembly but also what the crew ate and drank: dried meat (poultry, horse, beef, goat, pork, and venison), almonds and walnuts, washed down with wine.


Ancient Naval Battle

Oarsmen could not relax when beached as they were expected to fight in landing operations but not in ship-to-ship battles. Crews might also be employed in the building of siege engines, too. The larger ships were decked and would have carried complements of armed men, both archers and marines armed with spears, javelins, and swords, who could board enemy vessels given the opportunity.
The Harbour of Carthage
The Punic naval fleet had its own harbour separate from but connected to the merchant harbour at Carthage. The naval harbour was massive and circular whilst the merchant ships anchored in a rectangular one. Both ports were manmade, about two metres deep, and they possibly date to 220-210 BCE. The centre of the naval harbour was dominated by a tower structure known as the 'the admiral's island' which connected to the outer ring via a causeway. Appian gives an idea of the great size of the naval harbour by describing the central island's capacity for 30 ships and the 21-metre wide entrance. The outer ring of ship sheds could hold another 170 ships. From recent archaeology we now know that the harbour was 325 metres in diameter and matches Appian's description. The roofed sheds fronted by Ionic columns allowed the relatively light wooden ships to be pulled up a wooden slipway for repair and to avoid them becoming water-logged when not needed. The sheds were 30-48 metres long and 6 metres wide. The harbour also had a large platform (choma) which infantry and even chariots could use to board the ships. Both harbours were protected by massive fortification walls.


Naval Harbour of Carthage

Key Sea Battles
Greek States & Syracuse
The first known sea battle involving the Carthaginian navy was in 535 BCE against the Phocaeans off Corsica. Carthage's seemingly never-ending battle for control of Sicily produced many naval battles throughout the 5th and 4th centuries BCE with losses more or less equalling victories. Wars against Dionysius I of Syracuse (four), Timoleon, and Agathocles all saw naval engagements, blockades, and coastal raids. Carthage also provided its fleet for logistical support to the Romans in their war against Pyrrhus in the early 3rd century BCE. However, the best documented naval engagements, and those most vital to Carthage's survival, came during the Punic Wars with Rome now as enemy number one.
First Punic War
In the First Punic War (264 and 241 BCE) Rome quickly realised that to defeat Carthage they would have to do what they had never done before - build their own naval fleet. Accordingly, in the spring of 260 BCE, Rome constructed a fleet of 20 triremes and 100 quinquereme warships in only 60 days. Copying the design of a captured Carthaginian ship, the Romans then added a whole new feature: the corvus (raven). This was a rotating 11-metre long platform with a giant holding spike (like a beak, hence the bird name) which could be lowered onto an enemy vessel to allow a heavy infantry unit (perhaps 80-120 men) to board them. The idea would negate the superior seamanship of the Carthaginians and make naval combat more like a land battle. This masterstroke of inventiveness was an immediate success when their fleet of 145 ships defeated the Carthaginian fleet of 130 ships at the battle of Mylae (Milazzo) in 260 BCE. The Carthaginians, so dismissive of their opponent's seafaring skills, had not even bothered to form battle lines. When the Carthaginian flagship was captured, the commander was forced to flee in a rowing boat. The Roman commander Duilius was honoured with a Roman triumph, the first in Rome's history to be awarded for a naval victory.


Naval Landing

Carthage seemed to have no answer to the corvus and more defeats came at Sulcis in 258 BCE and in the battle of Ecnomus in 256 BCE. The latter was one of the largest naval engagements in history with the Romans commanding 330 ships and the Carthaginians a similar number. The Romans formed four distinct battle groups which disrupted the Carthaginian lines. 100 of the enemy ships were destroyed compared to 24 Roman losses.
Carthage fought back in 249 BCE with an important victory at Drepana (Trapani) where their superior seamanship saw them outmanoeuvre the Roman fleet out at sea. The Carthaginian fleet was ably led by Adherbal who captured 93 of the 120 enemy ships. The Roman commander, Publius Claudius Pulcher, who had rashly decided to attack at night, was tried for treason back in Rome. Round one of the Punic Wars was finally won by the Romans with their victory off the Aegates Islands (Isole Egadi) on 10th March, 241 BCE. The Carthaginian fleet, led by Hanno and sent to relieve the besieged city of Drepana on Sicily, was defeated by a 200-ship Roman fleet commanded by the consul Gaius Lutatius Catulus. Catulus had spent all the previous summer training his crews and the effort paid off when 50 Carthaginian ships were sunk, 70 captured, and 10,000 prisoners taken. This loss was not huge, but after decades of war, it drove the cash-strapped Carthaginians to seek peace terms.
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (218-201 BCE) was largely fought on land, but the fleets of both sides were crucial in transporting land armies, resupplying them, and blockading ports throughout the conflict. Hamilcar Barca had already sailed in 237 BCE with an army to conquer much of southern Spain. In 216 BCE the fleet was used to transport an army to Sardinia in a failed attempt to take back the island and another army to Spain to relieve the pressure from Scipio Africanus the Elder. In 213 BCE an army was transported to Sicily, but again the Carthaginians could not prevent Marcellus from taking Syracuse. In 205 BCE Carthage sent yet another army, led by Mago, to relieve his brother Hannibal who was by now cornered in southern Italy. Unfortunately, they could only land in Liguria, northern Italy because of the Roman naval dominance and their control of the major ports further south. In 204 BCE Scipio managed to cross to Africa unimpeded with an army of 30,000 men. In 202 BCE the Roman general then defeated an army led by Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. The second and most decisive round was over with Rome once again the victor.


Roman Naval Warfare

Land battles had been decisive in the war but so too had Carthage's lack of naval dominance. Crucially, Carthage had not been able to resupply Hannibal, join the armies of the two brothers together, or prevent Scipio from landing in Africa. The Roman dominance of the seas following the First Punic War had made them unstoppable. Part of the peace terms after the Second Punic War stipulated that Carthage could never again possess a fleet and the once great navy was limited to a paltry 10 ships.
Third Punic War
The Third Punic War (149-146 BCE) turned out to be something of a mismatch. Carthage, without a navy, could do nothing to prevent the Romans landing an army of over 80,000 men in North Africa. Despite valiant resistance behind Carthage's impressive fortifications and a brave attempt to break the siege with a fleet of 50 secretly constructed ships, Rome was able to carry out the senator Cato's famous command to the letter, Carthage was destroyed. Rome had lost 600 ships in the Punic Wars (most of those due to storms) and more men than its opponent but its ability to replace them and the superiority of the land army meant Carthage was not only defeated time and again but the city obliterated and the population sold into slavery.


BATAILLE NAVALE CARTHAGE VS ROME ! - Total War : Rome 2




Conclusion
The Carthaginian navy had initially been the Mediterranean's innovators in ship design and they had enjoyed many victories against multiple enemies but by the time of the Punic Wars the world had changed. Very few ancient wars up to that time were ever settled by sea engagements alone as land warfare remained the principal means to inflict total defeat on the enemy. Even before the Punic Wars had started, Carthage had gone a generation without having to fight a naval battle with the consequence that its mariners had little real battle experience. Rome took up naval warfare with great success and displayed an astounding ability to replace its fleets almost at will. In Spain and North Africa Romans defeated the Carthaginian armies on land. Hannibal's four great victories in Italy proved to be the exception, not the rule, and his gamble that Rome would collapse from within failed. Thus, Rome, with its professional army and navy of highly-trained and well-disciplined troops led by a clear command structure lusting for military glory within their term of office, swept aside Carthage both on land and at sea. Carthage was not helped by overly-conservative commanders but, in any case, it simply did not have the military or financial means to compete with the Mediterranean's new superpower. Ancient warfare had evolved into a multi-weapon, multi-trooped, and multiple theatre activity at which the Romans excelled above all others.



Bibliography
Anglim, S. Fighting Techniques of the Ancient World 3000 BCE-500CE. Amber Books, 2013.
Bagnal, N. The Punic Wars. Thomas Dune s, Hardcover(2005), 2016.
Hoyos, D. et al. A Companion to the Punic Wars. Wiley-Blackwell, 2016.
Hoyos, D. The Carthaginians. Routledge, 2016.
Miles, R. Carthage Must Be Destroyed. Penguin, 2016.
Salimbeti, A. The Carthaginians 6th-2nd Century BC. Osprey Publishing, 2014.
Steinby, C. Rome Versus Carthage. Pen and Sword, 2014.

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About the Author
Mark Cartwright
Mark is a history writer based in Italy. His special interests include pottery, architecture, world mythology and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share in common. He holds an MA in Political Philosophy and is the Publishing Director at WHE.





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Romans vs. Carthaginians - Text & Labelling


Armées et tactiques : Légion romaine contre Carthage et Hannibal


This activity has been designed to fit a 20-30-minute slot for your class and is suitable for both online and classroom teaching, as well as homeschooling.
Students have to label the illustrations of Roman and Carthaginian soldiers, based on a text. It is part of our Roman Warfare and Battles pack where you can find:
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Caesar in Gaul

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Romans vs Carthaginians
Punic Wars
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