first, it was little more than a stopover for traffic en route to Spain, but its
position at the narrowest point in the Mediterranean where the North
African and Sicilian coasts are only 75 miles apart gave it an unmatched
strategic position. The power that controlled both sides could control traffic
passing between the eastern and western Mediterranean.
As the mother cities back in Phoenicia slowly declined under the tribute
burdens imposed by Assyria, Carthage assumed control over their trade
routes. In the latefifth and fourth centuriesBCE, Carthage emerged victorious
from a series of wars against the Greek cities of Sicily, capturing the trade
that had previouslyflowed through them. Carthage’s port had to be refur-
bished and expanded to accommodate the boom. The metals of Spain and
Sardinia were now brought there to be processed, and the city also became
famous for other merchandise, especially carpets, pillows, and perfumes.
Carthaginian amphorae fashioned in a distinct cigar-shape were shipped
around the western Mediterranean, and although the contents are not certain,
most indicators point to wine.
Unlike their Roman rivals, the Carthaginians were more concerned with
making money than ruling. They had little interest in creating a large land
empire stretching out in all directions from their city, and most of the time
the Carthaginian gaze was turned toward the sea even when their interest
was in Africa. The Phoenicians had sailed into the Atlantic, with their
archaeological remains extending as far as Essaouira midway down the
Moroccan coast, and they visited Madeira and the Canary Islands. How much
farther the Carthaginians went is a matter of speculation. Herodotus has
them trading for gold in a version of the silent trade at a location that may
have been the mouth of the Senegal River. In another account afleet under
Hanno in 465BCEis said to have reached a spot between Sierra Leone and
the Congo River. The problem in accepting this is that the wind and the
current bothflow from the north. Hanno may have been able to sail down
the West African coast, but neither he nor anyone else of his time had the
navigational techniques or the equipment to sail back. This is also a problem
in accepting the story of the Phoenicians who circumnavigated Africa under
orders from the Pharaoh Necho II.
Pliny mentions Hanno along with a contemporary named Himilco, who
was sent to explore the coasts of Europe in what appears to have been a two-
pronged assault to bring the lands beyond Gibraltar into the Carthaginian
commercial fold. The Tartessians had earlier established trade contact with
the“Tin Islands,”and Himilco’s venture may have been a follow-up on this.
Himilco sailed up the coasts of Portugal, northwestern Spain, and France and
likely crossed to Britain and Ireland. On the way he reportedly encountered
sea monsters and got stuck in a morass of seaweed.
Back in the Phoenician homeland, matters were not getting better. The
fall of the Assyrian Empire in the late sixth centuryBCEbrought the rise of a
new power in Mesopotamia, the Neo-Babylonian Empire, whose armies
66 Of purple men and oil merchants