dria was larger. It was protected by massive walls that were
23 miles in length. Th e city also had marketplaces, towers, a
theater, a council house, an area for religious worship, a huge,
elaborate cemetery, four residential areas, and, in the center,
a tall citadel called the Byrsa. Carthage, though, can also refer
to the civilization that spread across North Africa to domi-
nate the western Mediterranean Sea from the border of Egypt
on the east to Morocco on the west.
Th e roots of the Carthaginian Empire extend back to the
10th century b.c.e. and the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Th e
Phoenicians’ most important cities were fi rst Tyre and then
Sidon, but to protect their trading interests, they founded and
controlled several trading posts around the region. Among
them was the city of Carthage, which provided a safe harbor
for ships. Th is network of trading cities also helped the Phoe-
nicians protect their monopoly on natural resources used for
trade. Additionally, the early Phoenicians needed funds to
pay tribute to the larger empires that dominated them. Th ey
also feared that in time the Greeks would gain control of the
entire region. Because the Phoenicians were few in number
and their cities were small, they embarked on a project to
colonize cities throughout the Mediterranean region.
Th eir project was successful. During the three centu-
ries that followed its founding, Carthage became the center
of the empire as Tyre declined and was eventually destroyed
by the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great. Leadership
of the Phoenician Empire then passed to Sidon, but in time
Carthage became the most dominant city. Th e Phoenicians
established 300 colonies in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and
Libya. In 509 b.c.e. Carthage signed a treaty with Rome that
in essence divided the region into two spheres of infl uence,
with Rome retaining its hold over the eastern Mediterranean.
Th e Carthaginian Empire included not only the north coast
of Africa but also important Mediterranean islands, such as
Sardinia, Malta, Cyprus, portions of Crete, Corsica, and the
western portion of Sicily. Th e Carthaginians also founded
important colonies on the Iberian Peninsula (that is, Spain
and Portugal), as well as the Balearic Islands, islands off the
eastern coast of Spain that included Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza,
and Baleares. Th e Carthaginians appointed magistrates who
directed the activities of the colonies.
Eventually Carthage became too much of a threat to
Rome. Accordingly, Rome launched a series of wars called
the Punic Wars, from the Latin word for Phoenician, Punicus;
many older history texts use the word Punic rather than Car-
thaginian. Th e First Punic War broke out in 264 and dragged
on until 241 b.c.e. Th e outcome was indecisive. War broke out
again in 218 b.c.e. Th e Second Punic War remains famous be-
cause of Hannibal (247–183 b.c.e.), the Carthaginian general
who marched his troops from Spain over the Alps and won
convincing victories against the Romans. Th e war ended only
when the Romans invaded Carthage itself and the Carthag-
inians sued for peace. Th e Th ird Punic War erupted in 149
b.c.e. Unlike the First and Second Punic Wars, the Th ird Pu-
nic War was relatively brief. Th e Romans invaded, laid siege
to the city of Carthage, and then fi nally destroyed it, killing
its occupants or selling them into slavery. Th us, in 146 b.c.e.
the Carthaginian Empire came to an abrupt end.
Th e destruction of Carthage has posed a signifi cant
problem for historians. Th e Romans wiped out virtually ev-
ery aspect of Carthaginian civilization, razing the city and
destroying its documents. Accordingly, historians have few
primary documents to examine and study. Th ese include
Greek and Latin translations of Carthaginian texts, but most
of what is known about Carthage comes from Greek and Ro-
man writers, including Livy, Appianos, Plutarch, Herodotus,
and others. But Rome and Greece were in competition with
Carthage, so the objectivity of these sources is questionable.
More information has become available as a result of recent
archaeological excavations of Carthaginian sites, but much
of the new information still fails to provide a clear picture.
Th e basis of Carthaginian power and empire was its massive
navy, which included up to 350 warships that continuously
patrolled the Mediterranean. Additionally, Carthage main-
tained a large fl eet of merchant ships, each capable of carry-
ing 100 tons of goods, all protected by two large harbors. No
nation would match Carthage’s naval fl eet in size and tonnage
until 18th-century Europe. Unlike its rivals, Carthage did not
typically maintain a standing army. When the empire needed
to protect itself, it raised an army, such as t hat commanded by
Hannibal, or hired mercenary armies.
Much of the empire’s trade was based on the Iberian
Peninsula, the source of large amounts of lead, silver, and
tin ore. Tin ore was especially important, for numerous an-
cient civilizations mixed tin with copper to make bronze. Th e
Carthaginians also traded for tin with Britain and possibly
the Canary Islands, giving Carthage a monopoly on the tin
trade and therefore on bronze. Trading rivals were eager to
obtain a portion of this tin, but the Carthaginians were so
bent on protecting their monopoly that ship captains would
deliberately crash their ships rather than allow other nations
to learn where and how to approach the rocky shores of the
British Isles. Further, Carthage’s strategic location between
Sicily and the African coast allowed it to control the supply
of tin to the east.
Nearly as important as tin were the silver mines in
North Africa and Iberia. Th ese mines were so productive
that the Carthaginians were able to provide Hannibal with
300 pounds a day. Another important commodity was a dye
called Tyrian purple—a product so valued that a pound of it
was equal in value to up to 20 pounds of gold. Other impor-
tant commodities included textiles (silk, wool, and cotton),
spices, perfumes, pottery, incense, glasswork, wood, bronze,
alabaster, precious stones, plows, mirrors, cabinetry, house-
hold items (pillows and bedding, for example), slaves, and
weapons. Food commodities included fi sh as well as a range
of agricultural products, such as wine, olives and olive oil,
grapes, dates, nuts, and fruits. Carthage’s agricultural system
was so effi cient that aft er the Th ird Punic War, the Romans
ordered that a Carthaginian agricultural treatise written byempires and dynasties: Africa 389