CARTHAGE. 



( AUTHAGE. 



N 



distributed in six Mttlementa on the west coast of Africa. Hauno 

 wrote an account of hi* voyage which h hung up on his return in 

 .j.l. ..i Krvoos or Saturn in Carthag*; there is a Gr<wk trans- 

 lation of it in lludnon'i ' Goographi Oratci Minore*.' The other expe- 

 ;ii.i, r Himilon, anoUier (on of Hamilcar. WH aent nmn.l the 

 eoa*t "f Liuitauia aotl northward a* far M the fEstrymnon Cape, 

 which aome auppoao to be Cap* Kinistorro. But the only information 

 that we hare concerning this voyage is derived from Keetiu Arienua'a 

 poem, who says that be wroU it from the Punic anuals : hia account 

 la extremely oonftued and perplexing. 



The aeeood Carthaginian expedition into Sicily took place about 

 n.i . 410. The people of Egesta or SageeU, being oppressed by those 

 of Selinui, applied to Carthage for assistance. The Cartliaginiana 

 not flnrt a m.ill force to relieve Segeate, and afterwards landed a 

 much largrr force, with which they besieged Selinus. In thia siege 

 they employed moveable towen and battering-rams. Aft-r a 

 desperate defence Selinua waa taken, plundered, and burnt They 

 next took Himera, which they treated in a like manner, 3000 prisoners 

 being slaughtered to appeaae the manes of Hamilcar. The next 

 attack waa on Agrigentum, which waa also taken B.C. 406. When the 

 Carthaginians attacked Gela, Oionyaius the elder, tyrant of Syracuse, 

 interfered, and a series of wars began between him and the Carthagi- 

 nian*, which, with some interruption by truces, lusted' till the death 

 nysiua. The wan were renewed under Timoleon, who at lust 

 i . iuv with Carthage, by which the territory of the latter state 

 in Si. ily was liuiitrd to the west extremity of the itdtmd, the river 

 Halicus, between Seliuus and Lilybomm, forming its eastern boundary. 

 War broke out agnin between Carthage and Syracuse about B.C. 310, 

 whrn Agatbooles was tyrant of the latter city. It was on this 

 occasion that a large fleet, intended for Sicily, soon after leaving 

 Carthage, waa dispersed by a storm, in which CO galleys and 200 

 transports were lost They however assembled an array in Sicily, 

 and totally defeated Agathocles, B.C. 309, who resorted to the bold 

 attempt i.f carrying the war into Africa. This was the first deadly 

 thrust at the power of Carthage, whose weak point being thus 

 discovered, the example was afterwards followed by the Romans. 



After the death of Agathocles, Pyrrhus, who had married bis 

 daughter, came over to Sicily to oppose the Carthaginians. He over- 

 ran their territory, and took all their towns, except Lilyl'irum. 

 Pyrrhus however returned to Italy, and the Syracusuns elected Hiero 

 for their commander. Hiero began by attacking the Mamertinea, a 

 body of Campanian mercenaries who had served under Agathoclea, 

 bat bring dinmimed after his' death, had gone to Meesana, where after 

 being kindly received they suddenly fell upon the citizens, killed or 

 drove them all away, and took possession of their houses, wives, and 

 property. Being hard pressed by Hiero, they applied to the Cart ha- 

 ginian naval commander, who waa stationed at Lipara, The 

 Carthaginians came and took possession of the citadel. The Matner- 

 tines afterwards revolted against them, and applied to Romo for 

 assistance against both Hiero and the Carthaginians. Thia gave rise 

 to the first contest between Carthage and Rome, B.C. 265. 



The remit of the first Punic war, which ended B.c. 242. was that 

 Cartbsge lost Sicily and the Lipari Islands. This war was followed by 

 another nearly as destructive to Carthage. The mercenary troops 

 which had served in Sicily, and bad been disbanded in Africa after 

 the peace, without l>eiiig paid their full stipend, revolted, and being 

 joined by the subject Libyans devastated the territory of Carthage, 

 threatened the city, and 'carried on the war (B.C. 240-237) until 

 Hainilc r Baron, who had already distinguished himself in Sicily, 

 Mi il in subduing or rather destroying the mutineer*. Polybius 

 calln this the Libyan war, and he gives a detailed account of it It was 

 attended with circumstances of the greatest atrocity on both sides. 



At the end of the war of the mercenaries, which gave the Romans 

 pretext for seizing Sardinia, Corsica, and the smaller inlands subject 

 to Carthage, Hamilcar Barca was sent over to Spain to establish th. 

 power of Carthage over that rich country, and thus gain a com- 

 pensation for the loss of Sicily ami BudldU. It was before s.-ttin B 

 out for Spain that he made his son Hannit.nl, then a boy nine years 

 old. swear on the alur eternal hatred against Rome. 



The inhabitants of Cades, an old Phoenician colony connected with 

 Carthage by common descent and commerce, had asked assistance 

 gaunt some native tribes, and this had probably furnished a pre- 

 tence for the first Carthaginian settlements on that coast During 

 nine yean that Barca remained in command in Spain be extended the 

 dominion of Carthage over the south and emit part of that country, 

 and founded the town of Barcmo (Barcelona). Hamilcar was killed 

 in a battle against the natives (Appianus, ' De Reb. Hispan.' v.), and 

 wu moaeded by Haadrnbal, his son-in-law, who took young Hannibal 

 M bis colleague. The Saguntini, who are said to have been a colony 

 from Ztcynthus, being pressed on all sidea by the Carthaginian con- 

 quenU, sent deputies to Rome for protection. The Roman senate sent 

 deputies to Carthage, and a treaty was concluded, by which the river 

 Iberaa (Ebro) was to be the limit of the Carthaginian posnesaions in 

 Spain, and moreover the Saguntini awl other Greek colonies south 

 of th Iberus were to remain free and independent Haadrubal 

 sonic time after was killed by a native wbilo hunting, and Hannibal, 

 then twenty-six rs of age, was proclaimed hia successor by the 

 army, a choice which was confirmed by the senate of Carthage. 



He began his command by the siege of Saguntuui, which lad to the 

 second Punic war, B.C. 21 8. By the peace (B.C. 201 ) which terminated 

 that memorable contest the power of Carthage as an independent state 

 was annihilated. She lost her fleet and ail her possessions 

 Afri'O, and e\v i thore Maainiaaa, king of NurnidU, was planted as a 

 thorn in her side. By the administration of Hannibal however the 

 tribute imposed by the peace was paid in ten years, and the great 

 general waa meditating to aid Antiocbus the Great with what force 

 Carthage could yet muster in order to check the triumphal career of 

 Rome, when he was compelled by faction to fly from the city which 

 hi* great talents had immortalised B.C. 105, and to sevk refuge with 

 Antiochua. Masiuwsa seized upon a territory called Tysca, \\itli 

 fifty villages upon it, within the Carthaginian boundary, Complaint 

 was made to Rome, which sent a commission, of which Cato the elder 

 waa one. That inflexible old man inspected every part of the great 

 commercial city, and being astonished at the sight of its still remaining 

 wealth and magnificence, persuaded himself that nothiu but its ruin 

 c.'ulil insure the dominion of Rome. Hence his well-known burthen 

 to the senate on his return, " DeU-nda eat Carthago." Some of the 

 Roman senators were for moderate and conciliatory measures. 5 

 Nasica, next appointed .commissioner to arbitrate between Ci 

 and Maainiaso, went to Carthage, and had nearly nettled all contro- 

 verted points when Ginco, a Carthaginian demagogue, roused ttio 

 populace to assault Scipio, who was obliged to save himself by flight 



There is no doubt that, in the impending struggle with Ant: 

 in th.' east, Carthage, reduced as fhe was, would have been a source 

 of itangur to Rome ; and the only safe policy of the hitter was the 

 total destruction of her rival, aa expressed in the celebrated sentence 

 of C'ato. The armed resistance to which Uaainisxa at length drove 

 i thoginions was looked upon at Rome as a violation of the lute 

 treaty (a clause of which bound Carthage not to undertake war with- 

 out the permission of Rome), and seized aa a pretext for the third 

 Punic war. The consuls Harcius Censorinus and Hauilius Nepos 

 were appointed to the command of the fleet and of the land force, and 

 they received secret orders from the senate not to desist from 

 lities until Carthage was destroyed. The consuls sailed fur Utica, 

 where, having landed their troops, they encamped at the old Costra 

 Scipionis. They then gave a public audience to the Carthaginian depu- 

 ties, who appeared as suppliants bi fore them, and were required to give 

 up all their arms, as they had no more occasion for them, the Human, 

 people taking them under their protection. The arms were delivered 

 to the number of 2000 catapult*, 200,000 complete suits of armour, 

 besides an immense number of spears, swords, bows and arrows, &c. 

 Thin being done, the deputies waited to hear the final sentence. The 

 consuls then signified to them that Carthage must bo razed to the 

 ground, but that the inhabitants might rebuild their houses any- 

 where, provided it were ten miles distant from the sea, and there 

 were no walls or fortifications. The indignation of tin- citizens at the 

 base treachery of the Romans overcame all considerations of pni.l. m. 

 or personal safety. They determined on defence, anil tin- third I'linic 

 war began. It lasted only three years, and ended with the utter 

 destruction of Carthage in the same year (B.C. 146) in which the fall 

 of Corinth completed the .subjugation of Greece. The horrors of that 

 siege, the desperate resistance of the Carthaginians, the Kelf-duvuted- 

 uess of their women, are described by Appian. Of 700,000 people 

 who lived within Carthage only 50,000 surrendered to Scipio and uciv 

 saved, liy a decree of the Roman senate every part of the city waa 

 r.i/.'.l to the ground. The literature of Carthage likewise perished; 

 the Koman.s gave its libraries, with the exception of Mago'is work ou 

 agriculture already mentioned, to their Numi.lion allies; and we 

 know through Sallust that King Hiempsal had a collection of Cartha- 

 ginian historians from which Sallust derived some information, on the 

 early history of Africa. 



Twenty-four yean after the destruction of Carthage (DC. 122) the 

 Gracchi made a vain attempt to establish a colony on its ruins. 

 Julius Ctesar revived the project B.C. 46, but was not suffered to live 

 to complete his design. His successor Augui-tus sent 300U now colo- 

 nists, who were joined to the inhabitants ui' the neighbouring count ry, 

 to build a new town, which was called Colonia Carthago, and which 

 Strabo says soon liecame as populous as any city of Africa. Pliny calls 

 it ' i '..Ionia Carthago Magnec in veatigiis Carthaginia.' It rone to con- 

 siderable nplendour, had itx cothon, or harbour, and became the first 

 city of Roman Africa. In Christian history it is known for it'* c > 

 and for the spiritual labours of Cyprian and St. Augustine. In 439 

 it waa taken by thi' Vandals under Gonseric : it waa retaken by 

 Belisariiis in 533 ; and lastly was taken and i:' .ycd by the 



Saracens in 67. Thus ended Roman Carthage, after an existence 

 of about seven centuries. 



'I'll., topography of Carthage is a difficult and much disputed 

 subject In the following details we have adopted the views of Fa) be 

 and Uartb, which are c .u firmed in m.niy particulars by inferences 

 fairly drawn from the ancient descriptions of thr rie^e of the city. 



Carthage was built on a high peninsula, bounded N. and F. 

 by the Gulf of Carthage ; and S. i.y the lake, or bay, that now forms 

 the harbour of Tunis. The peninsula terminated . . ml in capes 

 Ghamart and Carthage, which rise respectively to above 800 and 

 400 feet above the sea ; and on the western side it was joined to the 

 mainland by an isthmus between two and three miles across from the 



