Carthage. I finally made it to Carthage! Here I am on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea at the enormous bathhouse that the Romans built a century after they decimated this ancient empire that had lasted seven centuries and introduced many innovations including an assembly-line style of ship-building, water systems, six-story buildings, a constitutional democracy, an empire with local control!
Most people, including me, think only of Carthage's defeat by the Romans. We know it was burned to the ground in 146 BCE after a century of Punic Wars and that that was the end of it. However, its strategic position in the Mediterranean Sea and its rich cultural heritage could not be denied even by its arch-rival. So the Romans resurrected the old city a century after they had leveled it, and then proceeded to penetrate even deeper into North Africa. For example, we had seen Roman ruins in the ancient cities in Dougga, Sbeitla, and El Djem. But this blog will focus on Carthage's history, its ruins, and other things I discovered about this fascinating city.
A Short History of Carthage
All the ancient writers report that Carthage was founded in 814 BCE by the princess from Tyre, Elissa-Didon. In a few decades the Phoenician trading post experienced considerable development.
By the 7th century BCE Carthage supplanted Tyre, its city of origin, and its rival in Africa. Soon it was to enter into conflict with other navigators, the Greeks, whom it defeated on several occasions. It established a foothold in the Balearic Islands (Located east of the Spanish mainland, the Islas Baleares comprise four very different islands: Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera.) in 654 in Sardinia, in Sicily, and in Corsica (with the victory of Aleria in the east in 535).
Finally, in 405,
Denys the Ancient, tyrant of Syracuse, recognized Carthage's sovereignty
over western Sicily. However, at the end of the 3rd century the
Carthaginians settled in Messina and found themselves face to face with
the Romans who came to settle on the other side of the straits. From
that time on and for a century, the two great Mediterranean powers were
to engage in a merciless struggle.
Defeated
after the naval battle of the Aegate Islands, the Carthaginians lost
the first Punic War (264-241) and abandoned Sicily and later Sardinia
and Corsica (238). Subsequently, Hamilcar Barca and Hasdrubal
established a Punic empire in Spain (237-219), a land rich in silver
mines. Rome then started the second Punic War (218-201) during which
Hannibal performed great feats in Italy, crushing the Roman legions at
Trasimene and Cannae (216).
In 204, Scipion, the African landed in Africa, formed an alliance with the powerful Numid King Massinissa and defeated Hannibal's army at Zama (202) there by shattering Punic power. The military response from Carthage led to the third Punic War (149-146), a three-year siege, the burning and sacking of Carthage.
"“Delenda est Carthago"
The Destruction Of Carthage: Why Ancient Rome Feared Their Great Rival
These words by Cato the Elder (234 - 149 BCE ) set the Romans on a mission. The Roman soldier, senator, and historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization had an undying hatred of Carthage (and Greece), which stemmed from his deeply conservative attitudes towards both cultures. He deeply feared that after two wars, Carthage's revived prosperity after the Second Punic War would once more allow it to rise as a power to rival, and perhaps even destroy Rome. His embassy to Carthage (probably 153) convinced him of this threat. In the Senate, Cato constantly repeated his admonition “Delenda est Carthago” (“Carthage must be destroyed” ). He lived to see war declared on Carthage in 149, the Third and last Punic war. This video by Timeline explains the ultimate fall of Carthage.
Carthage
was
conquered
by
the
Arabs
in the 7th century who
then
abandoned
it
in
favor
of
Tunis.
However,
it
remained
a
watchful
outpost
of
the
new
capital
city.
Throughout
the
centuries Carthage
has
been
inexorably
pillaged
as
a
source
of
building
materials
for
Tunis
and
other
Mediterranean
towns.
It
has
gradually
been
transformed
into
an
agricultural
center
famed
for
the
quality
of
its
produce.
Foundations of Carthage
Tombs
The tombs, without exception, always contained funerary furniture, various utensils that were supposed to accompany the deceased to the other world. From the archaic period (814 to 4th century BCE), the world of the dead has delivered mainly amulets, pendants, jewelry, masks, razors, and especially terracotta vases. Among these, some come from Corinth and the oldest objects dating from the end of the 8th century.
Punic tomb enshrined with access shaft and underground burial chamber below
(second half of 6th century BCE)
One of the best preserved and best-known tombs (above) is undoubtedly the one named "Byrsa's Young Man in Carthage". It is indicated by two slabs that cover a 4.45 m deep rectangular-shaped access shaft. The burial vault is built in blocks of sandstone that are 2.32 m long, 1.78 m wide, and 1.46 m high. This vault contains two funeral troughs cut in sandstone and covered with slabs. Only the trough on the left contained a skeleton belonging to a robust man measuring 1.70 m and whose age would vary between 19 and 24 years old. The examination of this skeleton reveals the traces of a bone trauma to the right shoulder dating back to childhood as well as strong decay. The cause of his death is unknown.
Outside the trough was found a Punic commercial amphora (burial urn), an achromic lamp (gray or colorless), two pinched beaks resting on a plate, ten small cabochons, (shaped and polished gem stone) curved ivory, a slender amphora (container with pointed bottom designed to lean against other amphora), and 120 bone fragments belonging to a goose that perhaps was locked in a wicker cage.
Inside the tomb, the material accompanying the deceased consists of a beetle, 21 small Egyptianizing amulets possibly belonging to a rosary, a pyxis (a piece of ancient Greek pottery) and lid between the knees, and finally, on the left shoulder the remains of a fabric belonging either to a garment or to a shroud.
Elyssa-Didon, a Phoenician princess, intended that Carthage be a capital city. She layed out its perimeter with animal hides stitched together in defiance of those who wanted to limit her acquiring too much land.
The city quickly became an epicenter of trade and commerce as well as a cultural center of the ancient world. As it expanded to new lands, it required its colonies to do three things: (a) pay tribute; (b) supply soldiers when needed; and provide agricultural products.
The Carthaginian Empire stretched from Tyre to Spain and west of the Straits of Gibraltar in Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean. Although it was a Phoenician colony, it came into its own in the 6th century BCE. It sits perched over the Mediterranean Sea in view of a distinctive mountain with an inverted hump. The sea air is fresh to breathe and the view is magnificent to behold. One can easily understand its former power and grace just by its geography.
Saint Louis Church was built in the 19th century under the French who named it after Louis IX of France. It is on the same hill as is the foundation of Carthage. Louis IX fought in the Crusades and traveled through Tunisia and North Africa on his way back from the Holy Land. He brought back the Crown of Thorns, which today sits in Notre Dame in Paris, and the Black Madonna, which was eventually housed in the Cathedral in Le Puy-en-Velay where I live. At one time St. Louis Church was the Bishop's seat. That honor now goes to St. Vincent DePaul Church in Tunis, the only operating Catholic church in Tunisia, which is Muslim.
This is the metropolis of Carthage today as viewed from Mount Byrsa.
Punic Port
The first port, in the shape of a rectangle,
was reserved for the merchants and equipped with a great variety of moorings. At the center of the second circular port stood an island. The island and the port were surrounded by large wharves. All along these were berths for 220 vessels. This circular port was for war ships.
The photo above shows the curve of the island in the shipbuilding port. Today, the port is a tranquil fishing spot and a roost for cats.
Ancient Carthage at its Peak
The Layout of Byrsa Hill
At your feet are the low-level remains of a Hannibal-era residential
quarter from around the 3rd century BC, where a well-preserved grid of
streets would have seen Carthaginians walking in your same tracks.
Destroyed in 146 BCE, Carthage was condemned to oblivion for a little over a century but there was no question of Rome neglecting its possessions that were quickly consolidated in the provinces. Despite its failure, the Gracchi adventure was a prelude to a revival that only the end of internal conflicts cold guarantee and ensure its success. Caesar understood the strategic importance of the site and decided to restore it by creating a colony. The technical and legal means set up by Octavian-Augustus and his successors made Carthage the second or third city in the world. Rome, which had done everything to annihilate it, spared no effort to restore its former splendor. It is very likely, as we read in Appian (Punica 2) that "the Romans had experienced how strong was the position of Carthage; they wanted to make it their point of support to contain the African tribes".
The first project was the construction of the Byrsa hill, which began with two symbolic gestures. It was indeed necessary to make invisible all the vestiges of the old Carthage, all that could recall its past, its power as also the prohibition that still weighed on its soil. The ancient remains were not destroyed as one might expect, but buried by massive backfilling and ground leveling, thousands of tons of backfill were needed, "armed" by huge piles of masonry clearly visible on the side of the neighborhood, said Hannibal. This artificial platform, a real geographical center of the city, is one of the largest in the Roman world: just over 17 acres, which is six times the size of the August Forum in Rome.
The Punic District
This view that is offered to the visitor is one of the most beautiful and evocative that can be ancient Carthage. By itself, this place called Hannibal district sums up the whole history of Carthage from its Phoenician origins to its total abandonment in the 13th century by the sovereigns of the Hafsid dynasty (1207-1574). A careful look shows that unlike what we read in the sources, the Romans did not strive to completely destroy Carthage in 146 since the houses we see have appreciable heights--like six stories high because of a growing population. It received this name because the beginning of its construction seems to coincide approximately with the sufetat of Hannibal in 196-195 BCE.
However, the streets intersect at right angles in certain areas, thus defining rectangular islands separated by simple dirt roads without sewers. The slope is interrupted by steps which mean that these streets were pedestrian; they have staked out small houses (about 75 m2), trade and crafts. Access to the houses is through a door that opens onto the street and leads to a corridor and then to the courtyard which overlooks service rooms, bathroom and reception room. The absence of bedrooms, combined with the strength of the load-bearing walls and the abundance of debris collected at the time of the excavators' clearing ensures the presence of at least one floor accessible by wooden stairs.
The roofs were terraced which allowed them to supply rainwater to underground cisterns.
The Romans who destroyed Carthage spared no effort to rebuild it a century later. The large blocking pillars and the subterranean apse visible in some places in this neighborhood served to stabilize the whole to give the hill the appearance of an immense esplanade on which were built the main Roman monuments of the city.
Public Baths
Roman bathing
followed a specific process. Bathers would get undressed and then
progress from an unheated room (frigidarium) to a warm room (tepidarium)
and then to a hot room (caldarium) before heading back to an unheated
room and taking a refreshing cold plunge.
Equally, the park includes several monuments dating back to the Punic epoch (tombs belonging to the necropolis and a ceramic oven), the Roman epoch (Roman houses designed as urban islands and bordered by Roman roads that are well-preserved), and finally the late Antiquity era (Christian churches and a Byzantine chapel).
Sanctuary of Tophet
Thought to have been used for ritual sacrifices of children and animals, the haunting Sanctuary of Tophet is speckled with lichen-covered stelae. These tombstones are engraved with symbols and script, such as the sign of Tanit (right below), a marker of the chief Punic deity, which looks something like a stick-figure woman in a dress or an Egyptian ankh (the key of life). When French archaeologists excavated the site in 1921, more than 20,000 urns were found below the stelae and contained the cremated remains and bone fragments of children, making this one of the largest cemeteries of its time.
Resources
Carthage info -- https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/37/
maps -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO9BJusY5ZU
Carthage -- http://www.middleeast.com/carthage
Carthage -- https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/carthage-tunisia-ruins-guide
