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Creation of the Carthaginian Mediterranean state. Carthage

Phoenician colonies in the Western Mediterranean began to be based at the turn of the II-I millennia BC. NS. By the beginning of the 1st millennium, some of them, such as the city of Utica in North Africa and Hades in Spain, had turned into large urban centers. However, of all the Phoenician colonies, Carthage (New City), founded by immigrants from the Phoenician city of Tire at the end of the 9th century, reached the greatest economic prosperity and political power. BC NS. (in 825 or 814 BC).

Carthage, conveniently located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, at the crossroads of trade and sea routes, gradually began to strengthen and grow rich.

The first settlers were forced to pay monetary contributions for the right to live on the land of local tribes. Agricultural land was scarce and did not play a significant role in early Carthage. However, as the city grew richer, its inhabitants and city authorities increased the land holdings around the city, seizing land or leasing it from local tribes.

Carthage - the center of the Phoenician colonies of the Western Mediterranean

From the middle of the 7th century. BC NS. begins a new period in the history of Carthage, which lasted about two centuries.

It can be defined as the time of the transformation of the city of Carthage into the center of the Phoenician colonies of the Western Mediterranean. The violent unification of the Phoenician colonies around Carthage was facilitated by several reasons: the weakening of political ties with the metropolis, caused by the dependent position of the cities of Phenicia under the rule of Assyria and Persia: the energetic colonization of southern Italy. Sicily and the Western Mediterranean by the Greeks, who threatened to establish their influence on the most profitable trade and sea routes; and finally, the internal development of the Phoenician colonies of the Western Mediterranean, which required a certain amount of coordination and joint action.

By the middle of the VII century. BC NS. Carthage is already the largest Phoenician city in North Africa, with a well-developed craft, trade relations with many areas of the Mediterranean. The population and territory of the city increased significantly. The convenient natural harbor of Carthage was expanded with the construction of an artificial harbor for military ships.

Carthage is already cramped within the city-state, and it begins an active external expansion. It was expressed, on the one hand, in the withdrawal of the Carthaginian colonies to different parts of the Western Mediterranean, and on the other, in the establishment of a protectorate over the Phoenician colonies that existed there. The first Carthaginian colony outside Africa was the city of Ebes on the Pitius Islands near Spain (mid-7th century BC). Relying on Ebes as their main base, the Carthaginians defeated the strong Phoenician city of Hades, which resisted the penetration of Carthage into Spain, and established themselves in the south of the Iberian Peninsula (end of the 7th-6th centuries BC). An attempt by the Carthaginians to penetrate the eastern coast of the peninsula was unsuccessful due to the opposition of the Greeks, who founded the colony of Massalia and a number of settlements on the eastern coast of Spain. In the middle of the VI century. BC NS. Carthage pursues an active policy in Sicily and takes control of the Phoenician cities located in the western part of the island.

Thus, by the middle of the VI century. BC NS. Carthage became the center of a large state association, whose possessions stretched out in the south of Spain, in the west of Sicily, on the Pitius Islands and in North Africa.

The Carthaginians successfully used the change in the situation in the Middle East at the end of the 6th century. BC NS. and established contacts with the great Persian power, which united the entire Middle East world. Even an unequal alliance with Persia was beneficial to Carthage, for it allowed for a more active policy against the Greek cities of Sicily and southern Italy, on the islands of Corsica and Sardinia.

The great success of the foreign policy of Carthage in the middle of the VI century. BC NS. was the conclusion of a friendly treaty with the powerful Etruscans who lived in Central Italy. Relying on this alliance, Carthage began to pursue an active policy in Sicily and on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. In 535 BC. NS. the combined Carthaginian-Etruscan fleet defeated the Greeks in the naval battle at Alalia (the island of Corsica). The allies divided the spheres of influence: the Etruscans began to develop Corsica, and the Carthaginians launched an attack on Sardinia and consolidated their foothold in the south of the island. Using the results of the victory at Alalia and the weakening of Greek influence in Spain in connection with this, Carthage isolated the largest state in Spain - its constant rival Tartessus - and defeated it (20s of the 6th century BC). True, the further spread of Carthaginian influence in Spain was put an end to the inhabitants of the Greek Massalia, who defeated the Carthaginian fleet, but in the south of the Iberian Peninsula the rule of the Carthaginians was strong.

At the beginning of the 5th century. BC BC, taking advantage of the Persian invasion of Greece (the Greco-Persian wars of 500-449 BC), Carthage launched a new offensive against the Greek cities in Sicily, with the support of the Etruscans. But two terrible defeats (under Hymer in 480 and Qums in 474 BC) halted the expansion of the Carthaginians in Sicily. Carthage managed to retain only a few cities in the extreme west of the island and maintain a stubborn defense.

The defeat of the Carthaginians in Italy and Sicily was aggravated by the failures of Persia in the Greco-Persian wars, after which she could not show political activity outside the Eastern Mediterranean, thereby leaving her former ally, Carthage, to the mercy of fate.

Establishment of the Carthaginian state

The period of the highest flowering of Carthage continues from the middle of the 5th century. until the middle of the 3rd century. BC NS. Having failed in the conquest of Sicily, Carthage shifted the main thrust of its foreign policy to North Africa. He managed to capture a significant territory around the city itself, defeat local tribes in a series of wars and turn them into subjects of Carthage.

Socio-economic relations in Carthage (V-III centuries BC)

In the V-IV centuries. BC NS. Carthage was the largest center for intermediary trade in the Mediterranean. Goods from various regions of the Eastern Mediterranean passed through it: Phenicia, Egypt, Asia Minor, a number of Greek cities, as well as from the depths of the Sahara, from the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula. Most of these goods were resold to other areas of the Mediterranean, with great benefit to Carthaginian traders. The protection of the trade interests of the Carthaginian oligarchy, domination on the most important trade routes of the Mediterranean were ensured by a whole system of agreements between Carthage and other states. Thus, he concluded three treaties with Rome, according to which the economic interests of Carthage on the most important sea routes around Italy and the Western Mediterranean were jealously guarded. In the system of Carthaginian trade relations, the trade in slaves and metals played a special role. The main suppliers of slaves were the Negro and Libyan tribes of Africa, metals were exported mainly from Spain.

The intermediary nature of trade (goods in large consignments were brought by sea or by caravans) determined the specifics of monetary circulation in Carthage: until the IV century. in Carthage they did not mint their own coins; for various calculations, mainly Greek and Persian coins or ingots of precious metals were used.

Carthage in the 5th-3rd centuries BC NS. It was also a large craft center: in the city there were numerous workshops, serviced mainly by slaves, of one or two dozen people, where a variety of ceramics, figurines, and articles of precious metals were produced. The hired Carthaginian army was supplied with weapons (swords, spears, javelins, shells and helmets, etc.), made in city workshops. The Carthaginians were skilled builders. The city was surrounded by powerful defensive walls, inside which magnificent temples, houses of the nobility were built, numerous warehouses and docks were erected in the harbors. The most efficient force was the navy, which consisted of several hundred well-equipped ships. The Carthaginians were considered not only skillful sailors, but also skillful shipbuilders.

The construction of ships was a complex production that combined the work of many metal artisans, experienced carpenters, joiners, sailing linen craftsmen and other professions. Many metals were brought to Carthage from different parts of the Mediterranean, especially from Spain: silver, gold, copper, tin, iron. Metalworking workshops operated on imported raw materials, the products of which were then exported to many Mediterranean countries.

Capture of vast territories in North Africa in the 5th-4th centuries. BC NS. created favorable conditions for the development of intensive agriculture, which is of great importance in the Carthaginian economy. Local residents who continued to engage in traditional arable farming were taxed at the rate of 1/10 of the harvest; they often doubled this share. They were dependent on the Carthaginians, their freedom was limited, although they were not considered slaves. Agriculture reached a particularly high level in slave estates. Their owners organized a highly productive economy with extensive vineyards, olive groves, orchards and vegetable gardens. The city of Carthage was surrounded by a whole belt of such well-cultivated slave estates. In the distant periphery of Carthage, there were indigenous tribes engaged in primitive arable farming; they also paid heavy taxes to the Carthaginians.

Carthaginian Society of the 6th-3rd centuries BC NS. was slave-owning, combining elements of developed slavery of the ancient type and some features characteristic of ancient Eastern society (a significant role in production and social organization was played by the dependent population living in a communal system and exploited both by individual representatives of the Carthaginian aristocracy and by the state as a whole).

In the presence of clearly formed classes of slave owners and slaves in Carthage, one can distinguish representatives of the class of free small producers, mainly in crafts, and the dependent rural population in the occupied territories. In Carthage itself - a populous rich city (its population reached about 200 thousand) - the lowest stratum of the free population was made up of the plebs, employed in craft workshops, working in the port and living off the donations of the Carthaginian oligarchy. The class of slave owners consisted of large landowners, owners of slave workshops, wholesalers, and the priesthood. Unlike many ancient Eastern countries, including the Phoenician cities proper, the bureaucratic apparatus was not developed in Carthage.

The economic prosperity of Carthage rested on the most brutal exploitation of numerous slaves and dependent local populations. The class and social contradictions here were therefore always quite sharp. The Carthaginian slave owners succeeded in suppressing in the bud the manifestations of the class protest of the slaves. Sources do not report slave uprisings, but there is evidence of unrest among the local dependent population, to which the slaves also adjoined. So, at the beginning of the IV century. BC NS. the dependent Libyan population rose, taking advantage of the heavy defeat of the Carthaginians in Sicily, and only at the cost of tremendous efforts was it possible to suppress this uprising. It was attended, according to the Greek historian Diodorus, about 200 thousand people. In the years 241-238. BC NS. an uprising of mercenaries and the local population broke out, putting Carthage on the brink of disaster; only by mobilizing all its reserves, the Carthaginian government coped with this movement.

It was also restless inside Carthage. The urban plebs, although they were fed by the Carthaginian oligarchy, nevertheless quite often showed discontent, creating social tension in the city itself.

Political structure of Carthage

The political system of Carthage was an oligarchy that expressed the interests of a relatively narrow group of the richest Carthaginian families. In the V-IV centuries. BC NS. the supreme officials were two Sufets, elected for one year and endowed with supreme civil authority. However, all state affairs were decided in the Council of 30 and the Council of Elders, numbering 300 members. The supreme control body was Council 104, which also had judicial functions. These councils were staffed from representatives of the richest and noble families, who rarely allowed members of other social groups into their midst.

A popular assembly was also convened in Carthage, consisting of persons who had the title of a Carthaginian citizen, but it played a small role in the general system of political organization. All affairs in the state were carried out by the omnipotent Carthaginian oligarchy. The oligarchs themselves, who sat in the aforementioned councils, carefully watched so that some aristocratic family did not grow strong enough to seize all power and establish one-man rule in the form of tyranny. Carthage's internal political history is filled with a fierce struggle for power. Usually, successful generals, who relied on a devoted mercenary army, acted as contenders for sole power. Back in the middle of the VI century. BC NS. the commander Malchus, after successful conquests in Sicily, together with the army, crossed to Carthage and established his dictatorship, pushing into the background the Carthaginian oligarchic bodies. However, his power turned out to be fragile, and after unsuccessful wars in Sardinia, Malchus was expelled from Carthage. Soon after the overthrow of Malchus, the family of the noble aristocrat Magon came to the leadership in Carthage, who managed to transfer power to his sons and grandchildren and, together with them, hold out at the state helm for over half a century. The Magonids retained power thanks to the successful wars on the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica at the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th century. BC NS. and lost it after crushing defeats from the Greeks in 480 and 474 BC. NS. By the middle of the 5th century. BC NS. the power of the Carthaginian oligarchy was completely restored.

In the second half of the 5th - middle of the 3rd century. BC NS. Carthage was the most powerful state in the western Mediterranean and one of the largest in the entire Mediterranean. At the heart of his political power was a highly developed economy, a dynamic social structure, and a stable political system of the oligarchy. The Carthaginian slave owners managed to suppress the manifestation of social and class discontent, conduct an active foreign policy, and successfully repel the attacks of the Greek cities in Sicily. However, by the 60s of the 3rd century. BC NS. Carthage met with a new force that entered the arena of the Western Mediterranean - the slave-owning Roman state. A fierce struggle for domination over the Western Mediterranean began between them. During the Punic Wars III - mid-II century. BC NS. the territory of the Carthaginian state became part of the Roman Republic.

Carthage culture

The culture of the Phoenician states, including the metropolis of Carthage - Tire, had a peculiar character. Small Phoenician states were constantly the object of political expansion and cultural influence of neighboring large states, such as Egypt, Hittite kingdom, Babylonia, Assyria. In this regard, their culture was strongly influenced by neighboring cultures and acquired a syncretic character. A similar situation was in Carthage. You can even talk about an even greater syncretism of the Carthaginian culture, since it is, starting from the 5th century. BC e., experienced a significant influence of Greek culture. The Carthaginians were constantly afraid of both the local population and their rivals in the colonization of the Mediterranean - the Greeks. In addition, they early embarked on the path of external expansion, fought many wars that required large forces and resources. All this did not contribute to the creation of a highly developed original culture. In particular, literary creativity, visual arts, and philosophy were poorly developed. The Carthaginians preferred to use the works of ancient Eastern and Greek authors and masters. Carthage knew the works of Homer, Greek tragedians, poets and orators, remarkable philosophers, but we know little about Carthaginian philosophers, poets or orators. Applied sciences — agronomy, geography, mathematics, fortification, astronomy — have received much greater development. The Carthaginians were skilled shipbuilders, sailors, and agricultural experts. Long voyages to Britain or the famous journey of Gannon to the Equatorial Atlantic coast, the beautiful fortifications around Carthage required knowledge of many applied sciences. In Carthage, one of the first special agronomic treatises in antiquity appeared, compiled by Magon, which was translated into Latin. The Carthaginians, apparently, had the most accurate geographical maps of Africa and the Mediterranean, the African and European coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, including the Canary Islands and the Azores. It is possible that some Carthaginian seafarers also ended up in America.

The Carthaginian religion remained faithful to the ancient Phoenician traditions. The main deities of the Carthaginian pantheon were the goddess Tinnit and Baal-Melkart. Tinnit - the patroness of the city - personified the moon, wisdom, abundance and life-giving forces of nature. The venerated deity was Baal-Melqart - the deity of a dying and resurrecting nature, the giver of life's blessings, frightening enemies. One of the darkest cults was the worship of the deity of war - the formidable Moloch, who sometimes demanded human sacrifice. For these deities, temples were built, made in a syncretic style that incorporated Phoenician traditions, Egyptian motifs and Greek architectural techniques. The Temple of Tinnit was at Bierce, the acropolis of Carthage, and was the city's last fortified site. The fall of Birsa meant that Carthage was taken by the enemy.

The culture of Carthage has left a noticeable mark on the history of the Western Mediterranean and North Africa.

Carthaginian Power in the Western Mediterranean (1st millennium BC)

1. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CARPHAGENIAN SEA POWER AND COMPETITION WITH THE GREEKS

Second quarter of the 1st millennium BC NS. was marked in the Western Mediterranean by the creation of the Carthaginian state - the unification of the Phoenician (or in Latin Punic) colonies in North Africa, southern Spain, western Sicily and Sardinia. For a long time in these areas, the city of Carthage played a leading role in political life (date. Kart-hadasht - "New City"). Carthage was founded in present-day Tunisia by immigrants from Tire around 825 BC. NS. Due to its extremely advantageous geographical position in the narrowest part of the Mediterranean Sea, in the immediate vicinity of Sicily, the city of Carthage early became one of the largest Mediterranean trade centers; he maintained direct contacts with Egypt, Greece, Italy (mainly Etruria), Sicily and Sardinia. The development of trade attracted a large multilingual population to Carthage: in addition to the Phoenicians, many Greeks and Etruscans gradually settled here.

From the very foundation until the fall of Carthage, its main force was the fleet. If in the II millennium BC. NS. The Phoenicians sailed on ships reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian and Sumerian, only made not of reed or papyrus trunks, but of solid Lebanese forest, with a high bow and stern, undecked or single-deck, with one wide straight sail and with a large double steering oar at the stern, - then in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. NS. the arrangement of ships has been significantly improved. The ships are now double-decked; the bulwark of the upper deck, where the soldiers were, was protected by round shields, on the lower deck in two rows (one above, the other below) rowers (probably from slaves) sat, on the bow under water a powerful ram was arranged to sink enemy ships, and the helmsman , who controlled the steering oars, was reliably protected by the highly raised and curved stern from above. An additional straight sail could be raised on the bow. Only merchant ships were still built with the same bow and stern, but they also had two rows of rowers.

In the VII-VI centuries. BC. the Carthaginians conducted an active offensive policy in North Africa. Carthaginian colonies were established along the sea coast towards the Pillars of Hercules (now the Strait of Gibraltar), as well as behind them on the Atlantic coast. By the end of the 7th century. BC. there were Carthaginian colonies on the Atlantic coast of modern Morocco.

In the middle of the VI century. BC. The Carthaginians, under the leadership of Malchus, waged a war against the Libyans and, apparently as a result of the victory, achieved exemption from paying rent for the city land, which they had previously had to pay regularly to one of the local tribes. At the end of the VI century. BC NS. the long-term struggle with Cyrene, a Greek colony in North Africa, and the establishment of the border between the two states, was also completed. The border was significantly moved away from Carthage to the east, towards Cyrene.

In the same centuries, Carthage was also fortified on the Iberian Peninsula, where the Phoenician colonies, led by Hades (now Cadiz), had even before that fought a stubborn struggle with Tartessus for trade routes to the British Isles, which were rich in tin. Tire and Carthage provided all kinds of support to the people of Hades. After defeating Tartess on land, they blockaded him and captured part of his territory. In the middle of the VII century. BC. Carthage founded his own colony of Ebess (now Ibiza) in the Balearic Islands, off the coast of Spain. Carthage also captured these islands from Tartessa. In the second half of the 7th century. BC. the Carthaginians decided to gain a foothold on the peninsula, Hades perceived such a step of Carthage as a threat to its monopoly position in the international trade in non-ferrous metals and put up stubborn resistance to Carthage. But the Carthaginians took Hades by storm and destroyed its walls. After that, other Phoenician colonies on the Iberian Peninsula were undoubtedly under the rule of Carthage. The further advance of the Carthaginians in this area was stopped by the Greek (Phocaean) colonization of the Mediterranean coast of the peninsula. Around 600 BC NS. Phocians inflicted a number of serious defeats on the Carthaginian fleet and stopped the spread of Carthaginian influence in Spain. The foundation of the Fokean colony on the island of Corsica interrupted for a long time the Carthaginian-Etruscan relations.

In the middle of the VI century. BC NS. The Carthaginians fought a series of wars in Sicily (the Carthaginian troops were commanded by the commander Malchus), and as a result, significant territories in the west of the island, including the old Phoenician colonies, were under their rule. But Malchus's campaign in Sardinia ended unsuccessfully, and the Carthaginian government condemned the commander and his army to exile.

Power in Carthage from the very beginning was in the hands of the trade and craft oligarchy. According to legend, at first the head of the state was Queen Elissa, the founder of the city, deified after her death and, apparently, revered under the name of the most popular goddess Tinnit in the city. Later, power was seized by the collective bodies of the oligarchic dictatorship - the council of elders and, apparently, the council of ten that headed it. The decision of the council of elders to expel Malchus led to a sharp aggravation of the political struggle in the city. Not obeying the order of exile, Malchus stormed Carthage, and then, calling a popular assembly, achieved the execution of all members of the council of ten. Sources say that Malchus introduced his own laws in Carthage. Apparently, like the early Greek tyrants, he tried to rely on the popular movement, but was unable to secure the support of the people for a long time. Enemies accused him of striving to usurp power, achieved his overthrow and execution. A representative of the hostile Malchus oligarchic group Magon, who probably took an active part in the overthrow of Malchus, came to power.

The reign of Magon, his sons and grandsons (from the middle of the 6th to the middle of the 5th century BC) was a time of important transformations for the country. Of these, the creation of a mercenary army should be especially noted, significantly outnumbering and fighting the Carthaginian civilian militia. The result of this reform was a sharp weakening of the position of the democratic circles of the Carthaginian society: the regime of Magon and Magonids relied on a mercenary army.

Apparently, after Magon came to power, allied relations were established with the Etruscan cities of Italy. This alliance was directed against a common enemy - the Phocians and their allies - the Tartessians. The alliance with the Etruscans was so strong, and the various Carthaginian-Etruscan ties were so deep that mutual trade was further regulated in detail, and mutual guarantees were established. Dedicatory inscriptions from the Etruscan city of Pyrg to the Phoenician goddess of love and fertility Ashtart (in the Etruscan text - Uni-Ashtart) with parallel texts in the Etruscan and Phoenician languages demonstrated the spread of Carthaginian cults in the Etruscan environment, and the identification of the Etruscan and Phoenician gods.

The Carthaginian-Etruscan coalition significantly changed the political situation in the Western Mediterranean. After the Battle of Alalia (off the coast of Corsica), the domination of the Greeks (Phocians) on the Mediterranean routes was destroyed. After that, Carthage launched a new attack on Sardinia, where colonies were established on the coast and numerous small Punian settlements in the interior of the island. The victory at Alalia isolated Tartess politically and militarily, and in the late 30s - early 20s of the 6th century. BC NS. Carthaginian invaders literally wiped out Tartessus from the face of the earth, so that the searches of archaeologists trying to find its location have not yet yielded satisfactory results. At almost the same time (509 BC) Carthage concluded a series of treaties with the Etruscan cities, as well as with Rome, according to which the Carthaginians pledged not to appear north of a certain point (apparently in Spain?), And the Etruscans and the Romans are south of it. These treaties made the division of the Western Mediterranean between the allies - the Carthaginians and the Etruscans - and legitimized the claims of the Carthaginians to a monopoly in the western Mediterranean. Further clashes between the Carthaginians and the Greeks in the Western Mediterranean (for example, with the inhabitants of Massalia, now Marseilles) occurred with varying success and did not significantly affect the balance of power and borders between the zones of Carthaginian and Greek domination.

The invasion of the Persian troops into Greece at the beginning of the 5th century. BC NS. created the preconditions for a military alliance between the Persian state and Carthage. Around 480, Xerxes agreed with the Carthaginians on the simultaneous conduct of hostilities, but this enterprise of the Carthaginian-Persian coalition ended in failure. In 480, simultaneously with the defeat of the Persian fleet at Salamis, the Carthaginians suffered a crushing defeat at Gimer (in Northern Sicily) from the combined forces of the Greek city-states on this island - Syracuse and Acragant. The advance of the Carthaginians in Sicily was suspended for a long time.

All the more energetic policy Carthage began to conduct in North Africa, where he managed to seize vast territories and subjugate the indigenous Libyan population.

By the middle of the 5th century. BC NS. The Carthaginian state was a conglomerate of regions, tribes and nationalities, economically and politically weakly connected with each other. Their legal status was not the same. Citizens of some Phoenician (Punic) cities, including Utica (Punic. "Old City"), were considered equal with the citizens of Carthage and its metropolis - Tire. Another group consisted of the Carthaginian colonies proper, possibly privileged ones. The third group included territories formally subordinate to the administration of the city of Carthage: they were subject to the Carthaginian laws, their foreign trade was conducted under the control of officials of Carthage, who collected duties in his favor. In Leptis Mal (on the eastern coast of present-day Tunisia) such a duty was talent per day (20-30 kg of silver). Libyans were the most powerless and oppressed in the Carthaginian state. The administration of Libyan regions and cities was headed by military administrators - strategists. They were in charge of taxation (the collection of taxes here was carried out with monstrous cruelty), and also carried out the forcible mobilization of the Libyans into the Carthaginian army.

One of the most important results of the conquest of territories in North Africa was the emergence of the Carthaginian large landownership. In the valley of the river. Baghrad and on the sea coast, large economic complexes arose, where irrigated agriculture, cattle breeding were practiced and a lot of slaves worked. On the basis of the experience of these farms, a highly developed agronomic science was formed in Carthage. The work of her most prominent figure Mago, was repeatedly translated (including by order of the Roman Senate) into Latin and Greek, and was constantly quoted in works on natural sciences and agriculture. Large landowners-slaveholders in Carthage formed a socio-political grouping hostile to the policy of further expansion, which was pursued by the trade and craft aristocracy of Carthage.

In the second half of the 5th century. BC NS. The Magonids lost - under unclear circumstances - power. She again found herself in the hands of the collective organs of aristocratic rule. To prevent the emergence of a dictatorship in the future, the Carthaginian oligarchy created a special body - the Council of the 104, endowed with judicial and financial functions. The activities of military leaders were placed under his control. Council members were appointed by special collegia ( pentarchies) on the basis of belonging to aristocratic families; in turn, the pentarchies were replenished through co-optation. Gradually, all magistrates became subordinate to the control of the council of 104. To expand the social base of the oligarchy, the number of the council of elders was increased to 300 people, and its presidium - respectively, to 30. All free Carthaginians participated in the council elections, but only the richest people could be elected. The supreme executive power was in the hands of Suffets("Judges"), elected for a term of one year. There were also other administrators in charge of various spheres of government (for example, treasurers), and administrative boards, in particular the "ten men" in charge of temples. Similar governing bodies existed in other Phoenician colonies in the Mediterranean.

At the end of the 5th century. BC NS. Carthage resumed its expansion in Sicily. The reasons for this turn in the foreign policy of Carthage were, apparently, the strengthening of Syracuse after the defeat in 416 of the Athenian expeditionary force, which tried to capture Syracuse, and the threat from this city to the Carthaginian possessions in the west of the island. The immediate reason for the intervention of Carthage in the affairs of the island was a clash between Segesta, an old ally of Carthage, and Selinunte (410 BC). Segesta turned to Carthage for help. In 409, the Carthaginian troops landed in the west of Sicily, not far from the Phoenician city of Motia, and by 406, all Greek cities in the south of Sicily, including the important city of Akragant (now Agrigento), were in the hands of the Carthaginians, who came close to Syracuse. The plague that broke out in the Carthaginian camp saved from the siege of Syracuse. In 405, a peace was concluded between Syracuse and Carthage, guaranteeing Carthage dominance in the west and south of the island. But a few years later, the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius the Elder invaded Western Sicily. The Carthaginian general Gimilkon, who landed in the rear of Dionysius, not far from the Phoenician city of Panorma (in northwestern Sicily, now Palermo), forced the Syracusans to retreat and later blockaded their city. However, this time an epidemic began in the Carthaginian camp, and Gimilkon, together with the Carthaginian citizens, fled to their homeland, leaving the mercenary army to the mercy of fate.

This failure served as the signal for a massive uprising in North Africa by the Libyans and slaves who succeeded in laying siege to Carthage from land. Only the lack of strong leadership among the rebels and bribery allowed the Carthaginians to defeat them.

Since 398 BC NS. until the death of Dionysius the Elder in 367, with short interruptions, a war raged in Sicily again, in which the Carthaginians and the Syracusans suffered heavy defeats. After 367 BC. NS. Dionysius the Younger decided to stop futile attempts to create a Syracuse state in Sicily, and the peace treaty confirmed and consolidated the position that existed before the war. This was a great success for the Carthaginians. To them they owed the reorganization of their army, carried out by their commander Gannon the Great.

Apparently, simultaneously with these events, new unrest broke out in North Africa, suppressed by Hannon. The political struggle in Carthage itself sharply intensified. Taking advantage of his military successes, Gannon the Great tried to exterminate the members of the council of elders and establish his dictatorship. His plans were revealed, and Gannon was forced to flee inland. Arming 20 thousand of his slaves, he occupied a small fortress there and tried to wage war with Carthage. Hannon's enterprise ended in failure: he was captured by government troops and killed, and his corpse was crucified on a cross. His sons and relatives were also executed. Meanwhile, in 345 BC. NS. hostilities began again in Sicily. The Carthaginians intervened in the struggle in Syracuse between Dionysius the Younger and the aristocratic party. The opponents of Dionysius the Younger in Syracuse turned for help to Corinth, the metropolis of Syracuse, and from there troops under the command of Timoleon were sent to Sicily. Carthaginian possessions in Sicily were under serious threat, but this time Carthage managed to save them.

In 318 BC. NS. Carthage supported the adventurer Agathocles, who led the democratic movement in Syracuse, helped him seize the city and deal with his opponents from the oligarchic party. However, having come to power, Agathocles first of all tried to destroy the Carthaginian rule in Sicily. For a number of years the war went on with varying success, and finally, in 311, luck began to tilt in favor of Carthage. Under these conditions, Agathocles decided to transfer the war to Africa, counting on the solidarity of the local population. Carthage really found himself in a difficult situation, Agathocles inflicted several sensitive defeats on the Carthaginian troops and managed to conclude an alliance with one of the Libyan "kings". To this was added a severe internal crisis caused by the attempt of the commander Bomilkar, who commanded the Carthaginian army, to seize power into his own hands. In Carthage, there were street battles between supporters and opponents of the challenger. Bomilcar's revolt was defeated, he himself was crucified in the Carthaginian market square.

Agathocles achieved significant military and political successes in North Africa. He even took possession of Utica and Hippon-Diarrith, two of the most important port cities on the flanks of Carthage; it seemed that the main part of the Carthaginian state in Africa was in his hands. Nevertheless, Agathocles failed the main thing: he failed to force the Carthaginians to abandon the blockade of Syracuse. This circumstance forced Agathocles to return to Sicily. Then the Carthaginians inflicted a serious defeat on the Syracuse army in Africa, and Agathocles soon ceased hostilities. Another peace treaty, this time between Carthage and Agathocles, again allowed Carthage to retain all his possessions in Sicily.

In 278 BC. NS. a new threat loomed over the Carthaginian possessions in Sicily: Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, crossed from southern Italy to the island (see p. 439). The Greek cities, one after another, recognized his power, and the Carthaginian government, feeling unprepared for the fight, offered Pyrrhus peace, renouncing all their territories in Sicily, except for one stronghold - the city of Lilibey. Pyrrhus demanded that the Carthaginians ceded him too. Refused, he laid siege to the controversial city. Meanwhile, the policy of Pyrrhus in Sicily alienated from him the citizens of the Greek cities, which he tried to turn from autonomous allies into direct subjects of his kingdom. Now the Sicilian Greeks saw the Carthaginians as liberators from the new ruler. After the forced withdrawal of Pyrrhus to southern Italy, Carthage completely, for the fifth time in less than a century and a half, restored its position in Western Sicily.

Marble. Roman copy after a Greek original of the 3rd century BCE. BC.

Copenhagen. New Carlsberg Glyptotek

2. PUNIC WARS (CARPHAGEN FIGHT WITH ROME)

The period starting from the middle of the III century. BC. and ending in the middle of the II century. BC e., was the time of the fierce struggle of Carthage for domination in the Western Mediterranean with renewed vigor - Rome. In Roman historiography, this time is called the period of the Punic Wars.

On the eve of the First Punic War, Carthage was a highly developed trade and craft slave state. All types of crafts were widely developed here, including metalworking, jewelry, weaving, carpet making, construction, shipbuilding, etc. Craftsmen, apparently, united in cult professional colleges. Trade relations of the Carthaginians covered all the countries of the Mediterranean; Carthaginian merchants participated in trade even with the countries of the Black Sea region, and through Egypt also with South Arabia. Along with the trade in the products of local artisans and local grain (North Africa was considered one of the granaries of the ancient Mediterranean), they also carried out an intensive intermediary trade. From the depths of Central Africa, ivory was delivered to Carthage and resold by the Punians further; from Spain, North Africa and Sardinia - silver and lead; from the Atlas Mountains - high-grade timber; from the Mediterranean islands - olive oil, wine, textiles, fish. The growth of commodity production in the Middle East, Greece, Italy, in a number of regions of Africa and Spain and the active participation of these countries in world trade led to the accumulation of enormous wealth in the hands of the Carthaginian trade and artisan elite and an overall increase in the average living standard of the Carthaginian population.

Agriculture also played a very important role in the life of Carthage. Significant land funds remained in the hands of the Libyan population subject to Carthage. It paid a land tax to Carthage (1/10 of the grain harvest). During the First Punic War, this tax was doubled: in addition, the Carthaginian rulers began to levy a tax on other crops, which made up half of the harvest. But, as already mentioned, a large amount of land also belonged directly to the large Carthaginian landowners. Churches also had rich farms.

The Carthaginian state was a country of highly developed slavery. In the hands of the slave owners, huge armies of slaves were concentrated here, employed both in the sphere of material production and in the sphere of personal servicing of the slave owners. Slave labor was used both in handicrafts and in agriculture. Craftsmen slaves acquired a certain independence, could manage their own household and enter into marriages, recognized by law. In the Carthaginian inscriptions, freedmen are also mentioned, who were sometimes granted "Sidonian right" ("Sidonians" was a common designation for all Phoenicians in general; in this case, they meant persons equated in rights with citizens of those Phoenician-Punic cities that did not possess all the privileges of Tire and its daughter city, Carthage, thus citizens of "Sidonian law" had a status probably similar to that of the Italians in the Roman empire of the early republic; see lecture 24).

The exploitation of the semi-free dependent population (bds) was also widespread in Carthage. Unfortunately, little is known about him. On the farms of large landowners, and also, apparently, in large craft workshops, the labor of free hired workers was also used.

The first Punic War began when the Romans took over in 264 BC. NS. Messana is a city in Sicily, on the shores of a narrow strait that separates the island from mainland Italy, thereby cutting off the main route of Syracuse trade. By 262 BC. NS. Roman troops captured almost all of Sicily, with the exception of a few coastal cities. True, the Carthaginians still had an advantage at sea, which allowed them to hold the coastal harbors of Sicily and even launch raids on the Italian coast. However, the Romans eliminated this advantage of Carthage by creating their own fleet and inventing boarding bridges ("ravens"), imposed on the Carthaginians an unheard-of tactics of boarding battle and managed to win a number of naval victories. In 256, Roman troops landed on the African coast. Part of the Roman landing army was soon recalled by the Senate, and Mark Atilius Regulus was at the head of the rest. In a battle near Carthage, the Roman troops were defeated, only a small group of Romans managed to escape to Rome; Regulus was taken prisoner. Sicily became the main theater of war again. In 242 BC. NS. the Romans completely blocked the Carthaginian stronghold in Sicily - Lilybey. The Carthaginian government sent a new flotilla to the north of Sicily, but it was also defeated in a naval battle. In this situation, the Carthaginian council decided to end the war. Rome, too, was not able to continue the struggle, and after lengthy negotiations, a peace was concluded, according to which Carthage renounced all of Sicily and the Aeolian Islands, returned the prisoners to Rome without ransom, and within ten years paid an indemnity - 3200 talents of silver.

The unsuccessful outcome of the First Punic War for Carthage caused an acute socio-political crisis in the state - an uprising of hired soldiers, Libyan peasants and slaves (241-239 BC), which put the state on the brink of destruction. For its land army, Carthage almost always attracted mercenaries, which in moments of failure exacerbated the dangerous situation. Under the leadership of prominent military leaders and politicians Matos, Snendius and Autarit, the rebels laid siege to Utica, Hippon-Diarrith and Carthage from land. In this critical situation, the Carthaginian government entrusted the suppression of the uprising to Hamilcar Barca. During a long and difficult campaign, he defeated and killed the insurgent mercenaries.

Suppression of the uprising in 241-239. significantly strengthened the position of Hamilcar Barca, who led the trade and craft circles of Carthage, which demanded an active policy of conquest. According to Hamilcar Barca, the starting point for a new war with Rome was to be Spain, where Carthage had long-standing friendly ties. In 237, he landed on the Iberian Peninsula and began to systematically conquer it. After the death of Hamilcar Barca, this policy was continued by his son-in-law Hasdrubal, one of the leaders of the Carthaginian democratic movement, and after the death of the latter, Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar Barca. Hannibal was 25 years old by that time. He was known as a capable and skilled warrior, and the army proclaimed him commander. With the support of the democratic strata of the population of Carthage, she forced the violently opposed oligarchs to approve the decision. As a result, a military dictatorship arose in Carthage; the main directions of policy were determined by Hannibal, who was in Spain.

During 221-220 years. BC NS. Hannibal almost entirely conquered the Iberian Peninsula south of the r. Iber (Ebro). In the spring of 219, ignoring the protests of the Roman government, Hannibal laid siege to and stormed Sagunta, a city that enjoyed the status of a Roman ally. It was a direct challenge to Rome. Carthage rejected the demand of the Roman government to extradite Hannibal as guilty of violating the agreement on the boundaries of the Carthaginian possessions in Spain, and in the spring of 218 BC. NS. Rome declared war on Carthage. Hannibal, meanwhile, was already leading his troops north, so that, after passing through southern Gaul and overcoming the Alps, he could invade Italy from the north.

Hannibal went to Rome with a very large army at that time; Greek historian Polybius speaks of 90 thousand infantry and 12 thousand cavalry, but even if these figures are exaggerated by half, crossing the Alps with such an army was a remarkable achievement of military art. Hannibal's army had a squad of elephants. The entire campaign from the Iberian Peninsula to the plains of Northern Italy, Hannibal spent in constant battles with the allied Romans or simply hostile Gallic and other tribes; the passage through the Alps was hampered by landslides, ice and snow. Hannibal did not have maps of the area, and he had to rely on guides from local residents, whose reliability was difficult to verify. On the way, probably more than half of the army and most of the elephants died, but Hannibal was able to so inspire the rest of the army, which consisted of a motley mass of Punyans, Libyans, Iberians and Gauls, that it showed itself in battles with the Romans not only quite combat-ready, but also superior to her opponent.

Hannibal's plan was fully implemented. The Roman army was late and failed to prevent him from crossing the river. Rodan (to Ron). At the end of 218, the Carthaginian army, exhausted by the difficult passage through the Alps, found itself in the upper reaches of the river. Pada (Po). The hostilities in Italy lasted 15 years (see lecture 24 for a description). The position of the Romans was more than once critical.

However, in 204 BC. NS. Roman troops managed to land in North Africa. The Carthaginian government recalled Hannibal to his homeland. At the Battle of Zama (202 BC), the Carthaginian troops were defeated. Hannibal, realizing that the resources of Carthage were exhausted and he could no longer continue the war, insisted on concluding a peace treaty (201), although he seriously limited the sovereignty of Carthage. The latter not only lost its non-African possessions and had to cede significant territories to Rome's ally Masinissa, the king of Numidia (a large Libyan kingdom in modern Eastern Algeria), but also lost the right to wage war with anyone without the permission of Rome. Moreover, a huge contribution was imposed on Carthage. Hannibal hoped that he would be able to prepare Carthage for a new war with Rome. However, all his attempts in this direction were suppressed by Rome with the support of the Carthaginian oligarchs hostile to the commander. Hannibal was forced to flee to Syria, and then to Asia Minor, where he died in 183 BC. NS.

Despite the difficult conditions of the 201 treaty, Carthage retained its trade advantages and relatively quickly restored its economic and military potential. This development of events caused fear in Rome that one day the Carthaginians would try to take revenge for their failures in previous wars. In the Roman Senate, a group led by Cato prevailed, striving to destroy Carthage. Cato made it a rule to end any speech with the words: "Besides, I believe that Carthage must be destroyed." The pretext for the war was the clash between Carthage and Masinissa, who continuously demanded that Carthage concessions more and more territories. In 150, the Democrats came to power in Carthage and tried (unsuccessfully) to provide armed resistance to Masinissa. Taking advantage of this violation of the peace treaty, Rome declared war on Carthage in 149 BC. NS. (III Punic War). The Carthaginian Council, wishing to avoid a struggle, obediently fulfilled all the requirements of Rome: it gave out hostages, weapons and equipment. However, after this, the Roman government demanded that Carthage be destroyed, and its citizens moved to another place, but not closer than 80 stadia (15 km) from the sea. This demand provoked an outburst of popular anger in Carthage both against the cowardly council, which had betrayed the city, and against the Romans. The democratic circles that came to power in the city decided to defend themselves and quickly prepared Carthage for defense. Only after a long siege in the spring of 146 BC. NS. Roman troops took Carthage by storm. The street fighting lasted six days. Each building in the burning city was captured by the Romans only after fierce resistance and at the cost of huge losses. Residents of the city who did not die during the fighting (out of 300 thousand people, no more than 50 thousand of them remained), were sold into slavery. By order of the Roman Senate, the city was destroyed to the ground (so that in our time it is impossible to archeologically restore the plan of pre-Roman Carthage), and the place where it stood was cursed and plowed up.

3. RELIGION AND CULTURE OF CARPHAGEN

Like all Phoenician and Canaanite city-states in general, Carthage had city patron gods, usually called not by their own names (they were taboo), but by common nouns, for example, "lord" (Ba'l, Vall), "goddess" ("Ashtart, Astarte). The main gods of Carthage were Ba'l-Hammon - apparently a formidable solar deity - and the goddess Tinnit. To Ba'l-Hammon and Tinnit, the "decoration of Ba'al," not only animals were sacrificed, but in especially important cases people were also sacrificed; near the temple of Tinnit a whole cemetery was found from the burials of children sacrificed. In addition, the patron god of the metropolis - Tira, the "King of the city" (in Punyian Melqart) and the god Eshmun were revered. Ba'l-Hammon, apparently, was identified with the Egyptian Amun; local Astarte, too, probably correlated with the Egyptian goddesses Hathor and Isis. Close ties with other peoples of the Mediterranean led to the identification of the Punic gods with the Etruscan ones (as we have already spoken about), as well as with the Greek and Roman ones: Tinnitus - with Ceres, the goddess of fertility, or with Juno; Eshmuna - with the god of healing Asclepius; Melkarta - with Apollo or Hercules. The temples built to all these gods, apparently, were imitations of the Phoenician and Greek models.

Descriptions of the sea voyages of the Carthaginian naval commanders Gannon and Gimilkon, translated into Greek from the Punic originals (and, possibly, in processing), were widely known in the Greco-Roman world. Travel dates are determined differently; the most probable - VII-VI centuries. BC. for Gannon and VI century. BC NS. for Gimilkon. The purpose of Gannon's journey was to bring the Carthaginian colonies to the Atlantic coast. He set out with 60 fifty-oared ships and, according to the text that has come down to us, with 30 thousand passengers - men and women (this means that each ship had 100 rowers and 500 passengers). Having founded several colonies on the coast of modern Morocco, Gannon did not stop there, but sailed light and farther south. Having created another far advanced Carthaginian outpost Kernu (probably near the mouth of the Senegal River), he continued his journey, climbed up a large river, then visited some islands, saw an active volcano, entered the South Horn Bay, where he met gorillas , etc. .

Apparently, this was not the only voyage of the Carthaginians in the Atlantic, since the Carthaginian coin was found even in the Azores; the Punyans undoubtedly settled in the Canary Islands as well. Herodotus tells about the exchange trade of the Punyans with the local inhabitants of Africa, apparently far to the south, and he also owns the absolutely reliable news about the Phoenicians who were in the Egyptian service (5th century BC), who, having started their journey in Krasnoye sea, in three years circled Africa, arrived in Carthage and from there returned to Egypt.

The voyage of Gimilkon was associated with the search for a sea route to the places of tin mining. Spanish deposits are located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, outside the direct reach of the Phoenician colonies, and tin had to be exchanged through the local tribes. But tin was also available in the British Isles, and the Carthaginians decided to try to build a direct sea route there. However, the four-month voyage of Gimilkon, apparently, was not crowned with success.

Historiography achieved significant development in Carthage. The works of Carthaginian historians were used by ancient authors, drawing from them information on the history of North Africa and Carthage itself. Also known is the Carthaginian philosopher Hasdrubal, who led in the II century. BC NS. in Athens, one of the schools of philosophy. Grammatical science was also developed in Carthage.

The death of Carthage did not lead to the disappearance of the Phoenician civilization in North Africa: despite the intensive Romanization of the country under the rule of Rome, the Punic language survived here until the 5th century. n. NS. Under the influence of the Punyans, a kind of local script was created among the Libyans and Numidians, in a modified form used now by the Berber Tuareg people in Mali, Niger and the Algerian Sahara. Official documents, including inscriptions, were drawn up during the era of Roman rule not only in Latin, but also in Phoenician, and sometimes in Libyan. Phoenician cults continued, especially the cult of the legendary founder of Carthage, the goddess Tinnitus. The organization of urban self-government here also went back to the Carthaginian models.

Carthage arose several centuries earlier than the small Gallic settlement of Lutetia, which later became Paris. It existed already at the time when the Etruscans appeared in the north of the Apennine Peninsula - teachers of the Romans in art, navigation and crafts. Carthage was already a city when a furrow was made around the Palatine Hill with a bronze plow, thereby completing the ritual of founding the Eternal City.

As the beginning of any of the cities whose history goes back centuries, the founding of Carthage is also associated with legend. 814 BC NS. - the ships of the Phoenician queen Elissa docked near Utica, a Phoenician settlement in North Africa.

They were met by the leader of the nearby Berber tribes. The local population had no desire to let a whole detachment arriving from overseas into a permanent settlement. However, to the request of Elissa to allow them to settle there, the leader answered with consent. But with one condition: the territory that the aliens can occupy should be covered with the skin of only one bull.
The Phoenician queen was not at all embarrassed and commanded her people to cut this skin into thin strips, which were then laid out on the ground in a closed line - tip to tip. As a result, a rather large area appeared, which was enough for the foundation of a whole settlement, named Birsa - "Skin". The Phoenicians themselves called it "Karthadasht -" New City "," New Capital ". After that, this name was transformed into Carthage, Cartagena, in Russian it sounds like Carthage.
After a brilliant operation with the skin of a bull, the Phoenician queen took another heroic step. Then the leader of one of the local tribes wooed her to strengthen the alliance with the alien Phoenicians. After all, Carthage grew up and began to gain respect in the area. But Elissa refused female happiness, chose a different fate. In the name of establishing a new city-state, in the name of raising the Phoenician people and for the gods to consecrate Carthage with their attention and strengthen the royal power, the queen ordered to make a big fire. For the gods, as she said, ordered her to perform the rite of sacrifice ...
And when a huge fire broke out, Elissa threw herself into the hot flames. The ashes of the first queen - the founder of Carthage - lay in the ground, on which the walls of a powerful state soon rose, which survived centuries of prosperity and died, like the Phoenician queen Elissa, in a fiery agony.

This legend has no scientific confirmation yet, and the most ancient finds, which were obtained as a result of archaeological excavations, date back to the 7th century BC. NS.

The Phoenicians brought knowledge, craft traditions, a higher level of culture to these lands and quickly established themselves as skillful and skilled workers. Along with the Egyptians, they mastered the production of glass, succeeded in weaving and pottery, as well as in leather dressing, patterned embroidery, and the manufacture of bronze and silver items. Their products were prized all over the Mediterranean. The economic life of Carthage was built, as a rule, on trade, agriculture and fishing. It was in those days that olive groves and orchards were planted along the shores of present-day Tunisia, and the plains were plowed up. Even the Romans marveled at the agrarian knowledge of the Carthaginians.

The industrious and skillful inhabitants of Carthage dug artesian wells, built dams and stone cisterns for water, cultivated wheat, cultivated gardens and vineyards, erected multi-storey buildings, invented various mechanisms, watched the stars, wrote books ...

Their glass was known throughout the ancient world, perhaps even more so than Venetian glass in the Middle Ages. The colorful purple fabrics of the Carthaginians, the secrets of which were carefully hidden, were incredibly prized.

The cultural impact of the Phoenicians was also of great importance. They invented the alphabet - the same alphabet of 22 letters, which served as the basis for the writing of many peoples: for the Greek writing, and for Latin, and for our writing.

Already 200 years after the city was founded, the Carthaginian state becomes prosperous and powerful. The Carthaginians established trading posts in the Balearic Islands, they captured Corsica, and eventually began to take control of Sardinia. By the 5th century BC. NS. Carthage has already established itself as one of the largest empires in the Mediterranean. This empire covered a significant territory of the present Maghreb, had its possessions in Spain and Sicily; the fleet of Carthage through Gibraltar began to enter the Atlantic Ocean, reaching England, Ireland and even the shores of Cameroon.

He had no equal in the entire Mediterranean. Polybius wrote that the Carthaginian galleys were built in such a way “that they could move in any direction with the greatest ease ... If the enemy, fiercely attacking, pressed such ships, they retreated without endangering themselves: after all, light ships are not afraid of the open sea. If the enemy persisted in pursuit, the galleys turned around and, maneuvering in front of the formation of enemy ships or enveloping it from the flanks, again and again went to the ram. Under the protection of such galleys, heavily laden Carthaginian sailing ships could go out to sea without fear.

Everything went well for the city. At that time, the influence of Greece, that constant enemy of Carthage, was greatly diminished. The rulers of the city supported their power by an alliance with the Etruscans: this alliance was a kind of shield, which blocked the Greeks' way to the trade oases of the Mediterranean. In the east, things were also going well for Carthage, but at that time Rome turned into a strong Mediterranean power.

It is known how the rivalry between Carthage and Rome ended. The sworn enemy of the famous city, Marcus Porcius Cato, at the end of each speech in the Roman Senate, no matter what was said, repeated: "But all the same, I believe that!"

Cato himself visited Carthage as part of the Roman embassy at the end of the 2nd century BC. NS. A noisy, prosperous city appeared before him. Major trade deals were concluded there, coins of different states settled in the chests of the exchangers, the mines regularly supplied silver, copper and lead, ships left the stocks.

Cato also visited the provinces, where he could see lush fields, lush vineyards, orchards and olive groves. The estates of the Carthaginian nobility were in no way inferior to the Roman ones, and sometimes even surpassed them in luxury and splendor of decoration.

The senator returned to Rome in the darkest mood. As he set out, he hoped to see signs of the decline of Carthage, the eternal and nemesis of Rome. For more than a century there has been a struggle between the two most powerful powers of the Mediterranean for the possession of colonies, convenient harbors, for domination of the sea.

This struggle went on with varying success, but the Romans were able to permanently oust the Carthaginians from Sicily and Andalusia. As a result of the African victories of Emilian Scipio, Carthage paid Rome an indemnity of 10 thousand talents, gave his entire fleet, war elephants and all the Numidian lands. Such crushing defeats should have bled the state, but Carthage was reborn and got stronger, which means that it will again pose a threat to Rome ...

So the senator thought, and only dreams of impending vengeance dispersed his gloomy thoughts.

For three years, the legions of Emilian Scipio besieged Carthage, and no matter how desperately its inhabitants resisted, they could not block the path of the Roman army. The battle for the city lasted six days, and then it was taken by storm. For 10 days Carthage was given over to plunder, and then razed to the ground. Heavy Roman plows plowed what was left of its streets and squares.

Salt was thrown into the ground so that the Carthaginian fields and gardens would no longer bear fruit. The surviving inhabitants, 55 thousand people, were sold into slavery. According to legend, Emilian Scipio, whose troops took Carthage by storm, wept as he watched the capital of a powerful state die.

The winners took away gold, silver, jewelry, ivory, carpets - everything that had accumulated over the centuries in temples, sanctuaries, palaces and houses. Almost all books and chronicles were destroyed in the fires. The Romans transferred the famous library of Carthage to their allies - the Numidian princes, and since that time it has disappeared without a trace. Only a treatise on agriculture by the Carthaginian Magon has survived.

But the greedy robbers who ravaged the city and razed it to the ground did not rest on this. It seemed to them that the Carthaginians, whose wealth was legendary, had hidden their jewels before the last battle. And for many more years, treasure seekers prowled the dead city.

24 years after the destruction of Carthage, the Romans began to rebuild a new city in its place according to their own models - with wide streets and squares, with white-stone palaces, temples and public buildings. Everything that somehow managed to survive the defeat of Carthage was now used in the construction of a new city, which was being revived in the Roman style.

In less than a few decades, Carthage, which had risen from the ashes, turned in beauty and importance into the second city of the state. All historians who described Carthage during the Roman period spoke of it as a city in which "luxury and pleasure reign."

But Roman rule was not eternal either. By the middle of the 5th century, the city fell under the rule of Byzantium, and after a century and a half, the first military units of the Arabs came here. In retaliation, the Byzantines returned the city to themselves, but only for three years, and then it remained forever in the hands of the new conquerors.

The Berber tribes greeted the arrival of the Arabs calmly and did not interfere with the spread of Islam. Arab schools were opened in all cities and even small villages, literature, medicine, theology, astronomy, architecture, folk crafts began to develop ...

During Arab rule, when dynasties at war with each other were replaced very often, Carthage is relegated to the background. Once again destroyed, it could no longer rise, turning into a symbol of majestic immortality. The people and the ruthless time left nothing from the former greatness of Carthage - the city that ruled over half of the ancient world. Neither the German lighthouse, nor the stone from the fortress wall, nor the temple of the god Eshmun, on the steps of which the defenders of the great ancient city fought to the last.

Now on the site of the legendary city - a quiet suburb of Tunisia. A small peninsula cuts into the horseshoe-shaped harbor of the former military fort. Here you can see the fragments of columns and blocks of yellow stone - all that remains of the palace of the admiral of the Carthaginian fleet. Historians believe that the palace was erected so that the admiral could always see the ships he commanded. And yet only a pile of stones (presumably from the acropolis) and the foundation of the temple of the gods Tanit and Baal testify that Carthage was in fact a real place on earth. And turn the wheel of history differently, Carthage instead of Rome could become the ruler of the ancient world.

Since the middle of the twentieth century, excavations have been carried out there, and it turned out that not far from Birsa, a whole quarter of Carthage was preserved under a layer of ash. To this day, all our knowledge of the great city is mostly evidence of its enemies. And therefore the testimonies of Carthage itself are now acquiring more and more importance. Tourists from all over the world come here to stay on this ancient land and feel its great past. Carthage is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and therefore it must be preserved ...

"Carthage must be destroyed" (lat. Carthago delenda est, Carthaginem delendam esse) is a Latin catch phrase meaning an insistent call to fight an enemy or obstacle. In a broader sense - a constant return to the same issue, regardless of the general topic of discussion.

Carthage (date. Qart Hadasht, lat. Carthago, Arabic. قرطاج, Carthage, French. Carthage, ancient Greek.

The name Qart Hadasht (in Punic notation without vowels Qrthdst) is translated from Phoenician as "new city".

Throughout its history, Carthage has been the capital of the Phoenician-founded state of Carthage, one of the largest powers in the Mediterranean. After the Punic Wars, Carthage was taken and destroyed by the Romans, but then rebuilt and was the most important city of the Roman Empire in the province of Africa, a major cultural and then early Christian church center. Then it was captured by vandals and was the capital of the Vandal kingdom. But after the Arab conquest, it fell into decay again.

Currently, Carthage is a suburb of the Tunisian capital, which houses the presidential residence and the University of Carthage.

In 1831, a society for the study of Carthage was opened in Paris. Since 1874, excavations in Carthage have been carried out under the direction of the French Academy of Inscriptions. Since 1973, Carthage exploration has been carried out under the auspices of UNESCO.

Carthaginian state

Carthage founded in 814 BC NS. colonists from the Phoenician city of Tire. After the fall of Phoenician influence, Carthage reassigns the former Phoenician colonies and turns into the capital of the largest state in the Western Mediterranean. By the 3rd century BC. NS. the Carthaginian state subordinates Southern Spain, North Africa, western Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica. After a series of wars against Rome (Punic Wars), it lost its conquests and was destroyed in 146 BC. e., its territory was turned into a province of Africa.

Location

Carthage was founded on a promontory with entrances to the sea in the north and south. The location of the city made it the leader of the Mediterranean sea trade. All ships crossing the sea inevitably passed between Sicily and the coast of Tunisia.

Two large artificial harbors were dug within the city limits: one for the navy, capable of accommodating 220 warships, and the other for commercial trade. On the isthmus that separated the harbor, a huge tower was built, surrounded by a wall.

Roman era

Julius Caesar proposed to establish a Roman colony on the site of the destroyed Carthage (it was founded after his death). Thanks to its convenient location on trade routes, the city soon expanded again and became the capital of the Roman province of Africa, which included the lands of what is now northern Tunisia.

After Rome

During the Great Migration and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, North Africa was captured by vandals and Alans who made Carthage the capital of their state. This state existed until 534, when the generals of the East Roman emperor Justinian I returned the African lands of the empire. Carthage became the capital of the Carthaginian Exarchate.

The fall

After the conquest of North Africa Arabs the city of Kairouan, founded by them in 670, became the new center of the Ifrikia region, and Carthage quickly faded away.

In an effort to master significant areas of North Africa, the Carthaginians began colonizing both on the coast of modern Tunisia and Algeria, and in the fertile areas within these countries. Brave Carthaginian navigators went out to the Atlantic Ocean and founded settlements on the Atlantic coast of modern Morocco and Mauritania. Particularly active colonization of these places is associated with the great expedition of Gannon, which consisted of 60 ships and 30 thousand people. The seizure of vast territories in Africa and the founding of many Carthaginian colonies (some of them turned into large cities, for example Cirta), together with the former possessions of Carthage in the south of Spain, on the island of Sardinia, in the west of Sicily, turned this state into a vast empire with a large population and large potential opportunities, created the basis for economic prosperity and growth of political power. Socio-economic relations in Carthage (V-III centuries BC). In the V-IV centuries. BC NS. Carthage was the largest center for intermediary trade in the Mediterranean. Goods from various regions of the Eastern Mediterranean passed through it: Phenicia, Egypt, Asia Minor, a number of Greek cities, as well as from the depths of the Sahara, from the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula. Most of these goods were resold in ‘other areas of the Mediterranean, with great benefit to Carthaginian traders. The protection of the trade interests of the Carthaginian oligarchy, domination on the most important trade routes of the Mediterranean were ensured by a whole system of agreements between Carthage and other states. Thus, he concluded three treaties with Rome, according to which the economic interests of Carthage on the most important sea routes around Italy and the Western Mediterranean were jealously guarded. In the system of Carthaginian trade relations, the trade in slaves and metals played a special role. The main suppliers of slaves were the Negro and Libyan tribes of Africa, metals were exported mainly from Spain.

Carthage in the 5th-3rd centuries BC NS. was also a large craft center: in the city there were numerous workshops, served mainly by slaves of one or two dozen people, where a variety of ceramics, figurines, and precious metal products were produced. The hired Carthaginian army was supplied with weapons (swords, spears, javelins, shells and helmets, etc.), made in city workshops. The Carthaginians were skilled builders. The city was surrounded by powerful defensive walls, inside which magnificent temples, houses of the nobility were built, numerous warehouses and docks were erected in the harbors. The most efficient force was the navy, which consisted of several hundred well-equipped ships. The Carthaginians were considered not only skillful sailors, but also skillful shipbuilders.

Capture of vast territories in North Africa in the 5th-4th centuries. BC NS. created favorable conditions for the development of intensive agriculture, which is of great importance in the Carthaginian economy. Local residents who continued to engage in traditional arable farming were taxed at the rate of ‘/ th of the harvest; they often doubled this share. They were dependent on the Carthaginians, their freedom was limited, although they were not considered slaves. Agriculture reached a particularly high level in slave estates. Their owners organized a highly productive economy with extensive vineyards, olive groves, orchards and vegetable gardens. The city of Carthage was surrounded by a whole belt of such well-cultivated slaveholding estates. In the distant periphery of Carthage, there were indigenous tribes engaged in primitive arable farming; they also paid heavy taxes to the Carthaginians.

It was also restless inside Carthage. The urban plebs, although they were fed by the Carthaginian oligarchy, nevertheless quite often showed discontent, creating social tension in the city itself.

Political structure of Carthage. The political system of Carthage was an oligarchy that expressed the interests of a relatively narrow group of the richest Carthaginian families. In the V-IV centuries. BC NS. the supreme officials were two Sufets, elected for one year and endowed with supreme civil authority. However, all state affairs were decided in the Council of 30 and the Council of Elders, numbering 300 members. The supreme control body was Council 104, which also had judicial functions. These councils were staffed from representatives of the richest and noble families, who rarely allowed members of other social groups into their midst. A popular assembly was also convened in Carthage, consisting of persons who had the title of a Carthaginian citizen, but it played a small role in the general system of political organization. All affairs in the state were carried out by the omnipotent Carthaginian oligarchy. The oligarchs themselves, who sat in the aforementioned councils, carefully watched so that some aristocratic family did not grow strong enough to seize all power and establish one-man rule in the form of tyranny. Carthage's internal political history is filled with a fierce struggle for power. Usually, successful generals, who relied on a devoted mercenary army, acted as contenders for sole power. Back in the middle of the 6th century. BC NS. the commander Malchus, after successful conquests in Sicily, together with the army, crossed to Carthage and established his dictatorship, pushing into the background the Carthaginian oligarchic bodies. However, his power turned out to be fragile, and after unsuccessful wars in Sardinia, Malchus was expelled from Carthage. Soon after the overthrow of Malchus, the family of the noble aristocrat Magon came to the leadership in Carthage, who managed to transfer power to his sons and grandchildren and, together with them, hold out at the state helm for over half a century. The Magonids retained power thanks to the successful wars on the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica at the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th century. BC NS. and lost it after crushing defeats from the Greeks in 480 and 474 BC. NS. By the middle of the 5th century. BC NS. the power of the Carthaginian oligarchy was completely restored.

In the second half of the 5th - middle of the 3rd century. BC NS. Carthage was the most powerful state in the western Mediterranean and one of the largest in the entire Mediterranean. At the heart of his political power was a highly developed economy, a dynamic social structure, and a stable political system of the oligarchy. The Carthaginian slave owners managed to suppress the manifestation of social and class discontent, conduct an active foreign policy, and successfully repel the attacks of the Greek cities in Sicily. However, by the 60s of the III-c. BC NS. Carthage met with a new force that entered the arena of the Western Mediterranean - the slave-owning Roman state. A fierce struggle for domination over the Western Mediterranean began between them. During the Punic Wars III - mid-II century. BC NS. the territory of the Carthaginian state became part of the Roman Republic.

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