Phoenicia reached the height of its power and influence during 200-800BC, establishing mercantile trading colonies across the northern coast of Africa and the Iberian peninsula (including Carthage in 814), developing the world's first written alphabet and, around 1000 B.C. Unlike the Assyrians, the Phoenicians waged no great wars of conquest. Assyria conquering most of the Fertile Crescent, including Phoenicia. The Carthaginians merged with North African Berbers and Iberians to create the Punic civilization that vied with Rome until 146 B.C. when the city was burned to the ground.
Phoenicia reached the height of its power and influence during 200-800BC, establishing mercantile trading colonies across the northern coast of Africa and the Iberian
“No nation was ever ruined by trade.” This quote was said by Benjamin Franklin in the late 1700s. These words are so simple, and it seems like anyone could have said them. However, this quote has a bigger meaning in that throughout world history, trade has been so important to so many countries and it has led to many empires successes. It has occurred for a very long time, and it has progressed dramatically. Trade has changed a lot, but some parts of trade stayed the same over a long periods of time. In the era between 300 CE and 1450 CE, trade between Eurasia and Africa changed because the empires and kingdoms in power were replaced and their control over trade differed;
At the start of this period in 300 C.E, Afro-Eurasian trade was not very sophisticated. There was some collaboration with cultures in the Mediterranean. European goods were brought to
Carthage gained her power through the wealth of trade and commere, bringing the northern African colonies and cities of Sicily under control, solidified her dominance in the Mediterranean. Through wealth comes strength and the ability to obtain more wealth by expanding one’s territory, which brought Carthage to desire the Greek cities of Italy also (Morey, 1901). The very cities bordering Rome, leading to the beginning of hostilities between Carthage and Rome.
People of the early African kingdoms were able to create successful trade routes with Europe and Asia, become very wealthy from conquering and gaining land, and were able to have a strong central government. All of this was done before the Europeans had reached Africa. Trade flourished on the East African coast, especially when trading was established with India and Arabia. African kingdoms were prosperous, because of their success with not only trading but also with their ability to conquer land. A governmental structure is key to allowing any kingdom to thrive, and the African people were able to achieve this.
By 200 BC, Rome was quickly becoming one of the world’s greatest empires with their excellent military conquering territory from modern day Scotland to Spain. After the Punic Wars and the defeat of Carthage, Rome had full control of the Mediterranean region, establishing colonies in North Africa, Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia Minor. Julius Caesar became Rome’s first emperor using his military influence. Under his reign, Rome shifted from a republic to an empire under the rule of an emperor and the military. Rome steadily increased in stability, power, and wealth, reaching Pax Romana (the time of Roman peace) under Emperor Augustus Caesar. Rome was forced to discover, as many other
Trade was one aspect of the advancement of African Kingdoms before the arrival of Europeans. Trade notably developed due to the location of Aksum, a kingdom in Eastern Africa. Aksum was elongated from the Red Sea to the mountains, in which is present day Ethiopia.
Be able to describe the East African trading centers PRIOR to the arrival of the Portuguese.
Purposely difficult and intentionally obsessive, Plato’s Phaedrus is an exceedingly difficult read that defies all conventional logic as a piece of discourse. The text is extremely subjective, open to interpretation and individual creativity as to what or whom the narrative is about. Written by Plato, a close disciple of Socrates, this text is set along the Illissus river where Phaedrus and Socrates meet for a day of speech, debate, rhetoric and okay…flirting. Phaedrus leads of the day and recites a speech by his close friend Lysias, who Phaedrus considers to be a top speechmaker. Socrates then, after chiding by Phaedrus unleashes two speeches of his own that overshadow and refute Lysias claim so boldly that Phaedrus is so taken by the
There is no other way to look at what the African People had for advancements in technology had that kingdom tribes. Europeans arrived in the 15th-16th century, but before that the African people had so many achievements under their belt.These cities became emperors in the 300s. Each empire had their hand in the control of the salt and gold trade. The cities got power from trade and became centers of living. Throughout the 300s cities turned into empires and also fell.The three most known empires in the west are Ghana, Mali, Songhai. Ghana rose to control the power of the trans-saharan gold and salt trade between 700-1067. The Empire of Mali rose around 1235. Within this empire was the city of Timbuktu. Finally the Songhai empire lasted from
The mediterranean had many resources as well as very good traders to develop the economy. The
Although developing several models of what many modern people would call a civilization and finally having most humans adapt to living life in or around the city took thousands of years, by 2,400 BC Sargon had established the first true empire. Despite the honor and glory that came with achieving such a monumental victory for humanity, the empire and its capital lasted for a blink in the eye of history before misfortune cast it aside. Subsequent ruling powers attempted to perfect the system that had failed the Akkadians, each with a seemingly new approach to creating a society that could withstand any negative forces that they might come against. The Phoenicians established and maintained themselves by trade. Greek city-states utilized a wide range of approaches and governing styles. The Macedonians, led by Alexander, modified and melded what those before them had used in order to establish one of the largest empires of all time. All of these great empires believed that they had finally found a way to stand the test of time and remain, and still they fell. The great Trojan walls were taken down by the simplest of schemes. Even the Romans, with their incredible aqueducts, large-scale architecture and a ruling body whose control spread farther than any had imagined, were eventually was disbanded by a series of unfortunate events including Germanic tribes and fanatical emperors.
With the introduction of the hoplite phalanx to the Roman army, came a multitude of wars and long drawn out campaigns that the Romans were involved in throughout the republic period. One such campaign or campaigns that set the Roman republic as the uncontested superpower in the Mediterranean was the Punic Wars. Rome fought three wars against Carthage between 264 and 146 BCE. These wars constituted major events in the history of Rome and the Mediterranean basin (Marcel Le Glay 2009) p. 73. Though these wars were fought for reasons such as competing economics, revenge (most notably the Carthaginian general Hannibal), and a fear that could be related in today’s terms of opposing forces such as (the United States and Soviet Union feared each other during the Cold War) the fact is in the end Rome defeated the Carthaginians, not only were the Carthaginians defeated, but the city of Carthage was demolished and the people massacred or sold into slavery so as not to threaten the Romans ever again. In the fall of the city, in obedience to the Senate’s orders the inhabitants were reduced to slavery or forced to emigrate, the town was burnt and soil was
In the plays of Sophocles, we see various form and displays of political power. It is shown in a variety of ways. In both plays we see very similar displays of political power. When you think of political power today it is very different to how it was viewed back in the time of Sophocles. Sophocles shows examples of political power in his plays and these examples have many connections to people or things. In King Oedipus, we see an arrogant and very mean king. He cares about what the people need and want but he is arrogant and mean about it at the same time. He is also very paranoid about the people around him. During the time of King Oedipus, the king literally controlled everything. Kings during this time often relied on others when it came to making decisions such as the gods. We can ask many questions when it comes to political power in the plays of Sophocles. Can an arrogant leader really make the right choices for the people? We have many examples of how these leaders used their political power. Political power in both of these stories had tragic outcomes. We can also ask if the rulers were really making mad decisions or if they were really just a victim of some unfortunate events. One thing is for sure, political power was really prevalent in the time of Sophocles and we can see that in both King Oedipus and Antigone. We also get a sense of how society and politics were in this period of time by learning from the writing of Sophocles and the actions of Creon and King
The First Punic War started in 264 BC and lasted to 241 BC. In the first half of the 3rd century BC Carthage held many territories that made it easy to control and dominate the western Mediterranean Sea. However, when they
To begin with, the rise in oceanic trading during this time period had a direct and profound impact on Africa. Though this was not the first time in history that the world’s oceans were used to trade with Africa, there was seen a tremendous rise in both the trade’s significance and volume. Note that this increase in trade was not as prevalent on Africa’s interior as it was on coastal Africa, which includes the coastlines of the continent that touch the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. (Getz, 25) The use of the Mediterranean Sea was the main catalyst for the “cosmopolitanization” of Mediterranean Africa for many