Carthage- city in present day Tunisia, dominated the commerce of the western Mediterranean, there was a tradition/story that a member of the royal family of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre fled with her supporters to the western Mediterranean, where they cleverly won the land. A Phoenician colony, established around 814 B.C.E., controlled the middle portion of the Mediterranean, stretched between the original hilltop citadel and a double harbor, had a population of roughly 400,000, ethnically diverse, each year two “judges” were elected from upper class families to serve as heads of state, however the real power was in the senate where wealthy merchant families served for life, power rested on the navy, which was strong and effective, foreign policy reflected economic interests, few records of what was traded, there is evidence that trade was done with sub-Saharan Africa, did not directly rule a large amount of land, they ruled a core area and then indirectly ruled and allowed other communities to remain independent, but still looked to Carthage for military protection, heavy emphasis on trade, citizens were not required to serve in the army, when involved in conflicts with Rome or …show more content…
They did not have a particularly strong army and relied on mercenaries from neighboring areas to fight major battles and deal with conflicts, they also ruled most of their territory indirectly. This suggests the the people here focuses on trade as source of income and support, as opposed to conquest and expansion. Lack of a strong military also suggests that there may have been a stronger focus on arts and academic pursuits. Ruling indirectly may have been a choice made based on the lack of a strong military, or it could have been that it was preferred to allow other to govern themselves and have less administrative
Economically they didn’t have the vast trading networks that the Europeans had. They did have some reginal trade but not across the entire continent. I think had they had a larger trade system they could have helped each other out technologically increasing their ability to resist some of that conquest.
They left behind complex society and were building towns while the rest of the civilization was still unsophisticated. This tells us that they were very smart in business and were able to make money by producing businesses and towns.
They typically grew crops and cattle and there were also many skilful craft workers who would make wooden carvings and long ships
Carthage had two magistrates called suffites who were like the Roman consuls. Carthage had a council of elders called hundred just like the Romans had the senate. Carthage also had trading colonies just as Rome had her colonies around Italy. Rome was rich and Carthage was rich; Rome was rich thanks to the taxes that conquered colonies paid to her. Carthage was rich because of trade between the West and the East that is why Carthage was called the great merchant of the Mediterranean. Even in the end of the Carthage Empire, both Rome and Carthage had similarities. The sons of some of their best soldiers were the leaders of their armies Pablius Scipius
When trading expanded into the Mediterranean, trading became more successful because there were more valuable trading goods and more people to trade amongst. Carthage, a large city with a large population of different types of people, had authority over the middle section of the Mediterranean. Carthage, ruled over part of the empire indirectly, while other communities were left to be independent on their own. Greek and Roman writers were captivated by the beliefs and sacrifices of the
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
Carthage and Rome were two equally powerful republic city-states that were in a race to secure territory for the development of their empires. Their strengths and weaknesses are easily identified, Carthage dominated the sea and Rome the land, and since they were both independant, how different were their governments?
The main difference between the two powers was that Rome allowed its people to play a part in government and Carthage's political system was ruled by the elite. Carthage was great through its leadership, but Rome became great through its unity and the incorporation of its people into its ruling
[She excitedly scurried into her Charms class, sitting down. Today, the class would be learning about words and the power they possess. "The earliest known alphabet was known as the Phoenician Alphabet, dating back to at least 1050 B.C." The professor spoke with a calm, cool tone. He began explaining how the alphabet is an important asset, because it has been around so long without any huge changes to it. The Phoenician alphabet can still be linked to the modern one we have today. Brooklyn began to listen even more intently when he spoke of the importance of incantations. Most of them trace back to Latin roots, she learned. And that an incantation requires precise pronunciation to be finished correctly.
Elyssa_Dido fled from her brother Pygmalion, the king of Tyre, after he killed her husband. The post benefited from the vast market for the goods that it traded and grew in importance quickly. It first had warehouses in which raw metals and finished metal products which the Phoenicians used and had made were stored. Carthage then started making metal products for Spain. These products were cheap due to they traded these cheap goods to Spain for the raw metals. Carthage soon became a huge trading empire, containing much of
Carthaginians were wealthy and from the North Africans city that was founded by Phoenician’s they had more power, military, and naval experience than the Romans (Backman, Cultures of the West, p.184). Because Carthaginians were trying to expand into Sicily which held just one of Rome’s greatest grain producing cities this unsettled the Romans, who feared being cut off from a great food source (Backman, Cultures of the West, p.184). Though they tried a workable solution of sharing control of the Mediterranean this was not to be. This inability to work together was one of the reasons for the start of the Punic wars, a series of three different wars (Jones, Rome, Podcast 1). In the bloody 3rd war of the Punic wars Rome defeated the Carthaginians (Jones, Rome, Podcast 1). After the Punic wars the Romans had found they had accumulated vast amounts of wealth and land. This put them in an awkward position, because they had no plan in place for this and did not know what to do with it (Backman, Cultures of the West, p.187). This huge wealth also created a problem for Rome, one of greed and corruption which began to take control over Rome (Backman, Cultures of the West, p.187). Senators who amassed wealth begun to become lazy and accustomed to a life of leisure, also the more wealth they got the more they wanted (Jones, Rome, Podcast 1). The next problem for Rome was these greedy senators not only wanted the wealth they wanted power too
In the case of Carthage, myth tells us that Queen Dido, along with the Phoenicians from Tyre, fled and settled in northern Africa. Morey (1901) tells us that the Carthage was an empire based upon trade and business. She grew strong as a merchant, trading many products, including oils, linens, and minerals, as well as establishing trade pacts with many countries around the Mediterranean. According
Dictator How are the wars between Rome and Carthage called? Punic Who was Hannibal? strategist from Carthage Who had the right to vote? free men Name some city states!
After so many battles, such as against the Latins, Etruscans, and the Samnites, Rome was at her strongest than ever before. The Romans had such great power, that they wanted more than just the conquering of Italy (Morey, 1901). In the ambition for more, the Romans encountered the city of Carthage – which was a growing city building upon their strength that Rome wished acquire (Morey, 1901). In the following we will take a look at how the city of Carthage began, the power that each city contained, and how such ambitions led to Rome becoming a great naval power.
When Rome encountered Carthage on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea it found a nation that was nearly equal in military strength and resources. Surprisingly the two governments were very similar as well. When two great nations need to expand their area of influence in close proximity to each other war is almost inevitable. Though Rome was the greater power I will attempt to show how Carthage almost became its equal and how this great century old conflict was the catalyst that turned Rome into a mighty naval power. The rise of Carthage’s ability to nearly overcoming Rome and its rise to power over the region could almost entirely be credited to the heroic efforts of Hannibal.