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Home / Periods / Ancient World / Carthage

Period

Carthage

814–146 BCE

Carthage began as a Phoenician settlement in North Africa and grew into a major maritime and commercial power. It controlled trade routes, colonies and influence across parts of North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, Spain and the western Mediterranean. Its society combined merchant wealth, naval strength, aristocratic politics and religious traditions rooted partly in Phoenician culture.

Carthage matters above all because its rivalry with Rome shaped the fate of the western Mediterranean. The Punic Wars turned Carthage from a commercial superpower into Rome’s defeated enemy, and the destruction of the city in 146 BC became one of antiquity’s defining acts of conquest. Hannibal’s campaign against Rome gave Carthage an enduring place in historical memory.

Carthage is central to historical fiction about Hannibal and the Punic Wars, including Ross Leckie’s Hannibal trilogy, Ben Kane’s Hannibal series and Flaubert’s Salammbô. Stories set here often follow merchants, sailors, mercenaries, aristocratic families, commanders, spies and civilians living under the pressure of Roman expansion. Carthage bridges Phoenician, North African, Roman and military fiction.

Related people for Carthage

Alexander of Lyncestisc. 5th century BCE–331 BCE Alexander the Great357 BCE–324 BCE Antigonus I Monophthalmusc. 382–301 BCE Antipater398 BCE–320 BCE Aristotle385 BCE–323 BCE Bagoasc. 5th century BCE–c. 4th century BCE Cassander356 BCE–297 BCE Darius III381 BCE–331 BCE Dion of Syracuse410 BCE–355 BCE Dionysius II of Syracuse398 BCE–344 BCE Eurydice II of Macedon337 BCE–318 BCE Gaius Terentius Varrodied c. 3rd century BCE Hamilcar Barcac. 275–229/228 BCE Hannibal247–c. 183 BCE Hasdrubal Barcac. 245–207 BCE Hephaestionc. 356 BCE–324 BCE Lucius Aemilius Paullusdied 217 BCE Magoc. 243–203/202 BCE Mathosdied 238 BCE Olympias376 BCE–317 BCE Parmenion401 BCE–330 BCE Perdiccas366 BCE–322 BCE Philip III of Macedon360 BCE–318 BCE Philip II of Macedonc. 382–336 BCE Ptolemy I Soter369/368–282 BCE Roxana348 BCE–311 BCE Scipio Aemilianus186 BCE–130 BCE Scipio Africanusc. 236–c. 183 BCE Spendiusdied 239 BCE

Books

9 Best Novels About Carthage

Non-Fiction

3 Best Non-Fiction Books About Carthage

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.