Rome’s Enemies: Carthage

Author: Hatch, M.A., (2010), “A Postcard from Carthage”, first published in The Imperial Courier, Volume 4, Issue 10, THE RMRS, pp. 4-7.

History  From the 10th-century BC the North African coast was colonised first by Phoenicians and then by Greeks.  Originally a Phoenician trading town, Carthage (from the Phoenician Qart-Hadasht or “New City”), was one of the ancient world’s foremost cities.  It was traditionally founded in 814 BC by the Phoenician princess Elissa, also known as Dido, who fled Tyre after her husband was murdered by her brother, King Pygmalion.  Landing in North Africa, she persuaded the local ruler, Iarbus, to give her as much land as could be covered by the hide of a single bull.  Elissa proceeded to cut the hide of her largest bull into one continuous thin strip which was stretched round what became known as the Hill of Byrsa (Greek: “hide”).  Carthage was born.

From its enviable location on an arrowhead-shaped peninsula centrally located between East and West, Carthage rose to become a powerful trading influence in the Mediterranean to rival the expansionist Rome.  The clash of these two competing “titans” led to the three Punic Wars that culminated in the capture and destruction of Carthage by the Romans in 146 BC.  Space precludes an analysis of the struggle for Mediterranean supremacy, but a century later, in 44 BC, Gaius Iulius Caesar established a Roman city on the razed site.

The new city rose, phoenix like, to prominence as one of the three great ports of the Roman Mediterranean.  With a population of about 300,000 in the early 3rd-century AD, Roman Carthage was second only to Rome in the western empire.

A magnet for trade, overseas visitors, and refugees in late antiquity, Carthage was known for its deep attachment to Roman culture and civic life.  Carthage honoured many gods, the most important being the divine couple of Tanit and Ba'al Hammon.  Carthaginian priests were clean shaven, unlike most of the population.  In the first centuries of the city ritual celebrations included rhythmic dancing, derived from Phoenician traditions.  The goddess Astarte seems to have been popular in early times, and it appears that Carthage also hosted an array of divinities from the neighbouring civilisations of Greece, Egypt and the Etruscan city-states.

By AD 200, a flourishing Christian community had established itself in Carthage.  Writing to a pagan audience from Carthage in AD 197, Tertullian proclaimed that the Christians “have filled every place among you.”  So much so that at the Council at Carthage in AD 397, the Biblical canon for the western Church was confirmed.

The Donatist schism, a major rift in North African Christianity, was born in Carthage in AD 312.  It ended officially in the Baths of Gargilius in the summer of AD 411, after drawing the intense attention of St. Augustine of Hippo and other theologians and authorities.

Although the city was taken by the Vandals in the 5th-century AD, much of it continued to flourish under their rule.  While some public buildings fell into neglect, many church buildings, private houses, and some baths were rebuilt and decorated with mosaics and sculpture.

Carthage's economy collapsed around AD 650 when its harbours went out of use, and the city was captured by the Arabs in AD 698.  Today, Carthage is nothing but an area of ruins and foundations alongside the Mediterranean, not far from Tunis.

What to see  Today it is mainly the Roman sites (theatres, temples, villas and baths) that can be seen in Carthage.  Among the highlights are the ruins of the amphitheatre and the Antonine Baths, once the largest baths built by the Romans.  One can get a great view of Carthage by climbing the nearby Byrsa Hill, on which you'll also find the National Museum of Carthage.  This small museum displays mosaics, sculptures and artefacts from the period before Carthage was destroyed by Rome in 146 BC.

Punic Carthage  Very little remains of Punic Carthage.  Indeed, it was not until the late 20th-century that the city’s position was definitively established.  Excavations have revealed tombs and house foundations around Byrsa Hill now crowned by a disused cathedral.  According to Strabo, Punic Carthage was an impressive place with buildings six-storeys high and a population of 700,000.  Visible today is one excavated block of Punic shops and houses on the South side of the hill that provide an impression of what the city must have once looked like.  Most buildings were of sun-dried brick and stone.  Walls were faced with plaster and floors decorated with simple mosaics or coloured cement (opus tesselata).  Shops opened onto the street, with access to the first floor living-quarters via a small courtyard.  Beneath each building was a deep plaster-lined cistern for collecting rainwater.

Naval Power  Punic Carthage’s famous harbour consisted of two basins connected by a channel.  The outer rectangular one was for merchant shipping, while the inner circular harbour was exclusively military, with an admiralty building on a central isle.  The harbours are still used today albeit by local fishermen who, it seems, continue the traditional practice of fishing for octopuses using ceramic amphora-style jars.

The “Tophet”  Inland from the harbour, excavation has revealed the infamous “Tophet” - a sanctuary dedicated to the god Ba’al-Hammon and his consort Tanit, patron goddess of Carthage.  The site covers approximately 5 acres and contained thousands of cinerary urns.  Some burials were marked by stone tablets with dedicatory formulae and symbols representing the gods.  The term “Tophet” is drawn from biblical sources and refers to a ritual place of burning.  It was adopted by archaeologists who, following Roman authors such as Diodorus, determined the site was used for the ritual sacrifice of infants.  There is very strong disagreement as to whether living children were sacrificed, or whether the sanctuary was set aside for those children who died naturally given that infant mortality was high in the ancient world.

Roman Carthage  In spite of the curse on the site, in 123 BC the Tribune Gaius Gracchus attempted the founding of a colony (“Junonia”).  The attempt failed for political reasons and it was not until 46 BC, under Gaius Iulius Caesar, that rebuilding began in earnest.  In 29 BC Colonia Iulia Carthago was officially founded.  The new “New City” remained an important port throughout the Roman period and the 5th-century AD occupation by the Vandals.  It was redeveloped during the Byzantine re-occupation in the late 6th-century, but with the arrival of the Arabs in AD 647 Carthage was subsequently ignored.  The fifth and newest set of overlords chose to establish their capitol at Kairouan following an Arabic practice of not occupying existing sites.

Antonine Baths  Despite recent excavation and restoration work, great quantities of Roman building material had long since been removed from the site of Carthage.  Many mosques and palaces in North Africa and Spain, including the Alhambra in Granada, were built with Romano-Carthagian masonry. Similarly, the best statues and mosaics now reside in museum collections such as the Bardo in Tunis and the Louvre in Paris.  Of the remaining buildings the grandest is the Baths of Antoninus.  Begun by the Emperor Hadrian, the bath complex was developed by his successor Antoninus Pius in AD 146.  Dedicatory inscriptions also refer to his two adopted sons, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus in AD 161-2.  Once the largest baths in the Empire, the upper storeys have all disappeared, with only the elaborate heating arrangements now visible.  A residential quarter was once located behind the Baths.  Some of the houses and a nymphaeum have been preserved.  A semi-circular esplanade paved with mosaics is the site of the Bath’s latrines.

Amphitheatre  Carthage’s amphitheatre was once one of the largest in the Roman world, with seating for an estimated 20,000 spectators.  A surviving 12th-century description of the amphitheatre suggests the circular structure was supported on 50 vaults above which were rows of arches, one rising above the other, all of the same form and size made out of “Kaddzan” stone.  Above each row of arches there were described a circuit of panels on which were various reliefs and strange figures of persons, animals and ships.  The stone seating and superstructure has long since been robbed for its construction potential.  A small Christian chapel remains, however, in the centre of the arena dedicated to Perpetua and her companions.  The chapel was built in the 19th-century by the White Fathers, a Christian monastic brotherhood, as a reminder of those “martyrs” who died in the amphitheatre.

Farewell to Carthage  The preceding paragraphs can only convey a flavour of Carthage.  A visit in person will offer far greater insight than mere words. The visitor should be prepared that the ancient city has been extensively built upon, however.  But this should not be a deterrent as Tunisia contains far more spectacular remains from the Roman period.  If this has been of any interest, then perhaps postcards could arrive from the Roman city of Dougga, the impressive amphitheatre at El Djem (Thysdrus), and the Punic town of Kerkouane.