Excuse me: When and where was the capital of ancient Carthage established, and when and where did it die? Why perish? Who was the first king?

Carthage (Qrthdst, the word comes from Phoenician, meaning "new city") is located on the north coast of Africa (now Tunisia), facing Rome across the sea. Finally, it was defeated by Rome in three Punic wars and perished.

Cheng Jian

According to the available information, Carthage was built before Rome, but the exact time is unknown. It is generally believed that in the 9th century BC, immigrants from the Phoenician city-state Tyrus crossed the Mediterranean and established Carthage as a transit point for a large number of slave trade and maritime trade.

Early history

From the 8th century BC to the 6th century BC, Carthage began to expand inland to Africa, and took control of most Phoenician colonies in North Africa. At the same time, Carthage also marched into the western Mediterranean, occupied the southern coast of Spain and its nearby islands of Sardinia, Corsica and western Sicily, and began to dominate the western Mediterranean, controlling the eastern and western sides of the Mediterranean with Greece respectively.

Hegemony with Greece

From the 6th century BC, Carthage began to have conflicts with the Greeks who wanted to get their hands on the western Mediterranean. Around 535 BC, the Carthaginians and Etruscans defeated a Greek fleet off the coast of Corsica. However, in 480 BC, the Greek army led by Lord Gron of Syracuse and Lord Tron of Accra defeated Carthage's army in Sicily. In the next hundred years, Catalonia and Greece competed for the hegemony of the Mediterranean.

Until the early 4th century BC, Greece was weakened after the Peloponnesian War and began to stop colonizing Sicily. The dispute between Carthage and Greece came to an end after King Pirus of Greece waged the largest war against Carthage for the Greek city-state of Sicily. But instead, it was a war with a more terrible opponent-Rome.

economic development

Carthage has become the trade center of the western Mediterranean because of its powerful navy, and it has huge commercial income every year. As mentioned earlier, Carthage has a huge fleet, and its residents are good at sailing, so its commercial activities such as trafficking in slaves, metals, luxury goods, wine and olive oil at sea are very vigorous. At the same time, its cottage industry is also very developed, among which the textile industry is the most famous. Moreover, the land in its inland area, Bagradas Valley, is very fertile, so even in North Africa, Carthage has developed agriculture, so slavery manor also appeared.

Government structure

Carthage was ruled by aristocratic oligarchs, and conflicts of interest often occurred between the two ruling classes, commercial slave owners and agricultural slave owners, which caused indecision when fighting Rome in the future. There are two top administrative officials, Sofitel, who are elected every year, but the voters are limited to the rich Carthaginians, but these two Sofitels have no military power. Like Rome, Carthage has a Senate of 300 people. The Senate has legislative power and decision-making power, and members serve for life. There is also a citizens' assembly, but its power is limited. In addition, there is a committee of 100 Committee with 104 members, which is responsible for supervision and judgment.

The first Punic war

After Rome unified Italy in the 4th century BC, it began to March into the Mediterranean Sea, which conflicted with Carthage's interests. But the war was started by the Romans, who ignored the three friendly declarations signed with Carthage in the past and unexpectedly crossed the sea to attack Carthage's colony in Sicily on the grounds of protecting Sicilian allies. Carthage's navy was famous in the Mediterranean at that time, but the navy established in Rome defeated Carthage's navy one after another, which made Carthage's army in Sicily not have enough support. But interestingly, in this case, the Carthaginian army, which has always been inferior to the Roman army, was led by the famous Hamilkar and tied with the Roman army. In this case, the war lasted for 23 years (263 BC-24 BC1year), and finally Carthage made peace with Rome, ending the war on the condition that Carthage completely withdrew from Sicily and paid reparations to Rome.

Second Punic War

The nobles of Carthage were willing to accept the terms of the peace treaty, but Hamika was unwilling and determined to take revenge. Unfortunately, he died before this wish was realized, and his last wish was inherited by his son Hannibal. In order to cultivate enough strength to compete with Rome, Hannibal led the army to occupy the Iberian Peninsula, where he would build a new Carthage. Full-fledged, in 2 18 BC, he led an army across the Alps, which was regarded as the natural barrier of Rome, joined forces with the local Gauls and defeated the Roman army throughout Italy. Among them, after the Battle of Canny, the Roman army of about 70,000 people was completely annihilated. However, the foundation of the Roman Union was too thick for Hannibal to completely disintegrate, which gave Rome a breathing space. From 2 12 BC, Rome turned into a counter-offensive state and directly attacked Carthage, forcing Hannibal to return to the rescue. As a result, Hannibal's strength declined because of his thousands of miles of help, and the soldiers also looked exhausted. Finally, Hannibal was defeated by Corneli Uus Scipio at the Battle of Zama. In 20 1 BC, Carthage was forced to sign a harsh peace treaty with the Romans. According to the treaty, Carthage will lose all its territory except Africa, hand over the entire fleet to Rome, and pay huge war reparations. Carthage lost all the territory of the Iberian Peninsula, the navy was dissolved, and there were only 10 anti-piracy ships. This war lasted for 16 years (2 18 years BC-202 years BC). After this battle, Carthage was no longer able to fight against Rome.

The Third Punic War

In BC 149, in order to prevent Carthage from recovering, the Romans decided to pre-empt and besiege Carthage. After three years of tenacious resistance, the Carthaginians were defeated by Emilian Corneli Scipio, commander-in-chief of the Roman army, in the spring of 146 BC. After this war, Rome decided to raze Carthage to the ground, bloodbath Carthage, search from house to house, find out and kill all the residents. The port of Carthage was also destroyed, and the stage of Carthage as a country became history. The third Punic War lasted only three years (BC 149-BC 146), which was shorter than the previous two wars. It can be seen that there is nothing wrong with Rome's preemptive decision.

It is said that the land around Carthage is salted, so it can't have any life. However, salt sprinkling was not recorded in the war history, and salt was very expensive at that time, so now scholars think that salt sprinkling is just a symbol and has not really been done.

complete obiteration

In 122 BC, Rome established a colony here, and then in Caesar's time, Rome sent some landless citizens here. Since Augustus ruled in 29 BC, Rome has regarded Carthage as a part of African provinces. In the 4th century AD, the Roman Empire divided Carthage into the Western Roman Empire. In the 5th century, the Western Roman Empire collapsed. At this time, the Vandals took the opportunity to invade Carthage, occupied most countries along the northern coast of Africa, and established Vandals in Allen. In the 7th century, Arabs marched into neighboring countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, and in their Umayyad era, they conquered most of the territories in North Africa, including Carthage. 1217-1221year, after the fifth crusade swept Carthage, this ancient city, which experienced vicissitudes of life, was severely damaged and finally completely disappeared in the long river of history.

historic site

There are many relics in Carthage, such as bunkers, canals, temples, concert halls, theaters, bathhouses, arenas and other relics.