Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization, Richard Miles, c. 2010

Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization, Richard Miles, c. 2010. 939.73MIL.

Author teaches history at the University of Sydney and is a Fellow-Commoner of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. Huge authority on this subject.

 Carthage: under siege by the Romans for nearly three years.

146 BC -- final assault.

Carthage commander: Hasdrubal.
Roman commander: Scipio Aemilianus.

Prologue

The prologue tells the whole story.

Hasdrubal's wife: threw her children and herself into the fire set by the Carthaginians themselves upon seeing Hasdrubal surrender to Scipio.

Introduction

• four players:
• Carthaginian founders
• Greeks on the island of Sicily
• Romans, Rome
• Numidian princes, 146 BC -- local Roman allies

Vergil's Carthage - Rome myth:

• Dido-Aeneas romance
• Aeneas callously deserted Carthaginian queen in order to go off to Italy, where his descendants eventually founded Rome -- this myth invented by Vergil.

Hannibal defeated in the Second Punic War.

Hannibal made larger than life -- another Roman telling.

The Romans re-wrote the history of Carthage.

Carthaginians and Phoenicians named their children after Phoenician gods -- limited number of gods -- making individuals confusing based on names.

Hannibal: the grace of Baal
Bodaštart: "in the hands of Astarte," the goddess of fertility

Great hero Heracles (or Hercules) plays a huge role in this story.

Chapter I:
Feeding The Beast:
The Phoenicians and the Discovery of the West

The Land of the Colour Purple

Quickly:

9th century BC

Assyrians: to the east; land-locked

Phoenicia: on the coast --

Can'nai -->Phoínkes (a name given to them by the Greeks; they did not call themselves by that name) --> Rome united that entire are a thousand years later, creating a province by that name (Phoenicia)

3rd millennium BC: invented sea-going ships

Cities

• Byblos
• Sidon
• Tyre
• Arvad (a common name in North Dakota when I was growing up: Arvid -- Lebanese origin? Would make sense)
• Beirut

Tenth century BC: Tyre became dominant

• kings Abibaal and then Hiram

diplomacy with David, then Solomon (Israeli) -- 961BC when Solomon ascended to the throne

Hiram / Solomon: commercial agreement between Tyre and Israel

Tyre supplied timber and skilled craftsmen to build two magnificent bldgs in Jerusalem: a temple to the Israelite god, Yahweh, and a royal palace.

Tyre's god: Baal.

Tyre-Israel excursions to Sudan, Somalia, possibly Indian Ocean

Relations further strengthened with marriage of daughter of King Ithobaal I of Tyre to the infamous Jezebel ("Jezebaal"?) to the new king of Israel, Ahab.

Still King Hiram

The Phoenician gods

Hiram: a new personal god -- Melqart = "King of the City"

His consort, the goddess Astarte.

The demise of the old gods.

El continued as the chief deity of Tyre; the three storm gods Baal Shamen, Baal Malagê, and Baal Saphon maintained their seniority. But Melqart was now the undisputed divine patron of the royal house -- 

Idea may have been imported from Byblos where Baalat Gubal was "the Lady of Byblos"

Fire and effigies were big deals for the Phoenicians

Many pages of Tyre, Melqart, etc.

Island-hopping across the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.