Module 054 · Archaeological Intelligence
Carthage Must
Be Destroyed
The rise and fall and rise and fall of a city that Rome could not forget.
Founded by a Phoenician princess on a strip of ox-hide land in 814 BCE. Grew into the wealthiest city in the ancient Mediterranean — a naval superpower whose harbour could dock 220 warships, whose traders reached West Africa and Britain, and whose agricultural knowledge was so advanced that Rome translated its books before burning its libraries. Destroyed so completely in 146 BCE that the Romans debated whether to let it exist at all. Then rebuilt by Julius Caesar into the second-largest city of the western Roman Empire. Then became the intellectual capital of early Christianity — where the Biblical canon was confirmed and Augustine came of age. Then conquered by Vandals. Then by Byzantines. Then destroyed a final time by Arab armies in 698 CE. Today it is a wealthy residential suburb of Tunis with scattered ruins where elephants and senators once walked.
814 BCE
Founded by Dido of Tyre
500,000
Peak population (Punic & Roman)
220
Warships in the military harbour
146 BCE
Destroyed by Rome
397 CE
Biblical canon confirmed here
698 CE
Final destruction — Arab conquest
Section I
The Sites
Toggle between the archaeological ruins at Carthage (9 sites across a 2 × 2.5 km area, now a suburb of Tunis) and the Carthaginian Empire at its peak — colonies from Essaouirato Lebanon.
Section II
The Timeline
From Dido's ox-hide to a symbolic peace treaty. 33 events across 2,800 years. Major events are highlighted. Click any event to expand.
Phoenician
Punic Republic
Punic Wars
Roman
Christian
Vandal
Byzantine
Arab
Modern
Reading Notes
The Ox-Hide Trick
The founding legend of Carthage is a story about intelligence defeating power. Dido asks for "as much land as an ox hide can cover" — a seemingly modest request. Then she cuts the hide into strips thin enough to encircle an entire hill. The Phoenicians called it Byrsa — which sounds like their word for "citadel" but may also echo the Greek byrsa, "ox hide." Whether history or myth, the story encodes the Carthaginian identity: wealth through cleverness, empire through trade, victory through the mind.
The Missing Library
Almost nothing survives of Carthaginian literature. When Rome destroyed the city in 146 BCE, its libraries were either given to Numidian kings or burned. Only one work was deliberately preserved: Mago's 28 books on agriculture, translated into Latin and Greek because the Romans recognised its superior knowledge. This is the paradox of Carthage — a civilisation that contributed serial production, uncoloured glass, the threshing board, and the cothon harbour to human progress, known almost entirely through the words of the people who destroyed it.
The Biblical Canon Was Decided in Tunisia
The Council of Carthage in 397 CE confirmed which books constitute the Bible as the Western Church knows it. Tertullian invented the Latin word for the Trinity here. Perpetua wrote one of the earliest women's texts in Christendom in a Carthaginian prison. Augustine — arguably the most influential Christian thinker after Paul — came of age in this city. North Africa was not peripheral to Christianity. It was the intellectual engine.
Sources
Foundation & Punic Republic: Wikipedia, "Ancient Carthage" and "History of Carthage." Britannica, "Carthage." World History Encyclopedia, "Carthage" and "Punic Wars." Livius.org, "Punic Carthage." Foundation date: Timaeus of Taormina (c. 300 BCE) gives 814 BCE; radiocarbon dating in the 1990s confirms last quarter of 9th century BCE. Hanno's voyage: Periplus of Hanno (Greek translation of Punic original). Population estimates: various sources cite 400,000–500,000 at peak for both Punic and Roman Carthage.
Punic Wars: Polybius, The Histories (primary source). Britannica, "Punic Wars" and "Third Punic War." HISTORY.com, "Punic Wars." Battle of Cannae casualties: estimates vary from 48,000 to 70,000 Roman dead. "Carthago delenda est": attributed to Cato the Elder, reported by Plutarch and Pliny. 146 BCE destruction: Appian, Roman History. Salt myth: no ancient source supports it; first attested 1863.
Roman & Christian Carthage: Wikipedia, "Roman Carthage." Caesar refounding: 49–44 BCE, Colonia Julia Concordia Carthago. Second-largest city: widely cited. Tertullian: "Apology" (c. 197 CE). Perpetua: Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis (203 CE). Council of Carthage (397 CE): confirmation of Biblical canon per Augustine's influence. Augustine quote "cauldron of unholy loves": Confessions, Book 3.
Vandal to Arab: Vandal conquest 439 CE: Victor of Vita, Historia Persecutionis. Belisarius reconquest 533–534 CE: Procopius, History of the Wars. Arab conquest 698 CE: final destruction per Wikipedia "Carthage." UNESCO inscription: 1979 (whc.unesco.org/en/list/37). Peace treaty: 1985 per multiple sources.
Archaeological sites: UNESCO, "Archaeological Site of Carthage." Africanworldheritagesites.org. Wikipedia, "Archaeological site of Carthage." GPS: 36.8529°N, 10.3217°E (Byrsa Hill). Tophet discovery (1921): 20,000+ urns. Antonine Baths: third-largest in Roman world. La Malga Cisterns: 816m long, 50,000–60,000 m³ capacity.
© Dancing with Lions · dancingwithlions.com · All dates approximate before 264 BCE. Carthaginian perspective largely lost due to destruction of archives. This visualisation may not be reproduced without visible attribution.