Interaction between Carthage and Rome

Interaction between Carthage and Rome

Introduction

Carthage was a capital city of civilized Carthaginians which was located on the eastern side of Lake Tunisia sometime back in 813 BCE. Rome is a capital city of Italy, and it is a cosmopolitan city which had nearly 3,000 influential arts during the ancient period. This paper elucidates how the interaction between Cartage and Rome influenced the ancient world thinking. There will be an analysis of the Roman values during the ancient time.

Carthage was known as Karchedon before, but the Romans changed that name after they settled there. The Romans interacted with the Carthaginians through trade and supply of ships repairmen tool. This contributed to the growth and development of the ancient world through the discovery of sailing tools making it easier to supply trading products from Rome to Carthage (Gibbins). Carthage was a powerful city during those periods, and since it was just near the Mediterranean Sea, the Romans could fish and cultivate the land improving their standard of living.

Carthage had a small port on the coastal side which made it easier for the Romans in Rome access the city for production activities and farming. The Romans could use the port as a channel to distribute the farm yield from Carthage to Rome and conduct a barter trade. They could exchange farm products with other commodities as a form of compensation. After the fall of the Phoenician city, they escaped to Carthage with their wealth which contributed to further interaction and integration with the Romans. The Carthaginians used the Africans as slaves on the farm which made the city to grow at a higher rate in that there were no expenses on the labor side but the output was high.

Due to the great expansion of the Carthage, Rome, and Carthage entered into a conflict. However, since Rome was weak that Carthage, she posed no threat at all. The interaction between the Rome and Carthage worsened, but since the Rome had no navy and they had no skills about fighting over the Sea, Rome had to build 330ships and equipped them with ramps and gangways to aid them during the war. Sicily helped the Carthage during the fight which made it difficult for the Rome to fight this city. This led to more thoughts and discovery of new tactics by the Rome on how to defeat the Carthage. So the Romans struggled with military and learning new ways to fight the Carthaginians.

Appian of Alexandria moved to Rome where he became a barrister. He played a role during the time of emperors. He played a role during the Rome and Carthage war especially in the preparation of Corvus. Eventually, through the help of Corvus for the first time Rome won (Maline). This contributed to the Romans invading Carthage and colonizing the Carthaginians who could do nothing about it. The Romans valued being in power and despite having won the war and taking power from the Carthaginians, they had to harass them, and their wish was for the Carthaginians to bend on the Romans will.

The Romans leaders came up with a suggestion that all the Carthage should be destroyed (Mark). The Roman embassy demanded the dismantling of the Carthage inland and rebuilt new premises under the Romans command. However there was a myth that the destruction occurred through the help of salt. Dido and Aeneas myth whereby it is said that Dido husband Aeneas died after being killed by Pygmalion due to his wealth. However, this is not true because Dido stabbed herself after observing the Rome colonists taking his husband away leaving her alone. However before the death of Aeneas and Dido, these heroes played a role in establishment of Carthage. After the Romans conquered in the war, they burned the Carthage to the ground which influenced the ancient Romans to rebuild the Carthage again. After the rise of Carthage, Christianity spread all over as Augustine of Hippo used to live there before shifting to Rome.

In conclusion, the interaction between the Carthage and Rome was brutal during the ancient time which started after the expansion of Carthage and performed well economically. There was a war between the Rome and Carthage and Rome eventually won leading to harassment and colonization of the Carthaginians after that. In the process, the Carthage was destroyed by the Romans who valued being in power and taking the leadership during that era. This contributed to re-building of Carthage and spreading of Christianity began there before Augustine of Hippo moved into Rome.

Works Cited

Gibbins, David. Total War Rome: Destroy Carthage. St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2015.

Maline, Augustine. 23. 2014. < hauensteincenter.org/american-founding-10-roman influence/

Mark, Joshua J. 813. 2011. https://www.ancient.eu/carthage/appian-roman-history/