Ancient Carthage different from Carthage
Legacy
Carthage is best remembered for its conflicts with the Roman Republic, which was almost defeated in the Second Punic War, an event that likely would have changed the course of human history, given Rome's subsequent central role in Christianity, European history, and Western civilization. At the height of its power before the First Punic War, Greek and Roman observers often wrote admiringly about Carthage's wealth, prosperity, and sophisticated republican government. But during the Punic Wars and the years following Carthage's destruction, accounts of its civilization generally reflected biases and even propaganda shaped by these conflicts. Aside from some grudging respect for the military brilliance of Hannibal, or for its economic and naval prowess, Carthage was often portrayed as the political, cultural, and military foil to Rome, a place where "cruelty, treachery, and irreligion" reigned. The dominant influence of Greco-Roman perspectives in Western history left in place this slanted depiction of Carthage for centuries.
At least since the 20th century, a more critical and comprehensive account of historical records, backed by archaeological findings across the Mediterranean, reveal Carthaginian civilization to be far more complex, nuanced, and progressive than previously believed. Its vast and lucrative commercial network touched almost every corner of the ancient world, from the British Isles to western and central Africa and possibly beyond. Like their Phoenician ancestors—whose identity and culture they rigorously maintained—its people were enterprising and pragmatic, demonstrating a remarkable capacity to adapt and innovate as circumstances changed, even during the existential threat of the Punic Wars. While little remains of its literature and art, circumstantial evidence suggests that Carthage was a multicultural and sophisticated civilization that formed enduring links with peoples across the ancient world, incorporating their ideas, cultures, and societies into its own cosmopolitan framework.