Salammbô (1862) is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert. It is set in Carthage immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt (241–237 B.C.). Flaubert's principal source was Book I of Polybius's "Histories". The novel was enormously popular when first published and jumpstarted a renewed interest in the history of the Roman Republic's conflict with the North African Phoenician colony of Carthage.