The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1877-03-23
The Rnins Of Carthage.

Mr. w. f. Robertson writes from Blair
beth, Scotland, to the London Times as fu.-
lows
Having recently visited this once famou-
city, have thought that IL might not be un.
interesting 10 your readers to know son o.
thing Of the present condition of its ru'usi
while at the same timo | call attention 20
Wholesale destruction of the few but beau
tiful remaining monuments of glory.
Landing at the iit,Ie town Of Goletis,
which is the port Of Innls, and distant .rom
1t about ten miles, | put up at The hotal
there, kept by an Italian. A wide but shoj-
low lagoon stretches out toward the modern
city ON the left, with which communicate
Is kept up by trains, which ran at intervals
during the day. A mile or two from the sta
tion, on a wide plateau, We come upon che
foundation OF wall, some three feet in
thickness Following this for three miles,
we come to some plowed ground covered
with fragments Of broken marble columns,
crumbling to decay. Seated among these We
contemplate the history of city which was
once the rival of Rome, and toward which
the eyes of the civilized world were turned.
Here Hannibal. when boy nine years of
age, was led to the altar by his father Ham
iicsr, and there with his hands upon il, made
to swear eternal hostility to the Roman peo-
ple--au oath which his after life proved had
MT been forg 'tten by him. On this hillside
IN later years the Roman ENJOYS stood, and
one Of them, addressing the Carthsgenan
Senate, said, folding his togs over his arm
"In this fold | carry peace or war, choose
you which YOU will haye." "Give us which
you will,' ia the reply. Then take war;"
says the Roman envoy, letting his toga fall
loose, and war, fierce and long continued,
was once more wased between these hostile
forces.
The only remains in any way complete
are the reservoirs and the aqeduc,. The f'r-
mer are in good state c' :-o...'ation, had
arc CONSTRUCTED u a scale Of great msgnifi-
.o..,o. lney are calculated to hold large
supply OF water These have all been arched
over, but some Of the arches are beginning
to give way, and have tumbled into the
tanks Round the margin OF these pools
paths extend, paved with small pieces of
polished marble about an inch square. All
around may be picked up the fragments of
pottery, broken jars, ETC., which, doubtless,
have been in use for the carrying of water by
the maidens of the city. A few ancient coins
we're given me here by II little boy who had
picked them up when herding his goats ntar
by. Some of them appear to be Roman.
The aqueduct constructed of enormo is
blocks of stone, and extending away toward
the direction of Tunis, has in many plac =,
given away but enough remains above
ground to enable us to trace it through many
miles.
The lovely situation of the city, standinr
on that prominent headland against which
the waves of the Mediterranean beat, as in
the days when the Roman fleet went don
beneath the m, went far to captivate those
who ultimately became its con9uerors. That
it.might not be so accessible to foreign in.
vasions, accounts, in all probability, for the
change of situation in the more modern city
of Tunis.
1t was with regret found among the ma
terial collected for building purposes at the
town OF Goletta yards of marble columns,
with carved work of the most magnificent
description, all Of which are being broken
up to erect some humble buildings.
The Italians and Spanards of the Middle
ages have adorned their places with marble
from Carthage, and the Venetians have their
friezes and columns, which were once the
admiration Of Dido and of Hannibal. Is it
too much to hope that an effort might yet
secure for us some relic of city, the very
foundations of which may, before long, be-
come lost to our sight?