Litchfield enquirer., 1879-07-17
NORTH COAST OF AFRICA.
CARTHAGE.


 hood of ancient Carthage. While there, l made the acquaintance of French Jesuit mis- sionary, one of the guardians of the chapel of St. Louis, who kindly furnished me with some information respecting that interesting city of antiquity. This gentleman has resided for a number of years in little monastery amid the ruins of Carthage, and had made study of his surroundings he had formed collection of Punic and Roman antiquities, and, in con- nection with an engineer, has surveyed the ruins and located the several walls, quarters, and streets of the ancient city. To thls wor- thy Father I am mainly indebted for the fol- lowing description: ......sa....... .... l Of the early Punic period of Carthage, lit tie is known beyond mere speculation. Ac- cording to common"op1nion, it was founded B. C., s7S by a Tynan colony, headed by the famous queen Dido, who was driven from her home by the prosecutions of her brother Pyg- malion. Upon reaching the coast of Africa, not allowed by the natives more extensive grant of land than could be covered by bulls hide. Dido evaded this jealous concession by cutting the hide into small strips and inclosing with them a large portion of ground. The space thus inclosed was called Byrsa Ca hide). Here the first settlement was made; the colony gradually increased; and Carthage was des- I tined to become the maritime competitor of Greece, and the military rival of Rome. | The original name of that portion of the ci- ty outside of Byrsa was Kart-hadGch which signifies thew city," From this the name Carthage is evidently derived.
 The commercial enterprise and military glo- ry of Carthage, so long the envy and fear of Rome. terminated on the field of Zama, where Hannibal, one of the greatest generals of an- cient times, was defeated, catastrophe, ew- l ing no doubt to the neglect of this chief by his government. A few years after this disas- ter, the final ruin of Carthage was determined on, and, after most desperate resistance, and murdereus conflict for six days in the streets, Scipio succeeded in reducing the city, after it had suffered all the extremities of famine (B. c. 146). Rebuittwenty-two years after its fall by Caius Gracchus, enlarged by Caesar and Augustus, who took pleasure in adding to it's embellishments, the city of Dido returned again to wealth and power, and iourished for 1 five hundred and eighty-fve years, when it | became the prey of the Vandals It was dur l ing this period and probably in the first cen- l tury of our era, that Christianity was intro- duced into Carthage.
 The Vandals remained masters of that city for nearly century, and persecuted the Chris tians with great cruelty. Finally, wearied of this barbarian yoke, the ancient rival of Rome | invoked the remembrance of her past glory, and called to her aid the Emperors of the East. Under orders from Justinian, Belisari- | us disembarked in Africa with powerful ar my, and took possession of the capital almost unopposed. Delivered from the Arian Van- | menced to revive, and perhaps would have be- come worthy of her former glory, had she not been overwhelmed by the terrible scourge of Mahometan conquest. Despite noble resist ance. Carthage was taken by the Saracen Has, san, who wholly destroyed the city. The Fatimlte Caliphs attempted in vain to rebuild 1t; Tunis became the emporium of this region and was built of the de6ris or Carthage
 In 127O, Louis TX, commonly known as St.. 1 Lotus, then on crusade to the Holy Land, touched at Carthage to destroy nest of Sara cen pirates. He possessed himself of the ruins with scarcely an effort, and pitched his camp there, from whence he directed the siege of Tunis, but the heat produced an infectious disease which hurried the king and many of his warriors into the grave. ..,
 In 1525, Charles V. visited Carthage, and found but little remaining of the ancient city ; he loaded his vessels, however, with fragments of columns and works of art. .... .
 After this brief review of the history of Car thage, let us glance at the theatre of these trag ic events.
 Carthage was built in a peninsula between the promontory of Apollo in the west, and cape Herm@um in the east. The chapel of St. Louis on the summit of the ancient acrop- oils dominates the entire country for many miles, and the view from this point embraces an immense and beautiful panorama. On the north are lhe sea, the lake of Soukra and the hills of Utica, and Qamart. To the north least extends cape Carthage. On the east lies the roadstead of Goletta, surrounded by noun tains. Southward may be seen the village of Hammam-el-Lif, celebrated for it's hot springs and situated at the foot of mountain of the same name. A little beyond lies range of hills, whose summlts are tipped with silver by the suns rays, celebrated for their lead mines, while more distant still are the mountains of Zaghouan, whose springs formerly supplied Carthage with water. Lastly, towards the west, at the extremity Of a lake which bears the samE name. lies Tunis, called by the poets 'The Flower of the East" and numerous yer. dant peaks gradually fade away towards the horizon. the last links in the Atlas chain of mountains. The city of Carthage occupied the whele of the above mentioned peninsula, and, according to Livy, was surrounded by a wall twenty miles in circumference. Triple walls surrounded the city on the land side. The height of the inner wall is stated to have been over fifty feet; and, at frequent intervals were high towers, each of which had four sto- ries; the walls had two stories, and vaults un. darneath. The latter furnished stable-room for 3,000 elephants. with all that was necessary to provide for them, while the first story con- tanned, according to the, account of Appian, 4,O0O horses, with the necessary fodder and above this were barracks for 24, 900 soldiers. Besides these exterior defences an interior wall enveloped Byrsa the citadeD, the amphi- theatre, and the tewples, and united them to the quays upon the borders of the sea. These latter extended along the sea shore, and were capable of defence.
 The city was divided into three principal quarters; Byrsa, the forum, and Niagara. Five principal streets of great length traversed the city; they were very narrow, and enclosed by houses, six stories high. There were seven