The searchlight., 1911-11-03

civilizations have contended
for supremacy. Italy. the mod
ern successor to the Rome OF the
Caesars. is seeking to establish her
sovereignty
Only yesterday, as history measures
the life OF nations, Italy sprang into
nationhood and now this puny sue
cessor to the world-conquering Rome
of the consuls and the Caesars is
reaching out for part OF that terri.
tory over which imperial Rome exer.
cised her authority from the Red sea
to the Pillars OF Hercules.
But Of all that vast region there is
little now that is not pre-empted.
Egypt is securely anchored TO British
authority-securely at least for the
present generation. Far to the west
lies Morocco. where French dominance
Is assured. East Of IL lies Algeria. and
further east, Tunis, both as securely
French as Egypt is British. And then
lying In between Tunis and Egypt and
extending southernward into the sands
Of the desert lies Tripoli, with It's de.
tendencies OF Barca and Fezzan. the
particular region which modern Italy
covets and over which the Turkish
crescent floats In impotent protection.
When Carthage Was Supreme.
Tripoli formed portion of the an
tient empire Of Carthage. which had
Its beginning. according To legend, In
the city founded by Queen Dido. near
The modern city of Tunis. The Car
thaginians. like the Romans, were
empire builders and gradually came
into possession OF the rich cities and
colonies founded by the adventurous
Phoenicians on the African coast.
ultimately controlling the whole ter.
riiory extending from the Pillars OF
Hercules to the Great Syrtis-a dis.
lance OF 1000 miles. At the height of
her power Carthage was the greatest
constituted. and her enterprises on
the sea led her on almost inevitably
TO engage In foreign conuuesis. In
her colonization schemes In Sicily she
first came into contact with Roman
power and the first Punic war, In
which the CaTthaginians suffered de.
feat. was the result. This war began
In 264 and ended In 24l H. C and
Carthage was compelled to cede Sicily
and Sardinia To the Romans The
second Punic war. provoked by Car
thaginian conquests in Spain. broke
Ia, n. A
led his soldiers across the Alps and
by vigorous campaigns and several
bloody battles brought Rome almost
to the brink of ruin. But Rome tri.
umphed In the end, breaking the
power 4 Carthage In Spain and de,
feating Hannibal in the decisive battle
of Zama. In Africa. The third Punic
war. begun in $50 y. c. by Rome.
ended in the destruction OF Carthage
and the Roman absorption OF the rich
African territories. including Tripoli.
which for centuries had been under
Carthaginian sway.
Northern Africa remained In
Roman. or byzantine. possession until
the fierce inroads OF the Vandals
early in the fifth century Of the Chris,
tian era. These savage warriers had
swept a short time before across the
Pyrenees into Spain and had estab,
lished an independent kingdom
yandalatia, the modern Andalusia
The hordes which crossed with their
great general, Genseric, into Africa
soon oserran the country and occu
pied II uItil 533. when their power
was broken by Belisarius. the famous
commander OF Justinian the Great
the emperor of Constantinople.
But disintegration had well begun
In the provinces of northern Africa
and soon the power of Rome as vel
as of the Byzantine empire, founded
by Constantine. was restricted TO the
ncighborhood of Carthage and othel
points on the coast. The Barbary
states thus became an easy prey FOL
the fierce and fanaticai Arabs. who
swept from Egypt into the region II
he middle OF the seventh century and
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