Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1912-01-06

VI and where various races and
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
uthority-securely at least for the
present generation. Far to the west
lies Morocco, where French dominance
is assured. East of it 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 its 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 a portion of the an
cient empire of Carthage, which had
It's beginning, according to legend, in
the city founded by Queen Dido, near
the modern city of Tunis. The Car
thaginians. like the Romans, we're
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
ritory 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
maritime nation in the world, as then
constituted, and her enterprises on
the sea led her on almost inevitably
to engage In foreign conquests. In
her colonization schemes in Sicily she
first came into contact with Roman
power and the first Punic war, in
which the Carthaginians suffered de-
feat. was the result. This war began
in 264 and ended in 241 B. 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
out in 21s, when the great Hannibal
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 Of Carthage in Spain and de-
feating Hannibal in the decisive battle
of Zama, in Africa The third Punic
war, begun in 150 B. 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 warriors had
swept a short time before across the
) Pyrenees into Spain and had estab
lished an independent kingdom
Vandalatia, the modern Andalusia
The hordes which crossed with theil
great general, Genseric. into Africa
soon overran the country and occu
pied II until 633, when their power
was broken by Belisarius. the famou.
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
J by Constantine, was restricted to the
! neighborhood of Carthage and othel
points on the coast. The Barbary
; states thus became an easy prey fol
the fierce and fanatical Arabs, who
swept from Egypt into the region II
the middle of the seventh century anC
who soon established their supremacy