Carthage
Some facts and figures regarding the ancient city of Carthage (somewhere in present-day Tunisia), 814-146 BC, roughly 2,500 years ago:
- A population of 500,000 in a relatively small area, making it one of the largest cities in pre-industrial history
- Buildings made of stone
- Six-storey apartments
- Running water and a sewerage system conceptually not very different from ours’ today
- An ingeniously designed artificial harbour both for military and commercial use
Unfortunately Carthage got in the way of the Roman’ plans to control the narrow channel of water separating Sicily from Italy, the Strait of Messina. The Carthigians fought off the Romans for many years, but they had no allies, and ultimately could not match the Romans’ overwhelming military strength.
The fall of Carthage to the Romans saw hundreds of thousands of Carthigians perish in fire.
One thought that might spring to mind is how cruel victors were in ancient times. Why couldn’t the Romans and the Carthigians just be friends? What a waste of a great city.
Actually, things haven’t changed that much. Millions upon millions upon millions of people have died due to warfare in the twentieth century alone. To the ancients, besides the bombs, the fighter jets, the tanks and the guns, it would all be reassuringly familiar.
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