Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-01T01:15:52.561Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - Carthage and Rome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
H. H. Scullard
Edited by
F. W. Walbank ,
A. E. Astin ,
M. W. Frederiksen  and
R. M. Ogilvie
Assisted by
A. Drummond
H. H. Scullard
Affiliation:
University of London
F. W. Walbank
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
Get access

Summary

CARTHAGINIAN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE

(a) The Carthaginian state

The Carthaginian state impressed the ancient world not only for its wealth, but also for its stability and endurance. Its riches may have provoked envy, and its increasing corruption contempt, but its tenacity evoked respect even from Greeks and Romans, its age-long enemies. Thus Cicero wrote (Rep. fr. 3) ‘Carthage would never have held an empire for six hundred years had it not been governed with wisdom and statesmanship’, and Aristotle classed its constitution with those of Sparta and Crete as one of the three actual states which through their stability most nearly approached the ideal ‘mixed’ polity (Pol.ii. 127 b ff): it was in fact the only non-Hellenic constitution that he included in his long series of constitutional studies. Isocrates (Nicocles 24) echoes the same theme: ‘the Carthaginians and Lacedaemonians, who are the best-governed peoples in the world’ (τους άριστα των άλλων πολιτευομένους) Wealth and constitutional stability were closely linked. The wealth of Carthage derived from her territorial empire in North Africa and the western Mediterranean; it was safeguarded by naval protection of her overseas trade which in turn provided her with financial means to maintain a strong navy. Further, her commercial success gave political power to a timocratic oligarchy which, by providing the state with the means of hiring a mercenary army instead of depending upon a large citizen militia, decreased the risk of military coups and enhanced political stability.

The early history of Carthage has already been described in earlier volumes. including the gradual way she dominated the other Phoenician settlements in the West and added her own quota to the number of Semitic colonies; her extending influence in North Africa, Spain, Sardinia and Sicily; her establishment of a commercial monopoly in western waters and the consequential struggles (at times in concert with the Etruscans) with the Greek cities which challenged her ascendancy; her continuing success in the extreme west and her fluctuating fortunes in Sicily.

Keywords

CarthageFirst Punic Warpublic lifeRomano-Carthaginian treatiesRome
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Ancient History , pp. 486 - 572
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aymard, A. ‘Les deux premiers traités entre Rome et Carthage’, Revue des Études Anciennes 59 (1957)Google Scholar
Badian, E. ‘The early historians’, in Latin Historians, ed. Dorey, T. A. , 1–38. London, 1966 Google Scholar
Badian, E. ‘Two Polybian treaties’, in Miscellanea E. Manni (1980) 1.Google Scholar
Badian, E. Foreign Clientelae (264–70 B.C.). Oxford, 1958
Beloch, K. J. Die Bevölkerung der griechisch-römischen Welt. Leipzig, 1886
Beloch, K. J. Griechische Geschichte. 4 vols. Ed. 2. Strasbourg, 1912–1927
Beloch, K. J. Römische Geschichte bis zum Beginn der punischen Kriege. Berlin, 1926
Calderone, S. ‘Di un antico problema di esegesi polibiana. 1, 11, 1–3’, Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 25 (1977)Google Scholar
Calderone, S. ‘Livio e il secondo trattato romano-punico in Polibio’, in Miscellanea E. Manni (1980) 11.Google Scholar
Calderone, S. , Bitto, I. , Salvo, L. and Pinzone, A. ‘Polibio 1, 11, Isq.’, Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica N.S. 7 (1981)Google Scholar
Cichorius, C. Römische Studien. Berlin–Leipzig, 1922
Cintas, P. ‘Dar Essafi’, Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1953,Google Scholar
Cintas, P. ‘Sanctuaire punique de Sousse’, Revue Africaine 91 (1947)Google Scholar
Coarelli, F. ‘Il sepolcro degli Scipioni’, Dialoghi di Archeologia 6 (1972)Google Scholar
Dupont-Sommer, A. ‘Une nouvelle inscription punique de Carthage’, Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1968,Google Scholar
Dussaud, R. ‘Précisions épigraphiques touchant les sacrifices puniques d'enfants’, Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1946,Google Scholar
Duval, R. ‘Mise au jour de l'enceinte extérieure de la Carthage punique’, Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1950,Google Scholar
Eckstein, A. M. ‘Unicum subsidium populi Romani: Hiero II and Rome, 263–215 B.C. ’, Chiron 10 (1980)Google Scholar
Fantar, M. H. ‘Présence punique au Cap Bon’, Kokalos 18–19 (1972–1973)Google Scholar
Ferenczy, E. From the Patrician State to the Patricio-Plebeian State. Budapest, 1976
Ferron, J. and Pinard, M. ‘Les fouilles de Byrsa 1952–54’, Cahiers de Byrsa 5 (1955) ; 9 (1960–1961)Google Scholar
Frank, T. ‘Rome and Carthage: the First Punic War’, Cambridge Ancient History VII. 665–98. Ed. 1. Cambridge, 1928 Google Scholar
Frank, T. ‘Two historical themes in Roman literature’, Classical Philology 21 (1926)Google Scholar
Fraser, P. M. Ptolemaic Alexandria. 3 vols. Oxford, 1972
Frederiksen, M. W. ‘Archaeology in South Italy and Sicily, 1973–6’, in Archaeological Reports for 1976–7 (Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies and British School at Athens, Archaeological Reports 23) 43–76. London, 1977 Google Scholar
Frost, H. ‘The discovery of a Punic ship’, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 1 (1972)Google Scholar
Frost, H. ‘The Punic wreck off Sicily’, Mariner's Mirror 59 (1973)Google Scholar
Garbini, G. ‘Dieci anni di epigrafia punica nel Magreb, 1965–1974‘, Studi Magrebini 6 (1974)Google Scholar
Garbini, G. ‘Note di epigraphia punica’, Rivista degli Studi Orientali 43 (1968)Google Scholar
Gaukler, P. Nécropoles puniques de Carthage. 2 vols. Paris, 1915
Giustolisi, V. Le nave romane di Terrasina e l'avventura di Amilcare sul Monte Heirkte. Palermo, 1975
Groag, E. Hannibal als Politiker. Vienna, 1929
Hampl, F. ‘Zur Vorgeschichte des ersten und zweiten punischen Krieges’, Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, ed. Temporini, H. and Haase, W. . Berlin–New York, 1972– 1.1 (1972)Google Scholar
Harden, D. B. The Phoenicians. London, 1962
Heuss, A. ‘Der erste punische Krieg und das Problem des römischen Imperialismus’, Historische Zeitschrift 169 (1949)Google Scholar
Hoffmann, W. ‘Das Hilfsgesuch der Mamertiner am Vorabend des ersten punischen Krieges’, Historia 18 (1969)Google Scholar
Hurst, H. ‘Excavations at Carthage, 1974’, Antiquaries Journal 55 (1975) ; for 1975 ib. 56 (1976) ; for 1976 ib. 57 (1977) ; for 1977 ib. 59 (1979)Google Scholar
Huss, W. Geschichte der Karthager (Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft 111.8). Munich, 1985
Jenkins, G. K. ‘Coins of Punic Sicily, II: Carthage series I ‘, Schweizerische Numismatische Rundschau 53 (1974)Google Scholar
Jenkins, G. K. ‘Coins of Punic Sicily, III ‘, Schweizerische Numismatische Rundschau 56 (1977)Google Scholar
Jenkins, G. K. ‘Coins of Punic Sicily’, Schweizerische Numismatische Rundschau 50 (1971)Google Scholar
Kromayer, J. and Veith, G. Antike Schlachtfelder. Bausteine einer antiken Kriegsgeschichte. 5 vols. Berlin, 1903–1931
Kromayer, J. and Veith, G. Schlachten-Atlas Zur antiken Kriegsgeschichte. 4 vols. Leipzig, 1922–1929
Lagrange, M. J. Études sur les religions sémitiques. Ed. 2. Paris, 1905
Lancel, S. et al. ‘Fouilles françaises à Carthage, 1974–75’, Antiquités Africaines 11 (1977)Google Scholar
Luckenbill, D. D. , Ancient Records of Assyria and babylonia (Chicago, 1927).
Mahjoubi, H. and Fantar, M. H. ‘Une nouvelle inscription carthaginoise’, Rendiconti delta Classe di Scienze morali, storiche e filologiche dell ’ Accademia dei Lincei ser. 8.21 (1966)Google Scholar
Marek, C. ‘Die Bestimmungen des zweiten römisch-punischen Vertrags über die Grenzen der karthagischen Hoheitsgewässer’, Chiron 7 (1977)Google Scholar
Martin, R. ‘Histoire de Sélinonte d'après les fouilles récentes’, Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1977,Google Scholar
Masson, O. ‘Inscription d'Inibalos en Sicile’, Semitica 26 (1976)Google Scholar
Mattingly, H. B. Journal of Roman Studies 59 (1969).
Maurin, L. ‘Himilcon le Magonide’, Semitica 12 (1962)Google Scholar
Meister, K. ‘Der sogenannte Philinosvertrag’, Rivista di Filologia e di Istruzione Classica 98 (1970)Google Scholar
Meister, K. Historische Kritik bei Polybios (Palingenesia 9). Berlin, 1975
Meltzer, O. and Kahrstedt, U. Geschichte der Karthager. 3 vols. Berlin, 1879, 1896, and (Kahrstedt) 1913
Mitchell, R. E. ‘Roman-Carthaginian treaties: 306 and 279/8 B.C. ’, Historia 20 (1971)Google Scholar
Molthagen, J. ‘Der Weg in den ersten punischen Krieg’, Chiron 5 (1975)Google Scholar
Morel, J.-P. ‘Kerkouane, ville punique du Cap Bon’, Mélanges d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'École Française de Rome (Antiquité) 81 (1969)Google Scholar
Morgan, M. G. ‘Calendars and chronology in the First Punic War’, Chiron 7 (1977)Google Scholar
Morgan, M. G. ‘Polybius and the date of the battle of Panormus’, Classical Quarterly N.S. 22 (1972)Google Scholar
Musti, D. ‘Polibio negli studi dell'ultimo ventennio (1950–1970)’, Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, ed. H. Temporini and W. Haase. Berlin–New York, 1972– 1.2 (1972)Google Scholar
Nenci, G. ‘Il trattato romano-carthaginese κατὰ τὴυ Πύρρου διάβασιυ’ Historia 7 (1958)Google Scholar
New Light on Ancient Carthage. Papers of a Symposium sponsored by the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, the University of Michigan, marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Museum, ed. Pedley, J. G. . Ann Arbor, 1980
Pareo, E. B. ‘I supremi magistrati a Cartagine’, in Contributi in onore di A. Garzetti 61–87. Genoa, 1978 Google Scholar
Passerini, A. ‘Sulle trattative dei Romani con Pirro’, Athenaeum N.S. 21 (1943)Google Scholar
Petzold, K.-E. ‘Die beiden ersten römisch-karthagischen Verträge und das Foedus Cassianum’, Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, ed. H. Temporini and W. Haase. Berlin–New York, 1972– 1.1 (1972)Google Scholar
Petzold, K.-E. Studien zur Methode des Polybios und zu ihrer historischen Auswertung. Munich, 1969
Picard, C. ‘Vestiges d'un édifice punique à Carthage’, Karthago 3 (1951–1952)Google Scholar
Picard, G. C. ‘L'administration territoriale de Carthage’, in Mélanges A. Piganiol (1966) III.Google Scholar
Picard, G. C. ‘Un quartier de maisons puniques à Carthage’, Revue Archéologique 1958, 1.Google Scholar
Picard, G. C. and , C. Daily Life in Carthage in the Time of Hannibal. London, 1961
Picard, G. C. and , C. The Life and Death of Carthage. London, 1968
Prachner, G. ‘Zum Kαλὸυ ἀκρωτήριου (Polybius 3, 22, 5)’, in Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte und deren Nachleben. Festschrift für Franz Altheim, edd. Stiehl, R. and Stier, H. E. , 1.157–72. Berlin, 1969 Google Scholar
Genière, J. ‘Réflexions sur Sélinonte e l'Ouest Sicilien’, Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1977,Google Scholar
Reuss, F. ‘Zur Geschichte des ersten punischen Krieges’, Philologus 60 (1901)Google Scholar
Reynolds, J. ‘Inscriptions and Roman studies 1910–1960’, Journal of Roman Studies 50 (1960)Google Scholar
Rich, J. W. Declaring War in the Roman Republic in the Period of Transmarine Expansion (Collection Latomus 149). Brussels, 1976
Robinson, E. S. G. ‘A hoard of coins of the Libyans’, Numismatic Chronicle ser 6.13 (1953)Google Scholar
Robinson, E. S. G. ‘The coinage of the Libyans and kindred Sardinian issues’, Numismatic Chronicle ser. 6.3 (1943)Google Scholar
Robinson, E. S. G. ‘The Libyan hoard. Addenda, and the Libyan coinage in general’, Numismatic Chronicle ser. 6.16 (1956)Google Scholar
Rosenthal-Lefkowitz, M. ‘Pyrrhus’ negotiations with the Romans, 280–278 B.C. ’, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 64 (1959)Google Scholar
Schachermeyr, F. ‘Die römisch-punischen Verträge’, Rheinisches Museum N.F. 79 (1930)Google Scholar
Schwarte, K. H. ‘Naevius und der Beginn des ersten punischen Krieges’, Historia 21 (1972)Google Scholar
Scullard, H. H. A History of the Roman World (753–146 B.C). Ed. 4. London, 1980
Sordi, M. I rapporti romano-ceriti e le origini della civitas sine suffragio. Rome, 1960
Stager, L. E. ‘The rite of child sacrifice at Carthage’, in New Light on Ancient Carthage, ed. Pedley, J. G. , 1–11. Ann Arbor, 1980 Google Scholar
Sanctis, G. Storia dei Romani. 4 vols. Turin, 1907–1964
Martino, F. Storia della constituzione romana. 5 vols. Ed. 2. Naples, 1972–5
Tarn, W. W. ‘The fleets of the First Punic War’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 27 (1907)Google Scholar
Tarn, W. W. Hellenistic Military and Naval Developments. Cambridge, 1930
Täubler, E. Imperium Romanum. Studien zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des römischen Reiches 1. Leipzig, 1913
Teixidor, J. ‘Bulletin d'épigraphie sémitique’, Syria 46 (1969)Google Scholar
Thiel, J. H. A History of Roman Sea Power before the Second Punic War. Amsterdam, 1954
Toynbee, A. J. Hannibal's Legacy. 2 vols. London, 1965
Vita, A. ‘Un milliarium del 252 a.C. e 1'antica via Agrigento-Panormo’, Kokalos 1 (1955)Google Scholar
Walbank, F. W. ‘Polybius, Philinus and the First Punic War’, Classical Quarterly 39 (1945) = id. Selected Papers Google Scholar
Walbank, F. W. ‘Roman declaration of war in the third and second centuries’, Classical Philology 44 (1949) = id. Selected Papers Google Scholar
Walbank, F. W. ‘The historians of Greek Sicily’, Kokalos 14–15 (1968–1969)Google Scholar
Walbank, F. W. A Historical Commentary on Polybius. 3 vols. Oxford, 1957–1979
Walbank, F. W. Polybius (Sather Classical Lectures 42). Berkeley–Los Angeles, 1972
Warmington, B. H. Carthage. Ed. 2. London, 1969
Welwei, K.-W. ‘Hieron II von Syrakus und der Ausbruch des ersten punischen Krieges’, Historia 27 (1978)Google Scholar
Werner, R. ‘Das Kαλὸυ ἀκρωτήριου des Polybios’, Chiron 5 (1975)Google Scholar
Werner, R. Der Beginn der römischen Republik. Munich–Vienna, 1963
Whittaker, C. R. ‘Carthaginian imperialism in the fifth and fourth centuries’, in Imperialism in the Ancient World, edd. Garnsey, P. D. A. and Whittaker, C. R. , 59–90. Cambridge, 1978 Google Scholar
Winter, F. E. Greek Fortifications. London, 1971
Ziegler, K. ‘Heirkte’, Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft 7 (1910) 2645 Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×