Category: Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire

Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire, Greeks in North Africa

Agathocles of Syracuse: the Greek tyrant who besieged Carthage

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Syracuse was a Greek colony in Sicily. During the 5th and the 4th Centuries BCE, Syracuse fought several wars against Carthage and its Sicilian colonies, for the control of the island. One century before the Punic wars, the tyrant Agathocles of Syracuse already tried to conquer Carthage, and took control of several Punic cities of the region.

Cities occupied by Agathocles (blue) and Eumachos (green)
Agathocles of Syracuse

Since the beginning of the 5th Century, Syracuse was led by tyrants, authoritarian leaders, against the Greek democratic ideal. Agathocles started his career as a military officer in support of the democratic faction. He was from a modest background and liked presenting himself as a man of the people. However, after taking power through a coup in 317, he showed himself even more tyrannical then his predecessors. Especially, he led an overtly aggressive military policy: his ambition was to follow the model of Alexander the Great, becoming the new protector of the Greek world against the “Barbarians” – in his case, the Carthaginians.

As soon as he was in power, Agathocles declared war on Carthage. In 311, he was defeated, and the Carthaginian army besieged Syracuse. This led him to take a desperate measure: with his remaining troops, he forced the Carthaginian blocus of the city, and invaded Africa to attack Carthage herself. He was hoping to force the Carthaginian troops that were besieging Syracuse to lift the siege and return to defend their homeland.

Silver coin with the effigy of Agathocles of Syracuse

Agathocles’ army landed on Cape Bon in August 310. Agathocles won a first victory, that enabled him to establish his camp close to Tunis. He besieged Carthage, but the city was too strong for him to hope to conquer it.

Agathocles then decided to turn East and take control of the Punic cities on the coast, like Neapolis (Nabeul), Hadrumetum (Sousse) and Thapsus (Bekalta). For this campaign, he made an alliance with Aylimas, the King of the Massyli Numidians and an ancestor of Massinissa. Tofether, they occupied all the North of modern-day Tunisia. Later, however, Agathocles, wanting to extend his power inwards, killed his ally Aylimas, who had become an obstacle to his ambition. He then took control of the Numidian army and its war chariots.

Gold coin with the effigy of Ophellas of Cyrene

After breaking his alliance with Aylimas, Agathocles, seeking new allies, contacted Ophellas, a former officer of Alexander the Great, who was now serving as governor of Cyrenaica under Ptolemy of Alexandria. In order to convince Ophellas to help him fight the Carthaginians, he promised to cede him all the territories conquered in Africa, keeping only Sicily for himself. Ophellas raised a large army, and then marched West to join Agathocles at Carthage, becoming the first to lead an army through the Central Libyan desert. A few days after Ophellas arrived, Agathocles had him killed. The Cyrenean army, without a commander, joined Agathocles.

The Carthaginians, imitating Agathocles’ strategy, sent another army against Syracuse. Agathocles returned to Sicily, leaving his lieutenant Eumachos behind him in Africa. Eumachos continued the conquests towards the West, all the way to Hippo (Annaba).

Silver coin with the effigy of Agathocles of Syracuse

In 307, Agathocles returned to Africa to lead the final conquest of Carthage. Faced with his men’s insatisfaction because of unpaid salaries, he promised them enormous spoils in case they were victorious. After several defeats, his army abandoned him. He was forced to flee to Sicily, giving up on his conquests in Africa. The following year, he signed a peace treaty with the Carthaginians, that allowed them to take back all their territory.

After his African campaign, Agathocles proclaimed himself King of Sicily. He spent the rest of his life strengthening his power over the Greek cities on the island, and then in Magna Graecia, a region in Southern Italy with many Greek colonies. It is said that at the time of his death, in 289, he was preparing a new attack against Carthage.

Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire

Kerkouane: a Punic city on the Cape Bon

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Kerkouane is an old Punic city, on the Cape Bon. For close to 400 years, it was one of the most important cities of the Carthaginian Empire. Kerkouane was probably abandoned during the First Punic War, and was not rebuilt by the Romans. Consequently, it is nowadays the only authentically Punic site, without any modifications by later civilisations.

Kerkouane war a Punic city built on the tip of the Cape Bon, in modern-day North-Eastern Tunisia. For close to 400 years, it was one of the main cities of the Carthaginian Empire, with Carthage, Utica and Hadrumetum (Sousse). The name of the city in Antiquity is unknown: the name Kerkouane, which was given to it by archaeologists, comes from the Tamazight kkerker, “to wall up”.

The city probably had around 1.200 inhabitants, mostly fishers and craftsmen. The presence of many murex shells indicates that the city probably was a purple dye producer. It also produced salt, as well as garum, a fermented fish sauce that was very popular in the ancient world.

Kerkouane was conquered by Agathocles of Syracuse, and later by the Romans during the First Punic War. The city was probably abandoned after the war. As it was never rebuilt by the Romans, the ruins of Kerkouane are nowadays the only authentically Punic archaeological site, without any modifications by later civilisations. The city and its necropolis are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.

Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire, Roman North Africa

The Punic wars in Roman literature: Punica, by Silius Italicus

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The Romans found the wars between Rome and Carthage so fascinating that during the following centuries, several Roman authors were inspired to write about them. The most famous work on this theme is the epic poem Punica, by the poet Silius Italicus.

Historical works

Our main historical source on the Punic Wars are Polybius’ Histories. The author was a Greek, born around 200 BCE, who was sent as a hostage to Rome in 167. His interest lies in the period during which Rome became a major power. Unlike the Roman historians, Polybius’ perspective is largely neutral between Carthage and Rome.

Another source is the Roman historian Titus Livius (Livy), who wrote about the history of Rome since its foundation.

The first Latin epics

The first Roman poets were inspired by Greek epic poetry. However, before Virgil, their works were but pale imitations of Homer.

The oldest Latin epic, Bellum Punicum, was written by Naevius (270-201). The author is a direct witness to the events: he served as a soldier in the First Punic War and lived through the Second Punic War in his old age. His work combines Roman history with a mythical background. This poem is lost.

Another poet, Ennius (239-169), wrote the Annals, an epic in 18 books, that covers Roman history, from the fall of Troy to the time of its writing. Books 7-9 are about the Punic Wars. This epic is also lost, only fragments are still available.

The master of Latin epic poetry is obviously Virgil. We already wrote a detailed article on the references to the Punic Wars in his Aeneid.

Punica, by Silius Italicus

Silius Italicus

A later epic was written specifically about the Punic Wars: the Punica, by the Roman senator Silius Italicus (26-101). The Punica are the longest Latin-language poem still available today, with its over 12.000 lines. Long lost, is was rediscovered in 1417.

This epic poem, in 17 books, has as its theme the Second Punic War, and concentrates mostly on the fighting between Hannibal and Scipio. Its plot largely follows Livy’s historical narrative, but it develops and embellishes themes that Livy only mentions shortly. At the poetic level, its main inspiration is Virgil.

Manuscript of the Punica

The poem opens on Dido‘s betrayal, her suicide and her curse on all of Aeneas’ descendants, themes we are already familiar with from the Aeneid. Then, Hannibal is introduced as the instrument of her vengeance. In book 3, Hannibal crosses the Alps. In the following books, he fights the Romans in Italy. In books 15-17, Scipio lands in Spain, conquers Carthago Nova, makes an alliance with Massinissa, and then inflicts the Carthaginian troops a final defeat at the Battle of Zama. The whole war is presented as the will of the gods to test the Romans’ virtue.

This epic is both historical and mythical. Scipio is presented as the son of Jupiter, who, like Odysseus in the Odyssey and Aeneas in the Aeneid, descends to the underworld to receive a prophecy about his future. Several characters are probably not historical, but were rather created to parallel characters of the Aeneid. For example, the Libyan princess Asbyte, an ally of Hannibal, is probably inspired from Camilla, a female warrior in the Aeneid, as well as from the myth of the Libyan Amazons.

While the Carthaginians are the enemies of Rome, they are still described with much nobility. Hannibal’s vengeance for the betrayal of his ancestor Dido is shown as legitimate. Hannibal, like Achilles in the Iliad and Aeneas in the Aeneid, receives a shield depicting scenes from Carthaginian history. However, unlike Achilles’ and Aeneas’ shield, his shield is not a gift of the gods, but from a human ally.

The Punica can be read online in English on this page.

Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire

The legend of Dido: the founding of Carthage

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According to legend, Carthage was founded by Dido, also called Elissa, a Phoenician princess of the city-State of Tyre, who became the city’s first queen. In this article, we will discover this legend and discuss its historicity.

The legend of Dido

Dido

Dido (Elissa), the sister of King Pygmalion of Tyre, was married to Acerbas (Zakarbaal, also called Sychaeus in the Aeneid), the city’s high priest. After her brother killed her husband, Dido and her allies fled Phoenicia and settled in North Africa, where they founded Carthage.

Shortly after her arrival, Hiarbas, the King of the Getulians, asked Dido to marry him. Their union would have represented the mingling between the indigenous North Africans and the Phoenician newcomers. Dido refused his marriage proposal, because she had promised her late husband that she would never remarry. According to older versions of the legend, Dido killed herself to avoid being forced to marry Hiarbas.

The legend of Dido is mostly known from the Aeneid, a work by the Roman poet Virgil, that tells the story of Aeneas, the legendary founder of Rome. According to the Aeneid, Dido fell in love with Aeneas when he came to Carthage, and they even got married, against the promise Dido had made to her deceased husband that she would never remarry. Later, Aeneas abandoned her, leaving for Italy, where he founded Rome. In desperation, Dido killed herself. When she dies, she curses Aeneas and all his descendants for evermore. Dido’s unhappy love and her curse are presented as the cause of the Punic Wars.

The legend of Dido is older than the legend of Aeneas. We don’t know who was the first to combine both legends. Anyway, the theme of Aeneas’ visit to Carthage is not Virgil’s invention: it is older than him.

After her death, Dido was worshiped as a goddess in Carthage.

A historical character?

The death of Dido

The historical foundation of the legend of Dido is hard to discern. According to some specialists, Dido was originally a goddess, and was only transformed into a mortal queen in later sources. Other specialists believe there indeed was a historical Queen of Carthage behind the legend. Her brother Pygmalion is a historical King of Tyre.

The oldest historical source to mention Dido is the 3rd-Century Greek historian Timaeus of Tauromenium. The oldest full account of her life was written a few decades before Virgil.

Carthage founded by a woman

Carthage is the only ancient town that was traditionally founded by a woman. For the other civilisations of the ancient world, especially Rome, the fact that Carthage had been founded by a woman was a cause for mockery, and it explained why the city could never rival with other cities founded by male heroes. This idea is especially strong in the Punica, written by Silius Italicus. For the Romans, Dido, as a Phoenician queen, represents all they hated the most: the feminine, full of emotion and passion, as opposed to the “male” rational order of the Republic and, later, the Empire; and the Orient, in all its luxury and flamboyance, as opposed to Roman discipline and sobriety.

Nowadays, however, the legend (historical or not) that tells how the most prestigious North African city was founded by a woman should make us proud, as is shows the important role women have always played in North African societies.

Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire, Greeks in North Africa

Arae Philaenorum: the border between Tripolitania and Cyrenaica

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During Antiquity, the desert of Sirte was the natural border between Carthaginian Tripolitania and Greek Cyrenaica. According to a legend, in order to determine the exact location of the border, two young men left Carthage and Cyrene on the same day, and traveled on foot along the coast until they met. Their meeting place became the border.

The Arch of the Philaeni, March 1937

When the emissaries of the two cities met, the Greeks accused the Carthaginians of cheating by leaving early. They agreed to recognize their meeting place as border point on condition that the Carthaginians would be buried alive there. The Carthaginians emissaries, two brothers called the Philaeni, agreed to sacrifice themselves for their country. A monument was built on their tomb, to honor them.

The Roman historian Sallust mentions this legend in his Jugurthine Wars, chapter 79:

Since the affairs of the people of Lepcis have brought us to this region, it seems fitting to relate the noble and memorable act of two Carthaginians; the place calls the event to mind.

At the time when the Carthaginians ruled in the greater part of Africa, the people of Cyrene were also strong and prosperous. Between that city and Carthage lay a sandy plain of monotonous aspect. There was neither river nor hill to mark the frontiers, a circumstance which involved the two peoples in bitter and lasting strife.

After many armies and fleets had been beaten and put to flight on both sides, and the long struggle had somewhat wearied them both, they began to fear that presently a third party might attack victors and vanquished in their weak state. They therefore called a truce and agreed that on a given day envoys should set out from each city and that the place where they met should be regarded as the common frontier of the two peoples. Accordingly, two brothers were sent from Carthage, called Philaeni, and these made haste to complete their journey. Those from Cyrene went more deliberately. Whether this was due to sloth or chance I cannot say, but in those lands a storm often causes no less delay than on the sea; for when the wind rises on those level and barren plains, it sweeps up the sand from the ground and drives it with such violence as to fill the mouth and eyes. Thus one is halted because one cannot see.

Now when the men of Cyrene realized that they were somewhat belated and feared punishment for their failure when they returned, they accused the Carthaginians of having left home ahead of time and refused to abide by the agreement; in fact they were willing to do anything rather than go home defeated. But when the Carthaginians demanded other terms, provided they were fair, the Greeks gave them the choice, either of being buried alive in the place which they claimed as the boundary of their country, or of allowing the Greeks on the same condition to advance as far as they wished. The Philaeni accepted the terms and gave up their lives for their country; so they were buried alive. The Carthaginians consecrated altars on that spot to the Philaeni brothers, and other honors were established for them at home.

The monument on the two brothers’ tomb had already disappeared in the Roman era. This site remained the border between Roman Tripolitania and Roman Cyrenaica, between the Western and Eastern Roman Empire, and, later, between Zirid Tunisia and Fatimid Egypt. During the Italian occupation of Libya, a new monument, the Arc of the Philaeni, was built close to Ras Lanouf. Considered as a colonial symbol, is was demolished in 1973.

Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire

Carthage and the Punic Wars in Virgil’s Aeneid

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The Aeneid is an epic written by the Roman poet Virgil, that narrates the journey of Aeneas, the legendary ancestors of the Roman people, after he fled the ruins of Troy, his native city, to find an unknown land: Italy, where the gods promised him that his descendants would found a new Troy: Rome, a city destined to dominate the world. The story happens over 1.000 years before the Roman Empire was founded, but, through a skillful use of typologies, it also contains references to more recent characters and events of Roman history. In this article, we will discover how this poem, which became the founding myth of the Roman Empire, refers to Carthage and the Punic Wars.

Aeneas meets Dido in Carthage, by Paul Cezanne

On his way to Italy, Aeneas was shipwrecked on the Carthaginian coast, where the first Phoenician colonists, led by their Queen Dido (Elissa), are building the city. Aeneas is so happy to see this new city, with its constructions and its laws, that he is tempted to abandon his quest and stay there. Then, Dido falls passionately in love with him and implores him to stay and reign over Carthage with her. Aeneas and Dido even got secretly married, forgetting Dido’s promise to her late husband Sychaeus (Acerbas) that she would never remarry. Even worse (from a Roman perspective): Aeneas starts wearing Phoenician clothes and adopts the customs of those foreign people!

For the Roman poet, Carthage represents the danger of the “false arrival”: if Aeneas decides to put his personal happiness before his destiny, to remain in Carthage with Dido instead of going to Italy, to become the king of a city instead of pursuing the promise of an universal Empire that would be founded only by his distant descendants, then Rome will never be born! The gods would not allow this: Jupiter sends him a messenger to order him to leave Carthage. Aeneas, a hero called by the gods for a sacred mission, cannot let his own passions distract him from this mission.

Obeying this divine order was very difficult for Aeneas: he loves Dido dearly, and is sad to have to leave her. Despite this, he has no other choice but to set sail again. In this, Aeneas is a prototypical virtuous Roman, who fulfills his duty, whatever the cost for himself.

When Dido hears that he is leaving, she is furious: how can this man she loved to much abandon her? Aeneas, in a decidedly Roman speech, explains that he doesn’t belong to himself: fate has decreed he was to found Rome, he has no other choice but to obey.

Death of Dido

After he leaves, Dido falls into an angry madness that will lead her to kill herself. When she dies, she curses Aeneas and all his descendant, in these words: “No Iove! No truce or amity! Arise, Out of my dust, unknown Avenger, rise! To harry and lay waste with sword and flame those Dardan settlers, and to vex them sore, to-day, to-morrow, and as long as power is thine to use! My dying curse arrays shore against shore and the opposing seas in shock of arms with arms. May living foes pass down from sire to son insatiate war!” Dido’s curse is presented as the cause of the Punic Wars; the “unknown Avenger” she is calling on is Hannibal, her distant descendant (“out of my dust”).

In the Aeneid, Dido is also a figure of another foreign queen: Cleopatra of Egypt, whose love story with the Roman general Mark Antony became as great a danger for Rome as its wars against Carthage. Aeneas, as long as he refuses to leave Carthage and dresses as a Phoenician, is Mark Antony, who betrays Rome and its values for the riches of Egypt; but he becomes Augustus when he leaves for Italy to accomplish his destiny: founding Rome and its Empire.

Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire

The Third Punic War (149-146) and the destruction of Carthage

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After the Second Punic War, the Carthaginian Empire lost most of its territory and was considerably weakened. King Massinissa of Numidia took profit of its weakness to conquer further Carthaginian territories. When Carthage finally defended itself, the Roman Senate used this military action against a Roman ally as a pretext to declare war again, leading to the Third (and final) Punic War and to the destruction of Carthage.

Context

In Rome, the old animosity against Carthage was fuelled even more by the hurtful memories of Hannibal’s military campaign in Italy. Also, close to 50 years after its defeat, Carthage had almost finished to pay its war indemnity, and the Romans feared that it would quickly recover its former power after that. A faction of the Roman elite, led by the influential Senator Cato the Elder (who coined the famous formula “Carthago delenda est”), wanted to get rid of the Carthaginian threat once and for all.

In Africa, Massinissa led several military campaigns, to take back regions he saw as stolen by Carthage from his ancestors. He conquered Tripolitania, and then turned to territories in modern-day central Tunisia. Carthage, unable to defend itself as the peace treaty forbid it from waging war without permission, called on Rome, but Roman arbitration always decided in favour of Massinissa.

In 151, Carthage, notwithstanding the prohibition, finally decided to defend itself against Massinissa’s repeated aggression. The newly constituted and unexperienced Carthaginian army was defeated at the battle of Oroscopa. Although Carthage represented no threat to Rome, this treaty violation became a pretext for a punitive expedition.

The Roman Senate was apparently also motivated by fear of their ally Massinissa becoming too powerful for them, especially if he were to conquer Carthage himself.

Siege and destruction of Carthage

Scipio Aemilianus

In 149, the Roman army besieged Carthage. Their badly located first camp was quickly infected by a plague epidemic, which forced them to move to a less defendable place. The Carthaginian attacks, by sorties and with fireships, inflicted them much damage.

The siege lasted three years. In spring 146, Roman general Scipio Aemilianus (the adoptive grandson of Scipio Africanus) launched the final assault. The Carthaginians saw that the Romans were attacking via the port, and thus burned down the warehouses. The Roman troops nevertheless managed to enter the city. For six days, the Romans worked their way around the city neighbourhoods, killing all whom they met and putting fire to the buildings. On the last day, the last Carthaginian fighters surrendered. 50.000 survivors were sold into slavery.

The Roman hatred for Carthage was so strong that the city would be completely razed to the ground. What was left of its territory became the Roman province of Africa, with Utica as its capital. The Roman Senate decreed that the city would remain in ruins for all eternity, and it was strictly forbidden to rebuild it or to install another population center there. Despite this prohibition, the Carthaginian prestige was so strong that a new city would be built one century later, by Julius Caesar, and became the capital of Roman Africa.

Amazigh kingdoms before the Roman invasion, Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire

The Numidian-Carthaginian War: Carthage’s last stand

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Under the peace treaty concluded at the end of the Second Punic War, Carthage was forced to pay heavy financial indemnities over a period of 50 years, and forbidden to go to war without the Roman Senate’s permission. King Massinissa of Numidia seized the opportunity to conquer more and more Carthaginian territories, while Carthage was unable to defend itself. Close to 50 years after its defeat, Carthage, certainly encouraged by the fact that their war indemnities would soon be lifted, finally reacted.

Context

As the end of the payment of its war indemnities was getting closer, the Carthaginian elite was divided on the future of the city. One faction, heir to Hanno the Great (who died in 193), wished to maintain a policy of appeasing Rome. Another faction, led by Hannibal the Starling, favored closer cooperation with Massinissa and Numidia. A last faction, led by Hamilcar the Samnite, aspired to bring Carthage back to its former glory.

The Numidian-Carthaginian War

Carthage and the Kingdom of Numidia

In 151, Hamilcar the Samnite and his nationalist party managed to exile 40 members of the pro-Numidian party from Carthage. They fled to Massinissa’s court, in Cirta. The king sent his two sons Micipsa and Gulussa to Carthage, to negotiate their return. The Carthaginian authorities, exasperated by Massinissa’s ongoing conquests, refused to let them enter the city. Hamilcar the Samnite even set up an ambush against Gulussa, killing several members of his convoy.

Such an affront could not remain unpunished: Massinissa immediately assembled his army to invade the Carthaginian territory. Carthage also raised an army to defend itself, in violation of the peace treaty.

Just before battle, two Numidian chieftains, Suba and Asasis, defected and joined the Carthaginian side with their 6000 horsemen. Even with those reinforcements, the Carthaginian army was defeated at the Battle of Oroscopa.

At the same time, the Roman tribune Scipio Aemilianus came to visit Massinissa, to obtain war elephants. The Carthaginians called on him to negotiate an armistice. To this effect, Massinissa demanded that the Numidian deserters be delivered to him, but Carthage refused.

The Carthaginian army was now too weak to continue fighting. Massinissa besieged the Carthaginian camp, seeking to starve them. Carthage was forced to give in, delivering the Numidian deserters and allowing the return of the Carthaginian exiles.

Consequences

While Carthage didn’t lose any territory in this war, its consequences were disastrous: when Rome got the news, the Roman Senate threatened reprisals against Carthage, for its violation of the peace treaty.

A Carthaginian delegation was sent to Rome in 149, to try to negotiate a peaceful solution. A member of this delegation was called Hamilcar, but the sources don’t mention whether it was the same Hamilcar who caused the conflict to start again. The negotiations failed, and shortly afterwards, the Roman army was at the gates of Carthage.

Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire

The defeated general: Hannibal after the Second Punic War

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Translation: Ibrahim Karmoum

The Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca, who invaded Italy during the Second Punic War, is considered as one of the most brilliant military strategists in history. Throughout his life, he had a supreme ambition: to destroy Rome. He did not give up on that ambition, even after his defeat.

Hannibal, the suffete

Hannibal Barca

At the end of the Second Punic War, Hannibal was 46 years old. While his defeat significantly damaged his popularity at Carthage, he rebounded, arguing that the defeat was due to the Senate’s lack of support for his campaign.

Shortly after the end of the war, Hannibal was elected suffete, the supreme civil office of the Carthaginian Republic. A military man rarely held this position, but Hannibal proved to be as skillful as a statesman than as a general.

The peace treaty required Carthage to pay 10,000 talents over 50 years. Hannibal began by ordering an audit of the finances of all the institutions, which confirmed that the Carthaginian state had the necessary resources to pay this compensation without increasing taxes. Hannibal then initiated a series of reforms aimed at reorganizing the state’s finances, in order to fight corruption and recover funds diverted by the Carthaginian elite.

While these changes were very popular with the people, Hannibal also made many enemies among the oligarchs whose interests were thus threatened. The main beneficiaries of the misappropriation of funds were the members of the Council of the One Hundred, the Carthaginian Supreme Court. To reduce the council’s influence, Hannibal passed a law to elect its members, who previously exercised their power for life, for a one-year term, with a ban on running for a second term.

Exile

After a few years, worried about the renewed prosperity of Carthage and alarmed mainly by the contacts between Hannibal and the Seleucid Emperor Antiochus III, the Romans sent a delegation to Carthage, in order to accuse Hannibal of collusion with an enemy of Rome. Hannibal, aware that he had many enemies, especially among the victims of his financial reforms, decided to go into voluntary exile. He left Carthage in 195, seven years after the end of the war.

He first traveled to Tyre, the mother city of Carthage, then to Antioch, the capital of the Seleucid Empire, and finally to Ephesus, in Asia Minor. Antiochus III consulted him for his own plans of war against Rome.

Asia Minor in 192 – Red: the Seleucid Empire and its allies – Blue: allies of Rome

Even in exile, Hannibal never renounced his hatred towards Rome and his desire to defeat the Romans. In the summer of 193, he planned a coup against the pro-Roman elite at Carthage, with the tacit support of Antiochus III. This project was never executed. Hannibal also advised Antiochus III to equip a fleet to invade southern Italy, offering to command the troops himself.

In 190, after Hannibal spent five years at his court, Antiochus III offered him his first military command. He commissioned him to build a fleet in Cilicia, which would then reinforce the Seleucid fleet at Ephesus. However, his fleet was defeated by the fleet of Rhodes, an ally of Rome.

Worried about being handed over to the Romans by Antiochus III, Hannibal fled to Crete, then to Bithynia, where he entered the service of King Prusias. In 183, the Romans demanded that Prusias hand him over. The latter agreed, but Hannibal refused to fall into the hands of his enemies and escaped again.

He died shortly after, at the age of about 65. Ancient historians recount different accounts of his death: according to Pausanias, he died of an infection after injuring his finger with his own sword; according to Titus Livius, he committed suicide by drinking poison in order not to be captured; According to Appian, he was poisoned by Prusias.

Amazigh kingdoms before the Roman invasion, Carthage and the Carthaginian Empire

Divide and conquer: the Amazigh kings during the Punic Wars

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During the Punic Wars, the Amazigh kingdoms in North Africa became embroiled in the conflict between Carthage and Rome, two great powers fighting for the control of the whole region. In order to preserve their own independence, they were forced to make alliances with both Carthage and Rome.

Context

At this time, there were several Amazigh kingdoms in North Africa. The Kingdom of Mauretania extended to the river Moulouya, while Numidia was divided between various tribes and two rival kingdoms: the Massyles, under King Gaia, and the Massaesyles, under King Syphax.

The alliances between these kingdoms, and with Carthage, changed according to the interests of the kings. Around 50 years before the First Punic War, the Massyle king Aylimas had already made an alliance with the tyrant Agathocles of Syracuse, to fight Carthage.

Massinissa, ally of Carthage

Gaia, the king of the Massyles, was a neighbour and an ally of Carthage. His son Massinissa was even raised in Carthage.

Syphax, the king of the Massaesyles, while also at first an ally of Carthage, chose to enter an alliance with Rome, in the hope of weakening the Carthaginian hold on his kingdom.

From 215 to 212, during Hannibal’s military campaign in Italy, the Massyles and the Massaesyles fought each other in Africa, supported by their respective allies. Their war was part of the ancestral rivalry between the two kingdoms, for the domination of all Numidia. The Massyle forces, led by young Prince Massinissa, won a decisive victory.

After his victory, Massinissa joined his Carthaginian allies in Spain. At the head of his powerful Numidian cavalry, he waged a heavy guerrilla campaign against the Roman forces.

Succession war: Massinissa, king of the Massyles

Coin with the effigy of Massinissa

Gaia, Massinissa’s father, died in 207. Massinissa was in Spain at the time of his death. Oezalces (Ulzacen), the brother of Gaia and the uncle of Massinissa, was chosen as his successor. Massinissa did not contest his throne. Oezalces and his sons Capussa and Lacumazes each reigned for a few months.

In 206, the Carthaginians were expelled from Spain. Massinissa also returned to Africa. Upon the news of his return, his cousin Lacumazes fled to Syphax, but he was captured en route. Massinissa established himself on the Massyle throne, but during the succession conflict, his rival Syphax had conquered part of his territory. Also, certain voices in Carthage were worried about their ally becoming too powerful for them – especially if he was to become the king of an unified Numidia.

Inversion of alliances: Massinissa against Carthage

Massinissa understood that is was in his interest to make an alliance with the Romans. To encourage him to cut ties with Carthage, the Roman general Scipio decided to free his nephew Massiva, who had been captured by the Romans. Massinissa promised to support Scipio in his invasion of the Carthaginian territory in Africa.

The Carthaginians, having lost their best ally, turned to Syphax. To seal their alliance, they offered him Sophonisba, the daughter of a Carthaginian general, to be his wife; before that, Sophonisba had been betrothed to Massinissa.

In 204, Massinissa joined the Roman army on their arrival in Africa. In 203, they won a decisive victory against the Carthaginians and their Massaesylian allies, at the Battle of the Great Plains.

Sophonisba, painted by Jacopo Tintoretto

Syphax fled to Cirta, his capital, pursued by Massinissa. He was taken prisoner and given over to the Romans, who took him to Rome. Massinissa took over his kingdom.

Massinissa also reconnected with Sophonisba, who was his fiancee before being married to Syphax, and he married her immediately. However, Scipio demanded that she would be taken prisoner and brought to Rome for their triumphal parade. To escape this humiliation, she killed herself. Legend says that Massinissa himself handed her the cup of poison.

What about Mauretania?

When he returned from Spain, Massinissa crossed through Mauretania, where King Baga of Mauretania put 4000 men at his disposal. Later on, he would send more reinforcements against Carthage. After their victory, Mauretania took control of Tingis and the other Punic port cities on its coasts.

Later on

After the defeat of the Carthaginian forces in Africa, the Carthaginian Senate called back Hannibal, who abandoned his campaign in Italy to return and defend Carthage. The decisive battle between his army and the Roman-Numidian forces, led by Scipio and Massinissa, took place in October 202, at Zama (close to modern-day Siliana). The battle was a complete Roman victory; Hannibal himself was one of the only Carthaginian fighters who escaped alive. It was the end of the Second Punic War.

Massinissa, now at the head of the whole territory of the former Massyle and Massaesyle kingdoms, founded the Kingdom of Numidia. During the next few years, he conquered the Carthaginian possessions in Libya, which he believed Carthage had stolen from his ancestors. He died in 148, two years before Carthage’s final destruction.