You've Gotta Love Those Carthaginians! Quiz

Answer: Phoenicians

The Phoenicians were a group of sea-traders who originally lived in city-states (Byblos, Tyre, Sidon, Beirut) located in modern-day Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. As the power of the ancient Egyptians and Hittites began to decline (1200-900 BC), Phoenician influence in the Mediterranean grew. Known in history as the first great Western sailors, they manufactured trade goods and sold them to people who lived along the Mediterranean Sea and beyond.

Herodotus claimed they were the first to circumnavigate Africa, while other sources state that they sailed all the way to Britain, looking for resources and trading partners. Carthage was their most important colony; it was founded in 814 BC by merchants from Tyre. Even after the overall power of the Phoenicians declined, Carthage was powerful enough to maintain control of the Mediterranean until the 3rd century BC, when the Romans began to challenge their control of the area.

Answer: Tribute money

The Phoenicians founded many cities/colonies along the Mediterranean; the ancient historian Strabo claimed that there were as many as 300 cities that had ties to Tyre alone. The purpose of founding cities was to gain control of a region's natural resources, provide a safe harbor for their trading ships, and to provide a market for free trade.

Although Tyre was considered to be the strongest Phoenician city-state and the center of their trade, the city-states were not held together by any type of central political affiliation. Tyre demanded tribute money or natural resources from its colonies, and, of course, they remained trading partners.

Answer: Mediterranean Coast of North Africa, Iberia, and Islands

After the decline of Tyre, the Carthaginian Empire grew to be very strong and powerful, and the Carthaginians took control of many of the Phoenician colonies that had been previously founded along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. In addition their control was extended to the Mediterranean coast of Iberia (Spain) and to many islands, such as Malta.

It was an argument over control of one of the islands that brought Carthage into conflict with the growing Roman Republic, instigating a series of wars known as the Punic Wars. Fought from 264 BC-146 BC, the Punic Wars ended with the total annihilation of the city of Carthage.

Answer: Sicily and Sardinia

Carthaginian control over Sicily involved hard-fought wars. First there was the long Sicilian Wars with Greece (600-265 BC), followed by the Pyrrhic Wars (280-275 BC) against Pyrrhus of Epirus. The people of Sicily asked Pyrrhus for help in freeing their cities from the Carthaginian Empire. Pyrrhus not only sent 20,000 infantry and 3,00 cavalry troops to Sicily, he also sent 20 war elephants and 200 ships. Although the campaign of Pyrrhus was at first successful in Sicily, his treatment of the people ultimately caused such an uproar that he was forced to leave. As a result, part of Sicily was returned to control by Carthage. It was issues over control of Sicily that would ultimately bring about the Punic Wars with Rome.

Sardinia was very important to the ancient Carthaginians because of its locating in the center of their trading network, and its mining area which provided lead and zinc. Originally the island was colonized by other groups of Phoenicians. However, Carthage was able to gain control in approximately 510 BC.

Answer: Suffets

The government of ancient Carthage is classified as an oligarchal republic; the power was in the hands of a small number of people, although the citizens had some voting privileges. The leaders, called suffets, were elected from the aristocracy by voters, and there was a checks and balances system to maintain fair practices of government much like the idea of Roman consuls.

While Greek and Roman authors referred to the suffets as kings, in Carthage they were more like judges or presidents. There were also other officials and lawmaking bodies that were elected, and there was a constitution that enforced rules about the correct procedure of law making and governance.

The other choices are officials who held office during the Roman Republic.

Answer: Numidians

Some ancient sources claim that ancient Carthage had a population of 700,000. However, it is more likely that it was more like 200,000. With an empire that covered a fairly large region, it was necessary to include mercenary groups in the Carthaginian army, although the main part of its army came from the area around the original settlement of the city and included Numidians and Libyans. Even though the contingent of war elephants is perhaps better known, the light Numidian cavalry was an elite group, perfectly suited to guerilla tactics; they wore no armour and did not use heavy weapons or even saddles and bridles.

They performed well in battle, as well as on reconnaissance missions. The Numidian cavalry also fought alongside other nations; it was written that they fought for the Romans in the Battle of Zama, and turned the outcome to their favor. On the other hand, the Carthaginian navy was mostly comprised of Phoenicians.

Answer: The Carthaginian language

The language spoken by the Carthaginians was Punic. Believed to have originated in Lebanon, where some of the original Phoenician city-states were founded, the Semitic language is also called Carthaginian or Phoenicio-Punic. People continued to speak Punic after the fall of Carthage.

However, the language began to change as it was influenced by others. By the 5th century AD the language had become extinct; the last person to write that there were people still using the language was St. Augustine of Hippo, who died in 430.

It must be mentioned here that the alphabet used by the Phoenicians, which was further modified by the Greeks and Romans, is considered to be the predecessor of many alphabets today. It was the greatest contribution the Phoenicians made to the modern world.

Answer: True

This fact may sometimes be overlooked, considering the importance of manufacturing and trade in Carthage. It must be remembered, however, that people have to eat! The Carthaginian farmers used iron plows, irrigation, and crop rotation. Wine production was important there as early as the 4th century BC, and wine was one of the exported items, along with the beautiful silks, bronze objects, and countless other goods. Olive oil and other foodstuffs were exported as well.

After the Second Punic War the Carthaginians agreed to a treaty which expected them to pay 10,000 talents (800,000 pounds of Roman silver) to the Romans.

It is written that Hannibal raised the money to pay the debt with funds raised through agricultural production.

Answer: Dye

Mounds of murex shells, used in the manufacturing of Tyrian purple dye, have been found in coastal areas of Tunisia among the ruins of ancient towns such as Kerkouane and Djerba. The Phoenicians found that crushed murex oozed a purple colored mucous. Cloth dyed with this mucous ranged from a deep pink color to a rich purple.

The dye was difficult to produce, and the cloth colored by it was one of their most expensive trade items - said to be worth 15-20 times its weight in gold! The Carthaginians produced many fine textiles, including linen, cotton, wool, and embroidered silks.

Answer: Tanit

The Carthaginians, like their Phonecian ancestors and relatives, practiced a polytheistic religion and worshiped deities from many religions, as well as their own. Although Tanit appears to have many of the same attributes as the moon-goddess Astarte, her name as Tanit seems to have originated in ancient Carthage.

She was the mother goddess and goddess of war. Some historians believe that the practice of child sacrifice was part of the worship of Tanit and her consort, Ba'al. After the defeat of Carthage by Rome, Tanit became associated with the Roman goddess Juno.