Chapter Chapter 20 · And Carthage Was Destroyed

The little Phœnician trading post of Kart-hadshat stood on a low hill

which overlooked the African Sea, a stretch of water ninety miles

wide which separates Africa from Europe. It was an ideal spot for a

commercial centre. Almost too ideal. It grew too fast and became too

rich. When in the sixth century before our era, Nebuchadnezzar of

Babylon destroyed Tyre, Carthage broke off all further relations with

the Mother Country and became an independent state—the great western

advance-post of the Semitic races.

Unfortunately the city had inherited many of the traits which for a

thousand years had been characteristic of the Phœnicians. It was a vast

business-house, protected by a strong navy, indifferent to most of the

finer aspects of life. The city and the surrounding country and the

distant colonies were all ruled by a small but exceedingly powerful

group of rich men. The Greek word for rich is “ploutos” and the Greeks

called such a government by “rich men” a “Plutocracy.” Carthage was a

plutocracy and the real power of the state lay in the hands of a dozen

big ship-owners and mine-owners and merchants who met in the back

room of an office and regarded their common Fatherland as a business

enterprise which ought to yield them a decent profit. They were however

wide awake and full of energy and worked very hard.

[Illustration: CARTHAGE]

As the years went by the influence of Carthage upon her neighbours

increased until the greater part of the African coast, Spain and

certain regions of France were Carthaginian possessions, and paid

tribute, taxes and dividends to the mighty city on the African Sea.

Of course, such a “plutocracy” was forever at the mercy of the crowd.

As long as there was plenty of work and wages were high, the majority

of the citizens were quite contented, allowed their “betters” to rule

them and asked no embarrassing questions. But when no ships left the

harbor, when no ore was brought to the smelting-ovens, when dockworkers

and stevedores were thrown out of employment, then there were

grumblings and there was a demand that the popular assembly be called

together as in the olden days when Carthage had been a self-governing

republic.

[Illustration: SPHERES OF INFLUENCE]

To prevent such an occurrence the plutocracy was obliged to keep

the business of the town going at full speed. They had managed to

do this very successfully for almost five hundred years when they

were greatly disturbed by certain rumors which reached them from the

western coast of Italy. It was said that a little village on the banks

of the Tiber had suddenly risen to great power and was making itself

the acknowledged leader of all the Latin tribes who inhabited central

Italy. It was also said that this village, which by the way was called

Rome, intended to build ships and go after the commerce of Sicily and

the southern coast of France.

Carthage could not possibly tolerate such competition. The young rival

must be destroyed lest the Carthaginian rulers lose their prestige as

the absolute rulers of the western Mediterranean. The rumors were duly

investigated and in a general way these were the facts that came to

light.

The west coast of Italy had long been neglected by civilisation.

Whereas in Greece all the good harbours faced eastward and enjoyed a

full view of the busy islands of the Ægean, the west coast of Italy

contemplated nothing more exciting than the desolate waves of the

Mediterranean. The country was poor. It was therefore rarely visited by

foreign merchants and the natives were allowed to live in undisturbed

possession of their hills and their marshy plains.

The first serious invasion of this land came from the north. At an

unknown date certain Indo-European tribes had managed to find their

way through the passes of the Alps and had pushed southward until they

had filled the heel and the toe of the famous Italian boot with their

villages and their flocks. Of these early conquerors we know nothing.

No Homer sang their glory. Their own accounts of the foundation of Rome

(written eight hundred years later when the little city had become the

centre of an Empire) are fairy stories and do not belong in a history.

Romulus and Remus jumping across each other’s walls (I always forget

who jumped across whose wall) make entertaining reading, but the

foundation of the City of Rome was a much more prosaic affair. Rome

began as a thousand American cities have done, by being a convenient

place for barter and horse-trading. It lay in the heart of the plains

of central Italy. The Tiber provided direct access to the sea. The

land-road from north to south found here a convenient ford which could

be used all the year around. And seven little hills along the banks of

the river offered the inhabitants a safe shelter against their enemies

who lived in the mountains and those who lived beyond the horizon of

the nearby sea.

[Illustration: HOW THE CITY OF ROME HAPPENED]

The mountaineers were called the Sabines. They were a rough crowd

with an unholy desire for easy plunder. But they were very backward.

They used stone axes and wooden shields and were no match for the

Romans with their steel swords. The sea-people on the other hand were

dangerous foes. They were called the Etruscans and they were (and still

are) one of the great mysteries of history. Nobody knew (or knows)

whence they came; who they were; what had driven them away from their

original homes. We have found the remains of their cities and their

cemeteries and their waterworks all along the Italian coast. We are

familiar with their inscriptions. But as no one has ever been able to

decipher the Etruscan alphabet, these written messages are, so far,

merely annoying and not at all useful.

Our best guess is that the Etruscans came originally from Asia Minor

and that a great war or a pestilence in that country had forced them to

go away and seek a new home elsewhere. Whatever the reason for their

coming, the Etruscans played a great rôle in history. They carried

the pollen of the ancient civilisation from the east to the west and

they taught the Romans who, as we know, came from the north, the first

principles of architecture and street-building and fighting and art and

cookery and medicine and astronomy.

But just as the Greeks had not loved their Ægean teachers, in this

same way did the Romans hate their Etruscan masters. They got rid of

them as soon as they could and the opportunity offered itself when

Greek merchants discovered the commercial possibilities of Italy and

when the first Greek vessels reached Rome. The Greeks came to trade,

but they stayed to instruct. They found the tribes who inhabited the

Roman country-side (and who were called the Latins) quite willing to

learn such things as might be of practical use. At once they understood

the great benefit that could be derived from a written alphabet and

they copied that of the Greeks. They also understood the commercial

advantages of a well-regulated system of coins and measures and

weights. Eventually the Romans swallowed Greek civilisation hook, line

and sinker.

They even welcomed the Gods of the Greeks to their country. Zeus was

taken to Rome where he became known as Jupiter and the other divinities

followed him. The Roman Gods however never were quite like their

cheerful cousins who had accompanied the Greeks on their road through

life and through history. The Roman Gods were State Functionaries. Each

one managed his own department with great prudence and a deep sense of

justice, but in turn he was exact in demanding the obedience of his

worshippers. This obedience the Romans rendered with scrupulous care.

But they never established the cordial personal relations and that

charming friendship which had existed between the old Hellenes and the

mighty residents of the high Olympian peak.

The Romans did not imitate the Greek form of government, but being of

the same Indo-European stock as the people of Hellas, the early history

of Rome resembles that of Athens and the other Greek cities. They did

not find it difficult to get rid of their kings, the descendants of the

ancient tribal chieftains. But once the kings had been driven from the

city, the Romans were forced to bridle the power of the nobles, and it

took many centuries before they managed to establish a system which

gave every free citizen of Rome a chance to take a personal interest in

the affairs of his town.

Thereafter the Romans enjoyed one great advantage over the Greeks. They

managed the affairs of their country without making too many speeches.

They were less imaginative than the Greeks and they preferred an ounce

of action to a pound of words. They understood the tendency of the

multitude (the “plebs,” as the assemblage of free citizens was called)

only too well to waste valuable time upon mere talk. They therefore

placed the actual business of running the city into the hands of two

“consuls” who were assisted by a council of Elders, called the Senate

(because the word “senex” means an old man). As a matter of custom and

practical advantage the senators were elected from the nobility. But

their power had been strictly defined.

Rome at one time had passed through the same sort of struggle between

the poor and the rich which had forced Athens to adopt the laws of

Draco and Solon. In Rome this conflict had occurred in the fifth

century B.C. As a result the freemen had obtained a written code of

laws which protected them against the despotism of the aristocratic

judges by the institution of the “Tribune.” These Tribunes were

city-magistrates, elected by the freemen. They had the right to protect

any citizen against those actions of the government officials which

were thought to be unjust. A consul had the right to condemn a man to

death, but if the case had not been absolutely proved the Tribune could

interfere and save the poor fellow’s life.

But when I use the word Rome, I seem to refer to a little city of a few

thousand inhabitants. And the real strength of Rome lay in the country

districts outside her walls. And it was in the government of these

outlying provinces that Rome at an early age showed her wonderful gift

as a colonising power.

In very early times Rome had been the only strongly fortified city

in central Italy, but it had always offered a hospitable refuge

to other Latin tribes who happened to be in danger of attack. The

Latin neighbours had recognised the advantages of a close union with

such a powerful friend and they had tried to find a basis for some

sort of defensive and offensive alliance. Other nations, Egyptians,

Babylonians, Phœnicians, even Greeks, would have insisted upon a treaty

of submission on the part of the “barbarians.” The Romans did nothing

of the sort. They gave the “outsider” a chance to become partners in a

common “res publica”—or common-wealth.

“You want to join us,” they said. “Very well, go ahead and join. We

shall treat you as if you were full-fledged citizens of Rome. In return

for this privilege we expect you to fight for our city, the mother of

us all, whenever it shall be necessary.”

The “outsider” appreciated this generosity and he showed his gratitude

by his unswerving loyalty.

Whenever a Greek city had been attacked, the foreign residents had

moved out as quickly as they could. Why defend something which meant

nothing to them but a temporary boarding house in which they were

tolerated as long as they paid their bills? But when the enemy was

before the gates of Rome, all the Latins rushed to her defence. It was

their Mother who was in danger. It was their true “home” even if they

lived a hundred miles away and had never seen the walls of the sacred

Hills.

No defeat and no disaster could change this sentiment. In the beginning

of the fourth century B.C. the wild Gauls forced their way into Italy.

They had defeated the Roman army near the River Allia and had marched

upon the city. They had taken Rome and then they expected that the

people would come and sue for peace. They waited, but nothing happened.

After a short time the Gauls found themselves surrounded by a hostile

population which made it impossible for them to obtain supplies. After

seven months, hunger forced them to withdraw. The policy of Rome to

treat the “foreigner” on equal terms had proved a great success and

Rome stood stronger than ever before.

This short account of the early history of Rome shows you the enormous

difference between the Roman ideal of a healthy state, and that of the

ancient world which was embodied in the town of Carthage. The Romans

counted upon the cheerful and hearty co-operation between a number

of “equal citizens.” The Carthaginians, following the example of

Egypt and western Asia, insisted upon the unreasoning (and therefore

unwilling) obedience of “Subjects” and when these failed they hired

professional soldiers to do their fighting for them.

You will now understand why Carthage was bound to fear such a clever

and powerful enemy and why the plutocracy of Carthage was only too

willing to pick a quarrel that they might destroy the dangerous rival

before it was too late.

[Illustration: A FAST ROMAN WARSHIP]

But the Carthaginians, being good business men, knew that it never pays

to rush matters. They proposed to the Romans that their respective

cities draw two circles on the map and that each town claim one of

these circles as her own “sphere of influence” and promise to keep out

of the other fellow’s circle. The agreement was promptly made and was

broken just as promptly when both sides thought it wise to send their

armies to Sicily where a rich soil and a bad government invited foreign

interference.

The war which followed (the so-called first Punic War) lasted

twenty-four years. It was fought out on the high seas and in the

beginning it seemed that the experienced Carthaginian navy would

defeat the newly created Roman fleet. Following their ancient tactics,

the Carthaginian ships would either ram the enemy vessels or by a

bold attack from the side they would break their oars and would then

kill the sailors of the helpless vessel with their arrows and with

fire balls. But Roman engineers invented a new craft which carried a

boarding bridge across which the Roman infantrymen stormed the hostile

ship. Then there was a sudden end to Carthaginian victories. At the

battle of Mylae their fleet was badly defeated. Carthage was obliged to

sue for peace, and Sicily became part of the Roman domains.

Twenty-three years later new trouble arose. Rome (in quest of copper)

had taken the island of Sardinia. Carthage (in quest of silver)

thereupon occupied all of southern Spain. This made Carthage a direct

neighbour of the Romans. The latter did not like this at all and they

ordered their troops to cross the Pyrenees and watch the Carthaginian

army of occupation.

The stage was set for the second outbreak between the two rivals. Once

more a Greek colony was the pretext for a war. The Carthaginians were

besieging Saguntum on the east coast of Spain. The Saguntians appealed

to Rome and Rome, as usual, was willing to help. The Senate promised

the help of the Latin armies, but the preparation for this expedition

took some time, and meanwhile Saguntum had been taken and had been

destroyed. This had been done in direct opposition to the will of Rome.

The Senate decided upon war. One Roman army was to cross the African

sea and make a landing on Carthaginian soil. A second division was to

keep the Carthaginian armies occupied in Spain to prevent them from

rushing to the aid of the home town. It was an excellent plan and

everybody expected a great victory. But the Gods had decided otherwise.

[Illustration: HANNIBAL CROSSES THE ALPS]

It was the fall of the year 218 before the birth of Christ and the

Roman army which was to attack the Carthaginians in Spain had left

Italy. People were eagerly waiting for news of an easy and complete

victory when a terrible rumour began to spread through the plain of the

Po. Wild mountaineers, their lips trembling with fear, told of hundreds

of thousands of brown men accompanied by strange beasts “each one as

big as a house,” who had suddenly emerged from the clouds of snow which

surrounded the old Graian pass through which Hercules, thousands of

years before, had driven the oxen of Geryon on his way from Spain to

Greece. Soon an endless stream of bedraggled refugees appeared before

the gates of Rome, with more complete details. Hannibal, the son of

Hamilcar, with fifty thousand soldiers, nine thousand horsemen and

thirty-seven fighting elephants, had crossed the Pyrenees. He had

defeated the Roman army of Scipio on the banks of the Rhone and he had

guided his army safely across the mountain passes of the Alps although

it was October and the roads were thickly covered with snow and ice.

Then he had joined forces with the Gauls and together they had defeated

a second Roman army just before they crossed the Trebia and laid siege

to Placentia, the northern terminus of the road which connected Rome

with the province of the Alpine districts.

The Senate, surprised but calm and energetic as usual, hushed up the

news of these many defeats and sent two fresh armies to stop the

invader. Hannibal managed to surprise these troops on a narrow road

along the shores of the Trasimene Lake and there he killed all the

Roman officers and most of their men. This time there was a panic among

the people of Rome, but the Senate kept its nerve. A third army was

organised and the command was given to Quintus Fabius Maximus with full

power to act “as was necessary to save the state.”

Fabius knew that he must be very careful lest all be lost. His raw

and untrained men, the last available soldiers, were no match for

Hannibal’s veterans. He refused to accept battle but forever he

followed Hannibal, destroyed everything eatable, destroyed the roads,

attacked small detachments and generally weakened the morale of the

Carthaginian troops by a most distressing and annoying form of guerilla

warfare.

[Illustration: HANNIBAL AND THE C. E. F.]

Such methods however did not satisfy the fearsome crowds who had found

safety behind the walls of Rome. They wanted “action.” Something must

be done and must be done quickly. A popular hero by the name of Varro,

the sort of man who went about the city telling everybody how much

better he could do things than slow old Fabius, the “Delayer,” was made

commander-in-chief by popular acclamation. At the battle of Cannae

(216) he suffered the most terrible defeat of Roman history. More than

seventy thousand men were killed. Hannibal was master of all Italy.

He marched from one end of the peninsula to the other, proclaiming

himself the “deliverer from the yoke of Rome” and asking the different

provinces to join him in warfare upon the mother city. Then once more

the wisdom of Rome bore noble fruit. With the exceptions of Capua and

Syracuse, all Roman cities remained loyal. Hannibal, the deliverer,

found himself opposed by the people whose friend he pretended to be.

He was far away from home and did not like the situation. He sent

messengers to Carthage to ask for fresh supplies and new men. Alas,

Carthage could not send him either.

The Romans with their boarding-bridges, were the masters of the sea.

Hannibal must help himself as best he could. He continued to defeat

the Roman armies that were sent out against him, but his own numbers

were decreasing rapidly and the Italian peasants held aloof from this

self-appointed “deliverer.”

After many years of uninterrupted victories, Hannibal found himself

besieged in the country which he had just conquered. For a moment,

the luck seemed to turn. Hasdrubal, his brother, had defeated the

Roman armies in Spain. He had crossed the Alps to come to Hannibal’s

assistance. He sent messengers to the south to tell of his arrival and

ask the other army to meet him in the plain of the Tiber. Unfortunately

the messengers fell into the hands of the Romans and Hannibal waited

in vain for further news until his brother’s head, neatly packed in a

basket, came rolling into his camp and told him of the fate of the last

of the Carthaginian troops.

With Hasdrubal out of the way, young Publius Scipio easily reconquered

Spain and four years later the Romans were ready for a final attack

upon Carthage. Hannibal was called back. He crossed the African Sea

and tried to organise the defences of his home-city. In the year 202

at the battle of Zama, the Carthaginians were defeated. Hannibal fled

to Tyre. From there he went to Asia Minor to stir up the Syrians

and the Macedonians against Rome. He accomplished very little but

his activities among these Asiatic powers gave the Romans an excuse

to carry their warfare into the territory of the east and annex the

greater part of the Ægean world.

[Illustration: THE DEATH OF HANNIBAL]

Driven from one city to another, a fugitive without a home, Hannibal

at last knew that the end of his ambitious dream had come. His beloved

city of Carthage had been ruined by the war. She had been forced to

sign a terrible peace. Her navy had been sunk. She had been forbidden

to make war without Roman permission. She had been condemned to pay the

Romans millions of dollars for endless years to come. Life offered no

hope of a better future. In the year 190 B.C. Hannibal took poison and

killed himself.

Forty years later, the Romans forced their last war upon Carthage.

Three long years the inhabitants of the old Phœnician colony held out

against the power of the new republic. Hunger forced them to surrender.

The few men and women who had survived the siege were sold as slaves.

The city was set on fire. For two whole weeks the store-houses and

the palaces and the great arsenal burned. Then a terrible curse was

pronounced upon the blackened ruins and the Roman legions returned to

Italy to enjoy their victory.

For the next thousand years, the Mediterranean remained a European sea.

But as soon as the Roman Empire had been destroyed, Asia made another

attempt to dominate this great inland sea, as you will learn when I

tell you about Mohammed.