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Carthage
Carthage

📷 Son Tung Tran · Pexels

Where in the world

Tunisia

The site

Carthage rose on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in northern Africa, a Phoenician colony traditionally founded by the legendary queen Dido that grew into the capital of a Punic empire dominating the southwestern Mediterranean. One of the wealthiest and most important trading hubs of the classical world, its harbours, necropolises and baths tell of that affluence. Rome destroyed the city after a nearly three-year siege in 146 BCE, later rebuilding it as Roman Carthage.

Field notes

civilizations
Phoenician-PunicRoman
types
City · Port
built
801 BCE
occupied
814 BCE — 146 BCE
country
Tunisia

Notable finds

Renowned pieces unearthed at Carthage — and where they are today

Figures of this place

Laid to rest, born or died at Carthage

Hannibal
Hannibalborn hereCarthaginian general (247–183/181 BC)
Terence
Terenceborn hereRoman comic playwright (2nd cent. BC)
Hamilcar Barca
Hamilcar Barcaborn hereCarthaginian general
Hasdrubal Barca
Hasdrubal Barcaborn hereCarthaginian general (245–207 BC)
Hasdrubal the Fair
Hasdrubal the Fairborn hereCarthaginian military leader and politician (c. 270–221 BC)
Hanno the Great
Hanno the Greatborn hereCarthaginian aristocrat
Sophonisba
Sophonisbaborn herelate 3rd century BC Carthaginian noblewoman
Herillus
Herillusborn hereStoic philosopher

Pictured through the ages

Artworks that portray Carthage

Dido building Carthage
Dido building CarthageJ. M. W. Turner · 1,815 CE
Aeneas and Achates on the Libyan Coast
Aeneas and Achates on the Libyan CoastDosso Dossi · 1,520 CE
The Sawley Map
The Sawley MapHonorius Augustodunensis · 1,190 CE
The Arrival of Aeneas in Carthage
The Arrival of Aeneas in CarthageJean-Bernard Restout · 1,772 CE

Chronicle

What happened at Carthage

  1. 238 BCESiege of Carthage
  2. 205 BCEBattle of Cartagena
  3. 201 BCEMeeting of Hannibal Barca and Publius Cornelius Scipio
  4. 148 BCESiege of Carthage

Nearby sites