The Rise of Carthage DOCUMENTARY

today Carthage is remembered only in the context of its dramatic fall it is the historical Goliath slain by Rome with little attention spared on its backstory the reason is quite simple the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage or an epic century long clash of civilizations whose final chapter concluded with the utter destruction of the North African Empire history was written by the victor and the memory of Carthage was left to the ashes this has tragically left us with only fragmentary information about a fascinating civilization which lasted over seven centuries and which at one point ruled over much of the western Mediterranean today it will be our goal to draw back the shrouded veils of history and bring to life the rise of Carthage but what if Carthage had not been destroyed in the Punic Wars luckily you can change history today by leading Hannibal to defeat Rome through our sponsor rise of kingdoms it's a free RTS mobile game that allows you to pick from eleven historical kingdoms each with their own unique bonuses architecture and units led by legendary commanders like Hannibal and Scipio compete with players on a shared map to build cities form alliances explore new lands progress through the errors and battle for the realm in real-time combat test your mettle by taking on raid bosses with your favorite hero or form an alliance of up to 170 players and join the a cyrus league special event to fight other teams across an exciting egypt themed battleground don't miss out on any of the action by using spectator mode to see who will be crowned league champion the latest match update introduced massive amounts of exciting content so support the channel by downloading rise of kingdoms and claim these awesome prizes using the link in the description below Carthage's rise is intimately linked with the history of the Phoenicians but just who were the Phoenicians well to start with they were a cultural group which lived in the coastal areas of the Middle East a region covered today by Lebanon northern Israel and Western Syria here these ancient Bronze Age people lived in a series of independent city-states which included the noble settlements of tyre sidon and Biblos by mastering ocean travel and trade they managed to link together the far-flung markets of the ancient world and grow wealthy from their profits their power only grew as economic activity across the Mediterranean accelerated over the course of the third second and first millennia BCE however in the 1200 s BCE the Bronze Age collapse threatened to bring the whole known world crashing down yet the Phoenicians would prove resilient amazingly they weathered the storm and even managed to capitalize on an open market while their land-based rivals withered away as a result great cities such as tyre rose to preeminence fueling their growth was a movement to expand on existing trade networks by founding hundreds of outposts and colonies across the Mediterranean by 800 BCE there were Phoenician colonies everywhere from Cyprus and Sicily to Spain and North Africa in these endeavors the Phoenicians found fierce competition from their Greek rivals who were also occupied with colonizing the Mediterranean in places like southern Italy such colonies could range in size from small trading posts or religious sites to fully fledged cities politically the Phoenicians colonies of the Mediterranean were free to govern themselves although they typically paid homage to their mother cities in various ways economically however the Phoenician colonies were increasingly being dominated by tyre which had grown wealthy from the east-west trade routes across the Mediterranean in particular control of the silver trade coming from Spain made it one of the most formidable cities of its time Carthage was born out of the flourishing Phoenician trade Network in fact its founding in modern-day Tunisia strategically positioned the colony to take advantage of both the east-west trade route which ran from Phoenicia to Spain and the north-south route which ran from Africa to Italy geographically speaking the city itself was ideally located at the tip of a peninsula with both natural protection and close access to the sea [Music] according to tradition we are told that Carthage was founded in about eight to fourteen BCE a date which generally coincides with archaeological findings the foundation myth tells of Dido the princess who had fled tyre she was escaping her brother Pygmalion who had just murdered Dido's husband the high priest of Tyre and seized power in the city as she fled died out brought with her not only colonists but the customs of Tyre and the Phoenicians as well when she landed in North Africa Dido supposedly resorted to clever trickery to establish her new home after being told she could settle her people on land that in ox-hide could cover Dido ingeniously cut the hide into strips and seized an area big enough to found a city this settlement she named cart / - a simple name that means new city in Phoenicians thus Carthage was born historically speaking Carthage likely began as a small trade settlement which in its very early stages was subordinate to the locals being forced to pay rent for the use of the land this idea of a humble colony at the mercy of its neighbors is reflected in legend as well supposedly Dido killed herself by jumping into a fire in order to avoid a forced marriage to one of the native Chiefs but it wasn't just the locals that overshadowed a young Carthage there were other elder Phoenician cities in the region like Utica and hippo Accra which may have exercised some degree of control over their younger sibling yet despite its infancy the new city appears to have grown quite rapidly within a century it reached a population of 30,000 people with bustling economic activity rapid city development and a new set of wolves this trend would accelerate in the years that followed however the true turning point for Carthage would come with the decline of its mother city in 586 BCE tyre came under siege by the babylonian king nebuchadnezzar ii the siege must have been exhausting for tyre as it lasted for 13 years ultimately tyre was able to beat back the Babylonians but not without cost for 13 years tyre had seen itself cut off from its colonies permanent damage to tires position was done to make matters worse the silver trade had begun to collapse which had ripple effects for both tire and the Phoenicians in Spain by the time serous of Persia finally conquered the Phoenicians in 539 BCE the once great cities had already witnessed a half-century of decline without tyre and the other Eastern Phoenician states the colonies in the West suddenly found themselves facing a power vacuum for Carthage they could not have been a better situation Carthage first began its rise locally by the 5th century BCE the upstart city was able to shake off the yoke of the native Libyans and quickly became the leading regional power with great influence over Utica people Accra and other Phoenician settlements of North Africa from here the new city then began to look out across the Mediterranean intent on a claiming tires port thrown yet whereas tyre had dominated the colonies almost solely through an economic pressure Carthage began adding military force into the mix her Navy became formidable and feared and her army began seeing deployment in foreign lands in these ways Carthage established a new model of hegemony which more closely resembled that of a traditional Empire compared to the previous system under tire as Carthage's sphere of influence group so to deter cultural dominance local groups were increasingly absorbed within its cities and territories while the Punic language spread as the primary Phoenician dialect across the empire but this new system was still not one of complete domination in fact compared to most other empires throughout history it was actually very hands-off for example only the immediate hinterlands of the city were governed by the Carthaginians themselves while the rest of the Empire was controlled by means of treaties generally speaking these required the following from their subjects one tributary obligations often in the forms of money and manpower to diplomatic concessions such as aligning with Carthage's list of friends and enemies three special ward duties such as troop Garrison's and supply requisitions apart from these restrictions though cities in treaties with Carthage governed themselves and kept the rest of their freedoms after all Carthage's primary goal was to keep the wealth flowing rather than meddling in low-level internal politics this new empire was not afraid to flex its muscles and Carthaginian expansion in the following centuries was both fast and forceful around 600 BCE the Carthaginians occupied Ephesus in a move to dominate near a Spain while at the same time seeking to project power into the seas around southern France in the following century the Carthaginians found themselves fighting wars in Africa Sicily and Sardinia under the semi-mythical general Marcos his successor Margot first then kicked off the long rule of the margaret clan which would dominate carthage politically for roughly 180 years under their reign the military power of carthage grew even further with a greater emphasis placed on the deployment of powerful armies and fleets across the mediterranean by 500 BCE these were used to dominate North Africa southern Spain and a host of Mediterranean islands including Sardinia and western Sicily this last region would become the plain of Carthage over the next 300 years 11 Wars would be fought across its rugged lands and it would be here that the spark was ultimately lit for the Punic Wars which brought about the fall of Carthage but that story will have to wait for another time now that we have traced the broad trajectory of Carthage's rise to power let us take a closer look at its civilization we will do so in the following order government economy culture and military initially Carthage's government had been ruled as a monarchy whilst and it's higher upon gaining its independence however had adopted a new constitution which established an oligarchic republic this involved to annually elected heads of state called soffits they presided over a senate of two to three hundred members which together proposed legislation and conducted diplomacy below them was a popular assembly made up of Carthaginian citizens which elected magistrates and voted on policy decisions at various levels of government would be other bodies which handled all sorts of administrative duties a particularly important body was the court of 104 which provided oversight on military commanders such a system was incredibly sophisticated for its time and several ancient writers remarked on its robust nature the Carthaginian economy was incredibly diverse with a large amount of domestic production and trade for example advanced agriculture and fishing ensured that huge amounts of food could be harvested from the fertile lands and coasts of North Africa while all sorts of other raw materials like timber skins salts and metals were extracted from across the Empire these might then be processed and manufactured into more desirable products or luxury goods such as garam colorful dyes or jewellery from here they could then be shipped along the vast Carthaginian trade network for sale and exchange across the Mediterranean the Punic State even took an interest in establishing new trade routes that the known world had never seen just to give you a sense of the scale involved here we have records of Punic traders in places like West Africa Spain France England Italy Greece Egypt Persia and more this was all facilitated by massive merchant fleets commercial harbours and intrepid explorers suffice to say carthage was an impressive economic powerhouse and jewel of antiquity the Carthaginian culture was also a source of great richness at its heart were the Phoenician influences planted with the colony and renewed over the centuries by a close connection to tyre perhaps the most obvious manifestation of this was the religion of Carthage this was the polytheistic belief system with a wide pantheon of gods chief amongst them were var Mel cart and Tanit each deity had their own temples which were frequently masterpieces of engineering and beauty these would have existed side by side with other proud edifices of Carthaginian culture massive twin harbours vast markets artisan districts gridded neighborhoods six storey apartments marbled public buildings palatial gardens fountains statues and all kinds of other structures filling the city would have been subjects and visitors from all parts of the globe they brought with them their language their clothing their food and their customs though few records remain one can just imagine the incredible sights sounds and smells to be experienced while walking the streets of Carthage and lastly we must mention the Carthaginian military which protected the Empire famously its land forces were composed of only a minority native force which might take the field as a citizen of light meanwhile the majority of the troops were actually auxilary units supplied by tributary subjects all were specialist mercenary elements drawn from communities across the Mediterranean yet another tool in the Punic Arsenal would be their feared war elephants trained locally or imported from abroad in the hands of a competent general the flexibility of these forces could prove devastating but the true might of Carthage lay with its Navy this was amongst the largest and most advanced fleets of its time its vessels were produced in state-of-the-art facilities using cutting-edge methods of mass production the core of the force consisted of squadrons tasked with protecting the merchant fleet for the additional warships being deployed in times of conflict such was the scale of Carthage's naval industrial complex that it is reported to have been able to produce over 200 ships in just a few months these capabilities would be on full display in the climactic engagements of the Punic War thus we have seen that Carthage was far more than the dust and ashes left to us by the history books it was an impressive marvel of its time with a stunning complexity that we can only just begin to glimpse stay tuned for future videos as we dive deeper into Carthaginian history and the hidden life of their forgotten civilization change history by taking the reins of your favorite historical faction in Rise of kingdoms guide them to transform from a lone clan to a formidable power of the age you can forge roam anew and lead the legions to victory or take up the cause of Hannibal to strike them down once and for all change history and support our channel by downloading rise of kingdoms using the link in the description below you

Channel: Invicta

Views: 1,297,371

Keywords: carthage, punic war, punic wars, hannibal, hannibal barca, carthage documentary, hannibal carthage documentary, documentary, world history, roman empire, roman history, history documentary, carthage religion, greece, rome, rome documentary, how they did it, carthage civilization, ancient history, phoenecians, phoenicians documentary, cannae, fall of carthage, Carthaginian military

Id: XCbag4UIvBc

Length: 19min 17sec (1157 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 13 2020