Ancient Carthage

Phoenician city-state and empire

17 dated entries naming Ancient Carthage, drawn from 16 separate years between 650 BCE and 146 BCE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Carthage (state) in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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7th century BC

650 BCEThe city of Ancient Carthage acquires independence from Tyre.source

6th century BC

535 BCEPhocaean Greek colonists clash with Carthaginian and Etruscan ships in the Battle of Alalia (near Corsica).source
509 BCECarthage signs a treaty with Rome, delineating their respective spheres.source

5th century BC

409 BCETaking advantage of the quarrels between the Greek cities in Sicily and of the mutual exhaustion of Athens and Syracuse, Carthage seeks to reimpose its influence over the island. Hannibal Mago, grandson of Hamilcar, invades Sicily with a strong force. He defeats the Sicilian Greeks and avenges his grandfather through the torture and killing of 3,000 Greek prisoners. In the Battle of Selinus and Battle of Himera he captures and destroys both cities before returning triumphantly to Carthage with the spoils of war.source

4th century BC

309 BCESince 480 BC, an aristocratic Council of Elders has effectively ruled Carthage. The titular king of Carthage, Bomilcar, attempts a coup to restore the monarchy to full power. His attempt fails, which leads to Carthage becoming, in name as well as in fact, a republic.source

3rd century BC

270 BCECarthage, already in control of Sardinia, southern Spain and Numidia, is ruled by an oligarchy of merchants under two Suffetes or chief magistrates. While Carthage's military commanders are strong, the state relies on mercenaries (including Spanish ones) for its soldiers.source
265 BCEThe Battle of Messana (265-264 BCE) takes place as the first military clash between the Roman Republic and Carthage.source
240 BCETwo of Carthage's mercenary commanders – Spendius and Mathos – convince the Libyan conscripts of the mercenary army occupying the Carthaginian city of Tunis to accept their leadership. They persuade the native Libyans that Carthage will take revenge against them for their part in the conflict once the foreign mercenaries are paid and sent home. They then convince the combined mercenary armies to revolt against Carthage and convince the various native Libyan towns and cities to back the revolt. Spendius and Mathos then take the Carthaginian commander Gesco as a hostage. What has started as an argument over pay owed to soldiers by the Carthaginian Government, explodes into a full-scale revolt, known as the Mercenary War.source
219 BCEHannibal lays siege to Saguntum thus initiating the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome. Saguntum is an independent Iberian Peninsula city south of the Ebro River. In the treaty between Rome and Carthage concluded in 226 BC, the Ebro had been set as the northern limit of Carthaginian influence in the Iberian Peninsula. Saguntum is south of the Ebro, but the Romans have "friendship" with the city and regard the Carthaginian attack on it as an act of war. The siege of Saguntum lasts eight months, and in it Hannibal is severely wounded. The Romans, who send envoys to Carthage in protest, demand the surrender of Hannibal.source
218 BCEThe consul posterior, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, also raises two Roman legions and two Latin alae for a total of 24,000 infantry and 2,400 cavalry. He gathers a fleet of 180 warships and hundreds of transports. Longus receives Sicily and Africa as his area of operation (his imperium) and manages to carry out the capture of Malta from the Carthaginians. He was to invade Africa and attack Carthage directly until the Roman Senate orders him to travel from Sicily to reinforce Scipio's troops.source
218 BCEFall of Saguntum to Hannibal of Carthage (or 219)source
214 BCECarthage persuades Syracuse to revolt against Rome and ally itself with Carthage instead.source
207 BCEJune 22 – Hasdrubal Barca, Carthaginian general in the Second Punic War (born 245 BC)source
206 BCEIn the Battle of Ilipa (Alcalá del Río, near Seville) in Spain, the Carthaginian generals, Mago Barca and Hasdrubal Gisco, are defeated by the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio. Mago retreats to Gades (modern Cádiz) and then sails for the Balearic Islands.source
201 BCEOn Hannibal's advice, Carthage sues for peace with the Romans, ending the Second Punic War. Carthage is reduced to a client state of Rome. In the peace treaty between Carthage and Rome, Carthage surrenders all her Mediterranean possessions to Rome, including her Iberian territories. The Carthaginians agree to pay Rome 200 talents per year for 50 years, allow Masinissa to rule Numidia as an independent kingdom, make no war without Rome's permission, and destroy all but 10 of the Carthaginian warships.source

2nd century BC

195 BCEBecause of his administrative and constitutional reforms in Carthage, Hannibal becomes unpopular with an important faction of the Carthaginian nobility and he is denounced to the Romans for inciting the Seleucid king Antiochus III to take up arms against the Romans. Rome demands that Carthage surrender Hannibal. However, Hannibal voluntarily goes into exile.source
146 BCERoman armies destroy Carthage and Corinth.source