One of the most powerful city-states of the ancient

world was Carthage.

Carthage was primarily a city of traders and merchants.

The city was founded in 814 B.C.by the

Phoenicians, who were also merchants and one

of the world's earliest civilizations.

Carthage was ruled by an oligarchy, a collection

of powerful families, and the few electd leaders

that it had held little real power.

The Carthaginians worshiped a number of gods, and

in times of trouble they practiced child sacrifice.

In this practice, pwerful families would kill their youngest

child in order to gain protection and aid from their gods.

By the 6th century B.C. the power of Carthage was on

the rise, and city quikly came into conflict with the Greek

city-states over the control of trade in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Carthaginians were excellent sailors and had a powerful

navy, and from the 5th to the 3rd centuries B.C. these two

civilizations fought numerous wars.

Most of these wars, however, were minor and relatively

short-lived.

But in the middle of the 3rd century, a new enemy would

appear, with whom Carthage would fight much bloodier wars.

This new enemy was Rome.

Rome and Carthage fought three major wars from 264 B.C.

to 146 B.C.

The first war severely weakened both kingdoms.

In the end, however, Rome won the first war, and

they forced Carthage to agree to heavy penalties

in the peace treaty that followed the war.

After thirty years, however, Carthage had regained

enough of its power that Rome felt threatened once again.

Rome declared war on Carthage, but before they

had a chance to act, the Carthaginians invaded Italy.

The attack by Carthage was so successful that it almost

destroyed the Roman Empire.

The Romans recovered, however, and Carthage was once

again defeated.

After this defeat, the power of Carthage was so greatly

reduced that they no longer had the power to challenge

Rome.

But the Romans remembered how close they had come

to total defeat in the second war and held a deep

hatred for the Carthaginians.

They attacked the weakened city.

Afterwards, they completely destroyed Carthage, burning

the city to the ground, destroying its harbor, and

mixing salt into the ground so nothing would grow

there again.

The surviving Carthaginians were sold into slavery
and their society ceased to exist