Phoenicians Or Other Semites In Southern Italy

[julieboy]

Besides having established a colony in Sicily,what other Phoenician or other Semitic peoples may have settled in Italy south of Rome, by the time,or around the time they colonized in Sicily?

 

Since there were Phoenician and perhaps other Semitic sea people,why would they not take the opportunity to do in Southern Italy ,what they did in Sicily,or Carthage for that matter?

 

 

While Hannibal's Carthaginians were in Italy,was there much mixing of their blood with the different Italians in Italy's South?

 

 

 

 

 

Besides having established a colony in Sicily,what other Phoenician or other Semitic peoples may have settled in Italy south of Rome, by the time,or around the time they colonized in Sicily?

 

Since there were Phoenician and perhaps other Semitic sea people,why would they not take the opportunity to do in Southern Italy ,what they did in Sicily,or Carthage for that matter?

 

 

While Hannibal's Carthaginians were in Italy,was there much mixing of their blood with the different Italians in Italy's South?

[Pantagathus]

In a sense, the Phoenicians were not driven by the same priorities as the Greeks. Their colonial choices had everything (almost exclusively) to do with new wealth acquisition and not new land aquisition as was more the case with the Greeks.

 

If you look at the distribution map of Phoenician colonies, they were all along the central, core route from the Levant to and from Iberia with some colonies established a little north of the route on Corsica to effect trade with the Etruscans.

 

At the time of their colonial diaspora (~1100BC

[julieboy]

I would think that there was a mixing of Hannibal's army with Italians. But it would depend on how long they there,and depending on whether this would be considered acceptable practice. For example,as of now we don't hear about American soldiers mixing with Iraqi women.Who exactly did Hannibal use in his army?

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

I would think that there was a mixing of Hannibal's army with Italians.Who exactly did Hannibal use in his army?

 

As far as I know: Carthaginians, Gauls, Numidian, Campanians (specifically the Italian states captured by Hannibal or allied with him)

[Pantagathus]

As far as I know: Carthaginians, Gauls, Numidian, Campanians (specifically the Italian states captured by Hannibal or allied with him)

 

As well as Iberians (including Celtiberians), Libyans, Ligurians, & Balearics to name a few more

[LEG X EQ]

The Majority of hannibals army in italy was Gaul. Those cities that were allied with hannibal and let him and his men stay, (with all comforts). were pretty much all killed, ones the Romans retook those cities because of Treason. Those who might have been raped were killed because of unpurity.

 

So if there was Blood Mixing,(which nobody knows) than those who mixed were killed later by the romans, they didnt survive.(lucani & Brutii)

Edited March 17, 2006 by LEG X EQ

[Rameses the Great]

How was Hannibal able to communicate with so many different cultures around him? He was great though in getting the best out of his troops. To command that many different troops was somewhat unbelievable. Especially at that time when Rome was unbeatable and almost impossible to get into the heartland. One last question if the Romans decided to take a gambol and put all their troops in the Battle of Cannae, why didn't Hannibal conquer Rome itself?

[Andrew Dalby]

How was Hannibal able to communicate with so many different cultures around him? He was great though in getting the best out of his troops. To command that many different troops was somewhat unbelievable.

It's a good question! In national armies, the practice is often to mix up different ethnic groups so that they aren't tempted to go their own way. Either they have learned the national language at school, or they learn it, fast, during military service. In an army like Hannibal's, as with a mercenary army, it has to be different. You need leaders of each troop (or people attached to the leaders) to be bilingual and able to translate orders and reports. Since the Carthaginians had traded and settled in Spain, southern Gaul , Sicily, and had traded along the coast of Italy, there must have been some bilingualism. I think there's very little evidence of how much, but it must have been enough for communication in Hannibal's army ...

[Rameses the Great]

That is a great answer Andrew Dalby. The Carthaginians were spread out all over the Mediterranian so they had to have had some communication. Also it seems all the troops he commanded seemed to have had some form of reaching each other before.

[Gaius Octavius]

How was Hannibal able to communicate with so many different cultures around him? He was great though in getting the best out of his troops. To command that many different troops was somewhat unbelievable. Especially at that time when Rome was unbeatable and almost impossible to get into the heartland. One last question if the Romans decided to take a gambol and put all their troops in the Battle of Cannae, why didn't Hannibal conquer Rome itself?

 

The Romans and their allies did not put all of their troops in at Cannae. They committed about 50,000 men. Hannibal did march on Rome, but was convinced to give up the idea as a loser.

Roman mothers, to scare their children, would tell them: 'Annibal a porta!'(?) 'Hannibal is at the door'.

[Rameses the Great]

Gaius Octavius I heard about that, it was pretty funny how they sacred little children. That was how the boogey man would be today.