Carthage

[Rameses the Great]

I know Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians, but I can't help to notice a lot of the architecture, infrastructure are Greco-Roman. The Phoenicians were obvioulsy an Orientalist culture but it seems they found the Western styles as a more effective means of building a city. What was the whole deal there?

[Kosmo]

Hellenism was adopted in varying degrees by many people with different origins: thracians, parthians, scythians, armenians, kushans, etruscans, romans etc.

The are many reasons for that. Phoenicians and carthagians had many relations with greeks including conflicts.

[Ingsoc]

After Alexander the Great Hellenism began to penetrate to the culture of the occupied people, the Phoenicians was the most hellenized nation in the east since they had close contact with the Greeks centuries before the Macedonian invasion.

[M. Porcius Cato]

Another source of similarity between Carthaginian and Greco-Roman civilization comes from the fact that the 8th C. Greeks were strongly influenced by the Phoenicians (e.g., the alphabet, geometric pottery) and Persians (e.g., the chicken, Babylonian creation myths, etc). Thus, some of the 'Hellenism' in Carthage is just recycled Phoenician culture.

[P.Clodius]

Indeed, all the cultures exchanged ideas, kept some, discarded others. Look at Gilgamesh and Noah, etc...

[Northern Neil]

Maybe globalisation had its first flowering in the ancient world - and maybe the case for a 'mediterranean' rather than a Greek, Roman, Phoenician or whatever culture does hold some water. In mucn the same way as it is slowly becoming apparent that not all peoples who shared the LaTene culture belonged to the same linguistic or ethnic group.

[Antiochus III]

You do know that the romans rebuilt the city later, on top of the old one? Where are you getting your info/pictures on the punic city?

 

Antiochus III

[ASCLEPIADES]

Salve, Amici

 

According to Cornelius Nepo, Hannibal Barca was fluent in Greek; "De Viris Illustribus", Liber I, cp. XXIII, sec. XIII:

 

"This great man, though occupied in such vast military operations, devoted some portion of his time to literature; for there are some books of his written in the Greek language, and amongst them one addressed to the Rhodians on the acts of Cnaeus Manlius Vulso in Asia.

 

Of the wars which he conducted many have given the history; and two of them were persons that were with him in the camp, and lived with him as long as fortune allowed, Silenus and Sosilus the Lacedaemonian; and this Sosilus Hannibal had as his instructor in the Greek language. "

[Melvadius]

You do know that the romans rebuilt the city later, on top of the old one? Where are you getting your info/pictures on the punic city?

 

Antiochus III

 

 

In case anyone didn't realise that the Roman's eventually rebuilt on the site of the original Punic city you may find the attached picture (showing the Roman piles used when they levelled the top of Byrsa Hill) and the others in my 'Byrsa Hill' album of interest:

 

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?autoco...m&album=138

Edited June 13, 2008 by Melvadius

[Andreas]

Late Punic Carthage was just the same thoroughly Hellenized in material culture. ( Lancel, 1992, can't for the life of me remember the pages right now )

 

But of course Carthage was an abherration in comparison to the other Punic cities but they also show clear signs of Hellenization prior to the Roman conquest. So the Hellenistic influences of the Roman period were but a continuance of an earlier trend magnified by the new rulers' own infatuation with Hellenism.

 

And this was but one trend of cultural open-mindedness shown by the Phoenician/Punic peoples as their earlier assimilation of Egyptian cultural traits are evidence of.