Carthage

in battle within eighteen months of the start of the war, but despite these setbacks the Romans defeated the Carthaginian forces and invaded the Carthage's homeland. Hannibal was recalled to defend the capital.

Carthage signed a treaty of peace, and though defeated, Carthage began to recover its importance commerce, and rebuild some of its former power. Despite the peace treaty a party at Rome was bent upon destruction, fearing that Carthage would one day threaten Rome again.

Eventualy Rome embarked on a war to destroy Carthage once and for all. The third Punic War began 150 and ended in 146 b.c., in a Roman victory. After a desperate siege the Romans captured Carthage. Though the city bad flourished more than 700 years, it was utterly razed to ground. The territory was turned into a Roman province and a new Roman city was built on the site of Carthage, which in time became one of the chief possessions of the The Roman Empire. The territory remained under the control of the The Roman Empire until very nearly the fall of the Empire, when the marauding Vandal tribes crossed over from Europe after rampaging through Gaul and Spain, and made Carthage their capital in the 5th century A. D. At the end of the 7th century it was destroyed by the Arabs.

Very little is known of the laws, life, customs of the people of Carthage. Both its constitution and history are obscure in many spects. It is known that no ancient people rivaled it in colonization and competition for trade. Unfortunately the libraries of Carthage were destroyed when the city was captured by the Romans. There is no fragment of a Punic orator, historian, philosopher, or poet to make known the events that characterized this wonderful people. Carthage is better understood from its wars than from the achievements in education, art, and industry. It is known that the Carthaginians descended from Phoenician ancestor and, like them, worshiped Moloch and Baal, to whom human sacrifices were offered. The sun was the highest natural manifestation of this deity, but they also worshiped the Tyrian Hercules and a variety of heroes, heroines, and spirits, such as the goddess of the elements and the genius of death. The language was similar to that spoken by the Asiatic Phoenicians, from whom they were descended.