Overview

For six hundred years, the city of Carthage dominated the western Mediterranean. Founded in the ninth century BCE as a small colonial outpost, by the third, it had grown into the area’s largest, richest empire. When, inevitably, it clashed with Rome for supremacy over the region, the conflict spanned over one century, three wars, and forty-three years of active fighting. After Carthage fell at last, the city was razed, and the tale of its defeat became a mere foundation stone in Rome’s legend. But in this landmark new history—the first in over a decade—rising-star ancient historian Eve MacDonald restores the story of Carthage and its people to its rightful place in the history of the ancient world, reclaiming a lost culture long overshadowed by Roman mythmaking. Drawing on brand-new archaeological analysis to uncover the history behind the legend, MacDonald takes readers on a journey from the Phoenician Levant of the early Iron Age to the Atlantic and all along the shores of Africa. She reveals ancient Carthage as a cosmopolitan city not only of extraordinary wealth and brave warriors, but also of staggering beauty and technological sophistication. Home to Hannibal and Dido, to war elephants and vast fleets, at its height Carthage commanded one of the ancient world’s greatest navies and controlled territory spanning the coast of northwestern Africa to modern-day Spain, Sardinia, Sicily, and beyond. In gripping narrative, MacDonald shows how and why the Romans came to so fear Carthage, as one of the few rivals ever to inflict multiple defeats upon them—and what the world lost when it was finally gone. Reclaimed from the Romans, Carthage is a dramatic tale from the other side of history—revealing that, without Carthage, there would be no Rome, and no modern world as we know it.

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9781324123279

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Reviews

It is often said, for good reason, that the winners write history--and for too long, the story of Carthage has been told by its conquerors. The Romans who burned the city of Carthage to the ground in 146 BCE have been the guardians of its story for centuries: but Eve MacDonald's important new book puts Carthage, at last, at the center of its own tale. The narrative that emerges is both deeply researched history, eking details out of archaeology, linguistics and DNA alongside ancient historiography, and, at the same time, epic in its sweep--and a long-awaited riposte to Rome's monopoly on the history of its conquests.--Emily Hauser, senior lecturer in classics and ancient history, University of Exeter, and Sunday Times-best-selling author of Mythica This is a book full of memorable insights. It is an important and much-needed reorientation of the 'familiar' ancient historical narrative. Eve MacDonald persuasively demonstrates how North Africa was once a central node of civilization, that the city of Carthage was a sophisticated political powerhouse, and that there was nothing inevitable about the supremacy of Rome while the Carthaginians were around. This is not only history reclaimed; this is history at its best.--Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, professor of ancient history, Cardiff University, and author of The Persians Deploying the latest archaeological discoveries with deep and revealing research, Eve MacDonald's Carthage shines welcome new light on the ancient origins and trajectory of the mysterious North African empire that challenged Rome's power in the Mediterranean--Adrienne Mayor, research scholar in the Department of Classics, Stanford University, and author of The Amazons The raving Dido, Hannibal's elephants, and Sophonisba drinking the poisoned cup which is her wedding gift: these episodes are just the start of Eve Macdonald's epic history of Carthage. In between, she gives us stories of derring-do on the oceans, vast sea battles with fleets of more than three-hundred ships, war trumpets, flaming javelins, whole populations enslaved, and the most thorough examination possible of Carthaginian society, politics, and government. More than two millennia after its destruction, Carthage now has its Iliad.--Martyn Rady, author of The Habsburgs

""An important and much-needed reorientation of the ‘familiar’ ancient historical narrative. Eve MacDonald persuasively demonstrates how North Africa was once a central node of civilization . . . and that there was nothing inevitable about the supremacy of Rome while the Carthaginians were around. This is not only history reclaimed; this is history at its best."" -- Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, author of Persians ""Eve MacDonald’s important new book puts Carthage, at last, at the center of its own tale. The narrative that emerges is both deeply researched history . . . and, at the same time, epic in its sweep—and a long-awaited riposte to Rome’s monopoly on the history of its conquests."" -- Emily Hauser, author of Penelope's Bones ""Deploying the latest archaeological discoveries with deep and revealing research, Eve MacDonald’s?Carthage?shines welcome new light on the ancient origins and trajectory of the mysterious North African empire that challenged Rome’s power in the Mediterranean."" -- Adrienne Mayor, author of The Amazons ""Admirably lucid. . . . [Eve MacDonald] has the merit of brevity and a no-nonsense command of her material."" -- Pratinav Anil, The Times (UK) ""Not so much revisionist as expansionist. . . . [Eve MacDonald] succeeds in creating a thickly layered portrait. . . . Enjoyable and readily digestible."" -- Daisy Dunn, The Telegraph

""Roman bias colors what we know of Carthage's beginning, middle, and end. . . . If the victors wrote the history, Eve MacDonald offers an important corrective in Carthage."" -- Max Carter - Wall Street Journal ""Admirably lucid…[Eve MacDonald] has the merit of brevity and a no-nonsense command of her material."" -- Pratinav Anil - The Times (UK) ""Not so much revisionist as expansionist…[Eve MacDonald] succeeds in creating a thickly layered portrait…Enjoyable and readily digestible."" -- Daisy Dunn - The Telegraph ""Full of fresh insights, Carthage is a brilliant and accessible recentering of this ancient civilization and its dynamic contributions to the legacy of the Western world."" -- Peggy Kurkowski - Shelf Awareness ""[I]lluminating. . . . [Eve MacDonald] cannily contemplates the effect the defeat of Carthage had on the West’s future attitudes toward colonization. The result is a thorough, up-to-date account of the little-regarded but once mighty civilization."" -- Publishers Weekly ""Epic…More than two millennia after its destruction, Carthage now has its Iliad."" -- Martyn Rady, author of The Habsburgs ""An important and much-needed reorientation of the ‘familiar’ ancient historical narrative. Eve MacDonald persuasively demonstrates how North Africa was once a central node of civilization…and that there was nothing inevitable about the supremacy of Rome while the Carthaginians were around. This is not only history reclaimed; this is history at its best."" -- Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, author of Persians ""Eve MacDonald’s important new book puts Carthage, at last, at the center of its own tale. The narrative that emerges is both deeply researched history…and, at the same time, epic in its sweep—and a long-awaited riposte to Rome’s monopoly on the history of its conquests."" -- Emily Hauser, author of Penelope's Bones ""Deploying the latest archaeological discoveries with deep and revealing research, Eve MacDonald’s Carthage shines welcome new light on the ancient origins and trajectory of the mysterious North African empire that challenged Rome’s power in the Mediterranean."" -- Adrienne Mayor, author of The Amazons

""Deploying the latest archaeological discoveries with deep and revealing research, Eve MacDonald’s Carthage shines welcome new light on the ancient origins and trajectory of the mysterious North African empire that challenged Rome’s power in the Mediterranean."" -- Adrienne Mayor, research scholar in the Department of Classics, Stanford University, and author of The Amazons ""The raving Dido, Hannibal’s elephants, and Sophonisba drinking the poisoned cup which is her wedding gift: these episodes are just the start of Eve Macdonald’s epic history of Carthage. In between, she gives us stories of derring-do on the oceans, vast sea battles with fleets of more than three-hundred ships, war trumpets, flaming javelins, whole populations enslaved, and the most thorough examination possible of Carthaginian society, politics, and government. More than two millennia after its destruction, Carthage now has its Iliad."" -- Martyn Rady, author of The Habsburgs ""It is often said, for good reason, that the winners write history—and for too long, the story of Carthage has been told by its conquerors. The Romans who burned the city of Carthage to the ground in 146 BCE have been the guardians of its story for centuries: but Eve MacDonald’s important new book puts Carthage, at last, at the center of its own tale. The narrative that emerges is both deeply researched history, eking details out of archaeology, linguistics and DNA alongside ancient historiography, and, at the same time, epic in its sweep—and a long-awaited riposte to Rome’s monopoly on the history of its conquests."" -- Emily Hauser, senior lecturer in classics and ancient history, University of Exeter, and Sunday Times–best-selling author of Mythica ""This is a book full of memorable insights. It is an important and much-needed reorientation of the ‘familiar’ ancient historical narrative. Eve MacDonald persuasively demonstrates how North Africa was once a central node of civilization, that the city of Carthage was a sophisticated political powerhouse, and that there was nothing inevitable about the supremacy of Rome while the Carthaginians were around. This is not only history reclaimed; this is history at its best."" -- Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, professor of ancient history, Cardiff University, and author of The Persians

""An important and much-needed reorientation of the ‘familiar’ ancient historical narrative. Eve MacDonald persuasively demonstrates how North Africa was once a central node of civilization . . . and that there was nothing inevitable about the supremacy of Rome while the Carthaginians were around. This is not only history reclaimed; this is history at its best."" -- Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, author of Persians ""Eve MacDonald’s important new book puts Carthage, at last, at the center of its own tale. The narrative that emerges is both deeply researched history…and, at the same time, epic in its sweep—and a long-awaited riposte to Rome’s monopoly on the history of its conquests."" -- Emily Hauser, author of Penelope's Bones ""Deploying the latest archaeological discoveries with deep and revealing research, Eve MacDonald’s Carthage shines welcome new light on the ancient origins and trajectory of the mysterious North African empire that challenged Rome’s power in the Mediterranean."" -- Adrienne Mayor, author of The Amazons ""Admirably lucid. . . . [Eve MacDonald] has the merit of brevity and a no-nonsense command of her material."" -- Pratinav Anil, The Times (UK) ""Not so much revisionist as expansionist. . . . [Eve MacDonald] succeeds in creating a thickly layered portrait. . . . Enjoyable and readily digestible."" -- Daisy Dunn, The Telegraph

Deploying the latest archaeological discoveries with deep and revealing research, Eve MacDonald's Carthage shines welcome new light on the ancient origins and trajectory of the mysterious North African empire that challenged Rome's power in the Mediterranean--Adrienne Mayor, research scholar at Stanford University and award-winning author of The Amazons

Author Information

Eve MacDonald is an ancient historian, archaeologist, and senior lecturer in ancient history at Cardiff University. One of the world’s foremost experts on the history and material culture of Carthage, North Africa, and the Middle East, she is the author of Hannibal. When not teaching in Cardiff, she lives in London.

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