--- title: "The Annihilation of Carthage: The Devastation of Rome's Greatest Enemy" description: "It began with the chilling words Carthāgō dēlenda est — Carthage must be destroyed — and ended with what is thought to be one of the first recorded genocides. The words, often repeated by Cato the Censor, a Roman Senator who brought new meaning to the word hawkish, frequently found their way into discussions on the Senate floor in Rome that preceded the Third Punic War — the grandstand finale to a trilogy that had spanned almost a century. They were used to galvanize a Roman Empire that had toyed with the ailing Carthaginian Empire without finishing it off. Senators were divided between those who saw the once-mighty city of Carthage as now subordinate to Rome in every way and no longer a threat, and those who believed that only the city's complete destruction would placate Roman pride and thirst for revenge. The Third Punic War ended with the cataclysmic Battle of Carthage, a savagery that had rarely been seen before. It led to the near-complete extermination of the Punic people, who had once been one of the most powerful groups anywhere in the Mediterranean. The once-great city lay in ruin, concluding a three-year siege that had pushed the Romans to the very brink, and consigned the name Carthage to history.\n\n## Key Takeaways\n- Carthage, founded around 814 BC near modern Tunis, grew from a Phoenician colony into the dominant Mediterranean power before clashing with Rome across three wars spanning over a century.\n- The First Punic War ended in 241 BC with the Treaty of Lutatius, costing Carthage Sicily and 3,200 talents of silver after 22 years of the largest naval battles the ancient world had seen.\n- Hannibal crossed the Alps with 50,000 to 70,000 men and 38 war elephants, devastating Roman forces for 17 years before his defeat at Zama in 202 BC ended the Second Punic War.\n- Cato the Censor's relentless senate speeches ending with Carthāgō dēlenda est drove Roman policy toward a final confrontation despite Carthage posing minimal military threat.\n- When Rome demanded the city's destruction and relocation of its 700,000 inhabitants 16 kilometers from the sea, Carthage chose to rearm and fight rather than comply.\n- Scipio Aemilianus, appointed consul in 147 BC despite being underage, transformed a stalled two-year siege into a systematic destruction that razed Carthage over six days of house-to-house combat.\n\n## The Rise of Carthage: From Phoenician Colony to Mediterranean Superpower\n\nThe ancient and once glorious city of Carthage lay close to the modern city of Tunis, in Tunisia. Founded by Phoenician settlers around 814 BC, the city eventually grew into one of the largest and most powerful in the entire Mediterranean. For around two hundred years, the city was one of many colonies under the control of the city-state Tyre, close to modern-day Beirut, but around 650 BC, with Tyre's power waning, Carthage emerged from the shadows as an independent city in its own right. With it came a clearly defined culture, often referred to as 'Punic', which is Latin for Phoenician. The city was initially ruled by kings before becoming a republic around 480 BC, and by that time Carthage had already established itself as a supreme Mediterranean power, both in terms of its military and its trading routes. At its pinnacle, the Carthaginian Empire stretched the length of the North African coast and included most of the Mediterranean islands and much of southern Spain. The Carthaginians were known for their seafaring abilities and exploration, with ships venturing out into the Atlantic to explore the African coastal regions, perhaps going as far as the River Gambia — an extraordinary distance for the age. As Carthage's power and territory grew, they eventually came into conflict with one of the other major powers of the day, the Greeks. For several hundred years, Greek colonies had been slowly expanding around the Mediterranean, but Greek power began to slowly ebb away, and successive military defeats to the Carthaginians and the Etruscans saw Greek territory shrink ever further. Around the same time, a small city-state emerged from under the yoke of the Etruscans, and around 500 BC, Rome appeared as an independent power in its own right. Almost immediately, a treaty was signed with the Carthaginians — more of a clear division of power and land than anything else — with Rome at this point little more than a tiny insignificant speck to the rapidly expanding Carthaginian Empire.\n\n## The First Punic War and Rome's Emergence as a Naval Power\n\nCarthage had been embroiled in several bloody conflicts over Sicily, then controlled by the Greeks, during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, and despite plenty of success, the campaigns also saw failure at a significant cost. This period also saw Rome's power expand rapidly around mainland Italy, and in 264 BC, the two came into conflict for the first time. With Sicily so close to the Italian mainland, it was only a matter of time until Roman expansion arrived on the island, which at the time was broadly under the control of Carthage, with the exception of the independent city-state of Syracuse. In 264 BC, the Romans managed to gain a foothold in Messana, in the northeast, but soon their gaze was cast further afield. The Romans formed an alliance with Syracuse and attacked the Carthaginian stronghold of Akragas, on the southern coast, which they eventually gained control of. But this was just the start, and over the next 22 years, the two heavyweights traded blows, mostly at sea, but also in Corsica, Sardinia, and even in Northern Africa, close to Carthage itself. This was a protracted, bloody affair that saw both sides incur enormous losses. The First Punic War saw the largest naval battles the world had ever seen, and for a long time, it appeared as if the conflict would end in a stalemate. However, things swung in Rome's favor just enough, and in 241 BC, Carthage sued for peace and the First Punic War ended when the Treaty of Lutatius was signed, in which Carthage ceded Sicily to the Romans, along with 3,200 talents of silver. It had been a chastening defeat for the once-mighty Carthage and one which lingered long in the memory.\n\n## Hannibal's Legendary Campaign and the Second Punic War\n\nJust over 20 years later, a man rose through the Carthaginians' ranks who would go on to haunt Roman dreams for decades and whose name would still be uttered with reverence over 2,000 years later. The name Hannibal has long been etched as one of history's great military commanders, yet while his exploits were certainly extraordinary, they unquestionably led to the downfall of Carthage, just over forty years after his death. Hannibal's military accomplishments are legendary and his traverse of the Alps with war elephants during winter has long been held up as one of history's most daringly brilliant plans. The Second Punic War began when Hannibal, who was stationed in what is today modern Spain, seized the pro-Roman city of Saguntum, close to what is today Valencia, in 219 BC. Rome immediately declared war on Carthage, but few, if any, expected what came next. With northern Italy protected by the mighty Alps, most in Rome assumed that any invasion would come from the south, via the sea — especially in winter. Hannibal defied expectations in the most dramatic way possible when he marched his army, numbering somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000 men, along with 38 war elephants, over the Alps and into the Roman heartland. As the general and his men arrived in northern Italy unexpectedly in late winter, they caught the Romans off guard, and Hannibal and his Gaulish allies began smashing their way through the Roman Empire with supreme ease. A large Roman army was annihilated in 217 BC, and it seemed only a matter of time until the city of Rome itself fell into Carthaginian hands. Yet how and why Hannibal failed to take Rome is one of the great curiosities of history. His 17 years in Italy saw numerous significant victories, but this was always met with yet more Roman soldiers conscripted, and the Roman Empire just about held on — often liberating cities that had fallen to Hannibal after his army had left. In 203 BC, the Romans struck back, and an invasion force sailed from Italy to the doors of Carthage, and Hannibal was quickly recalled to defend the homeland. The Battle of Zama, in 202 BC, saw the Romans rout Hannibal's army, and a peace treaty was finally signed.\n\n## The Humiliation of Carthage and Cato's Relentless Campaign for Destruction\n\nIf the conditions at the end of the First Punic War had been harsh, the conclusion of the Second went even further, with Carthage agreeing to pay an indemnity of 10,000 silver talents to be paid over 50 years, while the city was prohibited from owning war elephants and its fleet was restricted to 10 warships. Along with this, Carthage agreed to not wage war outside of Africa, and only in Africa with Rome's consent. It was a brutal set of conditions that all but ended Carthage's role as a major player in the Mediterranean. As the years rolled past, Carthage paid off its debt much faster than expected, but remained little threat to Rome. But memories have a habit of lasting, and the devastation handed out by Hannibal on the mainland lingered darkly in the back of many Roman minds. Many in the Roman senate were itching for final revenge over the Carthaginians, but with its once-mighty empire now shriveled to all but the city of Carthage, it represented only a minor threat to the booming Roman empire. But Ancient Rome, with its complex web of intrigue, paranoia, and outright backstabbing, was far from a settled place, and the incessant calls by some in the senate, including Cato the Censor, who would finish every speech on the subject of Carthage with the ominous words Carthāgō dēlenda est — Carthage must be destroyed — urged Rome to finish the job once and for all. It didn't help that on a diplomatic visit to Carthage in 152 BC, Cato the Censor was shocked at the apparent wealth and prosperity in a city that Rome had brought to its knees just 50 years before. Rome had prevailed during both Punic Wars, but at a considerable cost. Like two grizzled heavyweights in the boxing ring, Rome and Carthage had bled each other dry over nearly a century, and while a thirst for revenge was still alive and well, there seemed to have been enough cool heads to prevent a further conflict — for a short time anyway.\n\n## The Third Punic War: Rome's Impossible Demands and the Siege Begins\n\nPart of the settlement at the end of the Second Punic War was that Carthage was prohibited from waging war without the express consent of the Romans, so when neighboring Numidia, an ally of Rome, decided to annex land from Carthage in 149 BC, the Carthaginians sent an army to defend their lands. Whether this was intentionally engineered by the Romans as an excuse to finally invade Carthage is unknown, but they jumped at the opportunity. An army of roughly 50,000 men arrived on the shores of Carthage, and the Romans set out their demands, which included the surrender of all armaments. No doubt looking to spare their city, the Carthaginians complied, and 200,000 sets of armor, 2,000 catapults, and a large number of warships were confiscated or destroyed. But that wasn't the end of it. The next set of demands called for the complete destruction of the city and the relocation of its entire population at least 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the sea. Across the entire span of recorded history, rarely have such prerequisites been demanded prior to surrender. Understandably, the Carthaginians balked at such demands, broke off negotiations, began rearming at a frantic pace — and prepared for war. Carthage at the time had a population of 700,000, much larger than normal because it was accommodating those from outside the city who were looking for protection against the Romans. It is thought that 140,000 Carthaginian women and children were evacuated from the city by sea, which means that at least half a million remained inside as the siege began. The city had a wall that measured approximately 35 kilometers (20 miles) in circumference that wrapped around its entirety. Carthage was situated on a small peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water, a fact that made invasion considerably harder. The main approach by land was faced with not one wall but three, which included a brick-built wall 9 meters (30 ft) wide and 15–20 meters (50–70 ft) high with a 20-meter-wide (70 ft) ditch in front of it. This section included a barracks capable of holding 24,000 soldiers and represented a fearsome defensive proposition.\n\n## Roman Setbacks and the Brutal Stalemate Outside the Walls\n\nCarthage had raised a field army of roughly 30,000 men, led by Hasdrubal the Boetharch, which was based at Nepheris, 25 kilometers (16 miles) south of the city. The siege began shortly after negotiations broke down, but any notion that this would be a quick victory quickly evaporated. When the Romans had landed, they initially split their forces in two, with one assigned to each of the Roman consuls who had traveled with the legions, Manius Manilius and Lucius Marcius Censorinus. Manius Manilius positioned his men on a small strip of land that led directly to the city, while Lucius Marcius Censorinus and his men settled on the shore of Lake Tunis, opposite the western wall of Carthage. The attack plan called for Manilius' men to fill the ditch facing the southern wall, then attack and scale it from there. The pincer would be completed by Censorinus, who would attack the western wall and scale it by using ladders. As the final preparations were made, the Romans made a fatal error. Both consuls assumed that the Carthaginians no longer possessed the weaponry needed to repel an assault of this size, and both believed that the attack was little more than a foregone conclusion. Twice the Romans launched everything they had at the famed walls, and twice they were thrown back with devastating loss of life. The Romans had constructed two giant battering rams, and one managed to breach a section of the wall, but as men clambered upwards towards the hole, they met fierce resistance and quickly backtracked. Despite early Roman confidence, this would not be a quick victory. The siege continued with the two Roman groups camped outside the city, where their communication lines and foraging parties came under near-constant attack from the Carthaginians. It remained this way for the best part of a year, with Rome struggling to break down the well-organized Carthaginian defense. While the city had precious little groundwater available, it did have an extensive and highly sophisticated rainwater collection system that kept the city going, while supplies could still be brought in via the harbor. This period saw relentless assaults on the Roman army, often at night, which began to sap morale, and large-scale field fortifications were eventually built to stem the losses.\n\n## Scipio Aemilianus Takes Command and the Fall of Carthage\n\nIn 148 BC, Roman elections saw two new consuls take power: Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus and Calpurnius Piso, the latter of whom arrived outside Carthage later that year. Not to be outdone, Carthage also saw a dramatic change in leadership that saw Hasdrubal, commander of the Carthaginian field army, overthrow the civilian leadership in Carthage and assume full control himself. That year saw little progress for the Romans, and much of the frustration was said to be directed at Piso, whose military prowess was most certainly called into question. He was replaced the following year by a man whose name would linger over the ashes of Carthage for centuries to come: Scipio Aemilianus. Scipio was already in the fight as a Tribune within the 4th Legion and had established himself as a savvy military leader. In 147 BC, he became consul, despite being younger than the required age, and it was this change that unquestionably sped up the demise of Carthage. One of his first acts as consul was to lead a night attack that targeted a perceived weak spot in the Carthage wall. One of the city gates was seized and 4,000 Roman soldiers poured forward as Carthaginian defenders struggled valiantly in the dark before falling back into the city. Scipio decided his position would be untenable once the Carthaginians counterattacked during daylight and ordered his troops to retreat. Carthage had survived, but only by a whisper. In an act of furious retribution, Hasdrubal ordered that Roman survivors be tortured to death on the city walls, in full view of the Roman army outside. Under Scipio's orders, the Romans tightened their siege around Carthage, but the Roman leader remained frustrated that ships could still slip through the cordon and into the city's harbor. In response, he ordered an enormous mole be constructed — a stone walkway that separates two bodies of water — as a way of completely cutting Carthage off from the sea. But the Carthaginians too were busy constructing. Two years earlier they had handed over their entire fleet to the Romans, but now they again began shipbuilding, a practice they had perfected long before Rome was even an empire. In the summer of 147 BC, 50 triremes and a number of smaller ships slipped through a gap in the Roman cordon and suddenly the Romans once again had a fight on their hands. Fighting erupted, and the Carthaginians more than held their own against superior numbers, but as they began to withdraw back towards the city, a collision caused a blockage and many of the ships were either sunk or captured.\n\n## The Destruction of a Civilization and the First Known Genocide\n\nFerocious fighting on the quayside eventually led to the Carthaginians ceding the area to the Romans, who took the opportunity to build an enormous brick wall as high as the city walls, from where they could pour fire onto the city. Carthage was wobbling and the final assault came from the harbor side, something which Hasdrubal had anticipated by ordering that all buildings in the area be completely destroyed. But it did little to slow the Roman advance and they soon smashed their way into Carthage's military harbor before pushing on into the city itself. Over the next six days, the Romans systematically worked their way through Carthage, burning every house to the ground and killing anybody they came into contact with. The Romans took to moving from rooftop to rooftop to prevent missiles raining down on them, but as the days progressed, the remaining Carthaginian soldiers, which included some 900 Roman deserters, withdrew to the Temple of Eshmoun in the center of the city. As the Romans closed in, the Carthaginians burnt the temple to the ground, an act of final desperate belligerence. It was only on the seventh day that Scipio decreed that prisoners could be taken, and it is thought that 50,000 Carthaginians were captured, all of whom were later sold into slavery. At this point, fact and myth began to merge, with Hasdrubal reportedly surrendering on condition of his safety. In response, his wife cursed his cowardly decision before jumping with her children into the raging fire. The destruction of Carthage was absolute, and Scipio spent six months methodically wrecking the once-mighty city. There has long been a tale of how the Romans spread salt on the city as a way of cursing it and preventing it from ever being settled again, but this is almost certainly a more modern twist to the story. True or not, Carthage was razed to the ground, and its people were almost entirely wiped out. Considering what is known about the population of Carthage at the time and the evacuations that took place, it is likely that at least half a million died, either during the two-year siege or the city's final destruction. The Romans did not constrain themselves to just Carthage; five or six further African cities with Punic roots were completely destroyed as the Romans sought to extinguish not only Punic influence but the Punic people themselves. What happened over 2,000 years ago just outside the modern city of Tunis is considered by some to be the first known genocide. In reality, it is very likely that another similar act must have occurred before, but perhaps not on the same scale. The destruction of Carthage signalled a bloody end to the Punic people who had once ruled the Mediterranean and heralded in another dominant empire who would rule supremely for nearly 500 years.\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions\n\n### Why did Rome issue impossible demands before the Third Punic War siege?\n\nAfter arriving with roughly 50,000 soldiers in 149 BC, Rome first demanded all Carthaginian armaments—200,000 sets of armor, 2,000 catapults, and a large fleet—which Carthage surrendered. Rome then demanded the complete destruction of the city and the relocation of its 700,000 inhabitants at least 16 kilometers from the sea. Faced with the erasure of their civilization, the Carthaginians broke off negotiations, began rearming, and chose to fight.\n\n### What role did Cato the Censor play in pushing Rome toward war?\n\nCato the Censor repeatedly ended his senate speeches with Carthāgō dēlenda est—Carthage must be destroyed—serving as the foremost hawk driving Roman policy toward a final confrontation. A diplomatic visit to Carthage in 152 BC shocked him with the city's apparent prosperity despite Roman victories, reinforcing his view that only total destruction would secure Rome. His relentless campaign helped overcome the senators who believed Carthage no longer posed a meaningful threat.\n\n### How did Scipio Aemilianus turn the stalled siege into a decisive victory?\n\nAppointed consul in 147 BC despite being below the required age, Scipio immediately energized the two-year-old siege. He ordered an enormous stone mole built to cut Carthage off from the sea, tightened the blockade, and led a night assault that briefly seized a city gate before a strategic withdrawal. Once the harbor was taken, his forces spent six days in systematic house-to-house fighting, burning every structure and killing nearly everyone they encountered before prisoners were finally taken on the seventh day.\n\n### What happened to the population of Carthage during and after the siege?\n\nThe city held a wartime population of roughly 700,000, though 140,000 women and children were evacuated by sea before the siege closed. The remaining population, estimated at over half a million, faced three years of siege followed by six days of total destruction. Around 50,000 survivors were captured and sold into slavery. Combined with those killed during the siege itself, it is likely that at least half a million Carthaginians died, an event considered by some historians to be the first recorded genocide.\n\n### Why did Hannibal's brilliant Italian campaign ultimately doom Carthage?\n\nHannibal's 17-year campaign in Italy—launched with 50,000 to 70,000 men and 38 war elephants across the Alps—inflicted devastating Roman defeats but never captured Rome itself. When Rome counterattacked by invading North Africa in 203 BC, Hannibal was recalled home and defeated at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. The resulting peace terms stripped Carthage of its fleet, war elephants, and right to wage war without Roman consent, leaving the city defenseless and vulnerable to the final Roman push fifty years later.\n\n## Related Coverage\n- [Sudan's Forgotten War: Why the World Looks Away](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/sudans-forgotten-war)\n- [Bloodshed in Syria. 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Abdullah Öcalan Calls for Peace.](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/is-a-decades-long-turkish-war-finally-over-abdullah-calan-calls-for-peace)\n- [Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis: From Colonial Divide to a Burning Conflict](https://warfronts-prod.fulcrum-labs.workers.dev/conflicts/cameroon-anglophone-crisis-burning-conflict)\n\n" url: https://warfronts.pub/article/annihilation-of-carthage-devastation-romes-greatest-enemy.md canonical: https://warfronts.pub/article/annihilation-of-carthage-devastation-romes-greatest-enemy datePublished: 2026-03-04 dateModified: 2026-03-04 author: - name: Simon Whistler url: https://warfronts.pub/author/simon-whistler publisher: Warfronts image: "https://media.warfronts.pub/cdn-cgi/image/width=1600,height=900,fit=cover,quality=80,format=auto/articles/0N2cqBYmfMw/hero.jpg" type: NewsArticle contentHash: 42cb83179e5f8d62e10e0daf2850de9c10ba3dcdbff9468b184b64ad0b036eb7 tokens: 6039 summaryUrl: https://warfronts.pub/article/annihilation-of-carthage-devastation-romes-greatest-enemy.md.summary.md --- It began with the chilling words Carthāgō dēlenda est — Carthage must be destroyed — and ended with what is thought to be one of the first recorded genocides. The words, often repeated by Cato the Censor, a Roman Senator who brought new meaning to the word hawkish, frequently found their way into discussions on the Senate floor in Rome that preceded the Third Punic War — the grandstand finale to a trilogy that had spanned almost a century. They were used to galvanize a Roman Empire that had toyed with the ailing Carthaginian Empire without finishing it off. Senators were divided between those who saw the once-mighty city of Carthage as now subordinate to Rome in every way and no longer a threat, and those who believed that only the city's complete destruction would placate Roman pride and thirst for revenge. The Third Punic War ended with the cataclysmic Battle of Carthage, a savagery that had rarely been seen before. It led to the near-complete extermination of the Punic people, who had once been one of the most powerful groups anywhere in the Mediterranean. The once-great city lay in ruin, concluding a three-year siege that had pushed the Romans to the very brink, and consigned the name Carthage to history. ## Key Takeaways - Carthage, founded around 814 BC near modern Tunis, grew from a Phoenician colony into the dominant Mediterranean power before clashing with Rome across three wars spanning over a century. - The First Punic War ended in 241 BC with the Treaty of Lutatius, costing Carthage Sicily and 3,200 talents of silver after 22 years of the largest naval battles the ancient world had seen. - Hannibal crossed the Alps with 50,000 to 70,000 men and 38 war elephants, devastating Roman forces for 17 years before his defeat at Zama in 202 BC ended the Second Punic War. - Cato the Censor's relentless senate speeches ending with Carthāgō dēlenda est drove Roman policy toward a final confrontation despite Carthage posing minimal military threat. - When Rome demanded the city's destruction and relocation of its 700,000 inhabitants 16 kilometers from the sea, Carthage chose to rearm and fight rather than comply. - Scipio Aemilianus, appointed consul in 147 BC despite being underage, transformed a stalled two-year siege into a systematic destruction that razed Carthage over six days of house-to-house combat. ## The Rise of Carthage: From Phoenician Colony to Mediterranean Superpower The ancient and once glorious city of Carthage lay close to the modern city of Tunis, in Tunisia. Founded by Phoenician settlers around 814 BC, the city eventually grew into one of the largest and most powerful in the entire Mediterranean. For around two hundred years, the city was one of many colonies under the control of the city-state Tyre, close to modern-day Beirut, but around 650 BC, with Tyre's power waning, Carthage emerged from the shadows as an independent city in its own right. With it came a clearly defined culture, often referred to as 'Punic', which is Latin for Phoenician. The city was initially ruled by kings before becoming a republic around 480 BC, and by that time Carthage had already established itself as a supreme Mediterranean power, both in terms of its military and its trading routes. At its pinnacle, the Carthaginian Empire stretched the length of the North African coast and included most of the Mediterranean islands and much of southern Spain. The Carthaginians were known for their seafaring abilities and exploration, with ships venturing out into the Atlantic to explore the African coastal regions, perhaps going as far as the River Gambia — an extraordinary distance for the age. As Carthage's power and territory grew, they eventually came into conflict with one of the other major powers of the day, the Greeks. For several hundred years, Greek colonies had been slowly expanding around the Mediterranean, but Greek power began to slowly ebb away, and successive military defeats to the Carthaginians and the Etruscans saw Greek territory shrink ever further. Around the same time, a small city-state emerged from under the yoke of the Etruscans, and around 500 BC, Rome appeared as an independent power in its own right. Almost immediately, a treaty was signed with the Carthaginians — more of a clear division of power and land than anything else — with Rome at this point little more than a tiny insignificant speck to the rapidly expanding Carthaginian Empire. ## The First Punic War and Rome's Emergence as a Naval Power Carthage had been embroiled in several bloody conflicts over Sicily, then controlled by the Greeks, during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, and despite plenty of success, the campaigns also saw failure at a significant cost. This period also saw Rome's power expand rapidly around mainland Italy, and in 264 BC, the two came into conflict for the first time. With Sicily so close to the Italian mainland, it was only a matter of time until Roman expansion arrived on the island, which at the time was broadly under the control of Carthage, with the exception of the independent city-state of Syracuse. In 264 BC, the Romans managed to gain a foothold in Messana, in the northeast, but soon their gaze was cast further afield. The Romans formed an alliance with Syracuse and attacked the Carthaginian stronghold of Akragas, on the southern coast, which they eventually gained control of. But this was just the start, and over the next 22 years, the two heavyweights traded blows, mostly at sea, but also in Corsica, Sardinia, and even in Northern Africa, close to Carthage itself. This was a protracted, bloody affair that saw both sides incur enormous losses. The First Punic War saw the largest naval battles the world had ever seen, and for a long time, it appeared as if the conflict would end in a stalemate. However, things swung in Rome's favor just enough, and in 241 BC, Carthage sued for peace and the First Punic War ended when the Treaty of Lutatius was signed, in which Carthage ceded Sicily to the Romans, along with 3,200 talents of silver. It had been a chastening defeat for the once-mighty Carthage and one which lingered long in the memory. ## Hannibal's Legendary Campaign and the Second Punic War Just over 20 years later, a man rose through the Carthaginians' ranks who would go on to haunt Roman dreams for decades and whose name would still be uttered with reverence over 2,000 years later. The name Hannibal has long been etched as one of history's great military commanders, yet while his exploits were certainly extraordinary, they unquestionably led to the downfall of Carthage, just over forty years after his death. Hannibal's military accomplishments are legendary and his traverse of the Alps with war elephants during winter has long been held up as one of history's most daringly brilliant plans. The Second Punic War began when Hannibal, who was stationed in what is today modern Spain, seized the pro-Roman city of Saguntum, close to what is today Valencia, in 219 BC. Rome immediately declared war on Carthage, but few, if any, expected what came next. With northern Italy protected by the mighty Alps, most in Rome assumed that any invasion would come from the south, via the sea — especially in winter. Hannibal defied expectations in the most dramatic way possible when he marched his army, numbering somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000 men, along with 38 war elephants, over the Alps and into the Roman heartland. As the general and his men arrived in northern Italy unexpectedly in late winter, they caught the Romans off guard, and Hannibal and his Gaulish allies began smashing their way through the Roman Empire with supreme ease. A large Roman army was annihilated in 217 BC, and it seemed only a matter of time until the city of Rome itself fell into Carthaginian hands. Yet how and why Hannibal failed to take Rome is one of the great curiosities of history. His 17 years in Italy saw numerous significant victories, but this was always met with yet more Roman soldiers conscripted, and the Roman Empire just about held on — often liberating cities that had fallen to Hannibal after his army had left. In 203 BC, the Romans struck back, and an invasion force sailed from Italy to the doors of Carthage, and Hannibal was quickly recalled to defend the homeland. The Battle of Zama, in 202 BC, saw the Romans rout Hannibal's army, and a peace treaty was finally signed. ## The Humiliation of Carthage and Cato's Relentless Campaign for Destruction If the conditions at the end of the First Punic War had been harsh, the conclusion of the Second went even further, with Carthage agreeing to pay an indemnity of 10,000 silver talents to be paid over 50 years, while the city was prohibited from owning war elephants and its fleet was restricted to 10 warships. Along with this, Carthage agreed to not wage war outside of Africa, and only in Africa with Rome's consent. It was a brutal set of conditions that all but ended Carthage's role as a major player in the Mediterranean. As the years rolled past, Carthage paid off its debt much faster than expected, but remained little threat to Rome. But memories have a habit of lasting, and the devastation handed out by Hannibal on the mainland lingered darkly in the back of many Roman minds. Many in the Roman senate were itching for final revenge over the Carthaginians, but with its once-mighty empire now shriveled to all but the city of Carthage, it represented only a minor threat to the booming Roman empire. But Ancient Rome, with its complex web of intrigue, paranoia, and outright backstabbing, was far from a settled place, and the incessant calls by some in the senate, including Cato the Censor, who would finish every speech on the subject of Carthage with the ominous words Carthāgō dēlenda est — Carthage must be destroyed — urged Rome to finish the job once and for all. It didn't help that on a diplomatic visit to Carthage in 152 BC, Cato the Censor was shocked at the apparent wealth and prosperity in a city that Rome had brought to its knees just 50 years before. Rome had prevailed during both Punic Wars, but at a considerable cost. Like two grizzled heavyweights in the boxing ring, Rome and Carthage had bled each other dry over nearly a century, and while a thirst for revenge was still alive and well, there seemed to have been enough cool heads to prevent a further conflict — for a short time anyway. ## The Third Punic War: Rome's Impossible Demands and the Siege Begins Part of the settlement at the end of the Second Punic War was that Carthage was prohibited from waging war without the express consent of the Romans, so when neighboring Numidia, an ally of Rome, decided to annex land from Carthage in 149 BC, the Carthaginians sent an army to defend their lands. Whether this was intentionally engineered by the Romans as an excuse to finally invade Carthage is unknown, but they jumped at the opportunity. An army of roughly 50,000 men arrived on the shores of Carthage, and the Romans set out their demands, which included the surrender of all armaments. No doubt looking to spare their city, the Carthaginians complied, and 200,000 sets of armor, 2,000 catapults, and a large number of warships were confiscated or destroyed. But that wasn't the end of it. The next set of demands called for the complete destruction of the city and the relocation of its entire population at least 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the sea. Across the entire span of recorded history, rarely have such prerequisites been demanded prior to surrender. Understandably, the Carthaginians balked at such demands, broke off negotiations, began rearming at a frantic pace — and prepared for war. Carthage at the time had a population of 700,000, much larger than normal because it was accommodating those from outside the city who were looking for protection against the Romans. It is thought that 140,000 Carthaginian women and children were evacuated from the city by sea, which means that at least half a million remained inside as the siege began. The city had a wall that measured approximately 35 kilometers (20 miles) in circumference that wrapped around its entirety. Carthage was situated on a small peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water, a fact that made invasion considerably harder. The main approach by land was faced with not one wall but three, which included a brick-built wall 9 meters (30 ft) wide and 15–20 meters (50–70 ft) high with a 20-meter-wide (70 ft) ditch in front of it. This section included a barracks capable of holding 24,000 soldiers and represented a fearsome defensive proposition. ## Roman Setbacks and the Brutal Stalemate Outside the Walls Carthage had raised a field army of roughly 30,000 men, led by Hasdrubal the Boetharch, which was based at Nepheris, 25 kilometers (16 miles) south of the city. The siege began shortly after negotiations broke down, but any notion that this would be a quick victory quickly evaporated. When the Romans had landed, they initially split their forces in two, with one assigned to each of the Roman consuls who had traveled with the legions, Manius Manilius and Lucius Marcius Censorinus. Manius Manilius positioned his men on a small strip of land that led directly to the city, while Lucius Marcius Censorinus and his men settled on the shore of Lake Tunis, opposite the western wall of Carthage. The attack plan called for Manilius' men to fill the ditch facing the southern wall, then attack and scale it from there. The pincer would be completed by Censorinus, who would attack the western wall and scale it by using ladders. As the final preparations were made, the Romans made a fatal error. Both consuls assumed that the Carthaginians no longer possessed the weaponry needed to repel an assault of this size, and both believed that the attack was little more than a foregone conclusion. Twice the Romans launched everything they had at the famed walls, and twice they were thrown back with devastating loss of life. The Romans had constructed two giant battering rams, and one managed to breach a section of the wall, but as men clambered upwards towards the hole, they met fierce resistance and quickly backtracked. Despite early Roman confidence, this would not be a quick victory. The siege continued with the two Roman groups camped outside the city, where their communication lines and foraging parties came under near-constant attack from the Carthaginians. It remained this way for the best part of a year, with Rome struggling to break down the well-organized Carthaginian defense. While the city had precious little groundwater available, it did have an extensive and highly sophisticated rainwater collection system that kept the city going, while supplies could still be brought in via the harbor. This period saw relentless assaults on the Roman army, often at night, which began to sap morale, and large-scale field fortifications were eventually built to stem the losses. ## Scipio Aemilianus Takes Command and the Fall of Carthage In 148 BC, Roman elections saw two new consuls take power: Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus and Calpurnius Piso, the latter of whom arrived outside Carthage later that year. Not to be outdone, Carthage also saw a dramatic change in leadership that saw Hasdrubal, commander of the Carthaginian field army, overthrow the civilian leadership in Carthage and assume full control himself. That year saw little progress for the Romans, and much of the frustration was said to be directed at Piso, whose military prowess was most certainly called into question. He was replaced the following year by a man whose name would linger over the ashes of Carthage for centuries to come: Scipio Aemilianus. Scipio was already in the fight as a Tribune within the 4th Legion and had established himself as a savvy military leader. In 147 BC, he became consul, despite being younger than the required age, and it was this change that unquestionably sped up the demise of Carthage. One of his first acts as consul was to lead a night attack that targeted a perceived weak spot in the Carthage wall. One of the city gates was seized and 4,000 Roman soldiers poured forward as Carthaginian defenders struggled valiantly in the dark before falling back into the city. Scipio decided his position would be untenable once the Carthaginians counterattacked during daylight and ordered his troops to retreat. Carthage had survived, but only by a whisper. In an act of furious retribution, Hasdrubal ordered that Roman survivors be tortured to death on the city walls, in full view of the Roman army outside. Under Scipio's orders, the Romans tightened their siege around Carthage, but the Roman leader remained frustrated that ships could still slip through the cordon and into the city's harbor. In response, he ordered an enormous mole be constructed — a stone walkway that separates two bodies of water — as a way of completely cutting Carthage off from the sea. But the Carthaginians too were busy constructing. Two years earlier they had handed over their entire fleet to the Romans, but now they again began shipbuilding, a practice they had perfected long before Rome was even an empire. In the summer of 147 BC, 50 triremes and a number of smaller ships slipped through a gap in the Roman cordon and suddenly the Romans once again had a fight on their hands. Fighting erupted, and the Carthaginians more than held their own against superior numbers, but as they began to withdraw back towards the city, a collision caused a blockage and many of the ships were either sunk or captured. ## The Destruction of a Civilization and the First Known Genocide Ferocious fighting on the quayside eventually led to the Carthaginians ceding the area to the Romans, who took the opportunity to build an enormous brick wall as high as the city walls, from where they could pour fire onto the city. Carthage was wobbling and the final assault came from the harbor side, something which Hasdrubal had anticipated by ordering that all buildings in the area be completely destroyed. But it did little to slow the Roman advance and they soon smashed their way into Carthage's military harbor before pushing on into the city itself. Over the next six days, the Romans systematically worked their way through Carthage, burning every house to the ground and killing anybody they came into contact with. The Romans took to moving from rooftop to rooftop to prevent missiles raining down on them, but as the days progressed, the remaining Carthaginian soldiers, which included some 900 Roman deserters, withdrew to the Temple of Eshmoun in the center of the city. As the Romans closed in, the Carthaginians burnt the temple to the ground, an act of final desperate belligerence. It was only on the seventh day that Scipio decreed that prisoners could be taken, and it is thought that 50,000 Carthaginians were captured, all of whom were later sold into slavery. At this point, fact and myth began to merge, with Hasdrubal reportedly surrendering on condition of his safety. In response, his wife cursed his cowardly decision before jumping with her children into the raging fire. The destruction of Carthage was absolute, and Scipio spent six months methodically wrecking the once-mighty city. There has long been a tale of how the Romans spread salt on the city as a way of cursing it and preventing it from ever being settled again, but this is almost certainly a more modern twist to the story. True or not, Carthage was razed to the ground, and its people were almost entirely wiped out. Considering what is known about the population of Carthage at the time and the evacuations that took place, it is likely that at least half a million died, either during the two-year siege or the city's final destruction. The Romans did not constrain themselves to just Carthage; five or six further African cities with Punic roots were completely destroyed as the Romans sought to extinguish not only Punic influence but the Punic people themselves. What happened over 2,000 years ago just outside the modern city of Tunis is considered by some to be the first known genocide. In reality, it is very likely that another similar act must have occurred before, but perhaps not on the same scale. The destruction of Carthage signalled a bloody end to the Punic people who had once ruled the Mediterranean and heralded in another dominant empire who would rule supremely for nearly 500 years. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why did Rome issue impossible demands before the Third Punic War siege? After arriving with roughly 50,000 soldiers in 149 BC, Rome first demanded all Carthaginian armaments—200,000 sets of armor, 2,000 catapults, and a large fleet—which Carthage surrendered. Rome then demanded the complete destruction of the city and the relocation of its 700,000 inhabitants at least 16 kilometers from the sea. Faced with the erasure of their civilization, the Carthaginians broke off negotiations, began rearming, and chose to fight. ### What role did Cato the Censor play in pushing Rome toward war? Cato the Censor repeatedly ended his senate speeches with Carthāgō dēlenda est—Carthage must be destroyed—serving as the foremost hawk driving Roman policy toward a final confrontation. A diplomatic visit to Carthage in 152 BC shocked him with the city's apparent prosperity despite Roman victories, reinforcing his view that only total destruction would secure Rome. His relentless campaign helped overcome the senators who believed Carthage no longer posed a meaningful threat. ### How did Scipio Aemilianus turn the stalled siege into a decisive victory? Appointed consul in 147 BC despite being below the required age, Scipio immediately energized the two-year-old siege. He ordered an enormous stone mole built to cut Carthage off from the sea, tightened the blockade, and led a night assault that briefly seized a city gate before a strategic withdrawal. Once the harbor was taken, his forces spent six days in systematic house-to-house fighting, burning every structure and killing nearly everyone they encountered before prisoners were finally taken on the seventh day. ### What happened to the population of Carthage during and after the siege? The city held a wartime population of roughly 700,000, though 140,000 women and children were evacuated by sea before the siege closed. The remaining population, estimated at over half a million, faced three years of siege followed by six days of total destruction. Around 50,000 survivors were captured and sold into slavery. Combined with those killed during the siege itself, it is likely that at least half a million Carthaginians died, an event considered by some historians to be the first recorded genocide. ### Why did Hannibal's brilliant Italian campaign ultimately doom Carthage? Hannibal's 17-year campaign in Italy—launched with 50,000 to 70,000 men and 38 war elephants across the Alps—inflicted devastating Roman defeats but never captured Rome itself. When Rome counterattacked by invading North Africa in 203 BC, Hannibal was recalled home and defeated at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. The resulting peace terms stripped Carthage of its fleet, war elephants, and right to wage war without Roman consent, leaving the city defenseless and vulnerable to the final Roman push fifty years later. ## Related Coverage - [Sudan's Forgotten War: Why the World Looks Away](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/sudans-forgotten-war) - [Bloodshed in Syria. Here's What We Know.](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/bloodshed-in-syria-heres-what-we-know) - [South Sudan is on Fire. Here's Why. (And More)](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/south-sudan-is-on-fire-heres-why-and-more) - [Is a Decades-Long Turkish War Finally Over? 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