17. Carthage - Empire Of The Phoenicians

April 11, 2023

AI Summary

5 min read

In 1858, the French novelist Gustave Flaubert arrived in North Africa, sick and depressed, hoping to find inspiration for a novel that was threatening to drive him mad. He had spent months locked in his study, trying to bring the lost city of Carthage back to life, but the writing wouldn't come. "I'm done for, my friend," he wrote. "Just think of what I've let myself in for. To resuscitate an entire civilization with nothing whatsoever to go on." When he finally walked among the ruined walls of Carthage—now buried beneath the modern Tunisian capital of Tunis—he felt connected to the ancient people he was trying to write about. He jotted down impressions of "green wheat full of flowering poppies" and "blocks of masonry" scattered across the landscape. The visit changed everything. He scrapped his draft and started over, eventually publishing Salammbô, a novel that renewed public interest in a city that had been largely forgotten for two thousand years.

The Phoenician World and the Rise of Carthage

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What you'll learn

1 Fall of Civilizations Podcast: Carthage - Empire Of The Phoenicians
2 Main Outline
3 (01:06) **Flaubert's Quest to Resurrect Carthage** - The French novelist travels to Tunisia in 1858, desperate to find inspiration for a novel about a lost civilization that left almost no written records.
4 (08:35) **The Phoenician Origins: Purple Dye and Seafaring** - The episode traces Carthage's roots back to the Phoenician city-states of Lebanon, whose dye industry and shipbuilding launched them across the Mediterranean.
5 (18:27) **Assyrian Pressure and the Expansion West** - The rise of the Assyrian Empire forces Phoenician cities into subservience, but their usefulness as sailors and metal suppliers buys them a degree of independence—and drives them to expand westward.
6 (30:53) **The Founding of Carthage: The Dido Legend** - The city's origin myth centers on a Phoenician princess named Elissa (Dido) who outwits a local king with an oxhide trick and later sacrifices herself rather than lose her city's freedom.
7 (37:09) **Carthage's Golden Age: Geography, Government, and Growth** - The city's ideal location and republican system of government allow it to explode from a humble settlement into the wealthiest city in the Mediterranean.

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Show Notes

Buried beneath the city streets of the Tunisian capital of Tunis, an ancient city lies forgotten...In this episode, we look at one of the most dramatic stories to come down to us from the ancient world: the rise and fall of the empire of Carthage. Find out how this city rose out of the Phoenician states of the Eastern Mediterranean, and set out on voyages of discovery and settlement that put them at the centre of the ancient world. And hear how the city of Carthage was destroyed, and its memory nearly wiped from the earth.SOURCES: https://www.patreon.com/posts/sources-for-17-81369494?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkCredits:Written and produced by Paul CooperSound engineering by Alexey SibikinVoice actors:Michael HajiantonisLachlan LucasAlexandra BoultonSimon JacksonTom Marshall-LeeChris Harvey,Nick DentonPaul Casselle