Carthage's Wars of Expansion DOCUMENTARY

The city of Carthage is most well known for its three titanic wars with Rome. Yet before the first blow was struck with its Italian neighbours, Carthage had already fought dozens of bloody wars of expansion during its rise to power. After all, the Punic Empire was a military power in its own right, with a first-rate navy capable of deploying boots on the ground nearly anywhere in the western Mediterranean. In this video, we will be covering the history of Carthage's wars of expansion. If you like our content, I can highly recommend you check out the documentary series Blood on the Altar, which covers the fascinating history of the Carthaginians and their enigmatic religion. Magellan TV is compatible with Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Play, and iOS, which means you can watch it anytime, anywhere, on your television, laptop, or mobile device. Sign up today to get a one-month free membership trial by visiting the link in the description below or going to magellantv.com forward slash Invicta. To understand Carthage's wars, we must first provide some historical context on the overall trajectory of this African empire. The start of its journey began in Tyre, a leading Phoenician city whose mastery of trade led it to establish an expansive network of colonies across the Mediterranean. Carthage was one such colony, founded in 814 BC at the nexus of major shipping routes. From this strategic position, it emerged as a leading regional power. When Tyre began to wane in the 6th century BC, Carthage stepped in to seat itself in Tyre's old throne as the master of the Mediterranean trade networks. From here, Carthage began its ascent to empire. Unfortunately, our records of this period are fragmentary at best. The earliest reference we have to Carthaginian warfare comes from a Roman historian named Justin, who wrote about a series of wars under the semi-mythical King Malchus sometime in the middle 6th century BC. Allegedly, Malchus fought a series of wars ranging from North Africa to Sicily and Sardinia, including a coup against his own city. Following his reign, Carthage was dominated politically by the Marginid clan for roughly 150 years. They seemed to have pushed for a policy of vigorous expansion and imperialism, with the Punic army and navy being deployed in many theatres of war. It is under the Marginids that Carthage truly flourished as an imperialistic power. Wars were fought to secure their homeland of North Africa and to conquer numerous Mediterranean islands of political, economic and military importance. Meanwhile, the internal situation in Carthage continued to evolve, leading up to the First Punic War. It was at this time that the Barquid clan rose to prominence, with powerful members like Hamilcar, Hasdrubal the Fair and Hannibal. They played an important role in directing Carthaginian military expansion into Spain and elsewhere, as the fight against Rome rose to existential levels. Thus we see that Carthage's wars of expansion were extremely wide-ranging in both the geographic and temporal sense. We will therefore be splitting up our analysis to cover each of the main theatres of war independently – Africa, the Mediterranean and Spain. Sicily is another major theatre of war which saw heavy activity. In fact, warfare on the island was so endemic that it will have to be covered in another video. But before diving into each series of wars, let's examine the overall military of Carthage. This would include both land and sea forces. The Carthaginian navy was a fearsome beast, made up of hundreds of galleys. Initially it was composed of pentacontas, which carried 50 rowers, but evolved over time to consist of much larger ships like triremes and quadraremes, with crews of over 200. To support its massive fleet, Carthage built huge ports for construction and maintenance operations. Here they used an assembly line system with standardized parts to efficiently manufacture ships, a feat unheard of in the ancient world. In battle, a ship's main weapon was its ram, which it used to punch holes in other ships and sink them. We are told that the Carthaginians were masters with this weapon and, as experienced sailors, could accomplish expert maneuvers. If ramming failed though, a galley could launch boarding actions or use missile weapons like bows and slings. The Carthaginian army was no less menacing. Initially it was made up of citizen-soldier levies, much like other city-states of the period, with an elite unit called the Sacred Band, made up of the most wealthy citizens, who were armed with the best equipment and highest levels of training. However, military disasters struck the army early on and the Carthaginians became wary of risking their citizenry unnecessarily in operations abroad. But while Punic soldiers might be in short supply, money certainly was not. Therefore the Carthaginian army quickly turned to outsourcing by raising subject levies and hiring mercenaries in times of war. These soldiers came from around the world with expertise in all kinds of fighting. These included Spaniards, Libyans, Balearic Islanders, Gauls, Italians, Greeks and more. But while foreigners might have filled the rank and file positions, the Carthaginians continued to occupy the higher levels of command. At the very top were the generals. These individuals were appointed by the state and served until they were recalled, an arrangement which is to be contrasted with the more chaotic annual terms of Roman consuls. While this might bring some stability, it was not a perfect system. Since Carthaginian citizens were not career soldiers, commanders of their armies were frequently of poor quality. To remedy this, the government established an oversight board to make sure commanders were held accountable for their performance. Major defeats, for instance, could result in crucifixion. This had the unintended consequence of making Punic commanders overly cautious and risk-averse, at least compared to their Roman peers. Of course, this was not a universal principle, as can be seen by the incredibly bold and aggressive generalship of Hannibal Barca. With this in mind, let's now finally turn to Carthage's Wars of Expansion. We shall begin in North Africa, where Carthaginian expansion naturally first took place against her local neighbours. These included the semi-nomadic Numidians in the west, the Libyans to the south, and the hybrid Liby-Phoenician communities, who occupied other colonial cities scattered across the coasts. At first, Carthage played quite a small role, acting mostly as a trade partner and occasionally engaging in border skirmishes. By and large, though, they were not in a position to conduct much in the way of large-scale warfare, as can be seen by the fact that during this period they actually were forced to pay tribute to the Libyans. Over time, though, the balance of power began to shift, and Carthage was able to expand beyond its walls. At first, it sought to claim the lands immediately around the city, which were rich in agriculture. Again, there were likely many clashes during this period, of which we have no records. It does appear, however, that early campaigns were often funded and led by ambitious generals. One can therefore imagine cycles of conquest being guided by the economic interests of the upper class. These would have been launched at the easier targets within a week's march from the coast, presumably following the path of rivers up into the fertile valleys of the hinterlands. It's likely on these sorts of campaigns that the semi-mythical King Malchus achieved the great deeds in Libya attributed to him by the historian Justin. These local wars between neighbors would be interrupted by invasion from an unlikely source, a Spartan prince named Dorius. He had been passed over for succession and decided to found his own colony in Libya, landing near Leptis Magna with a picked body of Spartan men and women in 515 BC. The North Africans were not keen on this intrusion. In response, they formed an alliance of Libyans, Libby Phoenicians and Carthaginians to mount an opposition. Within three years they had managed to expel the colony, but the alliance was not to last, and around the turn of the 6th century BC, Carthage once again found itself at war with its neighbors. It appears that the conflict broke out when the Libyans tried to collect overdue tributary obligations from Carthage. The Punic colony, led by the rising Margonids, refused, perhaps feeling emboldened by its growing strength. The result was a bloody war. Ultimately, Carthage was forced to back down and pay a financial settlement. Yet the Margonids would not be suppressed for long, and within just a few decades launched additional wars to shake off the Libyan yoke for good. These successive waves of Punic expansion eventually managed to reverse the roles, with Carthage coming to dominate the Libyans and Libby Phoenicians. Eventually, military campaigns would also be launched to subdue the far western Numidian and Mauritanian kingdoms. For the most part, however, these remained fairly independent and were only really controlled in the form of loose treaties and alliances. Those closer to Carthage, on the other hand, were subject to more restrictive terms. Many of the Libyans, for instance, were forced to accept Punic administrators, garrisons and pay heavy tributes, while others might have their own walls torn down and be required to supply levies for military campaigns. According to Greek historians, these Libyans were constantly treated poorly and subjected to oppressive taxation. This inevitably led to tensions which would rise to a boiling point repeatedly throughout Carthage's history. The first major uprising occurred in 396 BC, following the Third Sicilian War, with future revolts flaring up seemingly every few decades. As an example of the bad blood between the two groups, in one instance the Carthaginians apparently left behind portions of the Libyan army in Sicily, abandoning them to enslavement following a disastrous defeat. But perhaps the worst revolt took place in the aftermath of the First Punic War. Here, the Punic state had failed to properly pay its returning mercenaries, which rose to arms and were joined by 70,000 North African subjects. The rebellion lasted several years and featured unimaginable brutality that nearly brought about the end of the Punic state. Thus, we see that North African wars were a rather common occurrence throughout Carthage's history. While at times costly and disruptive, they were nonetheless a vital part of maintaining control over a key area of the empire, which was a prime recruiting ground for Punic armies and a bread basket for the city. When the city was not expanding into North Africa, it was utilizing its navy and armies to project power into the seas. After all, Carthage's lifeblood was the flow of wealth brought in from across the Mediterranean. Thus, its main priority was to ensure their security. This meant maintaining trade links with other Phoenician cities and native settlements in Sicily, Spain, Africa and various Mediterranean islands. Here, the Carthaginians might undertake anti-piracy measures or deploy squadrons to repel enemy fleets. Even the mere presence of Punic forces nearby could help apply pressure when it came to trade negotiations, giving merchants better leverage in their deals. Foreign campaigns, whether for trade rights or conquest, were frequently sponsored by political figures using their own funds. As a return on their investment, they stood to gain huge amounts of wealth and glory, which came from sacking foreign cities and expanding the power of Carthage. We first start to see this sort of serious foreign intervention taking place around the 6th century BC in opposition to growing Greek influence in the western Mediterranean. Sicily had long been a contested region, but now the Phocaean Greeks were making inroads into southern France and Corsica, with the founding of their twin colonies of Messalia and Alalia. From here, the Phocaeans competed for trade whilst engaging in raids and piracy against their rivals. In response, the Carthaginians and Etruscans sent a combined fleet of 120 ships to repel them in 540 BC. Though heavily outnumbered, the Greeks managed to drive away the allied fleet in a major battle off the east coast of Corsica. Victory, however, cost them dearly, as much of their fleet was damaged or destroyed. Unable to withstand further attack, they evacuated Alalia. Even in defeat, Carthage had succeeded in her intervention. Either roughly at the same time, or as a continued policy of imperialism, the Carthaginians decided to push into Sardinia, once again under the mythical King Malchus. This first expedition was a disaster. Malchus reportedly lost half his force on the island and was exiled from Carthage for his defeat. But the fight for the island was not over. In the late 500s BC, a second campaign was launched by the two Margonids, Hasdrubal and Hamilcar. Their invasion kicked off a long period of warfare and destruction for Sardinia. The fighting proved tough, as the Carthaginians were simultaneously engaged in wars back in Africa against the Spartans and Libyans. Even the esteemed General Hasdrubal, who had been elected Sufite 11 times and won four triumphs, was killed in conflict. Yet by 509 BC, the Carthaginians emerged victorious. A fact recorded in a surviving treaty with Rome, which discusses territorial claims. Carthage had become an imperial power. But the city's imperial ambitions did not stop with Sardinia. Through a combination of economic pressure and military force, the Carthaginians expanded their dominion over other key Mediterranean islands like the Balearics, Malta and Sicily. This last territory, however, would prove to be the bane of Carthage's existence. Here, several Phoenician colonies occupied the western shores, with the Greeks occupying the east. From the 6th to the 2nd centuries, the Punic Empire found itself pouring absurd amounts of blood and treasure to exert its influence over the strategically important island. Indeed, there were at least eleven wars with Carthage fought in Sicily. One war under Marcus, seven against Syracuse and the Sicilians, one against Pyrrhus and two against the Romans. The history of the Sicilian wars are so extensive that they will need to be covered in another video. For now, we'll move on to the last major theatre of war, Spain. Scholars today dispute how much influence Carthage had in Spain. The old Phoenicians had indeed populated the peninsula with a host of settlements. But these had largely been abandoned with the collapse of the trade system and the decline of Tyre around the 6th century BC. Nevertheless, Phoenician soft power was still strong in Spain. After all, there was plenty of wealth waiting to be tapped into and it seems logical to assume that the expanding Carthaginian Empire had its eye on the Spanish theatre. But to what degree they might have acted on this desire is unclear. Yes, they were still involved economically and thus had some control over the Spanish colonies, but we have no historical records of military interventions prior to the Punic Wars. This shouldn't be too surprising given the general lack of evidence in our sources. However, Carthage's occupation of Ebersus around 600 BC and their history of aggressive imperialism would indicate that they probably did interfere militarily. Whatever the case, war certainly came to Spain by the 3rd century BC. Carthage had just been defeated in the First Punic War and was reeling from the loss of its central Mediterranean island possessions, coupled with the imposition of heavy war indemnities. As a result, Punic attention turned west as a means to rebuild its base of power. The general, Hamilcar Barca, would lead the charge, launching a campaign in 236 BC to establish a new imperial domain. He began by securing the Phoenician cities along the southern coast, which controlled many well-developed agricultural lands, silver mines and fortified settlements. This was followed up by military efforts to secure the interior and the founding of new cities. Such wars were waged against the local Iberian tribes. They were fierce fighters, skilled in both open warfare and hit-and-run tactics, with many fortified hilltop settlements. Hamilcar's wars in Spain were a mix of brutal combat and skillful diplomacy, which in many ways mirrored Caesar's own conquest of Gaul. Within a decade, the Carthaginian foothold would be expanded to encompass a sizable territory. Upon Hamilcar's death, his stepson Hasdrubal the Fair further expanded and consolidated Carthaginian power in the area. When Hasdrubal was later assassinated, the famous Hannibal Barca took control of the army. He fervently continued the war in Spain, pushing out the borders of the Carthaginian Empire. It is these campaigns that made Rome nervous of a rising Carthage, and would lead to the outbreak of the Second Punic War. Thus, we have seen that Carthage was not some historical bystander waiting to be conquered by Rome. It was an empire in its own right, with many centuries of wars fought over the course of its expansion. There will be much more to discuss when it comes to Carthage's military and social history, so be sure to like and subscribe for more content.