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| Carthage: The Layout of the City and Remains |
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Situated
on a large peninsula, which stretched between salty lagoons to the
furthermost part of the gulf of Tunis, Carthage was twice in antiquity
a capital. Founded by Tyrians, who came from Phoenicia, the settlement
quickly became the metropolis of an empire, at first essentially
maritime. The Romans completely destroyed Carthage in 146 BC. But a
century later built a new city on the site,Destroyed by the Romans, it
was subsequently reconstructed by them and immediately raised to the
rank of capital of the province of Africa, a position it held almost to
the end of antiquity. This past, covering 15 centuries of history, has
left relatively few traces which strike the imagination of the visitor
of today. Since the end of the 19th c., modern life has progressively
covered over much of the ancient site.
Image from Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities
(1898) from
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1999.04.0062.fig00283_2
Virgil's
description of the original city of Carthage was written at least 700
years after the city was founded and more than a hundred years after
the Romans destroyed it. His description is more in keeping with the
layout of a Roman city of his own time. Theatres such as he describes
(Aeneid 1.427), for instance, were not built for a hundred years after
the founding of Dido's alleged city.
The
site of Carthage in North Africa was practically impregnable. It was
built on a promontary jutting into the Gulf of Tunis with inlets to the
sea to the north and south.
The
city had massive walls, 23 miles in circuit (cf. the 5 miles of walls
built for Rome after the Gallic sack). Most of the walls were along the
shore, and thus could be less impressive as Carthaginian control of sea
made attack from that direction difficult. The 2 1/2-3 miles on the
isthmus to the west were truly gargantuan and in fact were never
penetrated.
Carthage
had two splendid artificial harbours built within the city, connected
by a canal. Here their fleet was stationed. Above the harbors on a hill
was the Byrsa, a walled fortress.
The
name of Carthage comes from the Phoenician "Qart Hadasht"(= New Town).
The name probably signifies nothing more than a new settlement founded
by Greeks already settled in Campania.
Because
of its complete destruction and subsequent rebuilding, little is known
of the physical appearance of the Phoenician city.
Of
the first Punic city there are known only the two harbors, the tophet,
the sacred area destined for cult sacrifices, and the necropoleis,
which form a large strip occupying the N heights of the town.
The
city walls were of great strength and 22 miles (35 kilometres) in
length; the most vulnerable section, across the isthmus, was more than
40 feet high and 30 feet thick. The citadel on the hill called Byrsa
was also fortified. Between Byrsa and the port was the heart of the
city: its marketplace, council house, and temples. In appearance it may
have been not dissimilar to towns in the eastern Mediterranean or
Persian Gulf before the impact of modern civilization, with narrow
winding streets and houses up to six stories high.
The
exterior walls were blank except for a solitary street door, but they
enclosed courtyards. A figure of 700,000 for the city population is
given by the geographer Strabo, but this probably included the
population of the Cap Bon peninsula. A more reasonable figure could be
about 400,000, including slaves, a size similar to that of Athens.
The Ports
http://www.carthage.edu/outis/carthage.html
The
ancient artificial harbour--the Cothon--is represented today by two
lagoons north of the bay of al-Karm (el-Kram). In the 3rd century BC it
had two parts, the outer rectangular part being for merchant shipping,
the interior, circular division being reserved for warships; sheds and
quays were available for 220 warships. The harbour's small size
probably means that it was used chiefly in winter when navigation
almost ceased.
In
the second century AD Appian of Alexandria wrote a history of the Roman
Empire. Following an earlier account by Polybius, he gave this account
of the port area of Carthage just before its destruction by Rome (Libya
96):
 http://www.carthage.edu/outis/carthage.html
"The
harbours had communication with each other, and a common entrance from
the sea seventy feet wide, which could be closed with iron chains. The
first port was a merchant vessels, and here were collected all kinds of
ships' tackle. Within the second port was an island, and great quays
were set at intervals round both the harbour and the island. These
embankments were full of shipyards which had capacity for 220 vessels.
In addition to them were magazines for their tackle and furniture. Two
Ionic columns stood in front of each dock, giving the appearance of a
continuous portico to both the harbour and the island. On the island
was built the admiral's house, from which the trumpeter gave signals,
the herald delivered orders, and the admiral himself oversaw
everything."
The
island lay near the entrance to the harbour and rose to a considerable
height, so that the admiral could observe what was going on at sea,
while those who were approaching by water could not get any clear view
of what took place within. Not even incoming merchants could see the
docks at once, for a double wall enclosed them, and there were gates by
which merchants' ships could pass from the first port to the city
without traversing the dockyards. Such was the appearance of Carthage
at that time.
Excavations
have established Appian's description and that the ports of Carthage
were magnificent technical achievements. Some 120,000 cubic meters of
earth were moved to make the rectangular merchant harbour and another
115,000 to make the circular harbour.
The
earth and timber spillways in which ships from the water's edge were
brought up to the central island of the military port have been found.
Much of the area seems to have suffered from a renewed elevation in sea
level -- perhaps in the Roman imperial period -- and much filling-in
occurred in the 6th c AD.
Reconstruction
of the milatary port of Carthage. In the centre of the lagoon, an
artificial island supports the shipyards ofthe the warships and
provides the base for the Carthaginian admiralty.
 Slipway
Roman City
Of
the Roman period, several monuments have survived which, in spite of
their ruinous condition, bear witness to their original importance. To
the SW, no more of thie circus remains than traces of foundation; a
little farther to the N was the amphitheater, of which only the arena
and the substructures have survived; of the Odeon, situated on the
summit of the plateau, there exists no more than the platform of the
foundation; of the theater only a part of the cavea, backed against the
side of the hill, is still intact. There are also the large cisterns of
Malga to the W and those of Borj Jedid to the NE, fed by the aqueduct
of Zaghouan; and finally, above all, the Baths of Antoninus preserved
today in a great archaeological park. This is the most imposing
monument of Roman Carthage and counts among the largest of the Empire.
Situated on the seashore at the foot of the hill of Borj Jedid, with
one facade towards the sea and the other towards the interior, it had
an alternation of projections and recesses formed by a succession of
rectangular, hexagonal, and octagonal rooms. Perfectly symmetrical in
plan, it was covered by an immense vault supported by enormous granite
columns. The wings encircled two large palestrae with porticos of white
marble. The building was surrounded by an esplanade, itself circled by
porticos and building annexes of which two immense hemicycles sheltered
the latrines.
The
most remarkable sector in this regard is that which stretches along the
slope of the hill of the Odeon. Uncovered by several campaigns since
1899, the villas included in these areas rose on successive levels up
to the Baths of Antoninus. The most remarkable of these dwellings is
the House of the Aviary named for a mosaic. Around a large peristyle
open the rooms, which also give on an octagonal garden situated in the
center of the court. Cleared at the beginning of this century, this
aristocratic villa has been restored and transformed in part into an
antiquarium protecting some archaeological objects of various provenance
Apart
from the houses, which have been despoiled of their most beautiful
mosaics, the most complete recovery of the lost city has been carried
out in the necropoleis, which surround the town; the numerous
furnishings that have been recovered from there constitute the essence
of the archaeological documentation of ancient Carthage.During all the
centuries of abandonment which preceded, the ruins served as an
inexhaustible stone quarry for Tunis and other towns as well as for
present-day structures built on the site. Very few monuments have
escaped this intensive exploitation. Further, the explorations of the
19th c. resulted in stripping the remains of their archeological
objects for private collections and museums.
http://vergil.classics.upenn.edu/comm2/places/carthage.html | Carthage
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