Carthaginians Discussion

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According to Roman legend, Phoenician colonists from modern-day Lebanon, led by Queen Elissa, founded Carthage circa 814 BC. Queen Elissa was an exiled princess of the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre. At its peak, the mighty city she founded, Carthage, become known as the "shining city", ruling 300 other cities around the western Mediterranean Sea. The Carthaginian Empire extended over much of the coaster of Northwest Africa as well as most of coastal Iberia and the islands of the western Mediterannean Sea. For much of its histroy, Carthage was on hostile terms with the Greeks in Sicily and the Roman Republic. The city also had to deal with potentially hostile Berbers, the local inhabitants of North Africa. In the Punic Wars against Rome, the Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca led an overland invasion of Italy by crossing the Alps with Elephants. After crushing victories over Roman armies in the battle of Trebia and Trasimene, Hannibal led a crushing defeat of the Romans at Cannae. In 146, after the third and final Punic War following hundreds of years of conflict, Roman forces destroyed Carthage. They utterly destroyed the city, enslaved whoever was still alive and poured salt all over the land to ensure nothing could grow back.