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170-487: The Carthaginian navigator Hanno visited and established a trading post in the area in the 5th century BC, and Phoenician artifacts have been found on the island. Around the end of the 1st century BC or early 1st century AD, Juba II established a Tyrian purple factory, processing the murex and purpura shells found in the intertidal rocks at Essaouira and the Iles Purpuraires . This dye colored

340-489: A city of great wealth and ruthless in the pursuit of war. Its name was Carthage, and Juno is said to have loved it more than any other place ... But she had heard that there was rising from the blood of Troy a race of men who in days to come would overthrow this Tyrian citadel ... [and] sack the land of Libya." Virgil describes Queen Elissa—for whom he uses the ancient Greek name, Dido, meaning "beloved"—as an esteemed, clever, but ultimately tragic character. As in other legends,

510-549: A clique of military leaders whose goal was the formation of a republic. The German Empire (1871–1918), another "heir to the Holy Roman Empire", arose in 1871. The fall of the western half of the Roman Empire is seen as one of the most pivotal points in all of human history. This event traditionally marks the transition from classical civilization to the birth of Europe. The Roman Empire started to decline at

680-657: A core territory (e.g., Weimar Germany shorn of the German colonial empire (1918–1919), or the Ottoman Empire (1918–1923)). The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after 1918 provides an example of a multi-ethnic superstate broken into constituent nation-oriented states: the republics, kingdoms, and provinces of Austria , Hungary , Transylvania , Croatia , Slovenia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Czechoslovakia , Ruthenia , Galicia , et al . In

850-477: A decade later in 387 BC. After winning a naval battle off the coast of Catania, Himilco laid siege to Syracuse with 50,000 Carthaginians, but yet another epidemic struck down thousands of them. With the enemy assault stalled and weakened, Dionysius then launched a surprise counterattack by land and sea, destroying all the Carthaginian ships while its crews were ashore. At the same time, his ground forces stormed

1020-603: A half centuries until the universal conquest of Qin in 221 BC. The first empire comparable to Rome in organization was the Neo-Assyrian Empire (916–612 BC). The Median Empire was the first empire within the territory of Persia . By the 6th century BC, after having allied with the Babylonians , Scythians and Cimmerians to defeat the Neo-Assyrian Empire , the Medes were able to establish their own empire, which

1190-571: A localised variety known as Punic. Like other Phoenician peoples, its society was urban, commercial, and oriented towards seafaring and trade; this is reflected in part by its notable innovations, including serial production , uncolored glass , the threshing board , and the cothon harbor. Carthaginians were renowned for their commercial prowess, ambitious explorations, and unique system of government , which combined elements of democracy , oligarchy , and republicanism , including modern examples of checks and balances . Despite having been one of

1360-586: A long and difficult expedition. Herodotus claims that the Tyrians refused to cooperate due to their affinity for Carthage, causing the Persian king to abort his campaign. Though it escaped reprisal, Tyre's status as Phoenicia's leading city was significantly circumscribed; its rival, Sidon, subsequently garnered more support from the Persians. However, it too remained subjugated, leading the way for Carthage to fill

1530-597: A loose, multinational Commonwealth of Nations , while the French colonial empire metamorphosed to a Francophone commonwealth . The same process happened to the Portuguese Empire , which evolved into a Lusophone commonwealth , and to the former territories of the extinct Spanish Empire , which alongside the Lusophone countries of Portugal and Brazil , created an Ibero-American commonwealth . France returned

1700-476: A magistrate's authority (usually in a military sense). As the Roman state expanded overseas, the term began to be used to describe Rome's authority over its colonies and client states . Successful generals were often given the title imperator , an honorific roughly meaning "commander". Although historians use the terms "Republic" and "Empire" to identify the periods of Roman history before and after absolute power

1870-550: A monopoly on an area's natural resources, satisfying the demand for trade goods, and finding areas where they could trade freely without outside interference. Over time many Phoenicians also sought to escape their tributary obligations to foreign powers that had subjugated the Phoenician homeland. Another motivating factor was competition with the Greeks, who became a nascent maritime power and began establishing colonies across

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2040-433: A mythical, fatalistic backdrop for a century of bitter conflict between Rome and Carthage. These stories typify the Roman attitude towards Carthage: a level of grudging respect and acknowledgement of their bravery, prosperity, and even their city's seniority to Rome, along with derision of their cruelty, deviousness, and decadence, as exemplified by their practice of human sacrifice. To facilitate their commercial ventures,

2210-400: A new de facto monarchy, but sought to maintain the appearance of a republican government. He and his early successors used the informal titles of augustus and princeps , but over time the title of imperator came to denote the office of (what is now referred to as) " emperor ". The legal systems of France and its former colonies are strongly influenced by Roman law. Similarly,

2380-475: A new city abroad. Upon landing in North Africa, she is greeted by the local Berber chieftain, Iarbas (also called Hiarbas) who promises to cede as much land as could be covered by a single ox hide. With her characteristic cleverness, Dido cuts the hide into very thin strips and lays them end to end until they encircle the entire hill of Byrsa . While digging to set the foundation of their new settlement,

2550-602: A particular political structure . Empires are typically formed from diverse ethnic, national, cultural, and religious components. 'Empire' and 'colonialism' are used to refer to relationships between a powerful state or society versus a less powerful one; Michael W. Doyle has defined empire as "effective control, whether formal or informal, of a subordinated society by an imperial society". Tom Nairn and Paul James define empires as polities that "extend relations of power across territorial spaces over which they have no prior or given legal sovereignty, and where, in one or more of

2720-547: A semantic construction, such as when a ruler assumes the title of "emperor". That polity over which the ruler reigns logically becomes an "empire", despite having no additional territory or hegemony. Examples of this form of empire are the Central African Empire , Mexican Empire , or the Korean Empire proclaimed in 1897 when Korea, far from gaining new territory, was on the verge of being annexed by

2890-596: A settlement in present-day Tunisia , it later became a city-state and then an empire . Founded by the Phoenicians in the ninth century BC, Carthage reached its height in the fourth century BC as one of the largest metropoleis in the world. It was the centre of the Carthaginian Empire , a major power led by the Punic people who dominated the ancient western and central Mediterranean Sea . Following

3060-474: A single individual (a political boss ), or a group (political bosses). The concept of empire is associated with other such concepts as imperialism , colonialism , and globalization , with imperialism referring to the creation and maintenance of unequal relationships between nations and not necessarily the policy of a state headed by an emperor or empress. Empire is often used as a term to describe overpowering situations causing displeasure. An empire

3230-550: A spirit in the form of the messenger god, Mercury , to remind Aeneas that his mission is not to stay in Carthage with his new-found love Dido, but to sail to Italy to found Rome . The Trojan departs, leaving Dido so heartbroken that she commits suicide by stabbing herself upon a funeral pyre with his sword. As she lies dying, she predicts eternal strife between Aeneas' people and her own, proclaiming "rise up from my bones, avenging spirit" in an invocation of Hannibal . Aeneas sees

3400-511: A total population of 100 million people and was the most populous colony under French rule . In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire extended over 13.5 million km (5.2 million sq mi) of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s with a totaled population of 150 million people. Including metropolitan France,

3570-479: A treaty to keep their commercial planes separate from each other. Carthage focused on growing their population by taking in Phoenicians colonies and soon began controlling Libyan, African, and Roman colonies. Many Phoenician cities also had to pay or support the Carthaginian troops. Punic troops would defend cities and these cities had few rights. Unlike the existential conflict of the later Punic Wars with Rome,

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3740-610: Is a sovereign state whose head of state is an emperor or empress ; but not all states with aggregate territory under the rule of supreme authorities are called empires or are ruled by an emperor; nor have all self-described empires been accepted as such by contemporaries and historians (the Central African Empire , and some Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in early England being examples). There have been "ancient and modern, centralized and decentralized, ultra-brutal and relatively benign" empires. An important distinction has been between land empires made up solely of contiguous territories, such as

3910-464: Is a considerable scope. Many fought to the death to avoid it or to be liberated from it. Imperial conquests and attempts of conquest significantly contributed to the list of wars by death toll . The imperial impact on subjects can be regarded as "little," but only on those subjects who survived the imperial conquest and rule. We cannot ask the inhabitants of Carthage and Masada , for example, whether empire had little impact on their lives. We seldom hear

4080-641: Is a hierarchy of rights and prestige for different groups of people. Josep Colomer distinguished between empires and nation-states in the following way: Many empires were the result of military conquest, incorporating the vanquished states into a political union, but imperial hegemony can be established in other ways. The Athenian Empire , the Roman Empire , and the British Empire developed at least in part under elective auspices. The Empire of Brazil declared itself an empire after separating from

4250-520: Is also credited with initiating, or at least expanding, the practice of recruiting subject peoples and mercenaries, as Carthage's population was too small to secure and defend its scattered colonies. Libyans , Iberians , Sardinians and Corsicans were soon enlisted for the Magonid expansionist campaigns across the region. By the beginning of the fourth century BC, the Carthaginians had become

4420-433: Is an aggregate of many separate states or territories under a supreme ruler or oligarchy. This is in contrast to a federation , which is an extensive state voluntarily composed of autonomous states and peoples. An empire is a large polity which rules over territories outside of its original borders. Definitions of what physically and politically constitutes an empire vary. It might be a state affecting imperial policies or

4590-586: Is considered the first great empire in history or the first "world empire". It was overthrown and replaced by the short-lived empire of Alexander the Great . His Empire was succeeded by three Empires ruled by the Diadochi —the Seleucid , Ptolemaic , and Macedonian , which, despite being independent, are called the " Hellenistic Empire" by virtue of their similarities in culture and administration. Meanwhile, in

4760-411: Is greeted by Iarbas , and after he offers as much land as could be covered by a single ox hide, she cuts the hide into very thin strips and encircles all of Byrsa . While digging to set the foundation of their new settlement, the Tyrians discover the head of a horse, which in Phoenician culture is a symbol of courage and conquest. The horse foretells where Dido's new city will rise, becoming the emblem of

4930-490: Is unknown what factors influenced the citizens of Carthage, unlike those of other Phoenician colonies, to create an economic and political hegemony; the nearby city of Utica was far older and enjoyed the same geographical and political advantages, but never embarked on hegemonic conquest, instead coming under Carthaginian influence. One theory is that Babylonian and Persian domination of the Phoenician homeland produced refugees that swelled Carthage's population and transferred

5100-462: Is why its empire took the form of a hegemony based on treaties and political arrangements more than conquest. By contrast, the Romans focused on expanding and consolidating their control over the rest of mainland Italy, and would aim to extend its control well beyond its homeland. These differences would prove key in the conduct and trajectory of the later Punic Wars. By the third century BC, Carthage

5270-615: The Aeneid —written over a century after the Third Punic War—tells the mythical story of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his journey towards founding Rome, inextricably tying together the founding myths, and ultimate fates, of both Rome and Carthage. Its introduction begins by mentioning "an ancient city" that many readers likely assumed was Rome or Troy, but goes on to describe it as a place "held by colonists from Tyre, opposite Italy . ..

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5440-579: The Akan people of the Ashanti Region , Akanland in modern-day Ghana. The Ashanti (or Asante) were a powerful, militaristic and highly disciplined people in West Africa. Their military power, which came from effective strategy and an early adoption of European firearms , created an empire that stretched from central Akanland (in modern-day Ghana) to present day Benin and Ivory Coast , bordered by

5610-526: The Atlantic . The same year, the Iberian colonies seceded, cutting off Carthage from a major source of silver and copper . The loss of such strategically important mineral wealth, combined with the desire to exercise firmer control over shipping routes, led Hannibal Mago , grandson of Hamilcar, to make preparations to reclaim Sicily. In 409 BC, Hannibal Mago set out for Sicily with his force. He captured

5780-930: The Atlantic : the Han Empire of China, the Kushan Empire , the Parthian Empire of Persia, and the Roman Empire . The collapse of the Han Empire in AD 220 saw China fragmented into the Three Kingdoms , only to be unified once again by the Jin Empire (AD 266–420). The relative weakness of the Jin Empire plunged China into political disunity that would last from AD 304 to AD 589 when the Sui Empire (AD 581–618) reunited China. The Romans were

5950-540: The Austrian Empire or the Russian Empire ; and those created by sea-power, which include territories that are remote from the 'home' country of the empire, such as the Carthaginian Empire or the British Empire . Aside from the more formal usage, the word empire can also refer colloquially to a large-scale business enterprise (e.g. a transnational corporation ), a political organization controlled by

6120-494: The Balearic archipelago . Tripoli remained autonomous under the authority of local Libyco-Phoenicians , who paid nominal tribute. Among the ancient world's largest and richest cities, Carthage's strategic location provided access to abundant fertile land and major maritime trade routes . Its extensive mercantile network reached as far as west Asia and northern Europe , providing an array of commodities from all over

6290-589: The Cape of Good Hope and along the coast of Africa bordering the southeast Indian Ocean, proved ripe opportunities for the continent's Renaissance -era monarchies to establish colonial empires like those of the ancient Romans and Greeks. In the Old World, colonial imperialism was attempted and established on the Canary Islands and Ireland . These conquered lands and people became de jure subordinates of

6460-1003: The Caribbean and the Thirteen Colonies . In 1776, the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies declared itself independent from the British Empire, thus beginning the American Revolution . Britain turned towards Asia, the Pacific, and later Africa, with subsequent exploration and conquests leading to the rise of the Second British Empire (1783–1815), which was followed by the Industrial Revolution and Britain's Imperial Century (1815–1914). It became

6630-538: The Carolingian Empire , the largely Germanic Holy Roman Empire , and the Russian Empire . Yet, these states did not always fit the geographic, political, or military profiles of empires in the modern sense of the word. To legitimise their imperium , these states directly claimed the title of Empire from Rome. The sacrum Romanum imperium (Holy Roman Empire), which lasted from 800 to 1806, claimed to have exclusively comprehended Christian principalities, and

6800-587: The Dagomba kingdom to the north and Dahomey to the east. Due to the empire's military prowess, sophisticated hierarchy, social stratification and culture, the Ashanti empire had one of the largest historiographies of any indigenous Sub-Saharan African political entity. The Sikh Empire (1799–1849) was established in the Punjab region of India. The empire weakened when its founder, Ranjit Singh , died in 1839,

6970-820: The Dutch Republic . In the 18th century, the Spanish Empire was at its height because of the great mass of goods taken from conquered territory in the Americas (nowadays Mexico , parts of the United States , the Caribbean , most of Central America, and South America) and the Philippines . The British established their first empire (1583–1783) in North America by colonising lands that made up British America , including parts of Canada ,

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7140-560: The Empire of Japan , one of the last to use the name officially. Among the last states in the 20th century known as empires in this sense were the Central African Empire, Ethiopia , Vietnam , Manchukuo , Russia , Germany , and Korea. Scholars distinguish empires from nation-states. In an empire, there is a hierarchy whereby one group of people (usually, the metropole) has command over other groups of people, and there

7310-720: The Empire of Nicaea (1204–1261) and the Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461). Constantinople was retaken in 1261 by the Byzantine successor state centered in Nicaea , re-establishing the Byzantine Empire until 1453, by which time the Turkish - Muslim Ottoman Empire (ca. 1300–1918), had conquered most of the region. The Ottoman Empire was a successor of the Abbasid Empire and it was the most powerful empire to succeed

7480-499: The Greeks of Syracuse , who also sought control of the central Mediterranean. Founded in the mid seventh century BC, Syracuse had risen to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful Greek city states, and the preeminent Greek polity in the region. The island of Sicily, lying at Carthage's doorstep, became the main arena on which this conflict played out. From their earliest days, both the Greeks and Phoenicians had been attracted to

7650-558: The Holy Roman Empire also came together by electing the emperor with votes from member realms through the Imperial election . Stephen Howe writes that with the exception of the Roman, Chinese and "perhaps ancient Egyptian states", early empires seldom survived the death of their founder and were usually limited in scope to conquest and collection of tribute, having little impact on the everyday lives of their subjects. With

7820-787: The Horn of Africa in the Middle Ages . Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuran Sultanate successfully resisted an Oromo invasion from the west and a Portuguese incursion from the east during the Gaal Madow and the Ajuran-Portuguese wars . Trading routes dating from the ancient and early medieval periods of Somali maritime enterprise were strengthened or re-established, and foreign trade and commerce in

7990-1019: The Latin Empire , the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond before its remaining territory and centre became part of the Ottoman Empire . A similarly persistent concept of empire saw the Mongol Empire become the Khanate of the Golden Horde , the Yuan Empire of China , and the Ilkhanate before resurrection as the Timurid Empire and as the Mughal Empire . After 1945 the Empire of Japan retained its Emperor but lost its colonial possessions and became

8160-406: The Macedonian Empire and Byzantine Empire ) tend to be contiguous areas. The term, on occasion, has been applied to maritime republics or thalassocracies (e.g. the Athenian and British empires ) with looser structures and more scattered territories, often consisting of many islands and other forms of possessions which required the creation and maintenance of a powerful navy. Empires such as

8330-487: The Maurya Empire —a geographically extensive and powerful empire, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC. The empire was founded in 322 BC by Chandragupta Maurya through the help of Chanakya , who rapidly expanded his power westward across central and western India, taking advantage of the disruptions of local powers following the withdrawal by Alexander the Great. By 320 BC, the Maurya Empire had fully occupied northwestern India as well as defeating and conquering

8500-551: The Portuguese Empire in 1822. France has twice transitioned from being called the French Republic to being called the French Empire while it retained an overseas empire. Europeans began applying the designation of "empire" to non-European monarchies, such as the Qing Empire and the Mughal Empire , as well as the Maratha Confederacy , eventually leading to the looser denotations applicable to any political structure meeting their criteria of " imperium ". Some monarchies styled themselves as having greater size, scope, and power than

8670-422: The Punic qrt-ḥdšt ( Punic : 𐤒𐤓𐤕𐤟𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕 , lit.   'New City'). Punic , which is sometimes used synonymously with Carthaginian, derives from the Latin poenus and punicus , based on the Ancient Greek word Φοῖνιξ ( Phoinix ), pl. Φοίνικες ( Phoinikes ), an exonym used to describe the Canaanite port towns with which the Greeks traded. Latin later borrowed

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8840-420: The Punic Wars , Carthage was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC, who later rebuilt the city lavishly. Carthage was settled around 814 BC by colonists from Tyre , a leading Phoenician city-state located in present-day Lebanon . In the 7th century BC , following Phoenicia's conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire , Carthage became independent, gradually expanding its economic and political hegemony across

9010-457: The Spartan Kingdom (subject peoples serving as serfs for the Punic elite and state) and, to a lesser extent, the Roman Republic (allies contributing manpower and tribute for Rome's war machine). In 509 BC, Carthage and Rome signed the first of several treaties demarcating their respective influence and commercial activities. This is the first textual source demonstrating Carthaginian control over Sicily and Sardinia. The treaty also conveys

9180-423: The ancient world , in addition to lucrative exports of agricultural products and manufactured goods . This commercial empire was secured by one of the largest and most powerful navies in the ancient Mediterranean , and an army composed heavily of foreign mercenaries and auxiliaries , particularly Iberians , Balearics , Gauls , Britons , Sicilians , Italians , Greeks , Numidians , and Libyans . As

9350-408: The largest empire in world history, encompassing one quarter of the world's land area and one fifth of its population. The impacts of this period are still prominent in the current age "including widespread use of the English language, belief in Protestant religion, economic globalization, modern precepts of law and order, and representative democracy." The Great Qing Empire of China (1644–1912)

9520-404: The satraps left by Alexander. Under Emperor Ashoka the Great , the Maurya Empire became the first Indian empire to conquer the whole Indian Peninsula — an achievement repeated only twice, by the Gupta and Mughal Empires. In the reign of Ashoka Buddhism spread to become the dominant religion in many parts of the ancient India. In 221 BC, China became an empire when the State of Qin ended

9690-412: The siege of Agrigentum , Carthaginian forces were ravaged by plague, which claimed Hannibal Mago himself. His successor, Himilco, managed to extend the campaign, capturing the city of Gela and repeatedly defeating the army of Dionysius of Syracuse. But he, too, was struck with plague and forced to sue for peace before returning to Carthage. By 398 BC, Dionysius had regained his strength and broke

9860-401: The western Mediterranean . By 300 BC, through its vast patchwork of colonies , vassal states , and satellite states , held together by its naval dominance of the western and central Mediterranean Sea, Carthage controlled the largest territory in the region, including the coast of northwest Africa , southern and eastern Iberia , and the islands of Sicily , Sardinia , Corsica , Malta , and

10030-451: The "New City" Carthage. In just seven years since their exodus from Tyre, the Carthaginians build a successful kingdom under Dido's rule. She is adored by her subjects and presented with a festival of praise. Virgil portrays her character as even more noble when she offers asylum to Aeneas and his men, who had recently escaped from Troy . The two fall in love during a hunting expedition, and Dido comes to believe they will marry. Jupiter sends

10200-408: The "superior power" of the western Mediterranean , and would remain so for roughly the next three centuries. Carthage took control of all nearby Phoenician colonies, including Hadrumetum , Utica , Hippo Diarrhytus and Kerkouane ; subjugated many neighboring Libyan tribes, and occupied coastal North Africa from Morocco to western Libya . It held Sardinia, Malta , the Balearic Islands , and

10370-435: The 13th to 15th centuries. In the Southeast Asian mainland, the Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire was centered in the city of Angkor and flourished from the 9th to 13th centuries. Following the demise of the Khmer Empire, the Siamese Empire flourished alongside the Burmese and Lan Chang Empires from the 13th through the 18th centuries. In Southeastern and Eastern Europe , during 917, the Eastern Roman Empire , sometimes called

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10540-414: The 4th and 5th centuries C.E. due to continual conflict and loss of territory which, in turn, generated loss of revenue from the tax base. There was also the looming presence of the Persians which, at any time, took a large percentage of the fighting force's attention. At the same time the Huns, a nomadic warrior people from the steppes of Asia, are also putting extreme pressure on the German tribes outside of

10710-449: The 9th century and early 10th century under Prince Boris I and Simeon I, when its early Christianization in 864 allowed it to develop into the cultural and literary center of Slavic Europe , as well as one of the largest states in Europe, thus the period is considered the Golden Age of medieval Bulgarian culture . Major events included the development of the Cyrillic script at the Preslav Literary School , declared official in 893, and

10880-562: The Abbasi empires at the time, as well as one of the most powerful empires in the world. They became the successors after the Abbasid Empire fell from the Mongols (Hülegü Khan). The Ottoman Empire centered on modern day Turkey, dominated the eastern Mediterranean, overthrew the Byzantine Empire to claim Constantinople and it would start battering at Austria and Malta, which were countries that were key to central and to south-west Europe respectively — mainly for their geographical location. The reason these occurrences of batterings were so important

11050-403: The Athenian-dominated Delian League . Furthermore, empires can expand by both land and sea. Stephen Howe notes that empires by land can be characterized by expansion over terrain, "extending directly outwards from the original frontier" while an empire by sea can be characterized by colonial expansion and empire building "by an increasingly powerful navy". However, sometimes an empire is only

11220-401: The Byzantine Empire, was forced to recognize the Imperial title of Bulgarian ruler Simeon the Great , who were then called Tsar , the first ruler to hold that precise imperial title. The Bulgarian Empire , established in the region in 680–681, remained a major power in Southeast Europe until its fall in the late 14th century. Bulgaria gradually reached its cultural and territorial apogee in

11390-431: The European mainland, in what are today Genoa and Marseilles . Foreshadowing the later Sicilian Wars, settlements in Crete and Sicily continually clashed with the Greeks, and Phoenician control over all of Sicily was brief. Nearly all these areas would come under the leadership and protection of Carthage, which eventually founded cities of its own, especially after the decline of Tyre and Sidon . The site of Carthage

11560-498: The Greek term a second time as phoenix , pl. phoenices . Both Punic and Phoenician were used by the Romans and Greeks to refer to Phoenicians across the Mediterranean; modern scholars use the term Punic exclusively for Phoenicians in the western Mediterranean, such as the Carthaginians. Specific Punic groups are often referred to with hyphenated terms, like "Siculo-Punic" for Phoenicians in Sicily or "Sardo-Punic" for those in Sardinia. Ancient Greek authors sometimes referred to

11730-470: The Greeks with respect to Sicily , and the Romans over dominance of the western Mediterranean. Inevitably, foreign accounts of Carthage usually reflect significant bias, especially those written during or after the Punic Wars, when the interpretatio Romana perpetuated a "malicious and distorted view". Excavations of ancient Carthaginian sites since the late 19th century has brought to light more material evidence that either contradict or confirm aspects of

11900-471: The Holy Roman Empire, a German re-constitution of the Roman Empire , metamorphosed into various political structures (i.e., federalism), and eventually, under Habsburg rule, re-constituted itself in 1804 as the Austrian Empire , an empire of much different politics and scope, which in turn became the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. The Roman Empire, perennially reborn, also lived on as the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) – temporarily splitting into

12070-437: The Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The first Phoenician colonies in the western Mediterranean grew up on the two paths to Iberia's mineral wealth: along the northwest African coast and on Sicily , Sardinia , and the Balearic Islands . As the largest and wealthiest city-state among the Phoenicians, Tyre led the way in settling or controlling coastal areas. Strabo claims that the Tyrians alone founded three hundred colonies on

12240-586: The Moroccan Sultan Mohammed IV agreed, and issued a Dahir on 18 November, to use the island as a Lazaretto , for pilgrims who were returning from the Hajj and might be carrying any number of diseases prevalent in the world at that time. It has now been designated as a nature reserve , and it cannot be visited without an official authorization. The island has been designated as a protected Ramsar site since 2005. A survey of falcons on

12410-703: The Pacific to the Adriatic and Baltic Seas. The emergence of the Pax Mongolica had significantly eased trade and commerce across Asia. The Safavid Empire of Iran was also founded. The Islamic gunpowder empires started to develop from the 15th century. In the Indian subcontinent , the Delhi Sultanate conquered most of the Indian peninsula and spread Islam across it. It later disintegrated with

12580-507: The Phoenicians established numerous colonies and trading posts along the coasts of the Mediterranean. Organized in fiercely independent city-states, the Phoenicians lacked the numbers or even the desire to expand overseas; most colonies had fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, and only a few, including Carthage, would grow larger. Motives for colonization were usually practical, such as seeking safe harbors for their merchant fleets, maintaining

12750-724: The Punic Wars, and to varying degrees were shaped by the hostilities. Popular and scholarly attitudes towards Carthage historically reflected the prevailing Greco-Roman view, though archaeological research since the late 19th century has helped shed more light and nuance on Carthaginian civilization. The name Carthage / ˈ k ɑː r θ ɪ dʒ / is the Early Modern anglicisation of Middle French Carthage /kar.taʒ/ , from Latin Carthāgō and Karthāgō (cf. Greek Karkhēdōn ( Καρχηδών ) and Etruscan *Carθaza ) from

12920-474: The Punic-speakers in North Africa called themselves Chanani (Canaanites), but it has recently been argued that this is a misreading. Numismatic evidence from Sicily shows that some western Phoenicians made use of the term Phoinix. Compared to contemporaneous civilizations such as Rome and Greece, far less is known about Carthage, as most indigenous records were lost in the wholesale destruction of

13090-582: The Roman frontier, which gave the German tribes no other choice, geographically, but to move into Roman territory. At this point, without increased funding, the Roman army could no longer effectively defend its borders against major waves of Germanic tribes. This inability is illustrated by the crushing defeat at Adrianople in 378 C.E. and, later, the Crossing of the Rhine in 406 C.E. In time, an empire may change from one political entity to another. For example,

13260-712: The Roman merchants reached the Cape Verde islands and possibly went south until the Gulf of Guinea . Indeed, according to Roman Pliny the Elder , an expedition of Mauretanians sent by Juba II to the Canary archipelago visited the Cape Verde islands: when King Juba II dispatched a contingent to re-open the dye production facility at Mogador (historical name of Essaouira, Morocco ) in the early 1st century AD, Juba's naval force

13430-611: The Second Punic War, but was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC after the Third Punic War . The Romans later founded a new city in its place. All remnants of Carthaginian civilization came under Roman rule by the first century AD , and Rome subsequently became the dominant Mediterranean power, paving the way for its rise as a major empire . Despite the cosmopolitan character of its empire, Carthage's culture and identity remained rooted in its Canaanite heritage, albeit

13600-468: The State of Japan . Despite the semantic reference to imperial power, Japan is a de jure constitutional monarchy , with a homogeneous population of 127 million people that is 98.5 percent ethnic Japanese, making it one of the largest nation-states. An autocratic empire can become a republic (e.g., the Central African Empire in 1979), or it can become a republic with its imperial dominions reduced to

13770-597: The Tyrian colony of Cadiz in southern Spain, which supplied raw materials for manufacturing in Tyre, and the other between North Africa and the northern Mediterranean, namely Sicily, Italy, and Greece. In contrast to most Phoenician colonies, Carthage grew larger and more quickly thanks to its combination of favorable climate, arable land, and lucrative trade routes. Within just one century of its founding, its population rose to 30,000. Meanwhile, its mother city, which for centuries

13940-581: The Tyrians discover the head of an ox, an omen that the city would be wealthy "but laborious and always enslaved". In response they move the site of the city elsewhere, where the head of a horse is found, which in Phoenician culture is a symbol of courage and conquest. The horse foretells where Dido's new city will rise, becoming the emblem of Carthage, derived from the Phoenician Qart-Hadasht , meaning "New City". The city's wealth and prosperity attracts both Phoenicians from nearby Utica and

14110-526: The United States was founded on a model inspired by the Roman Republic , with upper and lower legislative assemblies, and executive power vested in a single individual, the president. The president, as "commander-in-chief" of the armed forces, reflects the ancient Roman titles imperator princeps . The Roman Catholic Church , founded in the early Imperial Period, spread across Europe, first by

14280-458: The activities of Christian evangelists, and later by official imperial promulgation. In Western Asia , the term " Persian Empire " came to denote the Iranian imperial states established at different historical periods of pre– Islamic and post–Islamic Persia . In East Asia , various Chinese empires (or dynasties ) dominated the political, economic and cultural landscapes during this era,

14450-672: The aftermath of World War I the Russian Empire also broke up and became reduced to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) before re-forming as the USSR (1922–1991) – sometimes seen as the core of a Soviet Empire . The latter also disintegrated in 1989–91. After the Second World War (1939–1945), the deconstruction of colonial empires quickened and became commonly known as decolonisation . The British Empire evolved into

14620-705: The arrival of the Europeans. Inca had gradually conquered the whole of the settled Andean world as far south as today Santiago in Chile. In Oceania , the Tonga Empire was a lonely empire that existed from the Late Middle Ages to the Modern period. In the 15th century, Castile ( Spain ) landing in the so-called " New World " (first, the Americas, and later Australia), along with Portuguese travels around

14790-551: The besiegers' lines and routed them. Himilco and his chief officers abandoned their army and fled Sicily. Once again, the Carthaginians were forced to press for peace. Returning to Carthage in disgrace, Himilco was met with contempt and committed suicide by starving himself. Notwithstanding consistently poor luck and costly reversals, Sicily remained an obsession for Carthage. Over the next fifty years, an uneasy peace reigned, as Carthaginian and Greek forces engaged in constant skirmishes. By 340 BC, Carthage had been pushed entirely into

14960-706: The chaotic Warring States period through its conquest of the other six states , starting the Qin Empire (221–207 BC). Its sovereign adopted the new title of Huangdi (皇帝), which is translated in English as "Emperor". The Qin Empire is known for the construction of the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army , as well as the standardization of currency, weights, measures and writing system. It laid

15130-621: The city after the Third Punic War. Sources of knowledge are limited to ancient translations of Punic into Greek and Latin, Punic inscriptions on monuments and buildings, and archaeological findings of Carthage's material culture. The majority of available primary sources about Carthage were written by Greek and Roman historians , most notably Livy , Polybius , Appian , Cornelius Nepos , Silius Italicus , Plutarch , Dio Cassius , and Herodotus . These authors came from cultures that were nearly always in competition with Carthage;

15300-533: The coast to Himera, making camp before engaging in battle against the forces of Syracuse and its ally Agrigentum . The Greeks won a decisive victory, inflicting heavy losses on the Carthaginians, including their leader Hamilcar, who was either killed during the battle or committed suicide in shame. As a result, the Carthaginian nobility sued for peace. The conflict proved to be a major turning point for Carthage. Though it would retain some presence in Sicily, most of

15470-638: The coastal provinces flourished with ships sailing to and coming from many kingdoms and empires in East Asia , South Asia , Southeast Asia , Europe , Middle East , North Africa and East Africa . In the 7th century, Maritime Southeast Asia witnessed the rise of a Buddhist thallasocracy, the Srivijaya Empire , which thrived for 600 years and was succeeded by the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit Empire that ruled from

15640-553: The colonies, the Carthaginians appointed magistrates to directly control their own (a policy that would lead to a number of Iberian towns siding with the Romans during the Punic Wars ). In many other instances, Carthage's hegemony was established through treaties, alliances, tributary obligations, and other such arrangements. It had elements of the Delian League led by Athens (allies shared funding and manpower for defense),

15810-630: The common people. By 410 BC, Carthage had recovered from its serious defeats in Sicily. It had conquered much of modern-day Tunisia and founded new colonies across northern Africa. It also extended its reach well beyond the Mediterranean; Hanno the Navigator journeyed down the West African coast, and Himilco the Navigator had explored the European Atlantic coast. Expeditions were also led into Morocco and Senegal , as well as

15980-502: The conflict between Carthage and the Greeks centered on economic concerns, as each side sought to advance their own commercial interests and influence by controlling key trade routes. For centuries, the Phoenician and Greek city-states had embarked on maritime trade and colonization across the Mediterranean. While the Phoenicians were initially dominant, Greek competition increasingly undermined their monopoly. Both sides had begun establishing colonies, trading posts, and commercial relations in

16150-569: The countries never stopped bartering with each other. These epochal clashes between civilizations profoundly shaped many people's thinking back then, and continues to do so in the present day. Modern hatred against Muslim communities in South-Eastern Europe, mainly in Bosnia and Kosovo, has often been articulated in terms of seeing them as unwelcome residues of this imperialism: in short, as Turks. Moreover, Eastern Orthodox imperialism

16320-526: The country of Egypt. The Akkadian Empire , established by Sargon of Akkad (24th century BC), was an early all-Mesopotamian empire which spread into Anatolia, the Levant and Ancient Iran. This imperial achievement was repeated by Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria and Hammurabi of Babylon in the 19th and 18th centuries BC. In the 15th century BC, the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt , ruled by Thutmose III ,

16490-452: The culture, wealth, and traditions of Tyre to Carthage. The threat to the Phoenician trade monopoly—by Etruscan and Greek competition in the west, and through foreign subjugation of its homeland in the east—also created the conditions for Carthage to consolidate its power and further its commercial interests . Another contributing factor may have been domestic politics: while little is known of Carthage's government and leadership prior to

16660-497: The domains of economics, politics, and culture, they gain some measure of extensive hegemony over those spaces to extract or accrue value". Rein Taagepera has defined an empire as "any relatively large sovereign political entity whose components are not sovereign". The terrestrial empire's maritime analogue is the thalassocracy , an empire composed of islands and coasts which are accessible to its terrestrial homeland, such as

16830-569: The dominant power of the western Mediterranean, Carthage inevitably came into conflict with many neighbours and rivals, from the Berbers of North Africa to the nascent Roman Republic . Following centuries of conflict with the Sicilian Greeks , its growing competition with Rome culminated in the Punic Wars (264–146 BC), which saw some of the largest and most sophisticated battles in antiquity. Carthage narrowly avoided destruction after

17000-567: The earlier work of Trogus . Princess Dido is the daughter of King Belus II of Tyre, who upon his death bequeaths the throne jointly to her and her brother Pygmalion. After cheating his sister out of her share of political power, Pygmalion murders her husband Acerbas (Phoenician: Zakarbaal), also known as Sychaeus, the High Priest of Melqart , whose wealth and power he covets. Before her tyrannical brother can take her late husband's wealth, Dido immediately flees with her followers to establish

17170-601: The efforts of the ninth-century Holy Roman Emperors (i.e., the Ottonians ) to establish central control. Voltaire's "nor an empire" observation applies to its late period. In 1204, after the Fourth Crusade conquered Constantinople , the crusaders established a Latin Empire (1204–1261) in that city, while the defeated Byzantine Empire's descendants established two smaller, short-lived empires in Asia Minor :

17340-695: The empire fell to the British after the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849. During the same period, the Maratha Empire (also known as the Maratha Confederacy) was a Hindu state located in present-day India. It existed from 1674 to 1818, and at its peak, the empire's territories covered much of Southern Asia. The empire was founded and consolidated by Shivaji. After the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, it expanded greatly under

17510-532: The empire, rather than de facto imperial territories and subjects. Such subjugation often elicited "client-state" resentment that the empire unwisely ignored, leading to the collapse of the European colonial imperial system in the late 19th through the mid-20th century. Portuguese discovery of Newfoundland in the New World gave way to many expeditions led by England (later Britain ), Spain , France , and

17680-669: The empire. The aristocracies that ruled them were often more cosmopolitan and broad-minded than their nationalistic successors. There are two main ways to establish and maintain an imperial political structure : (i) as a territorial empire of direct conquest and control with force or (ii) as a coercive, hegemonic empire of indirect conquest and control with power. The former method provides greater tribute and direct political control, yet limits further expansion because it absorbs military forces to fixed garrisons. The latter method provides less tribute and indirect control, but avails military forces for further expansion. Territorial empires (e.g.

17850-486: The end of the reign of the last of the Five Good Emperors , Marcus Aurelius in 161–180 A.D. There is still a debate over the cause of the fall of one of the largest empires in history. Piganiol argues that the Roman Empire under its authority can be described as "a period of terror", holding its imperial system accountable for its failure. Another theory blames the rise of Christianity as the cause, arguing that

18020-514: The establishment of the Bengal , Gujarat , and Bahmani Sultanate . In the 16th century, the Mughal Empire was founded by Timur and Genghis Khan 's direct descendant Babur . His successors such Humayun , Akbar , Jahangir and Shah Jahan extended the empire. In the 17th century, Aurangzeb expanded the Mughal Empire , controlling most of the South Asia through Sharia , which became

18190-600: The establishment of the liturgy in Old Church Slavonic , also called Old Bulgarian . At the time, in the Medieval West , the title "empire" had a specific technical meaning that was exclusively applied to states that considered themselves the heirs and successors of the Roman Empire. Among these were the "Byzantine Empire", which was the actual continuation of the Eastern portion of the Roman Empire ,

18360-599: The exception of Rome, the periods of dissolution following imperial falls were equally short. Successor states seldom outlived their founders and disappeared in the next and often larger empire. Some empires, like the Neo-Babylonian , Median and Lydian were outright conquered by a larger empire. The historical pattern was not a simple rise-and-fall cycle; rather it was rise, fall, and greater rise, or as Raoul Naroll put it, "expanding pulsation." Empires were limited in scope to conquest, as Howe observed, but conquest

18530-537: The extent to which Carthage was, at the very least, on equal terms with Rome, whose influence was limited to parts of central and southern Italy. Carthaginian dominance of the sea reflected not only its Phoenician heritage, but an approach to empire-building that differed greatly from Rome. Carthage emphasized maritime trade over territorial expansion, and accordingly focused its settlements and influence on coastal areas while investing more on its navy. For similar reasons, its ambitions were more commercial than imperial, which

18700-501: The first people to invent and embody the concept of "empire" in their two mandates: to wage war and to make and execute laws. They were the most extensive Western empire until the early modern period , and left a lasting impact on European society. Many languages, cultural values, religious institutions, political divisions, urban centers, and legal systems can trace their origins to the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire governed and rested on exploitative actions. They took slaves and money from

18870-731: The foreign subjugation of the Phoenician homeland, led to its supplanting of Sidon as the supreme Phoenician city state. Carthage's empire was largely informal and multifaceted, consisting of varying levels of control exercised in equally variable ways. It established new colonies, repopulated and reinforced older ones, formed defensive pacts with other Phoenician city states, and acquired territories directly by conquest. While some Phoenician colonies willingly submitted to Carthage, paying tribute and giving up their foreign policy , others in Iberia and Sardinia resisted Carthaginian efforts. Whereas other Phoenician cities never exercised actual control of

19040-679: The foundation for China's first golden age, the Han Empire (202 BC–AD 9, AD 25–220). The Han Empire expanded into Central Asia and established trade through the Silk Road . Confucianism was, for the first time, adopted as an official state ideology. During the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han , the Xiongnu were pacified. By this time, only four empires stretched between the Pacific and

19210-460: The impetus for her escape is her tyrannical brother Pygmalion, whose secret murder of her husband is revealed to her in a dream. Cleverly exploiting her brother's greed, Dido tricks Pygmalion into supporting her journey to find and bring back riches for him. Through this ruse she sets sail with gold and allies secretly in search of a new home. As in Justin's account, upon landing in North Africa, Dido

19380-542: The indigenous Libyans, whose king Iarbas now seeks Dido's hand in marriage. Threatened with war should she refuse, and also loyal to the memory of her deceased husband, the queen orders a funeral pyre to be built, where she commits suicide by stabbing herself with a sword. She is thereafter worshiped as a goddess by the people of Carthage, who are described as brave in battle but prone to the "cruel religious ceremony" of human sacrifice, even of children, whenever they seek divine relief from troubles of any kind. Virgil's epic poem

19550-416: The island in 2014 found evidence of Eleonora's falcon ( Falco eleonorae ) crippling and imprisoning live prey for later use. Abdeljebbar Qninba of Mohammed V University , Rabat , and colleagues, found small birds with missing flight and tail feathers trapped, or hiding in small holes or cavities. It is thought either the falcons plucked feathers to keep the birds as a food source for later, or alternatively,

19720-554: The island would remain in Greek (and later Roman) hands. The Carthaginians would never again expand their territory or sphere of influence on the island to any meaningful degree, instead turning their attention to securing or increasing their hold in North Africa and Iberia. The death of King Hamilcar and the disastrous conduct of the war also prompted political reforms that established an oligarchic republic. Carthage would henceforth constrain its rulers through assemblies of both nobles and

19890-442: The king of Tyre who gave tribute to Shalmaneser III in 841 BC, with 𐤁𐤏𐤋𐤏𐤑𐤅𐤓 ‎ Ba‘al-'azor (Phoenician form of the name) or Baal-Eser/Balazeros (Greek form of the name), Dido's grandfather. The Nora Stone , found on Sardinia, has been interpreted by Frank Moore Cross as naming Pygmalion as the king of the general who was using the stone to record his victory over the local populace. On paleographic grounds,

20060-401: The large, centrally-located island, each establishing a large number of colonies and trading posts along its coasts; battles raged between these settlements for centuries, with neither side ever having total, long-term control over the island. In 480 BC, Gelo , the tyrant of Syracuse , attempted to unite the island under his rule with the backing of other Greek city-states . Threatened by

20230-431: The main hub for trade between Africa and the rest of the ancient world, it also provided a myriad of rare and luxurious goods, including terracotta figurines and masks, jewelry, delicately carved ivories, ostrich eggs, and a variety of foods and wine. Carthage's growing economic prominence coincided with a nascent national identity. Although Carthaginians remained staunchly Phoenician in their customs and faith, by at least

20400-780: The medieval India and the beginning of European invasion in India, the empire was weakened by Nader Shah 's invasion. The Mysore Empire was soon established by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan , who allied with Napoleon Bonaparte . Other independent empires were also established, such as those ruled by the Nawabs of Bengal and Nizam of Hyderabad . In the pre-Columbian Americas, two Empires were prominent—the Azteca in Mesoamerica and Inca in Peru. Both existed for several generations before

20570-463: The middle of the 6th century BC. It had grown into a fully independent thalassocracy , embarking its own colonization efforts across the western Mediterranean. It nonetheless maintained amicable cultural, political, and commercial ties with its founding city and the Phoenician homeland; it continued to receive migrants from Tyre, and for a time continued the practice of sending annual tribute to Tyre's temple of Melqart, albeit at irregular intervals. By

20740-488: The mixed Punic inhabitants of North Africa ('Libya') as 'Liby-Phoenicians'. It is unclear what term, if any, the Carthaginians used to refer to themselves. The Phoenician homeland in the Levant was natively known as 𐤐𐤕 ( Pūt ) and its people as the 𐤐𐤍𐤉𐤌 ( Pōnnim ). Ancient Egyptian accounts suggest the people from the region identified as Kenaani or Kinaani , equivalent to Canaanite . A passage from Augustine has often been interpreted as indicating that

20910-493: The most influential civilizations of antiquity, Carthage is mostly remembered for its long and bitter conflict with Rome, which threatened the rise of the Roman Republic and almost changed the course of Western civilization . Due to the destruction of virtually all Carthaginian texts after the Third Punic War, much of what is known about its civilization comes from Roman and Greek sources, many of whom wrote during or after

21080-1048: The most powerful of which was probably the Tang Empire (618–690, 705–907). Other influential Chinese empires during the post-classical period include the Sui Empire (581–618), the Great Liao Empire , the Song Empire , the Western Xia Empire (1038–1227), the Great Jin Empire (1115–1234), the Western Liao Empire (1124–1218), the Great Yuan Empire (1271–1368), and the Great Ming Empire (1368–1644). During this period, Japan and Korea underwent voluntary Sinicization . The Sui, Tang and Song empires had

21250-585: The only main rival during the early 19th century. From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire ’s total area at its peak in 1680 was over 10 million km (3.9 million sq mi), the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire . It had many possessions around the world, mainly in the Americas , Asia and Africa . At its peak in 1750, French India had an area of 1.5 million km and

21420-438: The peace treaty, striking at the Carthaginian stronghold of Motya in western Sicily. Himilco responded decisively, leading an expedition that not only reclaimed Motya, but also captured Messene (present-day Messina). Within a year, the Carthaginians were besieging Syracuse itself, and came close to victory until the plague once again ravaged and reduced their forces. The fighting in Sicily swung in favor of Carthage less than

21590-413: The peripheries to support the imperial center. However, the absolute reliance on conquered peoples to carry out the empire's fortune, sustain wealth, and fight wars would ultimately lead to the collapse of the Roman Empire. The Romans were strong believers in what they called their "civilizing mission". This term was legitimized and justified by writers like Cicero who wrote that only under Roman rule could

21760-514: The potential power of a united Sicily, Carthage intervened militarily, led by King Hamilcar of the Magonid dynasty. Traditional accounts, including by Herodotus and Diodorus, number Hamilcar's army at around 300,000; though likely exaggerated, it was likely of formidable strength. While sailing to Sicily, Hamilcar suffered losses due to poor weather. Landing at Panormus (modern-day Palermo ), he spent three days reorganizing his forces and repairing his battered fleet. The Carthaginians marched along

21930-488: The prey are escaping from the falcons by finding refuge in nearby holes. Ancient Carthage French Algeria (19th–20th centuries) Algerian War (1954–1962) 1990s– 2000s 2010s to present Ancient Carthage ( / ˈ k ɑːr θ ɪ dʒ / KAR -thij ; Punic : 𐤒𐤓𐤕𐤟𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕 , lit.   ' New City ' ) was an ancient Semitic civilisation based in North Africa . Initially

22100-435: The purple stripe in Imperial Roman Senatorial togas . Roman merchants settled in the island under Augustus creating a small village: a Roman house with foundations, and also artifacts and coins, were also found on the island. Mogador and the nearby Iles Purpuraires were tied to Mauretania Tingitana by merchant ships in the first and second centuries of the Roman Empire . Some historians think that from Mogador Island

22270-416: The rule of the Peshwas. In 1761, the Maratha army lost the Third Battle of Panipat, which halted the expansion of the empire. Later, the empire was divided into a confederacy of states which, in 1818, were lost to the British during the Anglo-Maratha wars . France was a dominant empire possessing many colonies in various locations around the world. During Louis XIV 's long reign, from 1643 to 1715, France

22440-420: The second largest in the world (the first being the British Empire). The Empire of Brazil (1822–1889) was the only South American modern monarchy, established by the heir of the Portuguese Empire as an independent nation eventually became an emerging international power. The new country was huge but sparsely populated and ethnically diverse. In 1889 the monarchy was overthrown in a sudden coup d'état led by

22610-454: The seventh century BC, they had developed a distinct Punic culture infused with local influences. Certain deities became more prominent in the Carthaginian pantheon than in Phoenicia; into the fifth century BC, the Carthaginians were worshiping Greek deities such as Demeter. These trends most likely precipitated the colony's emergence as an independent polity. Though the specific date and circumstances are unknown, Carthage became independent in

22780-429: The sixth century BC, Tyre's power declined further still after its voluntary submission to the Persian king Cambyses ( r.  530–522 BC), which resulted in the incorporation of the Phoenician homeland into the Persian empire. Lacking sufficient naval strength, Cambyses sought Tyrian assistance for his planned conquest of Carthage, which may indicate that the former Tyrian colony had become wealthy enough to warrant

22950-444: The smaller cities of Selinus (modern Selinunte ) and Himera —where the Carthaginians had been dealt a humiliating defeat seventy years prior—before returning triumphantly to Carthage with the spoils of war. But the primary enemy, Syracuse, remained untouched and in 405 BC, Hannibal Mago led a second Carthaginian expedition to claim the rest of the island. This time, however, he met with fiercer resistance as well as misfortune. During

23120-574: The smoke from the pyre as he sails away, and though he does not know the fate of Dido, he identifies it as a bad omen. Ultimately, his descendants go on to found the Roman Kingdom , the predecessor of the Roman Empire. Like Justin, Virgil's story essentially conveys Rome's attitude towards Carthage, as exemplified by Cato the Elder 's famous utterance, " Carthago delenda est "—"Carthage must be destroyed". In essence, Rome and Carthage were fated for conflict: Aeneas chose Rome over Dido, eliciting her dying curse upon his Roman descendants, and thus providing

23290-532: The southwest corner of the island. Empire List of forms of government An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outposts , and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole ) exercises political control over the peripheries. Within an empire, different populations have different sets of rights and are governed differently. Narrowly defined, an empire

23460-429: The spread of certain Christian ideals caused internal weakness of the military and state. In his book The Fall of the Roman Empire , Peter Heather contends that there are many factors, including issues of money and manpower, which produce military limitations and culminate in the Roman army's inability to effectively repel invading barbarians at the frontier. The Western Roman economy was already stretched to its limit in

23630-426: The stone is dated to the 9th century BC. (Cross's translation, with a longer discussion of the Nora stone, is found in the Pygmalion article). If Cross's interpretation is correct, this presents inscriptional evidence substantiating the existence of a 9th-century-BC king of Tyre named (in Greek) Pygmalion. The Roman historian Justin , writing in the second century AD, provides an account of the city's founding based on

23800-510: The subject states to strengthen the imperial structure; others opted for multicultural and cosmopolitan policies. Cultures generated by empires could have notable effects that outlasted the empire itself. Most histories of empires have been hostile, especially if the authors were promoting nationalism. Stephen Howe, although himself hostile, listed positive qualities: the guaranteed stability, security, and legal order for their subjects. They tried to minimize ethnic and religious antagonism inside

23970-432: The territorial, politico-military, and economic facts support. As a consequence, some monarchs assumed the title of " emperor " (or its corresponding translation, tsar , empereur , kaiser , shah etc.) and renamed their states as "The Empire of ...". Empires were seen as an expanding power, administration, ideas and beliefs followed by cultural habits from place to place. Some empires tended to impose their culture on

24140-412: The third century BC, the reign of Mago I ( c. 550–530), and the political dominance of the Magonid family in subsequent decades, precipitated Carthage's rise as a dominant power. Justin states that Mago, who was also general of the army, was the first Carthaginian leader to "[set] in order the military system", which may have entailed the introduction of new military strategies and technologies. He

24310-405: The thirteenth century, Genghis Khan expanded the Mongol Empire to be the largest contiguous empire in the world. However, within two generations, the empire was separated into four discrete khanates under Genghis Khan's grandsons. One of them, Kublai Khan , conquered China and established the Yuan dynasty with the imperial capital at Beijing . One family ruled the whole Eurasian land mass from

24480-421: The total amount of land under French sovereignty reached 13.5 million km (5.2 million sq mi) at the time, which is 10.0% of the Earth's total land area. The total area of the French colonial empire, with the first (mainly in the Americas and Asia) and second (mainly in Africa and Asia), the French colonial empires combined, reached 24 million km (9.3 million sq mi),

24650-406: The traditional picture of Carthage; however, many of these findings remain ambiguous. The specific date, circumstances, and motivations concerning Carthage's founding are unknown. All surviving accounts of the city's origins come from Latin and Greek literature, which are generally legendary in nature but may have some basis in fact. The standard foundation myth across all sources is that the city

24820-407: The vacuum as the leading Phoenician political power. Although the Carthaginians retained the traditional Phoenician affinity for maritime trade and commerce, they were distinguished by their imperial and military ambitions: whereas the Phoenician city-states rarely engaged in territorial conquest, Carthage became an expansionist power, driven by its desire to access new sources of wealth and trade. It

24990-405: The views of subject populations. And another classical Roman patriot, Lucan confessed that "words cannot express how bitterly we are hated" by subject peoples. The earliest known empire appeared in southern Egypt sometime around 3200 BC. Southern Egypt was divided by three kingdoms each centered on a powerful city. Hierapolis conquered the other two cities over two centuries, and later grew into

25160-456: The voices of subject peoples because history is mostly written by winners. The imperial sources tend to ignore or reduce the resistance by subdued states. But one rich primary source of the subject population is the Hebrew Prophetic books . The hatred towards the ruling empires expressed in this source makes impression of an impact more serious than estimated by Howe. A classical writer and adherent of empire, Orosius explicitly preferred to avoid

25330-428: The west African coast; though clearly an exaggeration, many colonies did arise in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Iberia , and in Libya. They were usually established as trading stations at intervals of about 30 to 50 kilometres along the African coast. By the time they gained a foothold in Africa, the Phoenicians were already present in Cyprus , Crete , Corsica , the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Sicily, as well as on

25500-459: The western Mediterranean roughly contemporaneously, between the ninth and eighth centuries. Phoenician and Greek settlements, the increased presence of both peoples led to mounting tensions and ultimately open conflict, especially in Sicily. Carthage's economic successes, buoyed by its vast maritime trade network, led to the development of a powerful navy to protect and secure vital shipping lanes. Its hegemony brought it into increasing conflict with

25670-416: The western Mediterranean the Empires of Carthage and Rome began their rise. Having decisively defeated Carthage in 202 BC, Rome defeated Macedonia in 200 BC and the Seleucids in 190–189 BC to establish an all-Mediterranean Empire. The Seleucid Empire broke apart and its former eastern part was absorbed by the Parthian Empire . In 30 BC Rome annexed Ptolemaic Egypt. In India during the Axial Age appeared

25840-420: The western half of Sicily, where coastal fortresses such as Motya and Lilybaeum secured their possessions. The Iberian Peninsula , which was rich in precious metals, saw some of the largest and most important Carthaginian settlements outside North Africa, though the degree of political influence before the conquest by Hamilcar Barca (237–228 BC) is disputed. Carthage's growing wealth and power, along with

26010-486: The world flourish and prosper. This ideology, that was envisioned to bring a new world order, was eventually spread across the Mediterranean world and beyond. People started to build houses like Romans, eat the same food, wear the same clothes and engage in the same games. Even rights of citizenship and authority to rule were granted to people not born within Roman territory. The Latin word imperium derives from imperare , meaning "to command", and originally referred to

26180-401: The world's largest economy and leading manufacturing power with a nominal GDP that valued a quarter of world GDP, superior than the combination of Europe 's GDP. It has been estimated that the Mughal emperors controlled an unprecedented one-fourth of the world's entire economy and was home to one-fourth of the world's population at the time. After the death of Aurangzeb, which marks the end of

26350-450: The world's largest economy and were the most technologically advanced during their time; the Great Yuan Empire was the world's ninth largest empire by total land area; while the Great Ming Empire is famous for the seven maritime expeditions led by Zheng He . The Ajuran Sultanate was a Somali empire in the medieval times that dominated the Indian Ocean trade. It was a Somali Muslim sultanate that ruled over large parts of

26520-521: Was ancient Africa 's major force upon incorporating Nubia and the ancient city-states of the Levant . c.  1500 BC in China rose the Shang Empire which was succeeded by the Zhou Empire c.  1100 BC . Both equalled or surpassed in territory their contemporary Near Eastern empires such as the Middle Assyrian Empire , Hittite Empire , Egyptian Empire and those of the Mitanni and Elamites . The Zhou Empire dissolved in 770 BC into feudal multi-state system which lasted for five and

26690-418: Was assumed by Augustus , the Romans themselves continued to refer to their government as the Res publica , meaning "public affair". On the other hand, the concept of imperium Romanum , as in, the authority of the Romans, is attested since the 2nd century BC. The modern concepts of "Empire" and "Emperor" did not appear until several centuries later, long after the fall of Rome in the West. Augustus established

26860-425: Was because the Ottomans were Muslim, and the rest of Europe was Christian, so there was a sense of religious fighting going on. This was not just a rivalry of East and West but a rivalry between Christians and Muslims. Both the Christians and Muslims had alliances with other countries, and they had problems in them as well. The flows of trade and of cultural influences across the supposed great divide never ceased, so

27030-432: Was built on a hilly, triangular peninsula backed by the Lake of Tunis, which provided abundant supplies of fish and a place for safe harbor. The peninsula was connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land, which combined with the rough surrounding terrain, made the city easily defensible; a citadel was built on Byrsa, a low hill overlooking the sea. Finally, Carthage would be conduit of two major trade routes: one between

27200-403: Was crucial to the subsequent birth of the nationalistic concept of zhonghua minzu . The empire reached its peak during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor , after which the empire entered a period of prolonged decline, culminating in its collapse as a result of the Xinhai Revolution . The Ashanti Empire (or Confederacy), also Asanteman (1701–1896), was a West African state of the Ashanti ,

27370-456: Was founded by colonists from the ancient Phoenician city-state of Tyre , led by its exiled princess Dido (also known as Queen Elissa or Alissar). Dido's brother, Pygmalion (Phoenician: Pummayaton) had murdered her husband, the high priest of the city, and taken power as a tyrant. Dido and her allies escaped his reign and established Carthage, which became a prosperous city under her rule as queen. Several scholars have identified Baa‘li-maanzer,

27540-407: Was likely chosen by the Tyrians for several reasons. It was located in the central shore of the Gulf of Tunis, which gave it access to the Mediterranean sea while shielding it from the region's infamously violent storms. It was also close to the strategically vital Strait of Sicily, a key bottleneck for maritime trade between the east and west. The terrain proved as invaluable as the geography. The city

27710-402: Was not re-established until the coronation of Ivan the Terrible as Emperor of Russia in 1547. Likewise, with the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), the Austrian Empire (1804–1867) emerged reconstituted as the Empire of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918), having "inherited" the imperium of Central and Western Europe from the losers of said wars. In

27880-454: Was only nominally a discrete imperial state. The Holy Roman Empire was not always centrally-governed, as it had neither core nor peripheral territories, and was not governed by a central, politico-military elite. Hence, Voltaire 's remark that the Holy Roman Empire "was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire" is accurate to the degree that it ignores German rule over Italian, French, Provençal, Polish, Flemish, Dutch, and Bohemian populations, and

28050-443: Was subsequently sent on an exploration of the Canary Islands , Madeira and probably the Cape Verde islands, using Mogador as their mission base. After the fall of the Roman empire the commerce from Mogador Island practically disappeared and the island lost most of its importance during the Middle Ages . In 1844, the French Navy besieged the island, and it fell to the French in France's brutal Bombardment of Mogador . In 1866,

28220-416: Was the fourth largest empire in world history by total land area, and laid the foundation for the modern territorial claims of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China . Apart from having direct control over much of East Asia, the empire also exerted domination over other states through the Chinese tributary system . The multiethnic and multicultural nature of the Great Qing Empire

28390-585: Was the center of a sprawling network of colonies and client states. It controlled more territory than the Roman Republic, and became one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the Mediterranean, with a quarter of a million inhabitants. Carthage did not focus on growing and conquering land, instead, it was found that Carthage was focused on growing trade and protecting trade routes. The trades through Libya were territories and Carthage paid Libyans for access to this land in Cape Bon for agricultural purposes until about 550 BC. In around 508 BC Carthage and Rome signed

28560-432: Was the largest of its day and lasted for about sixty years. The Axial Age (mid-First Millennium BC) witnessed unprecedented imperial expansion in the Indo-Mediterranean region and China. The successful and extensive Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC), also known as the first Persian Empire, covered Mesopotamia , Egypt , parts of Greece , Thrace , the Middle East , much of Central Asia , and North-Western India . It

28730-402: Was the leading European power as Europe's most populous, richest and powerful country. The Empire of the French (1804–1814), also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire , was also the dominant power of much of continental Europe. It ruled over 90 million people and was the sole power in Europe if not the world; Britain was

28900-512: Was the preeminent economic and political center of Phoenician civilization, saw its status begin to wane in the seventh century BC, following a succession of sieges by the Babylonians . By this time, its Carthaginian colony had become immensely wealthy from its strategic location and extensive trade network. Unlike many other Phoenician city-states and dependencies, Carthage grew prosperous not only from maritime commerce but from its proximity to fertile agricultural land and rich mineral deposits. As

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