Misplaced Pages

#138861

192-745: The Third Punic War (149–146 BC) was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome . The war was fought entirely within Carthaginian territory, in what is now northern Tunisia . When the Second Punic War ended in 201 BC one of the terms of the peace treaty prohibited Carthage from waging war without Rome's permission. Rome's ally, King Masinissa of Numidia , exploited this to repeatedly raid and seize Carthaginian territory with impunity. In 149 BC Carthage sent an army, under Hasdrubal , against Masinissa,

384-484: A fleet and used a shipwrecked Carthaginian quinquereme as a blueprint for their own. As novice shipwrights , the Romans built copies that were heavier than the Carthaginian vessels; thus they were slower and less manoeuvrable. Getting the oarsmen to row as a unit, let alone to execute more complex battle manoeuvres, required long and arduous training. At least half of the oarsmen would need to have had some experience if

576-461: A siege . They set up two camps under command of legates : Censorinus's had the primary role of protecting the beached Roman ships and Manilius's housed the Roman legions. Hasdrubal moved up his army to harass the Roman supply lines and foraging parties. The Romans launched another assault on the city but were repulsed again. Scipio Aemilianus, the adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus, who was serving as

768-583: A thalassocracy . Beginning in 480   BC Carthage fought a series of inconclusive wars against the Greek city-states of Sicily, led by Syracuse . By 264   BC Carthage was the dominant external power on the island, and Carthage and Rome were the preeminent powers in the western Mediterranean. Relationships were good, and the two states had several times declared their mutual friendship in formal alliances : in 509   BC, 348   BC and around 279   BC. There were strong commercial links. During

960-462: A tribune  – a middle-ranking military position – held back his men and was able to deploy them to beat off the pursuing Carthaginians, preventing heavy losses. The camp established by Censorinus was badly situated and by early summer was so pestiferous that it was moved to a healthier location. This was not as defensible, and the Carthaginians inflicted losses on

1152-539: A viceroy and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Hasdrubal , in the early 220s   BC and then his son, Hannibal, in 221   BC. In 226   BC the Ebro Treaty was agreed with Rome, specifying the Ebro River as the northern boundary of the Carthaginian sphere of influence . At some time during the next six years Rome made a separate agreement with the city of Saguntum , which was situated well south of

1344-403: A 2,000-talent loan from Ptolemaic Egypt , which was refused. Rome was also close to bankruptcy and the number of adult male citizens, who provided the manpower for the navy and the legions, had declined by 17 per cent since the start of the war. Historian Adrian Goldsworthy (2006) has described Roman manpower losses as "appalling". The Romans rebuilt their fleet again in 243   BC after

1536-578: A Roman army, had himself crowned King Philip VI and sparked the Fourth Macedonian War . Scipio intended to stand in the 147 BC elections for the post of aedile , which was a natural progression for him. Aged 36 or 37, he was too young to stand as consul, for which by the Lex Villia the minimum age was 41. There was considerable political manoeuvring behind the scenes. Scipio and his partisans played on his successes over

1728-464: A basic level of analysis, artifacts found are cleaned, catalogued and compared to published collections. This comparison process often involves classifying them typologically and identifying other sites with similar artifact assemblages. However, a much more comprehensive range of analytical techniques are available through archaeological science , meaning that artifacts can be dated and their compositions examined. Bones, plants, and pollen collected from

1920-563: A big impact throughout Europe. However, prior to the development of modern techniques, excavations tended to be haphazard; the importance of concepts such as stratification and context were overlooked. In the mid-18th century, the German Johann Joachim Winckelmann lived in Rome and devoted himself to the study of Roman antiquities, gradually acquiring an unrivalled knowledge of ancient art. Then, he visited

2112-401: A clear objective as to what the archaeologists are looking to achieve must be agreed upon. This done, a site is surveyed to find out as much as possible about it and the surrounding area. Second, an excavation may take place to uncover any archaeological features buried under the ground. And, third, the information collected during the excavation is studied and evaluated in an attempt to achieve

SECTION 10

#1732758464139

2304-509: A distance and avoided close combat; the latter were usually Numidians . The close order African infantry and the citizen-militia both fought in a tightly-packed formation known as a phalanx . On occasion some of the infantry would wear captured Roman armour, especially among the troops of the Carthaginian general Hannibal . In addition both Iberia and Gaul provided many experienced infantry and cavalry. The infantry from these areas were unarmoured troops who would charge ferociously, but had

2496-451: A field survey. Regional survey is the attempt to systematically locate previously unknown sites in a region. Site survey is the attempt to systematically locate features of interest, such as houses and middens , within a site. Each of these two goals may be accomplished with largely the same methods. Survey was not widely practised in the early days of archaeology. Cultural historians and prior researchers were usually content with discovering

2688-403: A large shield and short thrusting swords . They were divided into three ranks: the front rank also carried two javelins, while the second and third ranks had a thrusting spear instead. Both legionary sub-units and individual legionaries fought in relatively open order. It was the long-standing Roman procedure to elect two men each year as senior magistrates , known as consuls , who in

2880-557: A large army commanded by the previously unrecorded Carthaginian general Hasdrubal and, the treaty notwithstanding, counter-attacked the Numidians. The campaign ended in disaster at the Battle of Oroscopa and the army surrendered. Many Carthaginians were subsequently massacred by the Numidians. Hasdrubal escaped to Carthage, where, in an attempt to placate Rome, he was condemned to death. Carthage paid off its indemnity in 151 BC and

3072-472: A large indemnity, severely restricted the size of its armed forces , and prohibited Carthage from waging war without Rome's express permission. This caused Carthage to cease to be a military threat. In 151   BC, Carthage attempted to defend itself against Numidian encroachments and Rome used this as a justification to declare war in 149   BC, starting the Third Punic War . This conflict

3264-528: A large region or site can be expensive, so archaeologists often employ sampling methods.) As with other forms of non-destructive archaeology, survey avoids ethical issues (of particular concern to descendant peoples) associated with destroying a site through excavation. It is the only way to gather some forms of information, such as settlement patterns and settlement structure. Survey data are commonly assembled into maps , which may show surface features and/or artifact distribution. The simplest survey technique

3456-468: A long-drawn-out affair, or, if the target was a port, impossible. Carthage's new allies felt little sense of community with Carthage, or even with each other. The new allies increased the number of places that Hannibal's army was expected to defend from Roman retribution, but provided relatively few fresh troops to assist him in doing so. Such Italian forces as were raised resisted operating away from their home cities and performed poorly when they did. When

3648-570: A reputation for breaking off if a combat was protracted. The Gallic cavalry, and possibly some of the Iberians, wore armour and fought as close order troops; most or all of the mounted Iberians were light cavalry . Slingers were frequently recruited from the Balearic Islands. The Carthaginians also employed war elephants ; North Africa had indigenous African forest elephants at the time. Garrison duty and land blockades were

3840-418: A similar number of allied troops. The majority were deployed in southern Italy in field armies of approximately 20,000 men each. This was insufficient to challenge Hannibal's army in open battle, but sufficient to force him to concentrate his forces and to hamper his movements. For 12 years after Cannae the war surged around southern Italy as cities went over to the Carthaginians or were taken by subterfuge and

4032-504: A site excavated depends greatly on the country and "method statement" issued. Sampling is even more important in excavation than in survey. Sometimes large mechanical equipment, such as backhoes ( JCBs ), is used in excavation, especially to remove the topsoil ( overburden ), though this method is increasingly used with great caution. Following this rather dramatic step, the exposed area is usually hand-cleaned with trowels or hoes to ensure that all features are apparent. The next task

SECTION 20

#1732758464139

4224-414: A site reveals its stratigraphy; if a site was occupied by a succession of distinct cultures, artifacts from more recent cultures will lie above those from more ancient cultures. Excavation is the most expensive phase of archaeological research, in relative terms. Also, as a destructive process, it carries ethical concerns. As a result, very few sites are excavated in their entirety. Again the percentage of

4416-408: A sole source. The material record may be closer to a fair representation of society, though it is subject to its own biases, such as sampling bias and differential preservation. Often, archaeology provides the only means to learn of the existence and behaviors of people of the past. Across the millennia many thousands of cultures and societies and billions of people have come and gone of which there

4608-527: A stone wall, will develop more slowly, while those above other types of features (such as middens ) may develop more rapidly. Photographs of ripening grain , which changes colour rapidly at maturation, have revealed buried structures with great precision. Aerial photographs taken at different times of day will help show the outlines of structures by changes in shadows. Aerial survey also employs ultraviolet , infrared , ground-penetrating radar wavelengths, Lidar and thermography . Geophysical survey can be

4800-427: A strong enemy such as Carthage would keep the common people in check and avoid social division. Cato was a member of an embassy to Carthage, probably in 153 BC, and noted her growing economy and strength; Nasica was likely a member of the same embassy. Using the illicit Carthaginian military action as a pretext, Rome began preparing a punitive expedition. Modern scholars have advanced several theories as to why Rome

4992-401: A successful night attack and broke into the city with 4,000 men. Panicked in the dark, the Carthaginian defenders, after an initial fierce resistance, fled. Scipio decided that his position would be indefensible once the Carthaginians reorganised themselves in daylight and so withdrew. Hasdrubal, horrified at the way the Carthaginian defences had collapsed, had Roman prisoners tortured to death on

5184-404: A surprise night assault and captured several districts of the city. Meanwhile, the Carthaginian army was crippled by plague . After the Carthaginians failed to resupply the city, Syracuse fell that autumn; Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier. Carthage sent more reinforcements to Sicily in 211   BC and went on the offensive. A fresh Roman army attacked the main Carthaginian stronghold on

5376-487: A systematic guide to the ruins and topography of ancient Rome in the early 15th century, for which he has been called an early founder of archaeology. Antiquarians of the 16th century, including John Leland and William Camden , conducted surveys of the English countryside, drawing, describing and interpreting the monuments that they encountered. The OED first cites "archaeologist" from 1824; this soon took over as

5568-1011: A time of war would each lead an army. An army was usually formed by combining a Roman legion with a similarly sized and equipped legion provided by their Latin allies ; allied legions usually had a larger attached complement of cavalry than Roman ones. Carthaginian citizens only served in their army if there was a direct threat to the city of Carthage . When they did they fought as well-armoured heavy infantry armed with long thrusting spears, although they were notoriously ill-trained and ill-disciplined. In most circumstances Carthage recruited foreigners to make up its army. Many were from North Africa and these were frequently referred to as "Libyans". The region provided several types of fighters, including: close order infantry equipped with large shields, helmets, short swords and long thrusting spears ; javelin-armed light infantry skirmishers; close order shock cavalry (also known as "heavy cavalry") carrying spears; and light cavalry skirmishers who threw javelins from

5760-495: A wide range of influences, including systems theory , neo-evolutionary thought , [35] phenomenology , postmodernism , agency theory , cognitive science , structural functionalism , Marxism , gender-based and feminist archaeology , queer theory , postcolonial thoughts , materiality , and posthumanism . An archaeological investigation usually involves several distinct phases, each of which employs its own variety of methods. Before any practical work can begin, however,

5952-451: Is little or no written record or existing records are misrepresentative or incomplete. Writing as it is known today did not exist in human civilization until the 4th millennium BC, in a relatively small number of technologically advanced civilizations. In contrast, Homo sapiens has existed for at least 200,000 years, and other species of Homo for millions of years (see Human evolution ). These civilizations are, not coincidentally,

Third Punic War - Misplaced Pages Continue

6144-426: Is no one approach to archaeological theory that has been adhered to by all archaeologists. When archaeology developed in the late 19th century, the first approach to archaeological theory to be practised was that of cultural-historical archaeology , which held the goal of explaining why cultures changed and adapted rather than just highlighting the fact that they did, therefore emphasizing historical particularism . In

6336-443: Is reflected or emitted from the observed scene. Passive instruments sense only radiation emitted by the object being viewed or reflected by the object from a source other than the instrument. Active instruments emit energy and record what is reflected. Satellite imagery is an example of passive remote sensing. Here are two active remote sensing instruments: The archaeological project then continues (or alternatively, begins) with

6528-428: Is surface survey. It involves combing an area, usually on foot but sometimes with the use of mechanized transport, to search for features or artifacts visible on the surface. Surface survey cannot detect sites or features that are completely buried under earth, or overgrown with vegetation. Surface survey may also include mini-excavation techniques such as augers , corers, and shovel test pits. If no materials are found,

6720-508: Is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture . The archaeological record consists of artifacts , architecture , biofacts or ecofacts, sites , and cultural landscapes . Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities . It is usually considered an independent academic discipline , but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America –

6912-655: Is through archaeology. Because archaeology is the study of past human activity, it stretches back to about 2.5 million years ago when the first stone tools are found – The Oldowan Industry . Many important developments in human history occurred during prehistory, such as the evolution of humanity during the Paleolithic period, when the hominins developed from the australopithecines in Africa and eventually into modern Homo sapiens . Archaeology also sheds light on many of humanity's technological advances, for instance

7104-431: Is to form a site plan and then use it to help decide the method of excavation. Features dug into the natural subsoil are normally excavated in portions to produce a visible archaeological section for recording. A feature, for example a pit or a ditch, consists of two parts: the cut and the fill . The cut describes the edge of the feature, where the feature meets the natural soil. It is the feature's boundary. The fill

7296-468: Is usually to be preferred when it differs with any of our other accounts". Other sources include coins, inscriptions, archaeological evidence and empirical evidence from reconstructions, such as the trireme Olympias . The Roman Republic had been aggressively expanding in the southern Italian mainland for a century before the First Punic War . It had conquered peninsular Italy south of

7488-420: Is what the feature is filled with, and will often appear quite distinct from the natural soil. The cut and fill are given consecutive numbers for recording purposes. Scaled plans and sections of individual features are all drawn on site, black and white and colour photographs of them are taken, and recording sheets are filled in describing the context of each. All this information serves as a permanent record of

7680-549: The corvus became useless; part way through the First Punic War the Romans ceased using it. Much of the First Punic War was fought on, or in the waters near, Sicily. Away from the coasts its hilly and rugged terrain made manoeuvring large forces difficult and so encouraged defensive strategies. Land operations were largely confined to raids , sieges and interdiction ; in 23 years of war on Sicily there were only two full-scale pitched battles. The war began with

7872-559: The Adriatic coast to block Hannibal's advance into central Italy. In early spring 217   BC, the Carthaginians crossed the Apennines unopposed, taking a difficult but unguarded route. Hannibal attempted to draw the main Roman army under Gaius Flaminius into a pitched battle by devastating the area they had been sent to protect, provoking Flaminius into a hasty pursuit without proper reconnaissance. Hannibal set an ambush and in

Third Punic War - Misplaced Pages Continue

8064-583: The Arno River by 270   BC, when the Greek cities of southern Italy ( Magna Graecia ) submitted after the conclusion of the Pyrrhic War . During this period of Roman expansion Carthage, with its capital in what is now Tunisia , had come to dominate southern Iberia, much of the coastal regions of North Africa, the Balearic Islands , Corsica , Sardinia and the western half of Sicily in

8256-467: The Roman province of Africa , with Utica as its capital. The province became a major source of grain and other food. The Punic cities which had stood by Carthage to the end were forfeit to Rome as ager publicus , or, as in the case of Bizerte , were destroyed. Surviving cities were permitted to retain at least elements of their traditional system of government and culture. The Romans did not interfere in

8448-455: The battle of Akragas . That night the Carthaginian garrison escaped and the Romans seized the city and its inhabitants, selling 25,000 of them into slavery . After this the land war on Sicily reached a stalemate as the Carthaginians focused on defending their well-fortified towns and cities; these were mostly on the coast and so could be supplied and reinforced without the Romans being able to use their superior army to interfere. The focus of

8640-412: The battle of Dertosa . Meanwhile, the Romans took drastic steps to raise new legions: enrolling slaves, criminals and those who did not meet the usual property qualification. By early 215   BC they were fielding at least 12 legions; by 214   BC, 18; and by 213   BC, 22. By 212   BC the full complement of the legions deployed would have been in excess of 100,000 men, plus, as always,

8832-463: The battle of Lake Trasimene completely defeated the Roman army, killing 15,000 Romans, including Flaminius, and taking 15,000 prisoners . A cavalry force of 4,000 from the other Roman army was also engaged and wiped out. The prisoners were badly treated if they were Romans, but released if they were from one of Rome's Latin allies. Hannibal hoped some of these allies could be persuaded to defect and marched south hoping to win over Roman allies among

9024-405: The battle of Phintias and all but swept the Romans from the sea. It was to be seven years before Rome again attempted to field a substantial fleet, while Carthage put most of its ships into reserve to save money and free up manpower. After more than 20 years of war, both states were financially and demographically exhausted. Evidence of Carthage's financial situation includes their request for

9216-536: The battle of Ticinus . As a result, most of the Gallic tribes declared for the Carthaginian cause and Hannibal's army grew to 37,000 men. A large Roman army was lured into combat by Hannibal at the battle of the Trebia , encircled and destroyed. Only 10,000 Romans out of 42,000 were able to cut their way to safety. Gauls now joined Hannibal's army in large numbers. The Romans stationed an army at Arretium and one on

9408-692: The battle of the Metaurus and destroyed his army, killing Hasdrubal. This battle confirmed Roman dominance in Italy and marked the end of their Fabian strategy. In 205   BC, Mago landed in Genua in north-west Italy with the remnants of his Spanish army ( see § Iberia below ) where it received Gallic and Ligurian reinforcements. Mago's arrival in the north of the Italian peninsula was followed by Hannibal's inconclusive battle of Crotona in 204   BC in

9600-527: The battle of the Upper Baetis . Both battles ended in complete defeat for the Romans, as Hasdrubal had bribed the Romans' mercenaries to desert. The Romans retreated to their coastal stronghold north of the Ebro, from which the Carthaginians again failed to expel them. Claudius Nero brought over reinforcements in 210   BC and stabilised the situation. Archaeology Archaeology or archeology

9792-552: The four-field approach ), history or geography . Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology is distinct from palaeontology , which is the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for which, by definition, there are no written records. Prehistory includes over 99% of

SECTION 50

#1732758464139

9984-487: The looting of artifacts, a lack of public interest, and opposition to the excavation of human remains. In Ancient Mesopotamia , a foundation deposit of the Akkadian Empire ruler Naram-Sin (ruled c.  2200 BC ) was discovered and analysed by king Nabonidus , c.  550 BC , who is thus known as the first archaeologist. Not only did he lead the first excavations which were to find

10176-580: The trench method , on several Native American burial mounds in Virginia . His excavations were prompted by the "Moundbuilders" question ; however, his careful methods led him to admit he saw no reason why ancestors of the Native Americans of his time could not have raised those mounds. One of the major achievements of 19th-century archaeology was the development of stratigraphy . The idea of overlapping strata tracing back to successive periods

10368-511: The western Mediterranean region and involved a total of forty-three years of warfare. The Punic Wars are also considered to include the four-year-long revolt against Carthage which started in 241   BC. Each war involved immense materiel and human losses on both sides. The First Punic War broke out on the Mediterranean island of Sicily in 264   BC as Rome's expansion began to encroach on Carthage's sphere of influence on

10560-559: The 1870s. These scholars individuated nine different cities that had overlapped with one another, from prehistory to the Hellenistic period . Meanwhile, the work of Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos in Crete revealed the ancient existence of an equally advanced Minoan civilization . The next major figure in the development of archaeology was Sir Mortimer Wheeler , whose highly disciplined approach to excavation and systematic coverage in

10752-642: The 1920s and 1930s brought the science on swiftly. Wheeler developed the grid system of excavation , which was further improved by his student Kathleen Kenyon . Archaeology became a professional activity in the first half of the 20th century, and it became possible to study archaeology as a subject in universities and even schools. By the end of the 20th century nearly all professional archaeologists, at least in developed countries, were graduates. Further adaptation and innovation in archaeology continued in this period, when maritime archaeology and urban archaeology became more prevalent and rescue archaeology

10944-508: The Alps and invading Italy. His aim was to join his forces with those of Hannibal, but Hannibal was unaware of his presence. The Romans facing Hannibal in southern Italy tricked him into believing the whole Roman army was still in camp, while a large portion marched north under the consul Claudius Nero and reinforced the Romans facing Hasdrubal, who were commanded by the other consul, Marcus Salinator . The combined Roman force attacked Hasdrubal at

11136-550: The Carthaginian colonial cities with mixed success until moving into Italy; and Africa, where the war was decided. In 218   BC there was some naval skirmishing in the waters around Sicily; the Romans defeated a Carthaginian attack and captured the island of Malta . In Cisalpine Gaul (modern northern Italy), the major Gallic tribes attacked the Roman colonies there, causing the Roman settlers to flee to their previously-established colony of Mutina (modern Modena ), where they were besieged. A Roman relief force broke through

11328-430: The Carthaginians advanced on Panormus, but in a battle outside the walls the Romans drove off the Carthaginian elephants with javelins. The elephants routed through the Carthaginian infantry, who were then charged by the Roman infantry to complete their defeat. Slowly the Romans had occupied most of Sicily; in 250   BC they besieged the last two Carthaginian strongholds – Lilybaeum and Drepana in

11520-417: The Carthaginians surrendering all of their weapons, the Romans pressed on to besiege the city of Carthage. The Roman campaign suffered repeated setbacks through 149 BC, only alleviated by Scipio Aemilianus , a middle-ranking officer, distinguishing himself several times. A new Roman commander took over in 148 BC and fared equally badly. At the annual election of Roman magistrates in early 147 BC

11712-461: The Carthaginians to pause long enough for most of the infantry to complete their retreat. That night Scipio led his cavalry back to rescue a trapped group of Romans. The Roman column retreated to its camp near Carthage, where a committee from the Senate had arrived to evaluate Scipio and Manilius' progress. Scipio's performance was prominent in their subsequent report. Scipio made contact with several of

SECTION 60

#1732758464139

11904-449: The Carthaginians' main camp near Nepheris, despite its strong position and fortifications. Arriving there, Manilius ordered an immediate assault, against Scipio's advice. This initially went well, but the Romans advanced into an untenable position. When they attempted to withdraw, the Carthaginians counterattacked, inflicting heavy casualties. Scipio led 300 cavalrymen in a series of limited and well-disciplined charges and threats which caused

12096-474: The Ebro. In 219   BC a Carthaginian army under Hannibal besieged, captured and sacked Saguntum and in spring 218   BC Rome declared war on Carthage. There were three main military theatres in the war: Italy, where Hannibal defeated the Roman legions repeatedly, with occasional subsidiary campaigns in Sicily, Sardinia and Greece; Iberia, where Hasdrubal , a younger brother of Hannibal, defended

12288-637: The First Punic War, Carthaginian possessions in Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal) were limited to a handful of prosperous coastal cities in the south. Hamilcar took the army which he had led in the Mercenary War to Iberia in 237   BC and carved out a quasi-monarchial, autonomous state in its south east. This gave Carthage the silver mines, agricultural wealth, manpower , military facilities such as shipyards , and territorial depth to stand up to future Roman demands with confidence. Hamilcar ruled as

12480-437: The Mediterranean region as a whole. The immense effort of repeatedly building large fleets of galleys during the war laid the foundation for Rome's maritime dominance, which was to last 600 years. The Mercenary, or Truceless, War began in 241   BC as a dispute over the payment of wages owed to 20,000 foreign soldiers who had fought for Carthage on Sicily during the First Punic War. This erupted into full-scale mutiny under

12672-509: The Punic Wars is the historian Polybius ( c.  200 – c.  118 BC ), a Greek sent to Rome in 167   BC as a hostage. He is best known for The Histories , written sometime after 146   BC. Polybius's work is considered broadly objective and largely neutral between Carthaginian and Roman points of view. Polybius was an analytical historian and wherever possible interviewed participants from both sides in

12864-541: The Punic Wars is the historian Polybius ( c.  200 – c.  118 BC ), a Greek sent to Rome in 167 BC as a hostage. His works include a now-lost manual on military tactics , but he is best known for The Histories , written sometime after 146 BC. He accompanied his patron and friend, the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus , in North Africa during the Third Punic War; this causes

13056-514: The Pyrrhic War of 280–275   BC, against a king of Epirus who alternately fought Rome in Italy and Carthage on Sicily, Carthage provided materiel to the Romans and on at least one occasion provided its navy to ferry a Roman force. According to the classicist Richard Miles , Rome had an expansionary attitude after its conquest of southern Italy, while Carthage had a proprietary approach to Sicily. The conflict between these policies pushed

13248-438: The Roman fleet with fireships . The Romans then made these attacks more difficult by building additional fortifications. Nevertheless, the Carthaginians repeatedly attacked the camps. In often confused fighting Scipio distinguished himself further by his role in thwarting these; the discipline which he imposed on his troops was in contrast with the behaviour of most of the rest of the Roman army. Manilius decided to strike against

13440-522: The Romans by the Latin word Punicus (or Poenicus ) and is a reference to Carthage's Phoenician origin. "Punic" derives from this usage. Carthage and Rome had fought the 23-year-long First Punic War from 264 to 241 BC and the 17-year-long Second Punic War between 218 and 201 BC. Both wars ended with Roman victories; the Second when the Roman general Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal ,

13632-410: The Romans gaining a foothold on Sicily at Messana (modern Messina) in 264   BC. They then pressed Syracuse, the only significant independent power on the island, into allying with them and laid siege to Carthage's main base at Akragas on the south coast. A Carthaginian army of 50,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and 60 elephants attempted to lift the siege in 262   BC, but was badly defeated at

13824-430: The Romans launched their final assault and, over six days, systematically destroyed the city and killed its inhabitants; only on the last day did they take prisoners, 50,000 of them, who were sold into slavery. The conquered Carthaginian territories became the Roman province of Africa , with Utica as its capital. It was a century before the site of Carthage was rebuilt as a Roman city . The main source for most aspects of

14016-419: The Romans recaptured them by siege or by suborning pro-Roman factions. Hannibal repeatedly defeated Roman armies, in 209   BC both consuls were killed in a cavalry skirmish. But wherever his main army was not active the Romans threatened Carthaginian-supporting towns or sought battle with Carthaginian or Carthaginian-allied detachments; frequently with success. By 207   BC Hannibal had been confined to

14208-410: The Romans were still in their winter quarters. His surprise entry into the Italian peninsula led to the cancellation of Rome's planned campaign for the year: an invasion of Africa. The Carthaginians captured the chief city of the hostile Taurini (in the area of modern Turin ) and seized its food stocks. In late November the Carthaginian cavalry routed the cavalry and light infantry of the Romans at

14400-422: The Romans' surprise. After an indecisive engagement, the Carthaginians mismanaged their withdrawal and lost many ships. The Romans then built a large brick structure in the harbour area that dominated the city wall. Once this was complete, Scipio led a strong force that stormed the camp of Carthage's field army and forced most of the towns and cities still supporting Carthage to surrender. In the spring of 146 BC

14592-452: The Senate and the People's Assembly of Rome declared war on Carthage. The Romans elected two men each year, known as consuls , as senior magistrates , who at time of war would each lead an army; on occasion their term of office was extended. A large Roman army landed at Utica in 149 BC under both consuls for the year, Manius Manilius commanding the army and Lucius Marcius Censorinus

14784-465: The Senate approached Rome's wealthiest citizens for loans to finance the construction of one ship each, repayable from the reparations to be imposed on Carthage once the war was won. This new fleet effectively blockaded the Carthaginian garrisons. Carthage assembled a fleet which attempted to relieve them, but it was destroyed at the battle of the Aegates Islands in 241   BC, forcing

14976-505: The Song period, were revived in the 17th century during the Qing dynasty , but were always considered a branch of Chinese historiography rather than a separate discipline of archaeology. In Renaissance Europe , philosophical interest in the remains of Greco - Roman civilization and the rediscovery of classical culture began in the late Middle Ages , with humanism . Cyriacus of Ancona

15168-676: The Spanish military engineer Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre in the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum , both of which had been covered by ash during the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 . These excavations began in 1748 in Pompeii, while in Herculaneum they began in 1738. The discovery of entire towns, complete with utensils and even human shapes, as well the unearthing of frescos , had

15360-466: The Temple of Eshmoun and burnt it down around themselves when all hope was gone. At this point, Hasdrubal surrendered to Scipio on the promise of his life and freedom. Hasdrubal's wife, watching from a rampart, then blessed Scipio, cursed her husband and walked into the temple with her children to burn to death. 50,000 Carthaginian prisoners were sold into slavery. The notion that Roman forces then sowed

15552-557: The Third Punic War or its participants which have also been largely lost include those of Plutarch , Dio Cassius and the Greek Diodorus Siculus . Modern historians also use the account of the 2nd-century AD Greek Appian . The modern historian Bernard Mineo states that it "is the only complete and continuous account of this war". It is thought to have been largely based on Polybius's account, but several problems with it have been identified. These issues mean that of

15744-767: The UK, metal detectorists have been solicited for involvement in the Portable Antiquities Scheme . Regional survey in underwater archaeology uses geophysical or remote sensing devices such as marine magnetometer, side-scan sonar , or sub-bottom sonar. Archaeological excavation existed even when the field was still the domain of amateurs, and it remains the source of the majority of data recovered in most field projects. It can reveal several types of information usually not accessible to survey, such as stratigraphy , three-dimensional structure, and verifiably primary context. Modern excavation techniques require that

15936-426: The ability to use fire, the development of stone tools , the discovery of metallurgy , the beginnings of religion and the creation of agriculture . Without archaeology, little or nothing would be known about the use of material culture by humanity that pre-dates writing. However, it is not only prehistoric, pre-literate cultures that can be studied using archaeology but historic, literate cultures as well, through

16128-408: The archaeological excavations being conducted at Pompeii and Herculaneum . He was one of the founders of scientific archaeology and first applied the categories of style on a large, systematic basis to the history of art He was one of the first to separate Greek art into periods and time classifications. Winckelmann has been called both "The prophet and founding hero of modern archaeology " and

16320-434: The area surveyed is deemed sterile . Aerial survey is conducted using cameras attached to airplanes , balloons , UAVs , or even Kites . A bird's-eye view is useful for quick mapping of large or complex sites. Aerial photographs are used to document the status of the archaeological dig. Aerial imaging can also detect many things not visible from the surface. Plants growing above a buried human-made structure, such as

16512-560: The artifacts they had found in chronological order. A major figure in the development of archaeology into a rigorous science was army officer and ethnologist Augustus Pitt Rivers , who began excavations on his land in England in the 1880s. Highly methodical by the standards of the time, he is widely regarded as the first scientific archaeologist. He arranged his artifacts by type or " Typology (archaeology) ", and within types chronologically. This style of arrangement, designed to highlight

16704-563: The best-known; they are open to the inquiry of historians for centuries, while the study of pre-historic cultures has arisen only recently. Within a literate civilization many events and important human practices may not be officially recorded. Any knowledge of the early years of human civilization – the development of agriculture, cult practices of folk religion, the rise of the first cities – must come from archaeology. In addition to their scientific importance, archaeological remains sometimes have political or cultural significance to descendants of

16896-524: The brink of collapse. Within a few weeks of Cannae a Roman army of 25,000 was ambushed by Boii Gauls at the battle of Silva Litana and annihilated. Fabius was elected consul in 215 BC and was re-elected in 214 BC. Little survives of Polybius's account of Hannibal's army in Italy after Cannae and Livy is the best surviving source for this part of the war. Several of the city states in southern Italy allied with Hannibal or were captured when pro-Carthaginian factions betrayed their defences. These included

17088-513: The camp from several directions and overran it. Fleeing Carthaginians were pursued by Rome's mounted Numidian allies and few escaped. The town of Nepheris was then besieged and surrendered after three weeks. Most of the fortified positions still holding out in Carthage's hinterland now opened their gates. Scipio's position as the Roman commander in Africa was extended for a year in 146 BC. In

17280-408: The city they razed and abandoned it. The Romans rapidly rebuilt their fleet, adding 220 new ships, and captured Panormus (modern Palermo ) in 254   BC. The next year they lost another 150 ships to a storm. On Sicily the Romans avoided battle in 252 and 251   BC, according to Polybius because they feared the war elephants which the Carthaginians had shipped to the island. In 250   BC

17472-399: The city wall, which enabled up to 4,000 Romans to fire onto the Carthaginian ramparts from short range. Once this feature was complete, Scipio detached a large force and led it against the Carthaginian field army at Nepheris. The Carthaginians, commanded by a Greek named Diogenes , had established a fortified camp for their winter quarters. Late in 147 BC Scipio directed an assault on

17664-439: The city with salt is likely a 19th-century invention. Many of the religious items and cult-statues which Carthage had pillaged from Sicilian cities and temples over the centuries were returned with great ceremony. Rome was determined that the city of Carthage remain in ruins. The Senate despatched a ten-man commission and Scipio was ordered to carry out further demolitions. A curse was placed on anyone who might attempt to resettle

17856-581: The classicist Adrian Goldsworthy says Livy's "reliability is often suspect", and the historian Philip Sabin refers to Livy's "military ignorance". Later ancient histories of the wars also exist in fragmentary or summary form. Modern historians usually take into account the writings of various Roman annalists , some contemporary; the Sicilian Greek Diodorus Siculus ; and the later Roman historians Plutarch , Appian , and Dio Cassius . Goldsworthy writes "Polybius' account

18048-672: The coast in May or June. It entered Gaul and took an inland route, to avoid the Roman allies to the south. At the battle of the Rhone Crossing Hannibal defeated a force of local Gauls which sought to bar his way. A Roman fleet carrying the Iberian-bound army landed at Rome's ally Massalia (modern Marseille ) at the mouth of the Rhone, but Hannibal evaded the Romans and they continued to Iberia. The Carthaginians reached

18240-441: The cut-off Carthaginian troops on Sicily to negotiate for peace. The Treaty of Lutatius was agreed by which Carthage paid 3,200 talents of silver in reparations and Sicily was annexed as a Roman province . Polybius regarded the war as "the longest, most continuous and most severely contested war known to us in history". Henceforth Rome considered itself the leading military power in the western Mediterranean and increasingly

18432-473: The early 20th century, many archaeologists who studied past societies with direct continuing links to existing ones (such as those of Native Americans , Siberians , Mesoamericans etc.) followed the direct historical approach , compared the continuity between the past and contemporary ethnic and cultural groups. In the 1960s, an archaeological movement largely led by American archaeologists like Lewis Binford and Kent Flannery arose that rebelled against

18624-643: The empirical evidence that existed for the understanding of the past, encapsulated in the motto of the 18th century antiquary, Sir Richard Colt Hoare : "We speak from facts, not theory". Tentative steps towards the systematization of archaeology as a science took place during the Enlightenment period in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Imperial China during the Song dynasty (960–1279), figures such as Ouyang Xiu and Zhao Mingcheng established

18816-463: The ensuing Battle of the Port of Carthage the Carthaginians held their own, but when withdrawing at the end of the day many of their ships were trapped against the city's sea wall and sunk or captured. The Romans now attempted to advance against the Carthaginian defences in the harbour area, eventually gaining control of the quay . Here, over several months, they constructed a brick structure as high as

19008-644: The established cultural-history archaeology. They proposed a "New Archaeology", which would be more "scientific" and "anthropological", with hypothesis testing and the scientific method very important parts of what became known as processual archaeology . In the 1980s, a new postmodern movement arose led by the British archaeologists Michael Shanks , Christopher Tilley , Daniel Miller , and Ian Hodder , which has become known as post-processual archaeology . It questioned processualism's appeals to scientific positivism and impartiality, and emphasized

19200-470: The ethnic Greek and Italic states. The Romans, panicked by these heavy defeats, appointed Quintus Fabius as dictator , with sole charge of the war effort. Fabius introduced the Fabian strategy of avoiding open battle with his opponent, but constantly skirmishing with small detachments of the enemy. This was not popular with parts of the Roman army, public and senate, since he avoided battle while Italy

19392-428: The events he wrote about. Modern historians consider Polybius to have treated the relatives of Scipio Aemilianus , his patron and friend, unduly favourably, but the consensus is to accept his account largely at face value. The modern historian Andrew Curry sees Polybius as being "fairly reliable"; Craige Champion describes him as "a remarkably well-informed, industrious, and insightful historian". The details of

19584-633: The evolutionary trends in human artifacts, was of enormous significance for the accurate dating of the objects. His most important methodological innovation was his insistence that all artifacts, not just beautiful or unique ones, be collected and catalogued. William Flinders Petrie is another man who may legitimately be called the Father of Archaeology. His painstaking recording and study of artifacts, both in Egypt and later in Palestine , laid down many of

19776-623: The extreme south of Italy and many of the cities and territories which had joined the Carthaginian cause had returned to their Roman allegiance. During 216   BC the Macedonian king, Philip V , pledged his support to Hannibal, initiating the First Macedonian War against Rome in 215   BC. In 211   BC Rome contained this threat by allying with the Aetolian League , a coalition of Greek city states which

19968-435: The extreme west. Repeated attempts to storm Lilybaeum's strong walls failed, as did attempts to block access to its harbour, and the Romans settled down to a siege which was to last nine years. They launched a surprise attack on the Carthaginian fleet, but were defeated at the battle of Drepana ; Carthage's greatest naval victory of the war. Carthage turned to the maritime offensive, inflicting another heavy naval defeat at

20160-561: The far south of the peninsula. Mago marched his reinforced army towards the lands of Carthage's main Gallic allies in the Po Valley , but was checked by a large Roman army and defeated at the battle of Insubria in 203   BC. After Publius Cornelius Scipio invaded the Carthaginian homeland in 204   BC, defeating the Carthaginians in two major battles and winning the allegiance of the Numidian kingdoms of North Africa, Hannibal and

20352-538: The father of the discipline of art history . The father of archaeological excavation was William Cunnington (1754–1810). He undertook excavations in Wiltshire from around 1798, funded by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Cunnington made meticulous recordings of Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows , and the terms he used to categorize and describe them are still used by archaeologists today. Future U.S. President Thomas Jefferson also did his own excavations in 1784 using

20544-765: The fifteenth century, and the general accuracy of his records entitles him to be called the founding father of modern classical archeology." He traveled throughout Greece and all around the Eastern Mediterranean, to record his findings on ancient buildings, statues and inscriptions, including archaeological remains still unknown to his time: the Parthenon , Delphi , the Egyptian pyramids , the hieroglyphics . He noted down his archaeological discoveries in his diary, Commentaria (in six volumes). Flavio Biondo , an Italian Renaissance humanist historian, created

20736-528: The first history books of India. One of the first sites to undergo archaeological excavation was Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments in England. John Aubrey (1626–1697) was a pioneer archaeologist who recorded numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England. He was also ahead of his time in the analysis of his findings. He attempted to chart the chronological stylistic evolution of handwriting, medieval architecture, costume, and shield-shapes. Excavations were also carried out by

20928-408: The fleet. The Carthaginians continued to attempt to appease Rome and sent an embassy to Utica. The consuls demanded that they hand over all weaponry, reluctantly the Carthaginians did so. Large convoys took enormous stocks of equipment from Carthage to Utica. Surviving records state that these included 200,000 sets of armour and 2,000 catapults . Carthage's warships all sailed to Utica and were burnt in

21120-401: The foot of the Alps by late autumn and crossed them in 15 days, surmounting the difficulties of climate, terrain and the guerrilla tactics of the native tribes. Hannibal arrived with 20,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and an unknown number of elephants – the survivors of the 37 with which he left Iberia  – in what is now Piedmont , northern Italy in early November;

21312-506: The foundation deposits of the temples of Šamaš the sun god, the warrior goddess Anunitu (both located in Sippar ), and the sanctuary that Naram-Sin built to the moon god, located in Harran , but he also had them restored to their former glory. He was also the first to date an archaeological artifact in his attempt to date Naram-Sin's temple during his search for it. Even though his estimate

21504-461: The harbour. Once Carthage was disarmed, Censorinus made the further demand that the Carthaginians abandon their city and relocate 16 km (10 mi) away from the sea; Carthage would then be destroyed. The Carthaginians abandoned negotiations and prepared to defend their city. The city of Carthage itself was unusually large for the time: modern scholars give population estimates ranging from 90,000 to 800,000. Any of these would make Carthage one of

21696-485: The human past, from the Paleolithic until the advent of literacy in societies around the world. Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time. Derived from Greek, the term archaeology means "the study of ancient history". The discipline involves surveying , excavation , and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about

21888-475: The ideas behind modern archaeological recording; he remarked that "I believe the true line of research lies in the noting and comparison of the smallest details." Petrie developed the system of dating layers based on pottery and ceramic findings , which revolutionized the chronological basis of Egyptology . Petrie was the first to scientifically investigate the Great Pyramid in Egypt during the 1880s. He

22080-472: The importance of a more self-critical theoretical reflexivity . However, this approach has been criticized by processualists as lacking scientific rigor, and the validity of both processualism and post-processualism is still under debate. Meanwhile, another theory, known as historical processualism , has emerged seeking to incorporate a focus on process and post-processual archaeology's emphasis of reflexivity and history. Archaeological theory now borrows from

22272-417: The infantry – poorer or younger men unable to afford the armour and equipment of a standard legionary  – served as javelin -armed skirmishers known as velites ; they each carried several javelins, which would be thrown from a distance, as well as a short sword and a 90-centimetre (3 ft) shield. The rest of the soldiers were equipped as heavy infantry , with body armour ,

22464-480: The island, Agrigentum , in 210   BC and the city was betrayed to the Romans by a discontented Carthaginian officer. The remaining Carthaginian-controlled towns then surrendered or were taken through force or treachery and the Sicilian grain supply to Rome and its armies was secured. In the spring of 207   BC Hasdrubal Barca repeated the feat of his elder brother by marching an army of 35,000 men across

22656-543: The island. At the start of the war Carthage was the dominant power of the western Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire , while Rome was a rapidly expanding power in Italy , with a strong army but no navy. The fighting took place primarily on Sicily and its surrounding waters, as well as in North Africa , Corsica , and Sardinia . It lasted 23 years, until 241   BC, when the Carthaginians were defeated. By

22848-421: The large city of Capua and the major port city of Tarentum (modern Taranto ). Two of the major Samnite tribes also joined the Carthaginian cause. By 214 BC the bulk of southern Italy had turned against Rome, although there were many exceptions. The majority of Rome's allies in central Italy remained loyal. All except the smallest towns were too well fortified for Hannibal to take by assault and blockade could be

23040-493: The leaders of Carthage's Numidian cavalry , then joined a second, better-planned expedition led by Manilius against Hasdrubal at Nepheris. Despite the greater forethought, the Romans made no progress, although one of the Numidians contacted by Scipio did defect to the Romans with 2,200 men. Manilius withdrew after the Romans ran out of food and Scipio led the Romans' new allies on a successful foraging expedition. The Romans elected two new consuls in 148 BC, but only one of them

23232-506: The leadership of Spendius and Matho ; 70,000 Africans from Carthage's oppressed dependant territories flocked to join the mutineers, bringing supplies and finance. War-weary Carthage fared poorly in the initial engagements, especially under the generalship of Hanno . Hamilcar Barca , a veteran of the campaigns in Sicily, was given joint command of the army in 240   BC and supreme command in 239   BC. He campaigned successfully, initially demonstrating leniency in an attempt to woo

23424-463: The legions from behind. As a result, the Roman infantry was surrounded with no means of escape. At least 67,500 Romans were killed or captured. The historian Richard Miles describes Cannae as "Rome's greatest military disaster". Toni Ñaco del Hoyo describes the Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae as the three "great military calamities" suffered by the Romans in the first three years of the war. Brian Carey writes that these three defeats brought Rome to

23616-444: The lives and interests of the populace. Writings that were produced by people more representative of the general population were unlikely to find their way into libraries and be preserved there for posterity. Thus, written records tend to reflect the biases, assumptions, cultural values and possibly deceptions of a limited range of individuals, usually a small fraction of the larger population. Hence, written records cannot be trusted as

23808-637: The local tribes. A rushed Carthaginian attack in late 218   BC was beaten back at the battle of Cissa . In 217   BC 40 Carthaginian and Iberian warships were defeated by 55 Roman and Massalian vessels at the battle of Ebro River , with 29 Carthaginian ships lost. The Romans' lodgement between the Ebro and the Pyrenees blocked the route from Iberia to Italy and greatly hindered the despatch of reinforcements from Iberia to Hannibal. The Carthaginian commander in Iberia, Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal, marched into this area in 215   BC, offered battle and

24000-417: The locals' private lives and Punic culture, language and religion survived, and is known to modern scholars as "Neo-Punic civilization". The Punic language continued to be spoken in north Africa until the 7th century AD. In 123 BC a reformist faction in Rome led by Gaius Gracchus was eager to redistribute land , including publicly held land. This included the site of Carthage and a controversial law

24192-671: The locations of monumental sites from the local populace, and excavating only the plainly visible features there. Gordon Willey pioneered the technique of regional settlement pattern survey in 1949 in the Viru Valley of coastal Peru , and survey of all levels became prominent with the rise of processual archaeology some years later. Survey work has many benefits if performed as a preliminary exercise to, or even in place of, excavation. It requires relatively little time and expense, because it does not require processing large volumes of soil to search out artifacts. (Nevertheless, surveying

24384-409: The most common operations. When armies were campaigning, surprise attacks, ambushes and stratagems were common. More formal battles were usually preceded by the two armies camping two–twelve kilometres (1–7 miles) apart for days or weeks; sometimes both forming up in battle order each day. If either commander felt at a disadvantage, they might march off without engaging. In such circumstances it

24576-724: The most effective way to see beneath the ground. Magnetometers detect minute deviations in the Earth's magnetic field caused by iron artifacts, kilns , some types of stone structures , and even ditches and middens. Devices that measure the electrical resistivity of the soil are also widely used. Archaeological features whose electrical resistivity contrasts with that of surrounding soils can be detected and mapped. Some archaeological features (such as those composed of stone or brick) have higher resistivity than typical soils, while others (such as organic deposits or unfired clay) tend to have lower resistivity. Although some archaeologists consider

24768-412: The most populous cities in the Mediterranean area at the time. It was strongly fortified with walls of more than 35 km (20 mi) circumference. Defending the main approach from the land were three lines of defences, of which the strongest was a brick-built wall 9 metres (30 ft) wide and 15–20 metres (50–70 ft) high with a 20-metre-wide (70 ft) ditch in front of it. Built into this wall

24960-431: The normally reliable Polybius to recount Scipio's actions in a favourable light. In addition, significant portions of The Histories ' account of the Third Punic War have been lost. The account of the Roman annalist Livy , who relied heavily on Polybius, is much used by modern historians of the Punic Wars, but all that survives of his account of events after 167 BC is a list of contents. Other ancient accounts of

25152-443: The now-destroyed archaeology and is used in describing and interpreting the site. Once artifacts and structures have been excavated, or collected from surface surveys, it is necessary to properly study them. This process is known as post-excavation analysis , and is usually the most time-consuming part of an archaeological investigation. It is not uncommon for final excavation reports for major sites to take years to be published. At

25344-426: The open plain near Cannae . In the battle of Cannae the Roman legions forced their way through Hannibal's deliberately weak centre, but Libyan heavy infantry on the wings swung around their advance, menacing their flanks. Hasdrubal led the Carthaginian cavalry on the left wing and routed the Roman cavalry opposite, then swept around the rear of the Romans to attack the cavalry on the other wing. He then charged into

25536-529: The original research objectives of the archaeologists. It is then considered good practice for the information to be published so that it is available to other archaeologists and historians, although this is sometimes neglected. Before actually starting to dig in a location, remote sensing can be used to look where sites are located within a large area or provide more information about sites or regions. There are two types of remote sensing instruments—passive and active. Passive instruments detect natural energy that

25728-682: The past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeology developed out of antiquarianism in Europe during the 19th century, and has since become a discipline practiced around the world. Archaeology has been used by nation-states to create particular visions of the past. Since its early development, various specific sub-disciplines of archaeology have developed, including maritime archaeology , feminist archaeology , and archaeoastronomy , and numerous different scientific techniques have been developed to aid archaeological investigation. Nonetheless, today, archaeologists face many problems, such as dealing with pseudoarchaeology ,

25920-698: The people who produced them, monetary value to collectors, or strong aesthetic appeal. Many people identify archaeology with the recovery of such aesthetic, religious, political, or economic treasures rather than with the reconstruction of past societies. This view is often espoused in works of popular fiction, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mummy, and King Solomon's Mines. When unrealistic subjects are treated more seriously, accusations of pseudoscience are invariably levelled at their proponents (see Pseudoarchaeology ) . However, these endeavours, real and fictional, are not representative of modern archaeology. There

26112-430: The port city of Locri defected to Carthage in the summer of 215   BC it was immediately used to reinforce the Carthaginian forces in Italy with soldiers, supplies and war elephants. It was the only time during the war that Carthage reinforced Hannibal. A second force, under Hannibal's youngest brother Mago , was meant to land in Italy in 215   BC but was diverted to Iberia after the Carthaginian defeat there at

26304-550: The precise locations of objects and features, known as their provenance or provenience, be recorded. This always involves determining their horizontal locations, and sometimes vertical position as well (also see Primary Laws of Archaeology ). Likewise, their association , or relationship with nearby objects and features , needs to be recorded for later analysis. This allows the archaeologist to deduce which artifacts and features were likely used together and which may be from different phases of activity. For example, excavation of

26496-518: The premier Carthaginian general of the war, at the Battle of Zama , 160 kilometres (100 mi) south west of Carthage. Africanus imposed a peace treaty on the Carthaginians which stripped them of their overseas territories and some of their African ones. An indemnity of 10,000 silver talents was to be paid over 50 years. Hostages were taken and Carthage was prohibited from waging war outside Africa—and could wage war in Africa only with Rome's express permission. Many senior Carthaginians wanted to reject

26688-520: The preparation of this force an act of war and demanded Carthage cede Sardinia and Corsica and pay an additional 1,200-talent indemnity. Weakened by 30 years of war, Carthage agreed rather than again enter into conflict with Rome. Polybius considered this "contrary to all justice" and modern historians have variously described the Romans' behaviour as "unprovoked aggression and treaty-breaking", "shamelessly opportunistic" and an "unscrupulous act". These events fuelled resentment of Rome in Carthage, which

26880-421: The previous forty-five years and a staunch Roman ally, died in that year and his successor Hieronymus was discontented with his situation. Hannibal negotiated a treaty whereby Syracuse defected to Carthage, in exchange for making the whole of Sicily a Syracusan possession. The Syracusan army proved no match for a Roman army led by Claudius Marcellus and by spring 213   BC Syracuse was besieged . The siege

27072-559: The previous two years and the fact that it was his adoptive grandfather, Scipio Africanus, who had sealed Roman victory in Africa in the Second Punic War. Public demand to appoint him as consul and so allow him to take charge of the African war, was so strong that the Senate put aside the age requirements for all posts for the year. Scipio was elected consul and appointed to sole command in Africa; usually theatres were allocated to

27264-408: The previously traditional tactic of ramming . All warships were equipped with rams, a triple set of 60-centimetre-wide (2 ft) bronze blades weighing up to 270 kilograms (600 lb) positioned at the waterline. In the century prior to the Punic Wars, boarding had become increasingly common and ramming had declined, as the larger and heavier vessels adopted in this period increasingly lacked

27456-509: The proposed terms were so harsh they decided to fight on. At the battle of Tunis in spring 255   BC a combined force of infantry, cavalry and war elephants under the command of the Spartan mercenary Xanthippus crushed the Romans. The Romans sent a fleet to evacuate their survivors and the Carthaginians opposed it at the battle of Cape Hermaeum (modern Cape Bon ); the Carthaginians were again heavily defeated. The Roman fleet, in turn,

27648-416: The public support for Scipio was so great that the usual age restrictions were lifted to allow him to be appointed consul and commander in Africa. Scipio's term commenced with two Carthaginian successes, but he tightened the siege and started to build a large mole to prevent supplies from getting into Carthage via blockade runners . The Carthaginians had partially rebuilt their fleet, and it sortied , to

27840-444: The rebels over. To prevent this, in 240   BC Spendius tortured 700 Carthaginian prisoners to death and henceforth the war was pursued with great brutality. By early 237   BC, after numerous setbacks, the rebels were defeated and their cities brought back under Carthaginian rule. An expedition was prepared to reoccupy Sardinia, where mutinous soldiers had slaughtered all Carthaginians. The Roman Senate stated they considered

28032-448: The remnants of his army were recalled. They sailed from Croton and landed at Carthage with 15,000–20,000 experienced veterans. Mago was also recalled; he died of wounds on the voyage and some of his ships were intercepted by the Romans, but 12,000 of his troops reached Carthage. The Roman fleet continued on from Massala in the autumn of 218   BC, landing the army it was transporting in north-east Iberia, where it won support among

28224-477: The ship was to be handled effectively. As a result, the Romans were initially at a disadvantage against the more experienced Carthaginians. To counter this, the Romans introduced the corvus , a bridge 1.2 metres (4 feet) wide and 11 metres (36 feet) long, with a heavy spike on the underside, which was designed to pierce and anchor into an enemy ship's deck. This allowed Roman legionaries acting as marines to board enemy ships and capture them, rather than employing

28416-566: The siege, but was then ambushed and besieged itself. An army had previously been created by the Romans to campaign in Iberia and the Roman Senate detached one Roman and one allied legion from it to send to north Italy. Raising fresh troops to replace these delayed the army's departure for Iberia until September. Meanwhile, Hannibal assembled a Carthaginian army in New Carthage (modern Cartagena ) in Iberia and led it northwards along

28608-405: The site in the future. The former site of the city was confiscated as ager publicus , public land. Scipio celebrated a triumph and took the agnomen "Africanus", as had his adoptive grandfather. Hasdrubal's fate is not known, although he had surrendered on the promise of a retirement to an Italian estate. The formerly Carthaginian territories were annexed by Rome and reconstituted to become

28800-434: The southern coast of Sicily. The Carthaginian's superior seamanship was not as effective as they had hoped, while the Romans' corvus gave them an edge as the battle degenerated into a shapeless brawl. The Carthaginians were again beaten; this was possibly the largest naval battle in history by the number of combatants involved. The invasion initially went well and in 255   BC the Carthaginians sued for peace ;

28992-433: The speed and manoeuvrability necessary to ram effectively, while their sturdier construction reduced a ram's effect on them even in case of a successful attack. The Roman adaptation of the corvus was a continuation of this trend and compensated for their initial disadvantage in ship-manoeuvring skills. The added weight in the prow compromised both the ship's manoeuvrability and its seaworthiness, and in rough sea conditions

29184-414: The spring he launched a full-scale assault from the harbour area, which successfully breached the walls. Over six days, the Romans systematically worked their way through the residential part of the city, killing everyone they encountered and setting the buildings behind them on fire. On the last day Scipio agreed to accept prisoners, except for 900 Roman deserters in Carthaginian service, who fought on from

29376-475: The sub-discipline of historical archaeology . For many literate cultures, such as Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia , their surviving records are often incomplete and biased to some extent. In many societies, literacy was restricted to the elite classes, such as the clergy , or the bureaucracy of court or temple. The literacy of aristocrats has sometimes been restricted to deeds and contracts. The interests and world-view of elites are often quite different from

29568-506: The survivors withdrew. There was also extensive fighting in Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal), Sicily, Sardinia, and North Africa. The successful Roman invasion of the Carthaginian homeland in Africa in 204   BC led to Hannibal's recall. He was defeated in the battle of Zama in 202 BC and Carthage sued for peace . A treaty was agreed in 201   BC which stripped Carthage of its overseas territories and some of its African ones, imposed

29760-636: The terms of the Treaty of Lutatius (241, amended 237 BC), Carthage paid large reparations and Sicily was annexed as a Roman province . The end of the war sparked a major but eventually unsuccessful revolt within Carthaginian territory known as the Mercenary War . The Second Punic War began in 218   BC and witnessed the Carthaginian general Hannibal 's crossing of the Alps and invasion of mainland Italy . This expedition enjoyed considerable early success and campaigned in Italy for 14 years before

29952-477: The three Punic Wars, the third is the one about which the least is reliably known. Other sources include coins, inscriptions, archaeological evidence and empirical evidence from reconstructions. In the mid-2nd-century BC Rome was the dominant power in the Mediterranean region , while Carthage was a large city-state in the north east of what is now Tunisia. The Carthaginians were referred to by

30144-559: The tradition of Chinese epigraphy by investigating, preserving, and analyzing ancient Chinese bronze inscriptions from the Shang and Zhou periods. In his book published in 1088, Shen Kuo criticized contemporary Chinese scholars for attributing ancient bronze vessels as creations of famous sages rather than artisan commoners, and for attempting to revive them for ritual use without discerning their original functionality and purpose of manufacture. Such antiquarian pursuits waned after

30336-414: The treaty notwithstanding. The campaign ended in disaster as the Battle of Oroscopa ended with a Carthaginian defeat and the surrender of the Carthaginian army. Anti-Carthaginian factions in Rome used the illicit military action as a pretext to prepare a punitive expedition. Later in 149 BC a large Roman army landed at Utica in North Africa. The Carthaginians hoped to appease the Romans, but despite

30528-786: The treaty, but Hannibal spoke strongly in its favour and it was accepted in spring 201 BC. Henceforth, it was clear that Carthage was politically subordinate to Rome. At the end of the war Masinissa , an ally of Rome, emerged as by far the most powerful ruler among the Numidians , the indigenous population which controlled much of what is now Algeria and Tunisia. Over the following 50 years, he repeatedly took advantage of Carthage's inability to protect its possessions. Whenever Carthage petitioned Rome for redress or permission to take military action, Rome backed Masinissa and refused. Masinissa's seizures of and raids into Carthaginian territory became increasingly flagrant. In 151 BC Carthage raised

30720-427: The two consuls by lot. He was granted the usual right to conscript enough men to make up the numbers of the forces there and the unusual entitlement to enroll volunteers. Scipio moved the Romans' main camp back to near Carthage, closely observed by a Carthaginian detachment of 8,000. He made a speech demanding tighter discipline and dismissed those soldiers he considered ill-disciplined or poorly motivated. He then led

30912-501: The two powers to stumble into war more by accident than design. The spark that ignited the First Punic War in 264 BC was the issue of control of the independent Sicilian city state of Messana (modern Messina ). Most male Roman citizens were liable for military service and would serve as infantry, with a better-off minority providing a cavalry component. Traditionally, when at war the Romans would raise two legions , each of 4,200 infantry and 300 cavalry. Approximately 1,200 members of

31104-576: The use of metal detectors to be tantamount to treasure hunting, others deem them an effective tool in archaeological surveying. Examples of formal archaeological use of metal detectors include musketball distribution analysis on English Civil War battlefields, metal distribution analysis prior to excavation of a 19th-century ship wreck, and service cable location during evaluation. Metal detectorists have also contributed to archaeology where they have made detailed records of their results and refrained from raising artifacts from their archaeological context. In

31296-472: The usual term for one major branch of antiquarian activity. "Archaeology", from 1607 onward, initially meant what we would call "ancient history" generally, with the narrower modern sense first seen in 1837. However, it was Jacob Spon who, in 1685, offered one of the earliest definitions of "archaeologia" to describe the study of antiquities in which he was engaged, in the preface of a collection of transcriptions of Roman inscriptions which he had gleaned over

31488-413: The walls, in sight of the Roman army. He was reinforcing the will to resist in the Carthaginian citizens; from this point, there could be no possibility of negotiation or even surrender. Some members of the city council denounced his actions and Hasdrubal had them too put to death and took full control of the city. The renewed close siege cut off landward entry to the city, but a tight seaward interdiction

31680-428: The war in modern sources are largely based on interpretations of Polybius's account. The account of the Roman historian Livy is commonly used by modern historians where Polybius's account is not extant. Livy relied heavily on Polybius, but wrote in a more structured way, with more details about Roman politics, as well as being openly pro-Roman. His accounts of military encounters are often demonstrably inaccurate;

31872-410: The war shifted to the sea, where the Romans had little experience; on the few occasions they had previously felt the need for a naval presence they had usually relied on small squadrons provided by their Latin or Greek allies. The Romans built a navy to challenge Carthage's, and using the corvus inflicted a major defeat at the battle of Mylae in 260   BC. A Carthaginian base on Corsica

32064-557: The war, Julius Caesar planned to rebuild Carthage as a Roman city, but little work was done. Augustus revived the concept in 29 BC and brought the plan to completion. Roman Carthage had become one of the main cities of Roman Africa by the time of the Empire . Rome still exists as the capital of Italy; the ruins of Carthage lie 16 km (10 mi) east of modern Tunis on the North African coast. A symbolic peace treaty

32256-438: The workhorses of the Roman and Carthaginian fleets throughout the Punic Wars. So ubiquitous was the type that Polybius uses it as a shorthand for "warship" in general. A quinquereme carried a crew of 300: 280 oarsmen and 20 deck crew and officers. It would also normally carry a complement of 40 marines; if battle was thought to be imminent this would be increased to as many as 120. In 260   BC Romans set out to construct

32448-412: The years of his travels, entitled Miscellanea eruditae antiquitatis. Twelfth-century Indian scholar Kalhana 's writings involved recording of local traditions, examining manuscripts, inscriptions, coins and architectures, which is described as one of the earliest traces of archaeology. One of his notable work is called Rajatarangini which was completed in c.  1150 and is described as one of

32640-513: Was defeated at Dertosa , although both sides suffered heavy casualties. The Carthaginians suffered a wave of defections of local Celtiberian tribes to Rome. The Roman commanders captured Saguntum in 212   BC and in 211   BC hired 20,000 Celtiberian mercenaries to reinforce their army. Observing that the three Carthaginian armies were deployed apart from each other, the Romans split their forces. This strategy resulted in two separate battles in 211   BC, usually referred to jointly as

32832-403: Was a barracks capable of holding over 24,000 soldiers. The city had few reliable sources of ground water but possessed a complex system to catch and channel rainwater and many cisterns to store it. The Carthaginians raised a strong and enthusiastic force to garrison the city from their citizenry and by freeing all slaves willing to fight. They also formed a field army at least 20,000 strong, which

33024-470: Was a restlessly itinerant Italian humanist and antiquarian who came from a prominent family of merchants in Ancona , a maritime republic on the Adriatic . He was called by his contemporaries pater antiquitatis ('father of antiquity') and today "father of classical archaeology": "Cyriac of Ancona was the most enterprising and prolific recorder of Greek and Roman antiquities, particularly inscriptions, in

33216-421: Was all but impossible with the naval technology of the time. Frustrated at the amount of food being shipped into the city, Scipio built an immense mole to cut off access to the harbour via blockade runners . The Carthaginians responded by cutting a new channel from their harbour to the sea. They had built a new fleet and once the channel was complete, the Carthaginians sailed out, taking the Romans by surprise. In

33408-409: Was already at war against Macedonia. In 205   BC this war ended with a negotiated peace . A rebellion in support of the Carthaginians broke out on Sardinia in 213   BC, but it was quickly put down by the Romans. Up to 215   BC Sicily remained firmly in Roman hands, blocking the ready seaborne reinforcement and resupply of Hannibal from Carthage. Hiero II , the tyrant of Syracuse for

33600-421: Was also responsible for mentoring and training a whole generation of Egyptologists, including Howard Carter who went on to achieve fame with the discovery of the tomb of 14th-century BC pharaoh Tutankhamun . The first stratigraphic excavation to reach wide popularity with public was that of Hissarlik , on the site of ancient Troy , carried out by Heinrich Schliemann , Frank Calvert and Wilhelm Dörpfeld in

33792-519: Was being devastated by the enemy. Hannibal marched through the richest and most fertile provinces of Italy, hoping the devastation would draw Fabius into battle, but Fabius refused. In the 216   BC elections Gaius Varro and Lucius Paullus were elected as consuls; both were more aggressive-minded than Fabius. The Roman Senate authorised the raising of a force of 86,000 men, the largest in Roman history to that point. Paullus and Varro marched southward to confront Hannibal, who accepted battle on

33984-423: Was borrowed from the new geological and paleontological work of scholars like William Smith , James Hutton and Charles Lyell . The systematic application of stratigraphy to archaeology first took place with the excavations of prehistorical and Bronze Age sites. In the third and fourth decades of the 19th century, archaeologists like Jacques Boucher de Perthes and Christian Jürgensen Thomsen began to put

34176-456: Was devastated by a storm while returning to Italy, losing most of its ships and more than 100,000 men. It is possible that the presence of the corvus, making the Roman ships unusually unseaworthy , contributed to this disaster; there is no record of them being used again. The war continued, with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage. The Carthaginians attacked and recaptured Akragas in 255   BC, but not believing they could hold

34368-421: Was developed as a result of increasing commercial development. The purpose of archaeology is to learn more about past societies and the development of the human race . Over 99% of the development of humanity has occurred within prehistoric cultures, who did not make use of writing , thereby no written records exist for study purposes. Without such written sources, the only way to understand prehistoric societies

34560-512: Was difficult to force a battle if the other commander was unwilling to fight. Forming up in battle order was a complicated and premeditated affair, which took several hours. Infantry were usually positioned in the centre of the battle line, with light infantry skirmishers to their front and cavalry on each flank. Many battles were decided when one side's infantry force was attacked in the flank or rear and they were partially or wholly enveloped . Quinqueremes , meaning "five-oarsmen", provided

34752-755: Was eager for war. These include: a Roman fear of Carthaginian commercial competition; a desire to forestall a wider war which might have broken out with the death of Masinissa, who was aged 89 at the time; the factional use of Carthage as a political "bogeyman", irrespective of her true power; a greed for glory and loot; and a desire to quash a political system which Rome considered anathema. No consensus has been reached regarding these and other hypotheses. Carthaginian embassies attempted to negotiate with Rome, which responded evasively. The large North African port city of Utica , some 55 km (34 mi) north of Carthage, went over to Rome in 149 BC. Aware that Utica's harbour would greatly facilitate any assault on Carthage,

34944-454: Was fought entirely on Carthage's territories in what is now Tunisia and centred on the siege of Carthage . In 146   BC, the Romans stormed the city of Carthage , sacked it, slaughtered or enslaved most of its population, and completely demolished the city. The Carthaginian territories were taken over as the Roman province of Africa . The ruins of the city lie east of modern Tunis on the North African coast. The most reliable source for

35136-484: Was fruitlessly besieged. A Carthaginian sortie from Hippo destroyed the Roman siege engines , causing the Romans to break off the campaign and go into winter quarters. Hasdrubal, already in charge of the Carthaginian field army, overthrew the civilian leadership of Carthage and took command himself. Carthage allied with Andriscus , a pretender to the Macedonian throne. Andriscus had invaded Roman Macedonia, defeated

35328-504: Was inaccurate by about 1,500 years, it was still a very good one considering the lack of accurate dating technology at the time. The science of archaeology (from Greek ἀρχαιολογία , archaiologia from ἀρχαῖος , arkhaios , "ancient" and -λογία , -logia , " -logy ") grew out of the older multi-disciplinary study known as antiquarianism . Antiquarians studied history with particular attention to ancient artifacts and manuscripts, as well as historical sites. Antiquarianism focused on

35520-422: Was marked by the ingenuity of Archimedes in inventing war machines to counteract the traditional siege warfare methods of the Romans. A large Carthaginian army led by Himilco was sent to relieve the city in 213   BC. It captured several Roman-garrisoned towns on Sicily; many Roman garrisons were either expelled or massacred by Carthaginian partisans. In spring 212   BC the Romans stormed Syracuse in

35712-422: Was not reconciled to Rome's perception of its situation. This breach of the recently signed treaty is considered by modern historians to be the single greatest cause of war with Carthage breaking out again in 218   BC in the Second Punic War . With the suppression of the rebellion, Hamilcar understood that Carthage needed to strengthen its economic and military base if it were to again confront Rome. After

35904-438: Was passed ordering the establishment of a new settlement there, called Junonia . Conservatives argued against the law and after its passage spread rumours that markers delimitating the new settlement had been dug up by wolves – a very poor omen. These rumours, and other political machinations, caused the plan to be scrapped. In 111 BC legislation repeated the injunction against any resettlement. A century after

36096-423: Was placed under Hasdrubal, freshly released from his condemned cell. This army was based at Nepheris , 25 km (16 mi) south of Carthage. Appian gives the strength of the Roman army which landed in Africa as 84,000 soldiers; modern historians estimate it at 40,000–50,000 men, of whom 4,000 were cavalry . The Roman army moved to Carthage, unsuccessfully attempted to scale the city walls, and settled down for

36288-506: Was prospering economically but was no military threat to Rome. Nevertheless, there had long been a faction within the Roman Senate that had wished to take further military action against Carthage. For example, the dislike of Carthage by the senior senator Cato was so well known that since the 18th century (AD), he has been credited with ending all of his speeches with Carthago delenda est ("Carthage must be destroyed"). The opposing faction included Scipio Nasica , who argued that fear of

36480-400: Was seized, but an attack on Sardinia was repulsed; the base on Corsica was then lost. In 258   BC a Roman fleet defeated a smaller Carthaginian fleet at the battle of Sulci off the western coast of Sardinia. Taking advantage of their naval victories the Romans launched an invasion of North Africa in 256   BC, which the Carthaginians intercepted at the battle of Cape Ecnomus off

36672-411: Was sent to Africa: Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus ; Lucius Hostilius Mancinus commanded the navy as his subordinate. He pulled back the close siege of Carthage to a looser blockade and attempted to mop up the other Carthaginian-supporting cities in the area. He failed: Neapolis surrendered and was subsequently sacked , but Aspis withstood assaults from both the Roman army and navy, while Hippo

36864-502: Was signed by Ugo Vetere and Chedli Klibi , the mayors of Rome and modern Carthage, respectively, on 5 February 1985; 2,131 years after the war ended. As of 2020 the modern settlement of Carthage was a district of the city of Tunis. Punic Wars The Punic Wars were a series of wars between 264 and 146   BC fought between the Roman Republic and Ancient Carthage . Three wars took place, on both land and sea, across

#138861