Earlier this month a double celebration took place at Carthage, once the greatest city in the Mediterranean, destroyed by the Romans at the end of the Punic Wars and now a seaside suburb of Tunis. The anniversary of Hannibal’s defeat of the Roman army at Cannae in southern Italy on 2 August 216 BCE could be commemorated on the same day (2/8) as the beginning of the 2828th year since the foundation of the city by the Tyrian princess Dido in 814 BCE. Scholarly talks on Carthage and its heroes were followed by a carnival, including a parade from the acropolis to the amphitheatre with Carthaginian and Roman soldiers.I'm sorry to have missed that party.
The Tunisian embrace of Dido, Hannibal and their city might seem surprising. ...
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Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Delēta est Carthago
PUNIC WATCH: In Carthage (Josephine Quinn, London Review of Books Blog).