When we talk about the term “great civilization”, the first that come to mind are the Romans, the Romans, the Egyptians and the Mayans, but what determines greatness, what makes one civilization lives on in history while others turn to dust and are lost in time. Is a civilization great over its lifetime? Is a civilization great because it claims territories? Is a civilization great because it generates heroes? Many would argue that if a civilization was great it would be widely remembered today, I disagree, my reason is that the city of Carthage, despite the wealth of Carthage and the might of the Carthaginian army, is generally unknown. This essay will argue that Carthage is one of the greatest civilizations to ever exist in Africa if not the world, regardless of Carthage putting Africa figuratively on the map. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To start with what makes Carthage great, we need to look at the founding of Carthage. Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians, renowned as intrepid navigators, skilled engineers, skilled merchants, talented craftsmen, and scribes who passed their alphabet on to their neighbors and ultimately to modern Western civilization. The founder of Carthage is commonly believed to be Dido, information regarding Dido comes from a variety of Greek and Roman stories, as well as from the chronicles of Dido's hometown of Tyre, where it is recorded that King Pygmalion of Tire had a sister known as Elisha or Aliyisha, known to the Greeks as Dido. Since Dido was a queen, it can be assumed that she had a privileged upbringing and had duties to perform as a princess, one of which was an arranged marriage between her and her mother's brother. Her brother Pygmalion became greedy and tried to take possession of Dido's husband's wealth and had him killed, fearing for his life. Dido fled. Dido left with members of the city's aristocracy, which shows that even in a weak seat of power she was a respected leader, Dido fled with members of the aristocracy to Cyprus, where her cunning earned her eighty virgins destined to being prostituted in a temple of Aphrodite, goddess of love. These virgins who were saved signaled to her group that she was very cunning and wise, Dido and her group then landed on a peninsula in North Africa, part of what is now known as Tunisia. Dido traded with lands on the peninsula and so Kirjath-Hadeschath was founded a hundred years before the Roman Empire, known to the Greeks as Karchedon, to the Romans as Carthago, and today as Carthage. It should be noted that Carthage was not a city driven by war and invasion, but a city built on the foundations of agriculture, writes AE Foster; “At the beginning the Carthaginian settlement was essentially urban, even if its economy was predominantly agricultural. The majority of the population, and particularly the wealthier classes, lived in cities, where even the poorer classes, including slaves, generally enjoyed a standard of living far superior to that of their rural counterparts,” this statement shows us that, even though Carthage was not based on war or trade, it was a rich city, this is demonstrated by the fact that even the slaves had a pleasant standard of living. Carthage's wealth allowed them to become a world power at the time, a world power so great that it was able to resist the Romans. Carthage, as has been mentioned, avoided war in the early years of its life, as can be seen in the image writing of Bosworth",...to keep for themselves the gold they had so laboriously won, rather than bestow it on mercenaries foreignersin the hope of extending their influence inland, or in a vain attempt to resist the powerful monarchs of Egypt, Assyria, or Babylon? Their strength was to stand firm, to recognize the titular supremacy of whoever chose to claim it, and then, when the time came, to bribe the intruder. This shows us that the people of Carthage were not violent and preferred avoid war, does this demonstrate greatness? This shows us that Carthage had moderation, this moderation shows that Carthage had power and knew how to use it. Just because Carthage wasn't entirely violent, doesn't mean they were cowardly. The Carthaginian army over the centuries achieved notable victories and devastating losses, most of which were part of the Punic Wars. The Punic Wars were a series of three smaller wars fought from 264 BC to 146 BC The First Punic War was fought between 264 BC and 241 BC, the leading general of Carthage at the time was Hamilcar Barca who was not only an impressive general but father of a man who would become one of Rome's greatest adversaries. The war was fought for control of Sicily. After 23 years the war was lost, this shows us how impressive General Hamilcar was, able to hold off an army that had superior numbers and greater technology for 23 years. Leaders like Hamilcar were the people who built the Carthaginian reputation and made it great. Carthage may have had many great generals, such as Hamilcar and his son Hasdrubal, but no Carthaginian general was ever as famous as Hamilcar's other son, Hannibal Barca. Hannibal Barca is seen as one of Rome's greatest adversaries, in fact when Carthage at in the end it surrendered to the Romans who did not want Carthage but instead asked for Hannibal Barca", Rome, in fact, hardly needed such an invitation; he had made peace with Carthage, but not with Hannibal. If he no longer feared the city, he feared one of its simple citizens." Rome feared Hannibal because he was one of the greatest strategists in Africa. Hannibal is best remembered for one of the greatest military moves in history, the march of an army across the Alps. Hannibal was tactical in his planning and, looking at Livy's writings, preferred a longer route through Gaul to the Alps, to avoid the Romans near the coast. “This was not the most direct route to the Alps, but Hannibal preferred it because the further he got from the coast the less likely he was to encounter Roman resistance, and he did not desire a show of force until he reached Italy,” Hannibal shows us he was meticulous in his planning and that he had a mind for war. The Romans called the Alps the "fence of Italy", but Hannibal nevertheless made history when he marched an army over the Alps in October 218 BC. it was composed of around 25,000 men, 37 war elephants and many pack animals; this move was considered one of the most daring military maneuvers because no army of that size had ever crossed the Alps. Hannibal's objective was not to conquer Italy but razed it to the ground. Hannibal suffered many setbacks in the Alps, such as ambushes by Gallic tribes and heavy snowstorms. Although recorded losses amounted to about a third of his men, Hannibal marched into northern Italy. This is an example of the determination that made Carthage and, by extension, Africa great. Hannibal marched his troops towards Cartagena, where he assembled one of the largest armies the ancient world had ever seen, numbering around 90,000 men, made up of Carthaginians and mercenaries from Numidia and Libya. This was not only an achievement for the ancient world, but in Africa for creating a large army made up of African soldiers who..