Phoenician-Carthage

2750 - 146 BC
 * The Phoenicians **

By: Aidan McCaffrey-Noviss and Aerial Freeman-Fawcett

The Phoenicians were a group of people originating in what is modern day Lebanon and Israel that spread all across the Mediterranean from 1750 BC (Christie, page12) to their downfall in 146 BC (Lancel, page 216) at the hands of the Romans. Though they never achieved the military prestige of the Romans or the architectural achievements of the Egyptians, the Phoenicians still left a lasting legacy. During their rise to power, they (the Phoenicians), basically created the modern day alphabet ([|Phoenician.org]) used by the West and most of the rest of the world. During this time the Phoenicians also achieved such feats as circumnavigating Africa (Casson, page 79) and settling large parts of the Mediterranean (Christie, page 15) such as Iberia and North Africa. The Phoenicians created an empire just as powerful as its rivals, but through largely peaceful means. They traded purple dye ([|History-World]) from the middle east to Italy and West Africa, and cedar wood to Egypt. And also spread both a language/alphabet and a currency throughout the region. (Christie, page 123) The Phoenicians fell hard and fast, their homeland in the Middle East was destroyed by the Assyrians (Christie, page 197), while a majority of their colonies were conquered by the Romans in the Punic Wars (Lancel, page136). But right before this happened, the Phoenician colony of Carthage managed to nearly destroy the Roman civilization. In a series of battles the general Hannibal Barca destroyed three Roman armies and brought Rome the closest to defeat that it had been before and ever would be until the final downfall (Lancel, page 142), which was quite an amazing achievement for a historically peaceful people. In the end the Romans won and the last of the Phoenicians were conquered by the Romans. (Lancel, page 216)

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timeline====== __**Cited Works**__

Christie, Neil. __The Phoenicians__. Basil Blackwell inc., 1995.

Lancel, Serge. __Carthage: A History__. Dorling Kindersley, 2002.

“Phoenician History.” The Phoenician Experience. 23 April 2009 []

Casson, Lionel. __The Ancient Mariners__. Mcksey/Bachelor, 1978.

“Phoenicians.” __History World__. 12 February 2009 []

Christie, Neil. __The Carthaginians__. Basil Blackwell inc., 1995.