In the conventional, Greek- or Roman-centered picture of the Western Mediterranean up to the third century BC, Carthage looms in the background, an alien and rather sinister presence, first barring the Greeks from access to the far west, then looming over Sicily, only to be thrown back by the courage of Greek hoplites at Himera--fought, according to portentious tradition, on the same day as Salamis. Two centuries later the Carthagenians loom over Sicily again, to be defeated by the immense determination of the Romans, fighting on the alien element of the sea. Finally they come again, this time by land under Hannibal, marching his elephants--the very symbol of all that is exotic about Africa and the East--into the very heart of Europe and through the Alpine passes to Italy. We can be sure that the Carthagenians saw things otherwise, but it must be borne in continually in mind that the Carthagenian picture of events can only be informed conjecture.
It was noted earlier that the traditional foundation date of Carthage, at least as recorded by Greek h
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