Hornbein said:
Care to provide an executive summary to entice me into investing four hours? (That's why I prefer books. Skimmable.)
Well one can find some background on Wikipedia and various archeological or natural history sites (e.g., National Geographic Society) regarding the Phoenicians. It is well worth listening to the entire program, but perhaps not all at once.
The ancient Phoenicians built a maritime civilization around the Mediterranean Sea (before the Greeks and Romans). They were prominent along the eastern Mediterranean, before the Greeks, in what is now Lebanon. "The core of Phoenician territory was the city-state of Tyre, in what-is-now Lebanon. Phoenician civilization lasted from approximately 1550 to 300 B.C.E., when the Persians, and later the Greeks, conquered Tyre." Then the Romans conquered the area, which came later.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/first-rulers-mediterranean/
Their major cities were Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, and Arwad. All were fiercely independent, rival cities and, unlike the neighboring inland states, the Phoenicians represented a confederation of maritime traders rather than a defined country. What the Phoenicians actually called themselves is unknown, though it may have been the ancient term Canaanite. The name Phoenician, used to describe these people in the first millennium B.C., is a Greek invention, from the word phoinix, possibly signifying the color purple-red and perhaps an allusion to their production of a highly prized purple dye.
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phoe/hd_phoe.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Carthage (c. 814 BCE – 146 BCE)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage
Carthage was established as a port/trading city around the aforementioned 814 BCE. They Phoenicians established other port cities in Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, and along coasts of N. Africa and Spain.
Along the way, they had rivalries/conflicts with the Greeks, mainly regarding Greek city states in Sicily, and then the Romans. The citizens of Carthage didn't participate in the military (infantry, charioteers, cavalry), although they did have a strong naval force, but the participants in the military were mostly mercenaries and apparently slaves, i.e., other peoples. Consequently, they occasionally faced mutinies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Carthage#Conflict_with_the_Greeks_(580–265_BC)
The two major wars with Rome that lead to the collapse and destruction of Carthage occurred during the first and second Punic Wars with Rome.
The
First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of
three wars fought between
Rome and
Carthage, the two main powers of the western
Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and greatest
naval war of
antiquity, the two powers struggled for supremacy. The war was fought primarily on the Mediterranean island of
Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa. After immense losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were defeated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Punic_War
The
Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of
three wars fought between
Carthage and
Rome, the two main powers of the western
Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in
Italy and
Iberia, but also on the islands of
Sicily and
Sardinia and, towards the end of the war, in North Africa. After immense
materiel and human losses on both sides the Carthaginians were defeated.
Macedonia,
Syracuse and several
Numidian kingdoms were drawn into the fighting, and
Iberian and
Gallic forces fought on both sides. There were three main
military theatres during 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 the Carthaginian colonial cities with mixed success before moving into Italy; and Africa, where Rome finally won the war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War
Hannibal's invasion of the Italian peninsula is still studied as one of the great campaigns.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal
Some lessons learned - Hannibal's supply chain was strained. He couldn't get supplies and reinforcements. Alliances were tenuous in strange and distant lands. While his crossing of the Alps was a brilliant strategy, initial progress was stalled due to a landslide that blocked a key path. The delay meant losses of animals, particularly the war elephants, and strain on food and his soldiers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal's_crossing_of_the_Alps
While Hannibal was rampaging in Italy, the Romans sent forces to Spain to attack Carthage, which forced Hannibal to try and save those territories.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal#Conclusion_of_the_Second_Punic_War_(203–201_BC)
The second Punic War end with Hannibal's and Carthage's defeat at the battle of Zama.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zama
The Romans learned from past battles with Hannibal and adapted to his tactics, then the Numidians (who had been allies of Carthage) turned against Carthage and allied with the Romans, so Hannibal (Carthage) lost their effective cavalry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masinissa
The destruction of Cathage occurred during the Third Punic War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Punic_War
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, 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.
The main source for most aspects of the Punic Wars is the historian
Polybius (c. 200 – c. 118 BC), a Greek sent to Rome in 167 BC as a hostage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybius
During the 3rd Punic War, Carthage was forced to disarm. Then they were told to leave their city and move esle where, away from the coast. They declined, so the Romans lay siege to the city, until they breached the walls. The Romans proceeded to slaughter the populace for many days, then they took prisoners (as slaves) to be sold to other tribes/nations. Then the city was destroyed.
With the sacking, pillaging, burning and demolition of Carthage, the Phoenician writings (books, histories, literature, maps, . . . ) were destroyed, much like the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, which also may have had extensive writings of the Phoenicians.
A key problem with respect to Carthage and the military was the dependence on a single individual, Hannibal. They need perhaps 2 or 3 others like Hannibal, as well as a comparable commander, or commanders, of their naval/maritime forces. As a society, they should have treated their neighbors better; resentful or covetous neighbors may turn against a society.
, but here I go... hmm, difficult choice for me.