Destroy Carthage (10 page)
The most easterly of the dependencies was on the gulf of
Sidra, or Sirte, where Tripolitania borders Cyrenaica. Here,
Phoenician territory abutted Greek settlement. Sallust told
how two teams of runners, Carthaginian and Greek, competed to decide the point of the frontier. This, it was agreed,
should be fixed where the opposing runners met, each team
having started from the last outpost on its own land.
According to the story, the Carthaginian champions, the
brothers Philaeni, covered the greater distance, but the Greeks
disputed their performance. At this, the two brothers declared
themselves ready to be buried alive at the site of their achievement provided it was acknowledged the frontier. The sacrifice
was accepted. At all events, a spot known as the altars of the
Philaeni marked the limits of Hellenism in Africa until the
end of antiquity.
However the name originated, the legend has significance, for
fanatical selflessness in public duty - a quality oddly set beside
material acquisitiveness - was widely accepted as a trait of
Punic character. Closely linked with spiritual beliefs placing
mortal life at a discount, it was not irrelevant to pioneering
Africa - a continent whose dangers terrified intrepid men.
The chief Carthaginian dependency between the gulf of
Sidra and the westerly gulf of Gabes was Leptis, later known
as Leptis Major (Leptis Minor was on the east coast of Tunisia).
Like other settlements in Tripolitania, Leptis thrived on trade
with the interior. Here tribesmen familiar with the desert
trails to the Niger brought emeralds, chalcedony, carbuncles
and gold dust to exchange for cheap goods from Carthage.
And from here, in all probability, Carthaginian merchant
adventurers mounted their first Saharan expeditions.
So attractive were the valuables from Nigeria and Senegal
that nothing could dissuade some traders from seeking the
distant and myth-shrouded treasure hoards. The road to Eldorado confirmed its reputation. Native trails, leading south to
the immemorial Saharan junction of Fezzan, continued southwest by Tassili round the Ahaggar, thence by the wastes of
the Tanezrouft and Adrar to the Niger, emerging somewhere
in the depths of modern Mali.
Though less extensive than today, the desert was treacherous. Crossing the Tanezrouft involved travelling four days
without water. Camels, little used for transport until Christian
times, were unavailable. Instead, the ancients used light
chariots drawn by horses with water-skins slung beneath their
bellies. The ability to tolerate thirst was imperative. One Carthaginian explorer, another Mago, was said to have crossed the
desert three times without drinking, though which region he
crossed is uncertain.
From Fezzan, a bold western traveller might also reach Egypt
and the Sudan without touching Greek Cyrenaica, by braving
the sand trails of Kufra and Tibesti. Unfortunately, the individual exploits of these earliest of trans-Saharan adventurers
are lost in time. Only an occasional hint in ancient literature
remains to convey the danger from desert tribes, the monstrous apparitions (heat hallucinations ?) reputed to exist among
the burning dunes, the plight of travellers held prisoner by
pigmies of the great swamps, the impact of bush and jungle
on explorers two millennia before the age of David Livingstone
'discovered' tropical Africa.
Despite the perils, trade grew with the interior. The importance of desert cargoes to Carthage is witnessed by the
substantial customs dues her treasury gained from Leptis: the
equivalent, at one period, of a ton of silver per month.
Other business flourished on the coast between Sidra and
Gabes. Fishing was important, both as a food industry and for
the production of a purple dye much demanded by the
ancients. Offshore lay the island of Meninx, claimed as the
home of the Lotus Eaters of the
Odyssey.
Fertile and temperate,
it was highly cultivated.
Beyond the gulf of Gabes, where the coast turned north
toward Cape Bon, the eastern seabord came under close supervision from Carthage. Among the places on this coast were
Thaenae, Acholla, Thapsus, Leptis Minor and Hadrumetum, the
last the largest, possessing a developed harbour complex.
Directly accessible by land from the metropolis, this coast
attracted Carthaginian residents. Hannibal Barca was among
those to own a house at Thapsus.
Some time in the 5th century, a handsome town was built at
modern Dar Essafi, near the point of Cape Bon, but the west
side of the peninsula, facing Carthage, was barren of settlements. The rest of the African empire lay to the Atlantic side
of the capital.
Proceeding from Carthage toward the straits of Gibraltar,
the older city of Utica was quickly encountered at the water's
edge. Today, the site is inland, attesting the changes in the
coast near Cape Farina. Utica's status appears to have varied
from senior and privileged dependent to partner of Carthage,
though not always a constant one. To her west, a string of
anchorages, some established by Carthage, some of earlier
origin, served the Andalusian and Moroccan trade.
First of importance was Hippo Acra (Bizerta), whose physiographical appeal to seamen was strong from an early date.
From Hippo to the gulf of Bougie, or thereabouts, the Numidians held the interior, their median stronghold at Cirta. On
the coast, Carthaginian Iol, near modern Algiers, was of probable importance in the 5th century.
Finally, at the gateway of the ancient sea, Tingi, commemorated in Tangier, looked out on horizons wreathed in
speculation - horizons Carthage was determined to investigate.
Into the Ocean
If
one way of reaching gold was across the Sahara, another was round it: that is, by sea down the Atlantic coast. Logically, the westerly colonization of North Africa prefaced settlement on the Moroccan shores beyond Tangier, a development strongly backed by the expansionist Hanno. It was, like all enterprise in the far west, a subject of restricted information so far as Carthage's competitors were concerned. Greek ignorance of the sphere confirms the level of trade secrecy.
Pindar, writing at the very moment Carthage was investigating the Atlantic shores of Africa and Europe, declared the straits of Gibraltar - the Pillars of Hercules, as the Greeks had it - the limits of the accessible world. Beyond, in Hellenic mythology, lay the Garden of Hesperides where Hercules, winning the golden apples, achieved apotheosis.
By the second half of the 5th century, Herodotus had caught word of the beginnings of Moroccan trade:
The Carthaginians speak of a part of Libya
(Africa)
and its people beyond the straits of Gibraltar. On reaching this land they unload their goods and place them on the beach, then they retire to their ships and make signals. The natives, sighting the smoke, come down to the shore, place a quantity of gold beside the goods, and in turn retire. The Carthaginians come ashore again. If they deem the gold sufficient payment for the goods, they collect it and sail away; if not, they go aboard again and wait until the natives have added more gold. There is no deception. The Carthaginians never touch the gold, nor the natives the goods, until both are satisfied.
This is the earliest known description of dumb barter, a procedure noted in West Africa during the middle ages, and again as recently as the Victorian era. Essentially a first step in
trade relationships, no doubt it had been superseded by closer
contacts in Morocco when Herodotus wrote. The immense
profitability of the exchange to the Carthaginians was a powerful incentive to secure the sea route by colonization. Accordingly, about the middle of the 5th century, Hanno embarked
on a celebrated voyage west.
The expedition, of both settlement and discovery, was remarkable not only for the romance engendered - a mixture of
Nuno Tristao and Sinbad the Sailor - but as the origin of the
only substantial Carthaginian document to have survived in
something like its true form. Hanno had an account of his
adventures engraved on a stele in the temple of Baal Hammon
at Carthage. Later, probably in the 4th century, a version
was made available for Greek translation.
Though this omitted or falsified certain facts in the cause
of trade security, the extant translation remains a gem of exploration literature. Significantly, the opening passage, proclaiming the aim of the enterprise, makes no mention of the
gold market. 'The Carthaginians decreed that Hanno should
sail beyond the Pillars of Hercules and found Libyphoenician
colonies. He therefore set out with sixty ships, each of fifty
oars, and with many men and women, about 30,000, with food
and other necessities.'
If the number of emigrants were not an exaggeration, the
sixty galleys must have accompanied transports, unmentioned
in the report. After dealing briefly with the founding of the
settlements, the narrative continues with an intriguing account
of Hanno's explorations. The following is the text:
Having passed the Pillars and sailed on for two days, we
founded the first colony, naming it Thymiaterium. By this
lay a great plain. Sailing westward, we came next to a place
called Soloeis, a thickly-wooded promontory. Here we built
a sanctuary to the sea god
(Poseidon in the Greek text),
then
sailed east for half a day until we reached a lagoon near the
sea, Med with an abundance of tall reeds. Elephants were feeding, and many other animals. For a day we skirted the
lagoon, leaving colonists at places named Fort Carion, Gytta,
Acra, Melita and Arambys. Next, we reached the Lixus, a
great river which flows out of the continent. On its banks
the Lixites, a wandering tribe, grazed their flocks. We stayed
with them for a period of days, becoming friends. Beyond
the Lixites dwelt Ethiopians
(black men),
inhospitable people
occupying a land of wild beasts divided by high mountains
from which, they say, emerges the river Lixus. In the region
of these mountains live men of strange appearance, the
Troglodytes. They could run faster than horses, so the Lixites
said. Recruiting interpreters from the Lixites, we coasted
south for two days beside uninhabited country, then east for
another day. We came now to a gulf containing a small
island, about five stades
(three quarters of a mile)
in circumference. We called it Cerne and placed a station on it. This
place we judged exactly opposite to Carthage, for the voyage
from Carthage to the Tillers equalled that from the Tillars
to Cerne. From here, encountering a great river which is
called the Chretes, we came to a lagoon containing three
islands, each larger than Cerne. A day's sailing brought us
to the far end of the lagoon, overshadowed by towering
mountains in which lived savages clad in the pelts of wild
animals. They stopped us landing by throwing stones at us.
After reaching another broad river, full of crocodiles and
hippopotami
('river-horses'), we
returned to Cerne.
Later, we sailed south again from Cerne, following the
coast for twelve days. The whole land was inhabited by
Ethiopians who fled at our approach. Their tongue was incomprehensible, even by the Lixite interpreters. On the
twelfth day we drew near a range of high mountains covered
with aromatic trees of coloured wood. Sailing beside these
for two days, we came to a great bay with flat land on
either side. At intervals during the night, fires flared up in
all directions. Taking on water, we skirted the coast for five
more days until reaching an immense gulf which the interpreters called West Horn. In it was a big island, and within the island a lagoon containing yet another island. Landing,
we saw nothing except forest, but at night fires burned and
we heard pipes, cymbals, drums and multitudinous shouting.
Terrified, we departed swiftly, coasting a region scented
with the smell of burning wood. Streams of fire plunged to
the sea, and the heat prevented an approach to land. Continuing apprehensively and without delay for four days, we
saw nocturnal fires at the centre of which one blaze rose
above all others, appearing to touch the stars. This, it
transpired, was the highest mountain we had seen, and was
called the Chariot of the Gods.
On the third day of our departure from this place, having
sailed beside more fiery streams, we came to a gulf called
the Southern Horn. At the head of this gulf was an island
resembling the last mentioned in that it enclosed a lake
containing another island. This was full of savages, of whom
the greater number were women. Their bodies were covered
with hair, and the interpreters called them Gorillas. We
pursued them. The men were too elusive for us, climbing
precipices and throwing down rocks, but we caught three
women who bit and scratched their captors. We killed and
skinned them, bearing their pelts back to Carthage. We went
no further; our provisions were inadequate.
Beset with obscurities, deliberate or otherwise, the Hanno
report has fascinated and frustrated countless scholars. Their
interpolations form a subject in its own right. Briefly, expert
opinion, though divided in detail, has become decreasingly
sceptical as time has passed. Among other ancients, Pliny the Elder was unimpressed by
Hanno's claims. On the basis of the report, he protested, many
fabulous things were asserted 'of which, in fact, neither
memory nor trace remain.' Later scholars found it difficult to
believe that the Carthaginians had outsailed medieval mariners.
Throughout the middle ages, it was noted, Arab sailors never
managed to progress beyond Cape Yubi, the southernmost
point of the Moroccan coast. Even the Portuguese did not
succeed until the 16th century.
Two factors invalidate the objection that such an exploit
was navigationally and logistically impossible, i, the combination of winds and currents which baffled medieval sailing ships
was not insuperable for galleys which could travel under oar-
power. 2, long stretches of the Mauretanian coast, arid and
lifeless in Christian times, were life-supporting in previous
centuries. The dehydration of the Sahara, as mentioned, has
accelerated rapidly. In Hanno's day, wadis now long dry bore
fresh water to the western shore.
Modern commentators observe the matter-of-fact quality of
the report and the absence of such fantasies as might be expected in fictional passages. Indeed, the descriptions of tropical
exploration - the largely credible savages, the drums in the
night, the bush fires, the timbers of the rain belt - bear an
authenticity beyond the range of guesswork. Comparison with
reports by European voyagers a thousand years later shows
remarkable consistency.
When it comes to identifying specific locations there is
more doubt. The vagueness, if not deceptiveness, of the navigational information is conspicuous, especially in relation to
that area most vulnerable to rival penetration, the Moroccan
coast. Of the colonies founded, only two can be placed with
some assurance: Thymiaterion, on the river Sebou, and the
island of Cerne (Heme) in the bay of the Rio de Oro, between
Cape Bojador and Port Etienne.
There is also a striking omission. While mentioning a river
Lixus south of 'Soloeis' (Cape Santin), Hanno gives no indication of Lixus itself, a commercial station already established
beyond Tangier. Probably, his Lixite interpreters were not
natives in the true sense but seasoned colonists. The Troglodytes, or cave-dwellers, are introduced on hearsay. Ancient
writers apply the name to tribes in various parts of Africa,
Herodotus adding to their alleged fleetness that their speech
was like the screeching of owls. From Cerne, the base for Hanno's explorations, two
southerly voyages are described. The first, and shorter, appears to have terminated at the delta of the Senegal, identified
in the report as the 'Chretes' and the river of hippopotami and
crocodiles. The second and more sensational reconnaissance
seems to have taken the travellers beyond Cape Verde, the
wooded range twelve days from Cerne, into regions strange
even to the Lixites.