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Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization Kindle Edition

by Richard Miles (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 561 ratings
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The first full-scale history of Hannibal's Carthage in decades and "a convincing and enthralling narrative." (The Economist )

Drawing on a wealth of new research, archaeologist, historian, and master storyteller Richard Miles resurrects the civilization that ancient Rome struggled so mightily to expunge. This monumental work charts the entirety of Carthage's history, from its origins among the Phoenician settlements of Lebanon to its apotheosis as a Mediterranean empire whose epic land-and-sea clash with Rome made a legend of Hannibal and shaped the course of Western history. Carthage Must Be Destroyed reintroduces readers to the ancient glory of a lost people and their generations-long struggle against an implacable enemy.
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  1. Print length
    753 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  5. Publication date
    July 21, 2011
  6. Reading age
    18 years and up
  7. File size
    5593 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

""Carthage Must Be Destroyed" is a fine, sweeping survey of the rise and fall of an empire and a glimpse into the diversity of the ancient world."
-"The Wall Street Journal"

"You know a story is great when it grips you even when you know how it turns out ... Miles has written an engaging, richly documented study that merges able storytelling with equally able scholarship. It's quite a tale."
-"Philadelphia Inquirer"

"Historian Richard Mills, of Cambridge, makes telling use of the latest discoveries yielded by Carthaginian ruins in a splendid, comprehensive effort to present the city-state as a dynamic entity and minimize it as a victimized, second-tier society so often portrayed in the histories of Roman and Western interpreters. Blood-curdling battles receive their pyrrhic due, and Hannibal's trans-Alps adventure and his humbling demise are covered in masterful detail."
-(Newark) "Star-Ledger"

""Carthage Must Be Destroyed" is a fine, sweeping survey of the rise and fall of an empire and a glimpse into the diversity of the ancient world."
-"The Wall Street Journal"

"Historian Richard Mills, of Cambridge, makes telling use of the latest discoveries yielded by Carthaginian ruins in a splendid, comprehensive effort to present the city-state as a dynamic entity and minimize it as a victimized, second-tier society so often portrayed in the histories of Roman and Western interpreters. Blood-curdling battles receive their pyrrhic due, and Hannibal's trans-Alps adventure and his humbling demise are covered in masterful detail."
-(Newark) "Star-Ledger"

""Carthage Must Be Destroyed" is a fine, sweeping survey of the rise and fall of an empire and a glimpse into the diversity of the ancient world."
-"The Wall Street Journal"

About the Author

Richard Miles teaches ancient history at the University of Sydney and is a Fellow-Commoner of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. He has written widely on Punic, Roman, and Vandal North Africa and has directed archaeological excavations in Carthage and Rome. He divides his time between Sydney, Australia, and Cambridge, England.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004IYJEB0
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books (July 21, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 21, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5593 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 753 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 561 ratings

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Richard Miles

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Top reviews from the United States

David H. (Austin)
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to the full sweep of the history of Carthage
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2013
Verified Purchase
Carthage has long been considered an also-ran of the ancient world simply because it was eradicated by Rome and Roman historians were the predominant tellers of the tale. For modern people knowledge of Carthage is often limited to having heard of Hannibal Barca, or maybe the Battle of Cannae, or possibly having seen Turner's painting of Hannibal crossing the Alps. If you have read Dryden's translation of Plutarch, you may have been riveted, as I was, by the biography of Fabius Maximus and his experiences with the Carthaginians.

Richard Miles has provided an excellent overview of Carthage that serves as an essential introduction to the subject. Beginning with the sacking of Carthage by Scipio Aemilianus, Miles then goes back to Carthage's roots in Phoenicia and then through the centuries in spare, but by no means dry, language, including its involvement in Sicily and Sardinia and the Punic Wars with Rome. Incidentally, he provides an excellent précis of Phoenician history as well.

Interwoven through this is the story of the importance of Heracles to Carthage and to Rome and his usage by both in waging war by propaganda. If Miles betrays a certain bias towards Carthage, it seems to me that it is only a corrective to Roman and Greek historians who exemplify the dictum that history is written by the victors (after all, Richard III received a lot of bad press from hostile Tudor apologists before and after the Battle of Bosworth). So it was for Carthage after its razing after the third Punic War.

Some things to consider: Hannibal Barca, (he of the Battle of Cannae) only makes his appearance more than two thirds into the book, and descriptions of battles are terse. There is not a lot of humor in this book as the last few chapters are necessarily grim and depressing (one notable exception is the earlier tale of Publius Claudius Pulcher and his set to with some sacred chickens). Readers should not be confused by the myriad Hannibals, Hamilcars, Hannos, and Hasdrubals among the Carthaginians. Miles places each one firmly in his own time.

Readers may be surprised by the profound effect Carthage had on the collective Roman psyche years after the Punic Wars ended. In sum, this book is well-written and generally fascinating (I DID get a little tired of the whole Heracles aspect of the story). This book is highly recommended.
5 people found this helpful
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Not Bob
4.0 out of 5 stars The History of Carthage
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2012
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When looking at world history, Carthage is perhaps best known as the enemy of Rome during the 200s and 100s BCE. In Carthage Must Be Destroyed, the entire history of the Carthage, not just how it relates to Rome, is looked at.

Carthage started out as a trading colony of the Phoenicians. As time moved on, Carthage became more independent and expanded its territory. This would come into conflict with the also expanding Rome. Through three large scale wars, the Punic Wars as they are called, Rome beat Carthage each time. In the First Punic War, Rome took possession of Sicily. In the aftermath, Carthage found itself with serious internal problems. A war was fought against mercenaries Carthage had hired to fight in war against Rome. During this period, Rome annexed Sardinia and Corsica, formerly Carthaginian possessions. The Second Punic War would be the most famous for the actions of Hannibal such as his trek through the Alps. The war would be another loss for Carthage seeing all of its Spanish territories lost to Rome. In the end, Carthage was left with only North African territory. Despite a growing economy, Rome would wipe Carthage off the map in the Third Punic War.

Aside from the relations with Rome, the religious history and mythology of Carthage is also extensively looked at such as how parallels existed between them and the Greeks.

My only problem with the book is that this is one of the drier histories I have read. Despite the massive conflict and war, the prose of the book is not all that exciting, just very factual. Sometimes, the author tends to meander from one subject to another when he would have been better off just separating these into different sections.

All in all, this was a generally enjoyable and informative look at the history of Carthage. I would recommend this to those interested in world history, ancient history, or Roman history.
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Andrew G.
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Balance between Academic and Readability
Reviewed in Canada on July 16, 2021
Verified Purchase
This was a brilliant book on a topic that did not spring immediately to my mind when I was looking for a good history read. I have an MA in modern history, so I have a reasonably strong grounding in the classical period, but certainly not comprehensive knowledge. This work was incredibly informative, yet did not require plunging in to Wikipedia to gain background.

Despite rather obnoxiously dropping my own academic background, I do so only to assure any prospective reader that the research is incredibly rigourous. However, this is combined with an infinitely readable and compelling narrative. All too often obscure historical topics results in a thematic-based book that is torture to read, even for someone very used to academically-dense works. Whether you are an advanced reader of history, or are looking for a fascinating true-story, I think this book is a real triumph.
5 people found this helpful
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Jörg Z
5.0 out of 5 stars Interessant und informativ, leicht zu lesen
Reviewed in Germany on June 17, 2022
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Habe das Buch in 10 Tagen im Strandurlaub gelesen. Hochinteressant, da die Schulbildung ja immer nur von Rom lebt. Der zweite Punische Krieg und Hannibals 15 Jahre in Italien wird sehr kurz abgehandelt, darüber ist ja alles hinreichend bekannt. Dafür wird auf die Zeit der Anfänge Karthagos von der Gründung bis 200vC ausführlich eingegangen.
Miles schreibt so, daß selbst trockene Materie lesbar bleibt. Nur schade, dass es noch keine deutsche Ausgabe gibt, wobei die englische für mich kein Problem darstellte.
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Hwk
4.0 out of 5 stars Un excellent aperçu de l'histoire de Carthage
Reviewed in France on June 30, 2017
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Lecture très intéressante. On en apprends beaucoup sur la légendaire cité-état phénicienne, de ses débuts à sa rivalité avec Syracuse jusqu'à sa chute finale aux mains de Rome. Vous verrez défiler sur les pages des noms tels Scipion l'africain, Caton l'ancien ou encore Hannibal Barca.
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JPS
5.0 out of 5 stars Explaining why it had to go, and much more besides...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 6, 2011
Verified Purchase
This book is certaily a masterpiece of scholarship but it also shows how history can be told in a fascinating way without being academic. As such, it is a rare gem that can satisfy both the "history buff" and the more general reader. The book has numerous other qualities. A number of other reviewers have touched upon some of them already, so I'll try to keep it short.

By telling so well the story of the "rise and fall of an ancient civilization", Richard Miles demonstrates and shows all through the book why Cato the Elder was so insistent and persistent in wanting it destroyed. This was far more than just an old ultra-conservative Romam senator that had become somewhat obsessive. Simply put, Carthage was Rome's most dangerous opponent around the Mediterranean. It was the only one to hold out so long against against Rome and to threaten it so much. This in itself explains why Rome was so unrelenting, elt obliged to raze Carthage to the ground and tried to blacken its name. It also explains, for instance, why Hannibal had to be hunted down across the eastern Mediterranean. Rome had almost lost and was facing a rival that was almost as resilient as itself. Rome, although no Roman would ever admit it, was afraid, too afraid to let live a city that it had deprived of its commercial empire in Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia, of its colonial empire in Spain and of its predominance and home territory in Africa.

However, this book is not only about the contest between the two great powers of the Western Mediterranean. It is far more than that because it tries - and essentially succeeds, despite the odds,in telling the history of one of the most elusive civilizations of Antiquity. This is the second "tour de force" of Richard Miles because it is achieved largely in spite of the rather problematic written sources which are essentially Roman or Greek and which are, in their vast majority, hostile to the Carthaginians. The original texts of pro-Carthagenian Greek writters have generally not survived, with the exception of a few fragments and quotations. We know however that a number of historians wrote on Carthage. We also know that Hannibal had and used his own Greek historians as part of his all-out war against Rome (a war which, just like Alexander the Great, included the use of propaganda). This is where Miles use of what are sometimes called the auxiliaries of history (geography, archeology, numismatics etc...) become so precious. As Ben Kane mentioned in his review of this book, Georges Lancel's 1995 book on Carthage used to be the reference. Having also read this book (although it is much less accessible), I definitely agree with him: Carthage must be destroyed has become the NEW reference on Carthage.

The third great merit that I found with this book is that it goes beyond the power plays between the Greeks, the Carthaginians and Rome. It is not just a history of Carthage either. Two elements stand out in particular. One is the thorough discussion on Carthaginian (I don't like using the term "punic" because this is who their ennemies seem to have called them) religion, its influences and its evolutions. Another is the last chapter entitled "punic faith", which is largely about how the Roman conquerors wrote the "official" history and distorted the facts to such an extent that the term "punic faith" in Latin became synomyous of treasonous behavior. This rewritting of history might have started just after the destruction of Carthage. It certainly culminated under Augustus with Titus-Livius in one of the main roles. A careful study of the events tends to show that:
- in the first and third Punic wars, the Romans were clearly the ones spoiling for a fight whereas both the Barcids (and, less obviously, at least part of Carthage's leading citizens) and the Romans wanted the Second War
- when comparing behaviors in each camp, the Romans were at least (and even perhaps more) ready to break their word and take advantage of circumstances. This happened for instance with their occupation of Sardinia after the end of the First War while Carthage, with which they had signed a peace treaty, was busy fighting for its survival and unable to do anything about it.

I could go one, and on, and on, but I hope by now to have made the point: this is a fabulous book and if there is one book to read about Carthage and one book to offer to someone who likes history, it is this one.
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Wil H.
4.0 out of 5 stars A little too academic at times
Reviewed in Canada on September 26, 2021
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Author gave a great overview over the changing role of Carthage in the Mediterranean. The book got a little bogged down in academic discussion sometimes.
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