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Carthage's Other Wars Carthaginian Warfare Outside The 'Punic Wars' Against Rome by Dexter Hoyos ...

Carthage's Other Wars Carthaginian Warfare Outside The 'Punic Wars' Againt Rome by Dexter Hoyos Carthage's Other Wars Carthaginian Warfare Outside The 'Punic Wars' Againt Rome by Dexter Hoyos

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Dexter Hoyos




Carthage's Other Wars

Carthaginian Warfare Outside The 'Punic Wars' Against Rome

by

Dexter Hoyos





 This book is a treasure trove of information, not only about Carthage's 'other wars', but about the city and its government etc. The author has debunked some very long held ideas we have about Carthage and its history, especially its history of warfare. We envision Carthage as the British Empire of its time, with no one really able to deal with its naval supremacy. To quote the author:

 "Carthage's prowess at sea was in fact less accomplished than usually assumed by either ancients or moderns. For lengthy periods, it did not fight naval wars even if it kept up naval patrols around Libya's coast. The potential naval operations along Italy's coasts which its two early treaties with Rome envisaged, were, it seems, theoretical: none is recorded in practice. Although the Greeks and Romans did tend to view Carthage - retrospectively - as the western Mediterranean's great naval power, when wars came its fleets seldom had unmatched superiority over their rivals. Nor did a sea battle decide any of its non-Roman wars, unlike the Battle of the Aegates in 241 which lost its first war against Rome and, with it, western Sicily."

 The story of Carthage's wars, even before the Romans, seems to give us a list of chapters from Plutarch's Lives. Dionysius, Timoleon, Dion, Agathocles, and Pyrrhus, among others, all appear in the story of Carthage's attempts to keep its grip on western Sicily. The author shows that really only two times was Carthage the instigator in an attack on the Greeks in their conclave in Sicily. 

 The only problem we have following the history of Carthage deals with nomenclature. The amount of Hannos, Magos, and Hannibals strewn throughout the years of Carthage's history is a bit daunting. One wishes that they had a larger pool of names to choose from for their leaders. 

 This is a book that anyone who has any interest in the time period should possess. The author wipes away the years in between us, to show us exactly what happened and why. The amount of revolts and fighting with the indigenous Libyans was an eye opener for me. The book shows that the history of the western Mediterranean that we thought we knew is not correct at all. The area never had the settled spheres of influence that looks so neatly arranged on maps. The history was much more vibrant and changing than we imagined. Thank you Pen & Sword and Casemate Publishers for the chance to review this very enlightening book.

Robert

Author: Dexter Hoyos
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Distributor: Casemate Publishers
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