nt the leading events of that memorable struggle, let us glance at
the power of Carthage--the formidable rival of Rome.

(M834) As has been narrated, Carthage was founded upon a peninsula, or
rocky promontory, sixty-five years before the foundation of Rome. The
inhabitants of Carthage, descendants of Phoenicians, were therefore of
Semitic origin. The African farmer was a Canaanite, and all the Canaanites
lacked the instinct of political life. The Phoenicians thought of commerce
and wealth, and not political aggrandizement. With half their power, the
Hellenic cities achieved their independence. Carthage was a colony of
Phoenicians, and had their ideas. It lived to traffic and get rich. It was
washed on all sides, except the west, by the sea, and above the city, on
the western heights, was the citadel Byrsa, called so from the word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~},
a hide, according to the legend that Dido, when she came to Africa, bought
of the inhabitants as much land as could be encompassed by a bull's hide,
which she cut into thongs, and inclosed the territory on which she built
the citadel. The city grew to be twenty-three miles in circuit, and
contained seven hundred thousand people. It had two harbors, an outer and
inner, the latter being surrounded by a lofty wall. A triple wall was
erected across the peninsula, to protect it from the west, three miles
long, and between the walls were stables for three hundred elephants, four
thousand horses, and barracks for two thousand infantry, with magazines
and stores. In the centre of the inner harbor was an island, called
Cothon, the shores of which were lined with quays and docks for two
hundred and twenty ships. The citadel, Byrsa, was two miles in circuit,
and when it finally surrendered to the Romans, fifty thousand people
marched out of it. On its summit was the famous temple of AEsculapius. At
the northwestern angle of the city were twenty immense reservoirs, each
four hundred feet by twenty-eight, filled with water, brought by an
aqueduct at a distance of fifty-two miles. The suburb Megara, beyond the
city walls, but within those that defended the peninsula, was the site of
magnificent gardens and villas, which were adorned with every kind of
Grecian art, for the Carthaginians were rich before Rome had conquered
even Latium. This great city controlled the