An Archaeological History of Carthaginian Imperialism
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An Archaeological History of Carthaginian Imperialism Nathan Pilkington Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 ©2013 Nathan Pilkington All rights reserved ABSTRACT An Archaeological History of Carthaginian Imperialism Nathan Pilkington Carthage is the least understood imperial actor in the ancient western Mediterranean. The present lack of understanding is primarily a result of the paucity of evidence available for historical study. No continuous Carthaginian literary or historical narrative survives. Due to the thorough nature of Roman destruction and subsequent re-use of the site, archaeological excavations at Carthage have recovered only limited portions of the built environment, material culture and just 6000 Carthaginian inscriptions. As a result of these limitations, over the past century and half, historical study of Carthage during the 6th- 4th centuries BCE traditionally begins with the evidence preserved in the Greco-Roman sources. If Greco-Roman sources are taken as direct evidence of Carthaginian history, these sources document an increase in Carthaginian military activity within the western Mediterranean during the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. Scholars have proposed three different dates for the creation of the Carthaginian Empire from this evidence: c. 650, c.550 or c. 480 BCE. Scholars have generally chosen one of these dates by correlating textual narratives with ‘corroborating’ archaeological evidence. To give an example, certain scholars have argued that destruction layers visible at Phoenician sites in southwestern Sardinia c. 550-500 represent archaeological manifestations of the campaigns of Malchus and Mago’s sons recorded in the sources. In contrast to previous studies of Carthaginian imperialism, my presentation begins with the evidence preserved in the archaeological and epigraphic records of Carthage, its colonies and dependencies. By switching evidentiary focus and interpretive method, I establish in this dissertation that the Carthaginian Empire of the 6th-4th centuries BCE, as recovered archaeologically and epigraphically, bears little resemblance to the narratives of the Greco- Roman sources. More importantly, I demonstrate that Carthaginian imperial power leaves archaeological manifestations very similar to those of Athenian or Roman imperial power. Colonization, the establishment of metropolitan political institutions at dependent polities and the reorganization of trade into a metropolitan hub and spoke system are traceable for each of these imperial systems. Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………...1- 36 Chapter 1: Greco-Roman Sources and Reconstructions of the Carthaginian Empire………..37-76 Chapter 2: Phoenician Expansion……………………………………………………….…..77-129 Chapter 3: The Archaeology of Archaic Carthage and Phoenician Expansion…………....130-181 Chapter 4: Control of Africa and the Birth of the Carthaginian Empire…………………..182-249 Chapter 5: The Archaeology of Carthaginian Expansion Overseas……………………….250-315 Chapter 6: Carthaginian Imperial Institutions……………………………………………..316-358 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………..359-365 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….366-391 Appendix A: Violence in Central Sicily………………….............................……………..392-409 Appendix B: The Tophet, Further Discussion………………………………….………….410-420 i List of Charts, Graphs and Illustrations Figure 1: Distribution of Infants in the Carthaginian Tophet …………………………………... 69 Figure 2: Ceramic Finds at Carthage…………………………………..……………………….193 Figure 3: Imported Amphoras versus Local Amphoras at Carthage…………………..……….217 Figure 4: Pottery Types at Monte Polizzo…………………………………………...…………268 Figure 5: Gestational Age of Tophet Skeletons………………………………………………...413 Figure 6: Infant Mortality at the start of the 20th Century...................................................…...418 Figure 7: Deaths Caused by Malaria. Three Possible Outcomes……………………………….420 Image 1: Voyage from Tyre to Gadir………………………………………….………………..90 Image 2: Trade Routes in the Western Mediterranean…………………………………………..97 Image 3: Carthaginian Regional Trade Networks……………………………………………….98 Image 4: Nora Stone……………………………………………………………………………115 Image 5: Carthage: History of Excavations…………………………………………………….131 Image 6: The Archaeological Remains of Su Nuraxi…………………………………………..164 Image 7: The Cothon at Mozia…………………………………………………………………176 Image 8: Athens and Carthage………………………………………………………………….191 Image 9: Attic Ceramic Distribution in Southern Iberia……………………………………….195 Image 10: Proxenos Decree for Noban the Carthaginian…………………………………….. 206 Image 11: Trade Route from Carthage to Athens………………………………………….…..209 Image 12: Late Punic Ports at Carthage………………………………………………………..223 Image 13: Excavations in Tanit II………………………………………………………………226 Image 14: Epigraphic attestations of the Shofet………………....…………………………….231 ii Image 15: The Carthaginian Colony at Kerkouane ……………………………………………233 Image 16: Modern Agriculture in the Area of Kerkouane………………………………..…….235 Image 17: Modern Agriculture at Nabeul. …………………………………………………..…238 Image 18: Bou Arada and its Agricultural Territories………………………………………….243 Image 19: Dougga, Tunisia: The Archaeological Remains…………………………………….245 Image 20: Monte Sirai……………………………………...…………………………………..255 Image 21: The Remains of Selinunte………………. .................................................................279 Image 22: Didrachmae of Segesta (a) and Mozia (b)…………………………………………..288 Image 23: Modern Olbia in Northeastern Sardinia…………………………………………….299 Image 24: Rainfall at Kelibia, Tunisia…………………………………………………………343 Image 25: Precipitation in Modern Western Tunisia and Algeria……………………………..344 Image 26: Latium in Antiquity…………………………………………………………………349 iii Acknowledgments During my time at Columbia, I have received financial support from The Graduate School of the Arts and Sciences and the Shawn Family Fellowship. I was further supported by a teaching appointment in the Core Curriculum. Christia Mercer, who served as chair of Literature Humanities during my first year, ensured that research and teaching lived in a harmonious balance. She has also provided continued support throughout the job search process, going vastly beyond her responsibilities. I am forever grateful for the appointment and the opportunities it has given me. I have benefitted from the constant support of the History Department at Columbia. Adam Kosto has tolerated and answered any question I have put to him over seven years. I could not have navigated the department or the profession without his help. I could not have written this dissertation without having participated in his seminars. Janaki Bakhle taught me how to read books well, and Anders Stephanson reminded me always to think about my definition of imperialism. My advisor, William V. Harris, has supported nearly every research project I have presented him. He has allowed me to work freely on my own thoughts and given me the space and time to bring them to completion. Whenever I have asked for help, it has always been available. When I wished to be left alone to write, he has allowed it. More importantly, William has always helped me to craft the question so that the answer mattered. My publications and this dissertation are the results of thoughts initially born in his seminars and first presented as seminar papers. Hopefully, these serve as a testament to his abilities as an advisor and teacher. iv Outside of Columbia, I have received an excellent education in Classical Hebrew from David Marcus at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Daniel Fleming of NYU served as my external reader and provided much assistance in creating the final presentation. Finally, I owe enormous debts of gratitude to my mother, Kathy, and my fiancée, Cynthia. My mother initially pushed me in the direction of graduate school and a Ph.D. in history rather than law school. I cannot thank her enough for this advice. More importantly, she has constantly supported my pursuit of the Ph.D. Only once in seven years did she ask me when I would be finished. My fiancée has been equally supportive, though she had to live with me during this whole process. She made the entire experience much less solitary and much more tolerable. More importantly, she motivated me to strive harder for the goal and to reach it more quickly. I cannot thank her enough for her constant love and support. In the end, this dissertation is equally their achievement. I hope they are proud of it. v For Cynthia and Kathy vi 1 Introduction The Carthaginian Empire: Current Reconstructions Carthage is the least understood imperial actor in the ancient western Mediterranean. The present lack of understanding is primarily a result of the paucity of evidence available for historical study. No continuous Carthaginian literary or historical narrative survives. Due to the thorough nature of Roman destruction and subsequent re-use of the site, archaeological excavations at Carthage have recovered only limited portions of the built environment, material culture, and just 6000 Carthaginian inscriptions. In addition, though the Greco-Roman sources allege that the Carthaginian Empire was vast, archaeologists have only completely excavated one Carthaginian colony, Kerkouane. All other Carthaginian colonies or dependencies are known from limited excavations, mostly focused on necropoleis. As a result of these limitations, over the past century and half, historical study of Carthage during the 6th-