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what happened to carthage

Ancient Carthage was destroyed—twice—first by Rome and later by Arab forces, and today only ruins remain near modern Tunis in Tunisia.

Quick Scoop: What Happened to Carthage?

1. A superpower that scared Rome

  • Carthage began as a Phoenician colony around the 9th–8th century BCE and grew into a rich maritime and trading empire dominating parts of the western Mediterranean.
  • It controlled vital sea routes, founded colonies (like in Spain and Sardinia), and became Rome’s main rival in the Punic Wars.

2. The Punic Wars and total destruction (146 BCE)

  • Rome and Carthage fought three Punic Wars; the first two weakened Carthage but did not destroy it.
  • In the Third Punic War (149–146 BCE), Rome besieged Carthage for nearly three years.
  • In 146 BCE, Roman forces under Scipio Aemilianus stormed the city, killed large numbers of inhabitants, and sold about 50,000 survivors into slavery.
  • The city was systematically demolished; ancient sources describe it burning for many days and being leveled, with a curse placed on anyone who tried to rebuild it.

The popular story that Romans “salted the earth” around Carthage is likely a later legend; modern scholars doubt this actually happened because salt was valuable and the site was strategically important.

3. Rebirth as Roman Carthage

  • About a century later, Rome refounded the city as a Roman colony (often called Colonia Julia Carthago), turning the site back into a major urban and economic center in Roman Africa.
  • Under the Roman Empire, Carthage became one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the western Mediterranean, second only to a few major hubs like Rome and Alexandria.

4. The real “final” fall: 698 CE

  • After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Carthage remained important under the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
  • In 698 CE, during the Arab–Byzantine conflicts, Umayyad forces under Hasan ibn Numan captured Carthage from the Byzantines and ordered its complete destruction to prevent any Byzantine comeback.
  • Its walls were torn down, aqueducts cut, fields devastated, and harbors rendered unusable; this effectively ended Carthage as a living city.

5. Carthage today

  • The site lies near modern Tunis, Tunisia, where you can still visit archaeological remains such as harbors, baths, and residential ruins.
  • The story of Carthage’s rise and fall continues to fascinate historians, and the city’s destruction has been used for centuries as a political and moral symbol of how far great powers will go to eliminate a rival.

6. Mini timeline (HTML table)

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Period What happened to Carthage
c. 9th–8th century BCE Founded by Phoenician settlers; grows into a powerful trading city-state.
3rd–2nd century BCE Punic Wars with Rome; Hannibal famously invades Italy in the Second Punic War.
149–146 BCE Third Punic War; siege and destruction by Rome, population killed or enslaved, city leveled.
1st century BCE onward Refounded as Roman Carthage, major city of Roman Africa.
533–7th century CE Part of Byzantine Empire, still a key religious and economic center.
698 CE Captured and deliberately destroyed by Umayyad forces; ceases to exist as a major city.
**TL;DR:** Carthage was first annihilated by Rome in 146 BCE after the Third Punic War, later rebuilt as a Roman city, and then finally destroyed in 698 CE by Arab forces; today only ruins remain near Tunis.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.