September 9, 533 AD– A Byzantine army of 15,000 men under the command of general Belisarius lands at Caput Vada (modern Tunisia) and marches to Carthage. Flavius Belisarius (Greek: Βελισάριος, c. 500[2] – 565 AD) was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinians ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously. One of the defining features of Belisarius career was his success despite varying levels of support from Justinian. His name is frequently given as one of the so-called Last of the Romans. Chebba (La Chebba, Ash Shabbah, aš-Šābbah, Sheba) is a small city in the Mahdia Governorate of Tunisia in North Africa on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Byzantine general Belisarius landed here in 533 and went on to inflict a devastating defeat on the Vandals. The town of Chebba was founded by Justinian about 534 CE after the defeat of the Vandals, and named Justinianopolis. The headland (Caput Vada) is now known as Ras Kaboudia and is site of the ruins of the bordj (harbor fortress) of Bordj Khadidja, which was built upon Byzantine foundations. The fortress guarded the harbor entrance and was one of a chain of similar forts built by the Abbasids along the coast of North Africa in the 8th century. It was later renamed after Khadija Ben Kalthoum, a poetess of the eleventh century, who was born in Chebba. The city of Carthage, was the centre of the ancient empire of Carthage, in antiquity. The city developed from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC into the capital of an ancient empire. The name of Carthage, Latin: Carthago or Karthago, Ancient Greek: Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Etruscan: *Carθaza, is derived from a Phoenician Qart-ḥadašt meaning New City (Aramaic: קרתא חדתא, Qarta Ḥdatha), implying it was a new Tyre. photos, 1. Thermes of Antoninus Pius at Carthage 2. Downfall of the Carthaginian Empire Lost to Rome in the First Punic War (264BC – 241BC) Won after the First Punic War, lost in the Second Punic War Lost in the Second Punic War (218BC – 201BC) Conquered by Rome in the Third Punic War (149BC – 146BC) Western Mediterranean during the 2nd Punic War. Blue - Carthage, Light Blue - Carthaginian allies, Italian cities who allied with Hannibal. Northern Italian tribes who allied with Hannibal are in blue font. Red - Rome, pink - Roman allies. 3. Ruins of Carthage 4. Punic ruins in Byrsa. Byrsa was the walled citadel above the harbour in ancient Carthage. It was also the name of the hill it rested on. The name is derived from the Phoenician word for citadel. In Virgils account of Didos founding of Carthage, when Dido and her party were encamped at Byrsa, the local Berber chieftain offered them as much land as could be covered with a single oxhide. Therefore, Dido cut an oxhide into tiny strips and set them on the ground end to end until she had completely encircled Byrsa. This story is considered apocryphal, and was most likely invented because Byrsa sounds similar to the Greek word βυρσα, meaning oxhide. The citadel dominated the city below and formed the principal military installation of Carthage. It was besieged by Scipio Aemilianus Africanus in the Third Punic War and was defeated and destroyed in 146 BC. Saint Louis Cathedral was built on Byrsa Hill starting in 1884. Today, it serves as a cultural center.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 08:16:39 +0000
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