Karthago: Studien zu Militar, Staat und Gesellschaft.

• Author: Niemeyer, Hans Georg

The history and archaeology of ancient Carthage as a subject for investigation has become quite "a la mode" recently. In fact, since Werner Huss wrote his Geschichte der Karthager for the renowned Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft (Munich: C. H. Beck, 1985), several substantial monographs and major contributions to books of collected papers about Carthage have appeared, e.g., Winfried Elliger, Karthago (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1990); Serge Lancel, Carthage (Paris: Fayard, 1992); M'hamed H. Fantar, Carthage, approche d'une civilisation (Tunis: Alif, les Editions de la Mediterranee, 1993); Azzedine Beschaouch, Carthage (Paris: Gallimard, 1994).

The intelligently conceived, well-organized, and clearly written book under review is another very valuable contribution to this field of research. Nicely produced in the Vestigia series, it is at the same time the author's second thesis, submitted in 1991 for qualification as university lecturer (Habilitationsschrift) at the University of Wurzburg. With it, the author wants to put an end to the old and until recently almost unanimously accepted idea of Carthage as one of the great trading powers of the ancient world, and of a society led by a merchant aristocracy of "reluctant warriors" (the telling title of a book by D. Armstrong [New York: Crowell, 1966]).

Ameling starts by reassessing the traditional opinion of the Battle of Himera, allegedly between a mercenary army under the Carthaginian aristocrat, Hamilcar, and joint Greek forces under the Syracusan tyrant, Gelon. This battle was said to have been fought in 480 B.C., on the very day when the naval battle at Salamis was won (Hdt. VII 166). The Deinomenids laid particular emphasis on this "historical parallel" by copying the very type of the mainland Greeks' victory monument - a tripod on a serpent column - for their own anathema at Delphi. To support this "pro-Hellenic" interpretation, the later historians Timaios and Ephoros built up the story of the east-west-alliance of Persia and Carthage against the Greeks (pp. 26-33).

After carefully analyzing the available sources, Ameling convincingly argues that in its western part this war was not a state-controlled enterprise but, rather, a "private-war" ("Privat-Krieg," see p. 71). In this case, it was a campaign of Hamilcar whose aim it was to restore to his friend Terillos the lost tyrantship over Himera. Consequently, the author questions if an...