Description
Book SynopsisThe Carthaginian Empire: 550 202 BCE argues for a new history of the Phoenician polity. In contrast to previous studies of the Carthaginian Empire that privileged evidence from Greco-Roman sources, Nathan Pilkington bases his study on evidence preserved in the archaeological and epigraphic records of Carthage and its colonies and dependencies. Using this evidence, Pilkington demonstrates that the Carthaginian Empire of the 6th 4th centuries BCE as recovered archaeologically and epigraphically bears little resemblance to currently accepted historical reconstructions. He then presents an independent archaeological and epigraphic reconstruction of the Carthaginian Empire. In this presentation, the author argues that the Carthaginian Empire developed later, chronologically, and was less extensive, geographically, than reconstructions based on the Greco-Roman source tradition suggest. Pilkington further shows that Carthage developed a similar infrastructure of imperial power to those dev
Trade ReviewAudacious, provocative and experimental, Nathan Pilkington intrigues and inspires the reader with his work while removing ancient historians and classicists from their comfort zone. The effort to give a voice to the Carthaginians is definitely worth it. -- Iván Fumadó Ortega, University of Valencia
Table of ContentsA Note on Transcription and Translation
General Introduction
Part I: Texts and Archaeology
Chapter 1: The Textual Empire
Chapter 2: A Subaltern Empire?
Chapter 3: The Textual Empire and the Evidence of Archaeology
Part II: Archaeological Reconstruction
Introduction: Methods and Theory for an Archaeological History
Chapter 4: The Creation of the Carthaginian Empire: Metropole and Institutions
Chapter 5: The Expansion of the Carthaginian Empire: North Africa and Overseas
