Nor were these the only blemishes in their character; they were austere and savage in disposition, and in the first transports of passion would (regardless of remonstrance) plunge into the greatest excesses of violence. Ill success in war was punished as a crime against the state; and when a general lost a battle, he, at his return to Carthage, was punished with exile or death. The The Carthaginians worshipped two deities in particular. The first the goddess Cœlestis (Moon) called in Scripture Queen of Heaven, was invoked in great calamities, and from her they thought all their blessings descended. second deity was Saturn, known in Scripture as Moloch, to whom they offered human sacrifices. Kings even, in great dangers, immolated their sons to appease the anger of this god; and mothers also made it a merit, and a part of their religion, to give their infants to the flames, and considered the offering only acceptable to Saturn when they could look, unmoved, upon the horrid spectacle. In times of pestilence, or distress, great numbers of children were sacrificed; and when Agathocles was going to besiege Carthage, a hundred children of the best families, and three hundred citizens, were devoted to the flames. A brazen statue of Saturn stood over a furnace, with the hands turned downwards, so that when a child was placed upon them it dropped immediately into the fire. The government of Carthage was based upon principles of consummate wisdom, and this republic was held in great esteem by the ancients. Aristotle remarks, that from its foundation to his time, a period of more than five hundred years, no sedition of any consequence had disturbed the peace, nor had any tyrant oppressed the liberty of the state. Carthage, by its wise laws, had shunned, for a long series of years, these two rocks on which other republics have so often split. Unfortunately no ancient writer has left us any accurate account of the laws and customs of this famous republic, and all that is known is collected from various authors. The government of Carthage united three different authorities, which counterpoised, and gave assistance to each other. These authorities were the senate, the people, and the tribunal of one hundred. There were two annual magistrates in Carthage called suffetes, whose authority was similar to that of the consuls at Rome. History does not inform us of the manner of electing them; but they had power to assemble the senate in which they presided, proposed subjects for deliberation, and collected the votes. Their authority extended beyond the cities, and they sometimes commanded the armies. When their employment as suffetes expired, they were made prætors, which was a considerable office, as it not only conferred upon them the privilege of presiding in some causes, but empowered them to enact new laws, and to call the receivers of the public revenue to account. The senate was composed of persons, venerable on account of their age, experience, merit, birth, or riches. Their number is not known, but it must have been considerable, as the members of the tribunal of one hundred were selected from it, to form a separate assembly, which served as a check upon the power of the nobles and the senate. It was from their extensive commerce that the wealth, power, conquest, credit, and glory of the Carthaginians. flowed. They traded with all countries, and became, as it were, the lords of the sea. They were a nation of merchants, industrious, ingenious and enterprising, so that Rome, even when triumphant, thought that Carthage could not be reduced, unless she was deprived of her commercial resources. The gold and silver mines of Spain, furnished them with an inexhaustible source of wealth, and enabled them to sustain their long wars. The military power of the Carthaginians consisted in their alliances with kings in tributary nations, whence they drew both men and money; in troops raised among their own citizens; and in mercenary soldiers purchased of neighbouring states. From the vast extent of coast which the Carthaginians possessed, they could readily raise a sufficient number of sailors and rowers for the working of their fleets, and procure able captains to command them. But, as all their warlike forces were fortuitously brought together, and had no common interest to unite them; it may easily be imagined, that when more advantageous offers were made by other nations, these mercenary troops would desert to the enemy, against whom they had just fought, and turn their arms against the Carthaginians, whom they had pre viously acknowledged as their masters. And this fact must teach us that no miseries are comparable to those of a government supported only by foreigners, as neither zeal, fidelity, nor obedience, can be expected from them. Learning, although not banished from Carthage, was in little repute, and this country, in the space of upwards of seven hundred years, produced only three or four writers of reputation; and although the Carthaginians held a correspondence with Greece and other civilized nations, they did not emulate them in the acquirement of knowledge. Eloquence, poetry, and history, were disregarded; and a Carthaginian philosopher was considered as a prodigy by the learned of other countries. The studies of the youth were chiefly confined to writing, arithmetic, buying and selling goods; and, as might be expected from such a limited education, the Carthaginians were inelegant in their manners, and deficient in those sentiments of virtue which are generally the fruits of a liberal education. The few great men, therefore, which this country produced, must have owed their merit to the singularity of their talents, and not to any assistance from cultivation and instruction; and of these it may be remarked, that their characters were sullied by vices and cruel passions, and wholly devoid of those noble and generous dispositions, which distinguished the Greeks and Romans. It may, therefore, be concluded, that traffic was the prevailing inclination and peculiar characteristic of the Carthaginians; that commerce was the basis of the state, and the grand spring which gave motion to all their enterprises. That they were skilful merchants, and placed their chief glory in amassing riches; but, from their limited education, they scarcely knew the purpose for which these riches were designed, or how to use them in a noble manner. EXERCISES. Where stood Carthage? Who founded it; and in what year of the world? Relate the story, as told by some historians, of Dido's stratagem to obtain a large portion of land on which to build a city. What was the condition of Europe and Asia at this period? Name some contemporary kings. What caused Dido to put herself to death? Repeat Virgil's lines on the death of Dido. How may the history of Carthage be divided? What interval of time is included in the first period? In the second? What was the origin of the Carthaginians? C What were the prevailing traits in the Carthaginian character? What deities did they worship? Did they offer human sacrifices? How did they endeavour to appease the offended gods What was the government of Carthage? What was the highest office in the government? From what sources did the Carthaginians derive their wealth In what did their military power consist? In what state was learning in Carthage? Name some learned men of that country? What were the studies of the youth? What were the effects of this limited education? CHAPTER II. ON THE WARS AND CONQUESTS OF THE CARTHAGINIANS. The first wars made by the Carthaginians, were to free themselves from their allegiance to the Africans for the territory, which had been granted them on condition of their paying an annual tribute. The war, however, soon terminated; the Africans were victorious, and the Carthaginians continued tributary. Although in this attempt they were unsuccessful, they were not dispirited, but carried their arms against the Moors and Numidians, and gained many conquests over both. Being now emboldened by good fortune, they shook off the tribute which gave them so much uneasiness, and possessed themselves of a great part of Africa. About this time, a dispute arose between Carthage and Cyrene, regarding the limits of their respective territories. Cyrene was a very powerful city, situated on the Mediterranean, towards the greater Syrtis, and had been built by Battus, a Lacedemonian. It was agreed on both sides, that two young men should set out from either city, and that the place of their meeting should be the common boundary of both states. The Carthaginians (these were two brothers named Philæni) made the most haste, and their antagonists, pretending that foul play had been used, and that these brothers had set out before the time appointed, refused to keep the agreement, unless the two brothers (to remove their suspicions,) would consent to be buried alive on the spot where they had met. To this the brothers agreed; and the Carthaginians, in gratitude, erected there two altars to their memories, and paid them divine honours. The Car thaginians still pursued their conquests, and subjected many of the islands in the Mediterranean to their sway; among others Majorca and Minorca, which islands furnished them with the most expert slingers in the world. The inhabitants of these islands were accustomed, from infancy, to handle the sling, for which purpose their mothers placed on the bough of a tree, the piece of bread intended for their breakfast, and they were not allowed to taste a morsel until they had brought it down with their slings. The Carthaginians now carried war into Spain, and soon brought the richest parts of that country under their dominion. A. C. 503. The period in which the Carthaginians first A. M. 3501. made war in Sicily is not exactly known; but it is certain they were in possession of a part of it at the time they entered into a treaty with the Romans, the same year that Tarquin was expelled, and consuls were appointed, and twenty-eight years before Xerxes invaded Greece. Some years after they had made this treaty with the Romans, the Carthaginians entered into alliance with Xerxes, king of Persia, who aimed at nothing less than the total extirpation of the Greeks; and he thought it would be impossible to succeed in his enterprise without the assistance of this formidable nation. The Carthaginians, who kept in view the design they entertained of seizing upon the remainder of Sicily, greedily availed themselves of the favourable opportunity which now offered to reduce it. A treaty was, therefore, concluded, in which it was agreed, that the Carthaginians were to invade, with all their forces, those Greeks who were settled in Sicily and Italy, while Xerxes should march in person against Greece itself. Hamilcar, with an army of three hundred thousand men, and a fleet of two thousand ships of war, besides small vessels, sailed from Carthage for the conquest of Sicily. He landed at Palermo, and after refreshing his troops, marched against Himera, and laid siege to it. Theron, who defended this city, finding himself in great difficulty, sent to Gelon, who had possessed himself of Syracuse. Gelon immediately flew to his relief, with fifty thousand-foot and five thousand horse; and his arrival revived the hopes of the besieged, who made a very vigorous resistance. In the mean time, a courier was brought to Gelon, who had been despatched |