[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-150028-en":3,"doc-seo-150028-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},150028,8796095461610,"Oliver","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c",8,"Research & Report","Why Was Carthage Destroyed? - A ReExamination from an Economic Perspective","Rome’s destruction of Carthage in 146 B.C. is commonly attributed to Roman fear and security concerns about Carthaginian naval power, alongside concerns about Mediterranean trade. Such explanations leave intrinsic causes underexplored and downplay the policy logic of Roman imperialism in North Africa during the Republican era. Using a political economy approach, this paper re-examines Rome’s international relations with Africa during the second and third Punic Wars to identify strong economic motives. It argues Carthaginian Africa offered major economic potential and that Rome, as a typically imperialistic state, used divide et impera strategies to exploit agricultural resources, ultimately seeking North Africa’s territories, wealth, and production.","Why Was Carthage Destroyed? A ReExamination from an Economic Perspective  \nBy  \nGoke Akinboye, Ph.D[Email:oa.akinboye@mail.ui.edu.ng](Email:oa.akinboye@mail.ui.edu.ng)[ ](Email:oa.akinboye@mail.ui.edu.ng)Department of Classics, University of Ibadan  \nAbstract  \nThe story of Rome‟s destruction of the once buoyant maritime city of Carthage in 146 B.C. has been explained by many scholars, generally, in terms of the fear and security threats posed by Carthaginian naval authority and great trade across the Mediterranean. This kind of generalization leaves little room for other intrinsic causes of the destruction and plays down the core policies that characterized Roman imperialism in North Africa during the Republican times.  \nAdopting the political economy approach, this paper, therefore, re-examines from the economic perspective,  \nthe principles and dynamics which underlined the international relations of Rome in Africa during the stirring times of the second and third Punic wars with a view to identifying the strong economic motives that led to the eventual annihilation of Carthage. The paper shows that Carthaginian Africa was a region of great economic potential in the western Mediterranean. It reveals that Rome was a typically imperialistic state which employed various divide et impera stratagems to exploit the rich agricultural resources of the region. The paper concludes that the crippling of Carthage was premised not just on the fear or jealousy of Carthage but more importantly on the Roman desire to exploit the North African vast territories, wealth and agricultural resources.  \nKey words: Carthage, Rome, Economic, Destruction,  \nResources.  \nIntroduction  \nMost recent scholarship on the Roman-CarthaginianAfrican relationship often focus more on the Roman Principate period where there are much material and epigraphic evidences than on the Republican era. However, the story of Rome‟s interest in and eventual devastation of Carthage on the Tunisian coast of North Africa in 146 has received a lot of attention over the  \ndecades 1. Historians have submitted that Rome‟s actions,  \n1 Baronowski D.E. 1995. Polybius on the causes of the Third Punic War, Classical Philology. vol. 90, No. 1, pp. 16 –20; Adcock F.E. 1946. Delenda est Carthago, Cambridge Historical Journal (C.H.J.), No. VIII; Astin A.E., 1967. Scipio Aemilianus. Oxford; Astin A.E., 1967. Saguntum and the Origins ofthe Second Punic War. Latomus, vol.26, pp.37ff; Barton I.M. 1972. Africa in the Roman Empire. Accra; Broughton T.R.S. 1968. The Romanization of  \nAfrican Proconsularis. Greenwood Press, New York; Brunt P.A. 1978. Laus Imperii, Rome’s African Empire under the Principate. Garnsey P. and Whittaker C.R. (eds.), Cambridge; Crawley J. 2000. Imperialism and Culture Change in North Africa: The Hellenistic and Roman Eras, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Classics, UC, Berkeley, 2003; Errington R.M. 1970. Rome and Spain before the Second Punic War. Latomus, Vol.24, pp.25ff; Gsèll S. 1914-1929. Histoire ancienne de l’Afrique du Nord, (HAAN) . 8 vols. Hachette, Paris; Harris W.N. 1979. War and Imperialism in Republican Rome: 327 – 70B. C. Oxford, New York; Ilevbare J.A. 1971. Economic Evolution in North Africa in Carthaginian and Roman Times, Nigeria and the Classics. vol. 13, Ibadan, pp.63-82; Ilevbare J.A. 1977-1978. Jugurtha: A Victim of Roman Imperialism and Factional Politics, Museum Africum, vol.  \n6, Ibadan, pp.43-59; Ilevbare J.A. 1980. Carthage, Rome and Berbers. Ibadan University Press, Ibadan; Ilevbare J.A.  \n1985. Syphax, Carthage and Rome: The Myth of Sophoniba, Museum African, vol. 8, Ibadan, pp. 30 – 46; Kehoe D.P. 1988. The Economics of Agriculture on Roman Imperial Estates in North Africa. Gottingen; Manton E.L.  \n1986. Roman North Africa. London; Morewood-Dowsett J. Ancient Roman Policy in Africa. Journal of the Royal  \nespecially with regard to the destruction of Carthage, should be explained in terms of her much desired internal security, fea","cbCaidPPNBks778M","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidPPNBks778M","pdf",460578,1,44,"English","en",105,"# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Existing explanations in scholarship\n## Proposed political economy perspective","[{\"question\":\"Why have many scholars explained Carthage’s destruction in 146 B.C.?\",\"answer\":\"Many scholars emphasize Rome’s fear and security threats linked to Carthaginian naval authority, as well as the importance of trade across the Mediterranean.\"},{\"question\":\"What approach does the paper use to re-examine Carthage’s destruction?\",\"answer\":\"It adopts a political economy approach to reassess Rome–Africa relations during the second and third Punic Wars and to identify economic motives behind Carthage’s downfall.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the paper conclude was the central motive for destroying Carthage?\",\"answer\":\"The crippling of Carthage is presented as driven not only by fear or jealousy, but more importantly by Rome’s desire to exploit North Africa’s territories, wealth, and agricultural resources.\"}]","Why Was Carthage Destroyed? - A ReExamination from an Economic Perspective | PDF",1787811948,111,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"why-was-carthage-destroyed-a-reexamination-from-an-economic-perspective","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/why-was-carthage-destroyed-a-reexamination-from-an-economic-perspective/150028/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-04","2026-08-27",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"Why have many scholars explained Carthage’s destruction in 146 B.C.?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"Many scholars emphasize Rome’s fear and security threats linked to Carthaginian naval authority, as well as the importance of trade across the Mediterranean.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"What approach does the paper use to re-examine Carthage’s destruction?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"It adopts a political economy approach to reassess Rome–Africa relations during the second and third Punic Wars and to identify economic motives behind Carthage’s downfall.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What does the paper conclude was the central motive for destroying Carthage?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"The crippling of Carthage is presented as driven not only by fear or jealousy, but more importantly by Rome’s desire to exploit North Africa’s territories, wealth, and agricultural resources.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,98,102,106,111,116,121,124,129,132,136],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":113,"show_sort_weight":114,"slug":115},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":118,"show_sort_weight":119,"slug":120},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]