Greeks and Carthaginians

In about 500 BC, we can consider the following areas as Greek areas, that is, either areas where Greek poleis had been established or where Greek was spoken as the main language: the whole of the Greek peninsula from the kingdom of Macedon in the north to the Spartan territories on the Peloponnese, the islands of the eastern Mediterranean, the coast of Asia Minor, and the colonies on the coasts of the Black Sea, in the Cyrenaica, in Sicily and in the south of Italy, on the south coast of France, and on the east coast of Spain. These areas did not have any kind of political unity, but the independence of several of the numerous little states was relative. Thus, the Greeks of Asia Minor, Cyprus, and the Cyrenaica were at least nominally subjects of the Persian Empire. But the Greeks had other parties to contend with, above all the Carthaginians and the Etruscans.

The cities in Phoenicia were under Persian rule, but had managed to retain some independence under their own kings. Phoenicia was an area of great cultural importance, but the Phoenician colony Carthage became even more important than the motherland. The Persians, who for their fleet were partly dependent on the Phoenicians, never managed to get a foothold in Carthage. In 500 BC, Carthage, founded by Tyre, was already three centuries old, and had been gaining power in the western Mediterranean, with bases on the African coast, in Spain, on Sicily, Sardinia, and the smaller islands. Carthaginian trade routes spread out onto the Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa. There is in existence a Greek translation of the account of an expedition along the African coast down to Sierra Leone, by the Carthaginian king and seafarer Hanno (about 450 BC). Carthage did not remain the sole power in the western Mediterranean, however, because the Greeks extended their colonizing efforts into Carthaginian territory. In the 6th century, this already led to open warfare, with Carthage gaining Etruscan support. In the 5th and 4th centuries BC, Sicily became the main theater of battle between Carthaginians and Greeks.