Twenty-three hundred years ago, Carthage was the pearl of the Mediterranean, located at the heart of Mediterranean trade and the key to its military control. As the power of Greece waned and the power of Rome grew, conflict was inevitable. This program explains something of the history of Carthage: its Phoenician origins, its economy, its religious practices (including human sacrifice) as well as its mythical relationship to Rome as detailed in the Aeneid; describes the decline of the Greek world and the growth of Rome; and details events leading up to the crucial conflict between the Roman republic, whose free citizens considered war both duty and honor, and Carthage, for whose mercenary army fighting was a profession. It explains the rise of Hannibal and his strategies which defeated Rome at the battle of Cannae, as well as Hannibal’s weaknesses; details the rise and strategies of Scipio Africanus; and shows the Battle of Carthage, as well as its harsh aftermath: Hannibal’s suicide, the killing of most Carthaginians, and the destruction of Carthage itself. The new city that arose on its ashes was Roman, and was to be the center of the rich Roman colony of North Africa. (30 minutes)