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Me thinks you’ve watched too many armchair historian videos, actually. Carthage didn’t “cease to exist” lol what, you think the land was actually “salted”? Cart

Me thinks you’ve watched too many armchair historian videos, actually. Carthage didn’t “cease to exist” lol what, you think the land was actually “salted”? Carthage became one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire, then became the capital of the Vandal Kingdom who later sacked Rome, famously.

martindbp 3y ago
Salted or not, a city is made up of people, people who were either killed or enslaved. Rebuilt or not, it's not the same Carthage. And if you argue that an emperor from the region 400 years later somehow proves that Carthage didn't lose, you're not a serious person.
- druidish 3y ago
  “Okay”
  - martindbp 3y ago
    Still haven't explained your time traveler there but "sure".
- gamblor956 3y ago
  The "total destruction" of Carthage was a myth made up and passed along by the Romans as a warning to others. There is substantial historical evidence that "Roman Carthage" was just "Punic Carthage." Archaeologists note that there is substantial mixing of Roman and Punic architecture, meaning that Punic structures were still being constructed even after the city was supposedly destroyed or "rebuilt" as a Roman city. The ground of Carthage clearly was not salted, as Carthage was able to reestablish itself as a major city. However, a number of historians note that "salting" in this context is ritual, a small plot of land in a defeated city was ritually salted but the agricultural lands were not since the Romans expected to one day occupy those lands for themselves. Indeed, there is no historical evidence that any culture actually salted the lands of conquered foes, both because it would have been an incredibly stupid thing to do when wars were fought over the right to control agricultural lands, but also because salt was extremely expensive and difficult to acquire in ancient times. ("Salary" is derived from salt, which was so valuable in Roman times that it was used as a measure of value.) The amount of salt that would have been required to salt the lands of Carthage would have equaled the salaries of the entire Roman army. "Salting the earth" as a meme didn't actually arise until the 17th or 18th century, when industrial salt production finally made salt cheap and plentiful.

martindbp 3y ago

Salted or not, a city is made up of people, people who were either killed or enslaved. Rebuilt or not, it's not the same Carthage. And if you argue that an emperor from the region 400 years later somehow proves that Carthage didn't lose, you're not a serious person.

druidish 3y ago
“Okay”
- martindbp 3y ago
  Still haven't explained your time traveler there but "sure".
gamblor956 3y ago
The "total destruction" of Carthage was a myth made up and passed along by the Romans as a warning to others. There is substantial historical evidence that "Roman Carthage" was just "Punic Carthage." Archaeologists note that there is substantial mixing of Roman and Punic architecture, meaning that Punic structures were still being constructed even after the city was supposedly destroyed or "rebuilt" as a Roman city. The ground of Carthage clearly was not salted, as Carthage was able to reestablish itself as a major city. However, a number of historians note that "salting" in this context is ritual, a small plot of land in a defeated city was ritually salted but the agricultural lands were not since the Romans expected to one day occupy those lands for themselves. Indeed, there is no historical evidence that any culture actually salted the lands of conquered foes, both because it would have been an incredibly stupid thing to do when wars were fought over the right to control agricultural lands, but also because salt was extremely expensive and difficult to acquire in ancient times. ("Salary" is derived from salt, which was so valuable in Roman times that it was used as a measure of value.) The amount of salt that would have been required to salt the lands of Carthage would have equaled the salaries of the entire Roman army. "Salting the earth" as a meme didn't actually arise until the 17th or 18th century, when industrial salt production finally made salt cheap and plentiful.