what is the punic curse

One of the most famous of these theories is called the “Punic Curse”. It got its name from the Third Punic War when the famous Roman general, Scipio, destroyed Rome’s chief rival. Upon razing Carthage

in 146 B.C., Scipio turned to an accompanying philosopher and with tears predicted a similar fate for Rome.

Full Answer

Who were the Punic people?

The Punic people or Western Phoenicians, were a group of Semitic peoples in the Western Mediterranean who traced their origins to the Phoenicians of the coasts of Western Asia.

What is the Punic tabella defixionis?

The Punic Tabella Defixionis is a Punic language curse tablet, inscribed on a lead scroll, found in Carthage by Paul Gauckler in 1899. It is currently held at the Carthage National Museum.

How did the Punic language survive the Roman Empire?

In the course of the Punic wars (264–146 BC), the Romans challenged Carthaginian hegemony in the western Mediterranean, culminating in the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, but the Punic language and Punic culture endured under Roman rule, surviving in some places until Late Antiquity . Look up Punic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

What is the Punic Wars known for?

Punic Wars, also called Carthaginian Wars, (264–146 bce), a series of three wars between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian (Punic) empire, resulting in the destruction of Carthage, the enslavement of its population, and Roman hegemony over the western Mediterranean.

Why is it called the Punic War?

"Punic" comes from the Latin "Punicus" which was the Roman word for Phoenicians and the Carthaginians were considered Phoenicians. Since Roman authors wrote the history of the wars, they were called Punic Wars because they felt Carthage started them.

Who won the Punic War?

RomeThe three Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome took place over nearly a century, beginning in 264 B.C. and ending in Roman victory with the destruction of Carthage in 146 B.C. By the time the First Punic War broke out, Rome had become the dominant power throughout the Italian peninsula, while Carthage–a powerful city- ...

How many Romans died in the Punic Wars?

To the 300,000 Roman battle deaths recorded by the Roman historian Appian (Pun. 20.134), Dodge adds 100,000 disease deaths for the Italian front, and the same again for Spain. His final estimate is 500,000 Roman and 270,000 Carthaginian soldiers dead of all causes.

What Punic means?

Definition of Punic (Entry 1 of 2) 1 : of or relating to Carthage or the Carthaginians. 2 : faithless, treacherous. Punic.

Did any Carthaginians survive?

Scipio agreed that the 50,000 Carthaginian survivors who had sheltered in Byrsa to survive and be sold into slavery, but declared that all Roman deserters who had fought for Carthage would be killed. The city had previously had a population between 200,000 - 400,000.

Who defeated Hannibal?

Scipio Africanus the ElderBattle of Zama, (202 bce), victory of the Romans led by Scipio Africanus the Elder over the Carthaginians commanded by Hannibal.

Why did Rome destroy Carthage?

The destruction of Carthage was an act of Roman aggression prompted as much by motives of revenge for earlier wars as by greed for the rich farming lands around the city. The Carthaginian defeat was total and absolute, instilling fear and horror into Rome's enemies and allies.

Who did Hannibal fight for?

the Roman RepublicHannibal (/ˈhænɪbəl/; Punic: 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, Ḥannibaʿl; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history.

Who lost the first Punic War?

First Punic War, also called First Carthaginian War, (264–241 bce) first of three wars between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian (Punic) empire that resulted in the destruction of Carthage.

What if Rome lost the Punic Wars?

If Rome had lost the the first Punic war to Carthage, Rome would not have expanded into the western Mediterranean and Sicily would have fallen into Carthage's hands and Carthage's navy would have become a major power in the Mediterranean.

Why did Rome win the Punic Wars?

Rome won the first Punic War when Carthage agreed to terms in 241 BC, in doing so, Rome became the dominant navy in the Mediterranean Sea, Carthage had to pay for war damages, and Rome took control of all of the Carthaginian lands on the island of Sicily.

What is undoing of the curse?

The undoing of the curse is then described — essentially exchanging figurines of the cursed person with those who have cursed them. A final remarkable element in this tradition is the piercing of figurines:¹⁰

What were the Phoenicians in contact with?

The Phoenicians would also be in much closer contact with the generally acknowledged sources of the mystical tradition that was to flow eventually into the Graeco-Roman world. In particular, Sumerian texts show a particular feature relevant to what we see later in sympathetic magic in the West: formulae of analogyaccompanied by ritual.

Where was the necropolis of Dermech deposited?

First, let’s establish the bona fides of the specimen: It is a sheet of lead, inscribed with a prayer in Punic, which was rolled up and deposited into a tomb in a Carthaginian necropolis near the coastal area of Dermech in modern Tunis.

When was the Sargonic period?

All the way back in the Sargonic Period (c. 2334–2154 B CE) we have incantations such as this one that “applies an analogy of pot-breaking to a daimon”:⁷

Is smashing a pot a ritual?

There is a clear implication that the act of smashing the pot is to be performed as a ritual together with the prayer, and there are many such.

Is Punic read right or left?

Punic is read from right to left, as is the case with many Semitic languages. The phonetic value ḥ is a “hard H” often rendered, as I do, as kh.

Who was the Punic emperor?

People of Punic origin prospered again as traders, merchants and even politicians of the Roman Empire. Septimius Severus, emperor of Rome and a proud Punic, was said to speak Latin with a Punic accent. Under his reign Carthaginians rose to the elites and their deities entered their imperial cult. Carthage was rebuilt about 46 BC by Julius Caesar and settlements in the surrounding area were granted to soldiers who had retired from the Roman army. Carthage once again prospered and even became the number-two trading city in the Roman Empire, until Constantinople took over that position.

When did the Punic Wars end?

Most of the Punic culture was destroyed as a result of the Punic Wars fought between Rome and Carthage, from 264 to 146 BC, but traces of language, religion and technology could still be found in Africa during the early Christianisation, from AD 325 to 650. After the Punic Wars, Romans used the term Punic as an adjective meaning treacherous .

What were the cities of the Western Phoenicians?

The western Phoenicians were arranged into a multitude of self-governing city-states. Carthage had grown to be the largest and most powerful of these city-states by the fifth century BC and gained increasingly close control over Punic Sicily and Sardinia in the fourth century BC, but communities in Iberia remained outside their control until the second half of the third century BC. In the course of the Punic wars (264–146 BC), the Romans challenged Carthaginian hegemony in the western Mediterranean, culminating in the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, but the Punic language and Punic culture endured under Roman rule, surviving in some places until Late Antiquity .

What was Punic control in Libya?

Armed conflicts with the Libyans are first attested in the early fifth century, with several revolts attested in the fourth century (398, 370s, 310-307 BC). In the late fourth century, Aristotle reports that the Carthaginians dealt with local discontent by resettling poor citizens in cities in Libya. These settlements had to provide tribute and military manpower when required, but remained self-governing. There is some onomastic evidence for intermarriage between Punic people and Libyans in the fourth and third centuries BC.

What did the Phoenicians call themselves?

A passage from Augustine has often been interpreted as indicating that they called themselves "Chanani" (' Canaanites '), but it has been argued by Josephine Crawley Quinn that this is a misreading, since although this term is "applied to Levantine people" in the Hebrew Bible, "there is no other evidence for self-identification as Canaanite, and so we might suspect him of learned optimism." However, this opinion is not shared by all scholars. St Augustine's quote reads: "When our rural peasants are asked what they are, they reply, in Punic, 'Chanani ', which is only a corruption by one letter of the alphabet of what we would expect: What else should they reply except that they are 'Chananei'?".

What were the main cities of the Phoenicians?

From the 8th century BC, Phoenicians founded several cities and strongholds on strategic points in the south and west of Sardinia, often peninsulas or islands near estuaries, easy to defend and natural harbours, such as Tharros, Bithia, Sulci, Nora and Caralis ( Cagliari ). The north, the eastern coast and the interior of the island continued to be dominated by the indigenous Nuragic civilization, whose relations with the Sardo-Punic cities were mixed, including both trade and military conflict. Intermarriage and cultural mixing took place on a large scale. The inhabitants of the Sardo-Punic cities were a mixture of Phoenician and Nuragic stock, with the latter forming the majority of the population. Sardinia had a special position because it was central in the Western Mediterranean between Carthage, Spain, the river Rhône and the Etruscan civilization area. The mining area of Iglesiente was important for the metals lead and zinc .

Where did the Phoenicians settle?

The first Phoenicians settled in the western Mediterranean in the twelfth century BC and formed part of trading networks linked to Tyre, Arvad, Byblos, Berytus, Ekron and Sidon in Phoenicia proper. Although links with Phoenicia were retained throughout their history, they also developed close relations with other peoples of the western Mediterranean such as Sicilians, Berbers, Greeks and Iberians, and developed some cultural traits distinct from those of their Phoenician motherland. Some of these were shared by all western Phoenicians, while others were restricted to individual regions within the Punic sphere.

Summary

Terminology

Overview

Distribution

History

Genetics

Notable Punic people

See also