1985 End of the Third Punic War
The Punic Wars were waged between Carthage (a Phoenician-founded city, thus the name “Punic) and the Roman Republic in the third and second centuries B.C. Both were aggressive, bloody, expanding empires and it appeared that only one of them would survive to dominate the Mediterranean world.
The First Punic War (246-241 BC) was fought over control of the rich island of Sicily. The Romans were victorious and Carthage then turned its eyes toward dominating the Iberian peninsula. The Second Punic War (218-201 BC) began with the invasion of Italy by a Carthaginian army from Spain led by Hannibal. Though he was never defeated on Italian soil, Hannibal never succeeded in either taking Rome or causing Rome’s alliances to fall apart. When Roman forces landed near Carthage, Hannibal was called home to defend the city. He suffered his only defeat at the Battle of Zama and the Carthaginian empire was reduced to a small area of North Africa.
The revival of Carthage over the next fifty years led some Roman politicians to call for the final extinction of their rival. “Cartago delenda est!” — Carthage must be destroyed — became the watchword. In 146 BC, Carthage was overrun by Roman troops after a lengthy siege, the city was burnt to the ground and its inhabitants were sold into slavery.
In 1985 the mayor of Rome and the honorary mayor of Carthage met to put an end to bad feelings, signing a symbolic friendship and collaboration pact in a ceremony at the ruins of ancient Carthage outside Tunis.