"The first Phoenicians on this beach"

February 17, 2018 12:29 PM

Hanno the Navigator was Carthaginian explorer who traveled south along the African coast in the sixth Century BCE. He left behind an account of his journey, a periplus, which among other things gave the world the word "gorilla", which may have been a kikongo phrase originally. It can be read in English translation on Livius along with scholarly notes by Jona Lendering. Hanno's brother Himilco was also an explorer, venturing north along the Atlantic coast of Europe. Lionel Casson puts Hanno in context of the history of exploration. While reading the links, you might want to listen to folk rocker Al Stewart's 2008 song Hanno the Navigator.
posted by Kattullus (13 comments total)

I just got done reading a very good book about Carthage And was kind of disappointed to learn he'd actually started his war on Rome from Spain. It's still an impressive feat, but it was so much more impressive in my imagination, starting from Carthage.

Carthage and the Phoenician settlement of the western Mediterranian are a criminally neglected chapter of history.
posted by hwestiii at 1:29 PM on February 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

Punic place names might survive for British estuarial places
posted by clew at 1:44 PM on February 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

I reckon the Carthaginians were cleverer and much better at trade and innovation than the Romans, who had a massive inferiority complex about them. Unfortunately they were also arrogant and elitist, whereas the Romans might be dull and plodding, but provided real opportunities to anyone, regardless of origin, to sign up and prosper.
If Hannibal had pushed his advantage and taken Rome, I think the world would probably be a significantly richer and more technologically advanced place; probably not a nicer place to live in. But the Romans got to write history.
posted by Segundus at 2:30 PM on February 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

It's still an impressive feat, but it was so much more impressive in my imagination, starting from Carthage.

Wasn’t it a two-generation project, with Hamilcar Barca taking Spain specifically so that his son would have it as a base for an invasion of Rome?
posted by Segundus at 2:34 PM on February 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

If Hannibal had pushed his advantage and taken Rome, I think the world would probably be a significantly richer and more technologically advanced place; probably not a nicer place to live in. But the Romans got to write history.

Hannibal had no siege equipment, and as Rome had walls there was no way he could take it after Cannae. One of his major problems came because he was not being resupplied from Carthage because there were those there who didn't want him to gain too much power...which sounds a bit like Rome, a few years on.

Greeks wrote a lot of supportive histories of Carthage; it's our loss that they vanished, but others too wrote accounts of Carthage.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 2:34 PM on February 17, 2018 [8 favorites]

Alternatives to Al Stewart:
Wach "Carthage"
Fall of Carthage (metal band)
Carthage (yup, another metal band)
Carthage Family (hip hop duo)
I prefer the first & last links, but, you know, most things are better when they're not Al Stewart.
posted by evilDoug at 2:54 PM on February 17, 2018

Related to absolutely nothing (because he was named after Hannibal Buress and Hannibal Lecter), but sometimes I call my cat "Hanno" (and also Hanny).

But here's a picture of him to make up for it?
posted by elsietheeel at 3:40 PM on February 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

Carthage seems to have practiced child sacrifice, so there’s that....
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:01 PM on February 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

And what kind of empire would sacrifice its children regularly in such plainly brutal ways, for no proven benefit?
posted by Countess Elena at 6:17 PM on February 17, 2018 [10 favorites]

I had no idea that Carthage even had colonies outside the Mediterranean and North Africa.
posted by tavella at 7:11 PM on February 17, 2018

Hanno is also the name of the Indian elephant that the king of Portugal gave to Pope Leo X

Romans destroyed Carthage (BC 156), but the location was so useful that they had to rebuild it. Rebuilt, it proved useful to the invading Vandals as well, who moved in, took over the merchant fleet and navy and used the boats in AD 455 for sailing to and sacking - Rome.

What goes around comes around.
posted by BWA at 7:33 PM on February 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Fascinating. I'm only familiar with Sabratha Libya,which started as a Carthaginian trading post and became a city in 4th century, and Leptis Magna Libya, founded by Phoenicians, taken by Carthage, and then developed into a major city by Rome. I spent two years in Libya and visited both sites regularly; they're magnificent and Leptis is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
posted by MovableBookLady at 9:46 PM on February 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Segundus: "If Hannibal had pushed his advantage and taken Rome, I think the world would probably be a significantly richer and more technologically advanced place; probably not a nicer place to live in."

This was the backstory to one of Poul Anderson's Time Patrol stories. The Carthaginian present day is pretty weird.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:12 PM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]