Carthage's Trade
Trade was a massive part of Carthage's legacy. Carthage traded for many goods ranging from olive oil to fish paste. Most of Carthage's trade happened in the Iberian Peninsula, and It was very important because they acquired most of their silver and tin from there. Carthage traded by land throughout the Sahara and through the sea to the Cassiterides were they acquired lots of tin. They used the silver and tin to trade across the Mediterranean Sea with other Phoenician cities. Tin was very important because you need it to make bronze and bronze was incredibly important at the time. However, tin was difficult to get because Carthage's two sources are Canary Island and the British Isles and both of them are far away and the Atlantic Ocean had never been mapped. Carthage had excellent sailors like Hanno the Navigator who could easily sail down to the Ivory Coast or to the Gold Coast in Africa. Also Himilco the Navigator sailed north along the Atlantic all the way to England. Carthaginian sailors made up stories about being attacked by sea monsters and killer sea weed to scare other Greeks from attempting to sail across the Mediterranean Sea. However, this eventually led to their demise when other Greeks started to want part of their monopoly like the Etruscans and the Romans. This led to the first Punic War, then escalated into a second and third Punic War. Carthage dominated trade in the Mediterranean in the 8th century.
Carthage's navy was it's first line of defense. At their height they had around 300-350 warships and when warships came to dock they would go into a circular inner war harbor. The middle of the circular war dock had a palace where the head of the navy could meet. The outer harbor housed tons of merchant ships that arrived and left everyday creating an amazing trading system in Carthage. Also encase enemies attacked they could block each harbor with chains to keep enemy ships from entering. Carthage's navy was one of the largest in the Mediterranean Sea and they used mass production to keep their numbers high at a lower price. The sailors and marines were normally hired from the Phoenician citizenry. The navy offered financial security and a stable job which lowered the unemployment rate because poor in other cities wanted to help a revolutionary leader to improve their chances of wealth. Carthage had a very high reputation with their sailors so they must have trained oarsman and coxswains during peacetime.
Hanno was a great leader when it came to guiding ships across the sea and he was once entrusted with 60 ships to explore and colonize parts of northwest Africa. He crossed the straits of Gibraltar and founded seven colonies across African land that is currently know as Morocco. Hanno even ventured further across the Atlantic coast of Africa. During one of his voyages he found a heavily populated island. When he tried to capture some of the males there they were described as savages who could not be calmed. They were able to capture several females who were to wild to handle and they were forced to kill them. They skinned them and took the skins back to the Temple of Tannit. They named these people gorillae and it is presumed that this is one of the first encounters ever recorded of gorillas. A quote from one of Hanno's notes roughly translates to, "The females were much more numerous than the males, and had rough skins: our interpreters called them Gorillae. We pursued but could take none of the males; they all escaped to the top of precipices, which they mounted with ease, and threw down stones; we took three of the females, but they made such violent struggles, biting and tearing their captors, that we killed them, and stripped off the skins, which we carried to Carthage: being out of provisions we could go no further." Some notes claim that their voyage made it all the way to Senegal. However, some scholars argue that Hanno traveled even further to Gambia. What many use to determine how far his voyage went is by looking at the mountain he described which was either Mount Cameroon or Mount Kukulima. The picture to the left of this paragraph is how his path of travel might have looked if you assume he reached Mount Cameroon.
Another great example of a leader is Himilco while little is known about him personally, we do know that he forged many great trade routes and helped Carthage flourish. He is known as the first explorer to reach the northwestern shores of Europe who was from the Mediterranean Sea. He sailed along the coasts of present day France, Spain, Portugal, and England. He reached the northwestern part of France and traveled Portugal which was inhibited by the Oestrimini. Then they most likely traded for bronze, tin, and other various precious metals or resources. Himilco also spread many rumors about sea monsters and killer seaweed to scare others from attempting to sail the Mediterranean Sea.