Carthage, Eve MacDonald
Carthage, Eve MacDonald
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Carthage
A New History

Author: Eve MacDonald

Narrator: Eve MacDonald

Unabridged: 10 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/13/2026


Synopsis

For six hundred years, the city of Carthage dominated the western Mediterranean. Founded in the ninth century BCE as a small colonial outpost, by the third, it had grown into the area's largest, richest empire. When, inevitably, it clashed with Rome for supremacy over the region, the conflict spanned over one century, three wars, and forty-three years of active fighting. After Carthage fell, the city was razed, and the tale of its defeat became a mere foundation stone in Rome's legend. But in this landmark new history—the first in over a decade—rising-star ancient historian Eve MacDonald restores the story of Carthage and its people to its rightful place in the history of the ancient world, reclaiming a lost culture long overshadowed by Roman mythmaking.MacDonald takes listeners on a journey from the Phoenician Levant of the early Iron Age to the Atlantic and all along the shores of Africa. In gripping narrative, MacDonald shows how and why the Romans came to so fear Carthage, as one of the few rivals ever to inflict multiple defeats upon them—and what the world lost when it was finally gone.Reclaimed from the Romans, Carthage is a dramatic tale from the other side of history—revealing that, without Carthage, there would be no Rome, and no modern world as we know it.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brendan on October 03, 2025

I am notorious (if anyone cared that is) for liking ancient history the least of all time periods. I find the inability to tell cohesive stories for many ancient people to be a big drawback to my feeble brain. Then, there is a book like Carthage by Eve MacDonald, and I finally get it. For this parti......more

Goodreads review by W.S. on August 03, 2025

Carthage has spent centuries being seen through Roman eyes, from Virgil's mythologised account of its founding to how its destruction is inextricably linked to Roman national heroes like Cato and Scipio. In this book, MacDonald seeks to fill in the blanks using the tools of modern scholarship, exami......more

Goodreads review by Donna on August 28, 2025

Everyone knows the story of Hannibal crossing the Alps with his elephants but ancient Carthage was so much more than that. It was a power that dominated the western Mediterranean for six centuries before it fell to Rome. Starting with the Phoenicians of the early Iron Age this book reclaims the story......more

Goodreads review by Josh on September 17, 2025

I haven't read a book solely on Carthaginian history before, and this is a great one to start with i found. It covers the entire story of cathage with a little extra either side. It introduced me to new figures, such as Agothoclese of Syracuse, who i want to read more about. Its a very captivating r......more

Goodreads review by Jonathan on December 18, 2025

In "Carthage: A New History," Eve MacDonald sets out to recover a civilization known primarily through the testimony of its executioners. Rather than rehash the familiar story—Carthage as Rome’s cunning, morally suspect rival— MacDonald asks a more complicated question: what can be said about Cartha......more