Destruction of Carthage and Corinth

In 146 BC, Roman armies razed two of the greatest cities in the Mediterranean world within months of each other: Carthage in North Africa and Corinth in Greece. The coincidence was not accidental. Both destructions were the culmination of a century of relentless expansion, and their combined consequences — in capital, slaves, political prestige, and urban ambition — left their mark on the city’s skyline and its politics in equal measure.

The Third Punic War had been a long time coming. After the Second Punic War, Carthage had been stripped of its overseas territories and its Spanish silver mines, burdened with a massive indemnity. Yet it recovered with uncomfortable speed, continuing to dominate agricultural markets and repay its debts far ahead of schedule. In the Roman senate, Cato the Elder made Carthaginian resilience into an obsession, ending every speech with the insistence that Carthage must be destroyed. War was declared in 149 BC, and after three years of siege the city was levelled, its population sold into slavery, its fields rendered uninhabitable. The Greek historian Polybius, embedded with the Roman commander Scipio Aemilianus, recorded that Scipio wept as the walls fell. When asked why, he replied that he was thinking of the inevitable fall of Rome itself. The destruction of an entire civilisation produced in Scipio a moment of terrible self-knowledge.

In the same year, the Roman general Lucius Mummius suppressed a rebellion by the Achaean League and sacked Corinth, the wealthiest port city in Greece. The city was levelled, its artworks shipped west, its inhabitants enslaved. Like Carthage, Corinth would eventually be refounded as a Roman colony — Julius Caesar planted both — because the strategic logic of each site was too obvious to ignore. But in 146, the message to the wider Mediterranean world was unambiguous: Rome’s patience had limits, and those limits had been reached simultaneously in the west and the east.

The material consequences from sacking Carthage and Corinth flooded into Rome almost immediately. Spoils, tribute, and the proceeds from mass enslavement poured capital into the city, and it went directly into stone, concrete, and, in small amounts, marble. The 170s and 180s had already seen the first basilicas framing the Forum and the first documented triumphal arches, but it is after 146 that the building program accelerates into something recognizably monumental. Rome acquired its first paved roads in great basalt blocks, its first stone bridge, its first marble temple (dedicated to Jupiter Stator in the Circus Flaminius), and, by around 140 BC, the Aqua Marcia, the most ambitious aqueduct the Romans had yet attempted.

The political ramifications were equally profound. Military success raised the profile of individual generals and their families, sharpening aristocratic competition for commands and triumphs at precisely the moment when the influx of slaves was displacing Italian smallholders and concentrating land in fewer hands. The same conquest that raised Rome’s first marble temple was already displacing the smallholders and inflaming the aristocratic rivalries that would eventually tear the Republic apart.

FURTHER READING

1. Crawford, Michael H., and Fllippo Coarelli. “Public Building in Rome between the Second Punic War and Sulla.” Papers of the British School at Rome, vol. 45, 1977, pp. 1–23. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40310858. Accessed 26 June 2026.
2. Eckstein, Arthur M. Rome enters the Greek East: from anarchy to hierarchy in the Hellenistic Mediterranean, 230-170 BC. John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
3. Hoyos, B. Dexter, and Dexter Hoyos, eds. A companion to the Punic Wars. Chichester, UK:: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
4. Welch K. A new view of the origins of the Basilica: the Atrium Regium, Graecostasis, and Roman diplomacy. Journal of Roman Archaeology. 2003;16:5-34. doi:10.1017/S1047759400012976

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i’m here in largo argentina it’s a great background to talk about republican rome and today we’re going to be talking about specifically 146 bc maybe you know the state maybe you know that that’s the year in which carthage was destroyed but there’s so much more happening in rome and its empire in this critical year so today we’ll take a look at what leads up to 146 and we’ll look at the aftermath ultimately let’s say culminating in the city of rome with a great building revolution today let’s talk about 146 bc okay so here’s what we’re going to be covering then uh what happens uh before 146 bc particularly a little review of the third and second centuries bc leading up to the destruction of carthage in particular then we’ll hone in on the early second century bc again episodes leading up to the ultimate annihilation of rome’s great um great foe really in rival in the western half of the mediterranean then we’ll turn to that actual destruction of carthage and then pivot over to the east and see how these things are all interrelated uh not that corinth was the great rival of um of the romans in the east but it was a major city it was a major port and ultimately the romans are going to be making an example of it to a degree of how they’re making an example of rome of carthage in the west and then i want to turn to what we spend so much time looking at in ancient rome live in all of our entries now the urban center of rome the second century really is a watershed moment and we’ll take a look at just how many important structures the things we call ultimately typical roman architectural features are really getting defined for the first time in the second century bc largely around this major conquest that’s taking place uh against the carthaginians as well as a lot of greek city-states and kingdoms in the east and then a couple of insights into the political and cultural ramifications that are as a result of all this success of the romans and then enlarging their empire really defining this great empire that they have been working for centuries on but it’s really snowballing here towards the end in the middle of the second century of bc so a little bit of background we did have another video on this uh the conquest of italy that culminates in the defeat of pierce of the pirus and taranto down there in the heel of the boot of italy and from that point the romans are drawn into conflicts in sicily largely right there in the straits of messina and because the greek let’s say the greek kingdom of siracusa that really largely dominated sicily uh gets involved in conflict gets embroiled with the romans and ultimately carthage is also that has um at some land controlled in points in sicilies drawn into the conflict and then really it’s step aside uh syracusa and let these two heavyweights uh duke it out and that’s the first punic war a lot of naval battles a lot of successes and uh there is a period of calm but with the second punic war it’s all and out more in rome’s backyard and you have famously hannibal here shown in a early 16th century fresco in the capitoline museums and that is by jacob ripanda and it is uh just a fun image to take a look at how people over time are conceptualizing hannibal but he did loom large in the consciousness of the romans in the second punic war because he literally was there in their back door and moved freely throughout southern italy for quite some time but finally the romans moved the uh war into the backyard of carthage and it’s there in modern-day tunisia at zama that the general scipio defeats hannibal and uh you know the rest is history but but actually what happens is um the romans pretty much tied up the loose ends of what carthage was going to be allowed to do after this second conflict but hannibal himself is going to be leading carthage and he’s going to be spending his time as a political refugee as a military strategist and expert to a lot of people in the greek east people in the greek east that are getting in contact with and are battling against the romans as the romans head east and he is a real thorn in the roman side until finally his death in 181 but there is this this paranoia this uh concern about you know what is hannibal going to do to stir up trouble for us what are the carthaginians capable of certainly they didn’t want to go into a third conflict but they did now getting closer to the conflict of the third punic war let’s look at what the romans are turning most their attention to they’re turning their attention to the east again that’s where animals going to be going and you do have a lot of conquest of the so-called successors of alexander the great so he dies in 323 his generals then carve up his empire of course a lot of his empire was what we call the middle east uh egypt and it’s a lot of the persian empire so that is where the romans are turning to next and we have the rise of great generals not just scipio but we have a pharmaninis who defeats philip the fifth of macedon alexander the great himself was alexander of macedonia so you have that idea of you know places kingdoms people that have some of the wealth achieved by alexander the great sending their own kingdoms and they are being taken out one by one by the roman armies uh rome against antiochus iii so what we call syria today uh the galatians that’s in turkey emilia’s paulus in 168 defeats perseus of macedon uh at a place called pidna and sets up a very famous trophy in adelphi so we’re looking down here you know decade by decade victory after victory after victory for rome and of course people are getting triumphs their big military victory parades uh in the city of rome they’re bringing the spoils of war it’s the money it’s the slaves and all this newfound revenue as areas that are conquered are going to be taxed provinces are going to be set up rome’s first international overseas uh province was sicily after the second punic war and you get sardinia and then you’re moving over uh to the east obviously uh it’s you know it’s it’s an unstoppable machine and it’s really picking up tempo let’s say in the early 2nd century bc and then we’re going to now turn our attention to carthage because the rums are not forgetting what literally is just across the way uh it from their territory that they’ve conquered in sicily you can see tunisia from the southernmost part of sicily it’s that close first we’ll talk about carthage its destruction what led up to it we’ve already had two punic wars and yet rome felt compelled in 149 to start a third war against carthage ultimately culminating in its destruction finally realizing that statement by cato the elder carthage must be destroyed cartago de lenda est with the destruction of carthage you have the ultimate concern perennial concern let’s say the members of the senate led by cater the elder who’s already a well-known statesman in the 180s is is hounding and harassing his fellow senators that look at what carthage is doing they’re able to pay off the thousands and thousands of uh you know the the gold the the talents of silver uh in a short order much faster than the romans ever thought they could and the produce that is arriving in the city of rome is coming from carthage you know in the same day so he leads up with and he continues in his speeches that carthage must be destroyed he’s saying this almost on a daily basis and it leads ultimately to an assessment of how carthage is the romans are really uh you know paranoid at this point because the carthaginians are smart uh merchants they’ve always done well but they’ve lost all the land holdings from the previous war they no longer have land holdings in sicily or sardinia or in spain they don’t have the silver mines that they opened up anymore the romans have taken that over and yet still the romans are paranoid and war is finally declared 149 and we have the account by the greek historian first true greek great historian that we have recorded about roman history uh he’s writing in greek he’s befriended he’s in this circle of scipio for canis and ultimately we have the the total destruction the raising of the walls the sowing of salt in the fields and so on but let’s let’s face it it’s too much of a good thing there in carthage and within a what 15 years they’re already talking about um colonizing it they’ve got a great double harbor it’s in a unique strategic position and so forth and then really it’s not really going to take off until we get to julius caesar in terms of a large uh colony being uh constructed but it it it was something that the romans ultimately deemed necessary to sell off the population as slaves to just totally liquidate the the assets of this civilization uh here is a horrific kind of view and this is by edward uh pointer in 1868 just one of those scenes of the siege of carthage and it really was something that left an impression on romans and school children for future generations but everyone remembers that um that quote that anecdote of polybius remarking that as carthage you know the walls are being knocked down the city is being uh sacked and skippy himself is seen to be weeping and when columbia asks you know why are you crying because this is the end of of these people and of course i know that one day this state will fall my people my city of rome so it’s uh it’s something that the romans were very much aware of when they had finally then removed their great foe and in fact without the carthaginians then what was holding back the romans from the total domination of the mediterranean and they could further turn their attention to the east 146 bc the destruction of carthage but another pivotal event took place in that same year the destruction of corinth in the eastern half of the mediterranean why did this take place in the same year what were the repercussions what led up to this event let’s talk now about 146 and the annihilation of the magnificent city of corinth by the romans okay so briefly we talked about the various uh forays into the east and the just successive victories of the romans against these various successor kingdoms of alexander the great the seleucids uh the um the macedonians uh it really was something that um was i mean the romans we see them with their treaties with their and the kitty or their friendships their relationships with with these greek city-states and these kingdoms that ultimately there’s a reverence there is an appreciation of that culture and uh politically there oftentimes as opposed to what they’re doing in the west remaining largely hands off in their dealings with the inner workings of the greek politics and city-states and so forth and it led eventually to infighting amongst themselves the greek cities the greek city-states and ultimately they can league one of these groupings of various city-states that ultimately decide to rebel against the romans to throw out their shackles even though the romans um approach to dealing with the greeks and their own inner complexities politically socially culturally wasn’t enough and when the romans didn’t decide to come down hard they literally crushed the league quickly and the general name lucius mummies is a great inscription by him directly by him that’s in the museo nationale romano museo de terme he is leading the troops that advance to corinth siege the city and then ultimately sack and raise that city to the ground here is a horrific image by tony robert fleury of 1870 and what’s going to be the sequel the sequel is that this two will become a roman colony a great roman city that’s going to flourish why well again like like carthage it had a great natural harbor it was a great port and the romans were going to ignore those facts and they built up their own cities so when you go to corinth one day you’ll see largely a greek city with this heavy architecture style that will basically look like a roman city with the amphitheater and everything that you do associate uh with the romans uh so it’s an exciting place to visit if you want to see that combination then of um of the of the greek initial imprint the older temples and then subsequently massive new rectilinear roman colony of the imperial period so long-standing excavation by the american school in athens it’s worth a visit one day when you go to the peloponnese there’s a real building revolution that takes place in the second century bc we’re going to have the first stone bridge the first paved road the first basilicas and the real watershed moment is taking place after the destruction of carthage and also corinth you’re bringing in more than ever slaves spoils of war you’re able to make your city more magnificent than ever you’re really developing the urban center of rome and here we have a little bit of insight into that moment looking at largo argentina which has four temples the date from the third the second into the first centuries bc and it is an extraordinary window into republican rome into that moment in time when rome is truly creating a massive empire throughout the mediterranean okay so here’s a little rundown a lot of structural innovations are created the basilica and the porticos are coming in to frame um sacred and profane spaces basilicas or the law courts that start to define the area of the roman form we’re going to have and this is taking place in the in the 170s and 180s bc you got the first round for arches documented in the 190s uh we’re going to get the first uh portico the portico emilia which is basically a covered area for uh ship sheds uh emporium uh coverings for warehouses along the type of river with new port facilities we’re going to get the first stone bridge which would have been right behind here the round temple in the forum warren we get the first paved road uh so sure there are roads beforehand but now they’re getting these huge lava stone battle stone blocks that we kind of know and love as we walk along the villa appiah we’re going to get the first marvel temple in the circus flaminius this round temple right here that we see is the oldest marble temple still standing which is dedicated to hercules and uh it’s something to to keep in mind that this would have been something new this would have been something dynamic and it’s not really huge compared to the imperial temples but it is something that is making a grand statement and this temple gets us close to the first marvel temple down the street in the circus flaminius uh and that today’s jewish ghetto dedicated to the temple of jupiter stators already in with the uh the conquest of corinth and carthage this is the mindset bringing in bringing in foreign foreign stone as good as what they have in the greek world we have it now in rome and then probably the most costly structure not to ever forget is the akko marcha which is just a massive enterprise herculean effort big engineering biggest most complex aqueduct to date that the romans build when did they build it by 140 where’s the money coming from from the conquest of corinth and carthage okay political cultural ramifications a lot of new money brings a lot of new opportunities think about luxury goods grain is now being imported from new locations such as uh sicily from the second punic war coming also uh eventually going to be buying into that market of egypt before they conquer it slave trading is going to be massive de los is a famous island in uh in uh one of the greek islands the sibling islands where they’re saying that the romans are trading up to 10 000 slaves a day there’s all kinds of real estate uh speculation because the romans don’t have a lot of land so what are you going to do with that land farm estates you’re going to tax contract out to tax the people and tax their lands bring revenue into rome so everything is just snowballing the good times are rolling and a lot of that wealth is coming into one city is coming into rome and with each victory you have the prominence of the generals raised their profiles their family profiles raised which means there’s going to be more competition because there aren’t that many general ships to get so families profiles can be enhanced glory to the family glory to the state and one of the key ways in which you’re going to do that is to be the general win the bing war and come back and celebrate with the triumph to really distinguish yourself and set your part set yourself apart from your uh from your peers so these are some of the ideas and concepts that come with the conquest of carthage and corinth underlining just how pivotal 146 bc was in the history of ancient rome you