Carthage (813 B.C. – 146 B.C.)
Carthage was founded in the 9th century B.C. on the Gulf of Tunis. From the 6th century onwards, it developed into a great trading empire covering much of the Mediterranean and was home to a brilliant civilization. In the course of the long Punic Wars, Carthage occupied some of Rome’s territories before finally being destroyed by its rival in 146 B.C.
In his book, World’s Great Men of Color, Volume 1, history scholar J.A. Rogers asserts, “The Carthaginians were descendants of the Phoenicians, a Negroid people, and that in fact until the rise of the doctrine of white superiority, Hannibal was traditionally known as a Black man.”
Today, many encyclopedias classify the Carthaginians as whites or Semites, but ancient Greek and Roman eyewitness accounts paint a different picture.The indigenous peoples of Carthage were called the Afers. Ancient Roman poet Vergil in his poem “Moretum” speaks of a woman from the Afer [Afar/Afra] race. He says of her:
“And all her figure proves her native land. Her hair was curly, thick her lips, and dark her color.”
In Library of History Book XX, Greek historian Diodorus mentions a Greek lieutenant named Agathocles, who defeated a people in the area of present-day Tunisia, who were the same hue as Ethiopians.
The eyewitness accounts are corroborated by physical anthropology. L. Bertholon and E. Chantre, both well-noted French anthropologists, documented their examination of skeletons throughout North Africa in all periods. They note that the remains of both upper and lower class individuals of ancient North Africa were representative of the Negroid race.
Coin Thought to depict Hannibal of Carthage
