Cato Sr., Senator of Ancient Rome, ended all his speeches before the patricians in the same way - with the words "Carthage must be destroyed." Many senators laughed at him, some were annoyed by Cato's insistence, but regardless of the topic of the speech, he stubbornly maintained that it was necessary to go to war on Carthage.
Why such perseverance? What caused this obsession: a delicate calculation of a politician or an obsession? Why should Carthage be destroyed?
Geopolitical explanation
Geopolitics as a science is based on invariable factors influencing the formation of a given state, such as the geographical location of a country and its landscape. The space in which this or that state is located largely determines how the further development of the country will take place, and how its relations with neighboring states will develop.
The cities of Carthage were the embodiment of a trading system. They lived here on the principle of individualism, rationalism and complete skepticism. In Carthage, a wealthy man was considered almost "holy." It did not cast doubt on the lowland of human nature: corruption, corruption, all methods are good for maximizing profit.
Rome and Carthage
The brilliant power that conquered Rome several times, but in fact - the cult of the dark deity of Moloch, who devoured the newborns. The Carthaginians fed hundreds of babies to their idol to gain more wealth and power. On the ruins of Carthage, a huge number of small skeletons were discovered. Hundreds of girls and boys from noble Carthaginian families were sacrificed. Many voluntarily went to the altar. Sacrifices continued until Carthage was captured by the Romans.
Perhaps Cato, arguing that Carthage must be destroyed, penetrated the very essence of the struggle of civilizations. After all, the content of the struggle between Rome and Carthage was not a conflict of interests, not a struggle for territory. The course of battles predetermined the history of the whole world, at least for several future millennia.
The history of Carthage and Rome are two poles of the same civilization. Rome, too, was not distinguished by kindness, but at the same time he followed a completely different path. The Romans believed in the honor and dignity of man, respected discipline and their heroes. The corrupting elements of money gave way to direct light violence. The ominous Moloch was replaced by the heavenly gods, arrogant, but fair. The Romans fought, they were not merchants. So, it was thanks to the manic idea of Cato, who insisted that Carthage should be destroyed, that humanity lived just such a reality.
A bit of history
Carthage was located in the modern city of Tunisia. The ancient state was founded by the Phoenicians in 825 BC. e. By the beginning of the 3rd century, Carthage became a powerful power, which became the cause of the Punic Wars. After Carthage was nevertheless destroyed by the Romans, its territory went to the Roman province of Africa.
Today, any guest of Tunisia can visit the ruins of the ancient city, but not everyone can see the entire territory. Some objects are still being investigated by archaeologists, some are located on the territory of the presidential residence, and everything else occupies such a huge area that it is physically impossible to inspect it.
Tourists, as a rule, are interested in the most ambitious monuments, but many of them created not the Puns, but the Romans. From the Punic era, only urban structures, the remains of streets, ports and Tophet were preserved. It was here in Tofet that small urns with ashes, charred children's skeletons of newborns and the remains of thousands of young men and women were found. All of them were sacrificed to a dark deity.