Editing Carthage (section)

==Trade and business==
[[File:218BCMAPMEDITERRANEAN.jpg|thumb|Map of the Mediterranean in 218&nbsp;BC]]
The merchants of Carthage were in part heirs of the Mediterranean trade developed by Phoenicia, and so also heirs of the rivalry with Greek merchants. Business activity was accordingly both stimulated and challenged. [[Cyprus]] had been an early site of such commercial contests. The Phoenicians then had ventured into the western Mediterranean, founding trading posts, including Utica and Carthage. The [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] followed, entering the western seas where the commercial rivalry continued. Eventually it would lead, especially in [[Sicily]], to several centuries of intermittent war.<ref>Cf., Charles-Picard, ''Daily Life in Carthage'' (Paris 195; Oxford 1961, reprint Macmillan 1968) at 165, 171–177.</ref><ref>[[Donald Harden]], ''The Phoenicians'' (New York: Praeger 1962, 2d ed. 1963) at 57–62 (Cyprus and Aegean), 62–65 (western Mediterranean); 157–170 (trade); 67–70, 84–85, 160–164 (the Greeks).</ref> Although Greek-made merchandise was generally considered superior in design, Carthage also produced trade goods in abundance. That Carthage came to function as a manufacturing colossus was shown during the [[Third Punic War]] with Rome. Carthage, which had previously disarmed, then was made to face the fatal Roman siege. The city "suddenly organised the manufacture of arms" with great skill and effectiveness. According to [[Strabo]] (63 BC – AD 21) in his ''[[Geographica]]'':

<blockquote>[Carthage] each day produced one hundred and forty finished shields, three hundred swords, five hundred spears, and one thousand missiles for the catapults... . Furthermore, [Carthage although surrounded by the Romans] built one hundred and twenty decked ships in two months... for old timber had been stored away in readiness, and a large number of skilled workmen, maintained at public expense.<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'', XVII: 3, 15; as translated by H. L. Jones (Loeb Classic Library 1932) at VIII: 385.</ref></blockquote>

The textile industry in Carthage probably started in private homes, but the existence of professional weavers indicates that a sort of factory system later developed. Products included embroidery, carpets, and use of the purple murex dye (for which the Carthaginian isle of [[Djerba]] was famous). [[Metalwork]]ers developed specialized skills, i.e., making various weapons for the armed forces, as well as domestic articles, such as knives, forks, scissors, mirrors, and razors (all articles found in tombs). Artwork in metals included vases and lamps in bronze, also bowls, and plates. Other products came from such crafts as the [[pottery|potters]], the [[glassmaking|glassmakers]], and the [[goldsmith]]s. Inscriptions on votive stele indicate that many were not slaves but 'free citizens'.<ref>Sabatino Moscati, ''The World of the Phoenicians'' (1966; 1973) at 223–224.</ref>

[[File:PhoenicianTrade.png|right|thumb|Trade routes of Phoenicia (Byblos, Sidon, Tyre) & Carthage]]

Phoenician and Punic merchant ventures were often run as a family enterprise, putting to work its members and its subordinate clients. Such family-run businesses might perform a variety of tasks: own and maintain the [[trireme|ships]], providing the captain and crew; do the negotiations overseas, either by [[barter]] or buying and selling, of their own manufactured commodities and trade goods, and native products (metals, foodstuffs, etc.) to carry and trade elsewhere; and send their [[agent (law)|agents]] to stay at distant outposts in order to make lasting local contacts, and later to establish a warehouse of shipped goods for exchange, and eventually perhaps a settlement. Over generations, such activity might result in the creation of a wide-ranging network of trading operations. Ancillary would be the growth of [[Reciprocity (cultural anthropology)|reciprocity]] between different family firms, foreign and domestic.<ref>Richard J. Harrison, ''Spain at the Dawn of History'' (London: Thames and Hudson 1988), "Phoenician colonies in Spain" at 41–50 [42].</ref><ref>Cf., Harden, ''The Phoenicians'' (1962, 2d ed. 1963) at 157–166.</ref>

State protection was extended to its sea traders by the Phoenician city of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] and later likewise by the daughter city-state of Carthage.<ref>E.g., during the reign of [[Hiram I|Hiram]] (tenth century) of Tyre. Sabatino Moscati, ''Il Mondo dei Fenici'' (1966), translated as ''The World of the Phoenicians'' (1968, 1973) at 31–34.</ref> [[Stéphane Gsell]], the well-regarded French historian of ancient North Africa, summarized the major principles guiding the civic rulers of Carthage with regard to its policies for trade and commerce:
* to open and maintain markets for its merchants, whether by entering into direct contact with foreign peoples using either treaty negotiations or naval power, or by providing security for isolated trading stations
* the [[monopoly|reservation of markets]] exclusively for the merchants of Carthage, or where competition could not be eliminated, to regulate trade by state-sponsored agreements with its commercial rivals
* suppression of [[piracy]], and promotion of Carthage's ability to freely navigate the seas<ref>Stéphane Gsell, ''Histoire ancienne de l'Afrique du Nord'' (Paris: Librairie Hachette 1924) at volume IV: 113.</ref>

Both the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians were well known in antiquity for their [[secrecy]] in general, and especially pertaining to commercial contacts and [[trade routes]].<ref>[[Strabo]] (c. 63 BC – AD 20s), ''Geographica'' at III, 5.11.</ref><ref>Walter W. Hyde, ''Ancient Greek Mariners'' (Oxford Univ. 1947) at 45–46.</ref><ref>Warmington, ''Carthage'' (1960, 1964) at 81 (secretive), 87 (monopolizing).</ref> Both cultures excelled in commercial dealings. [[Strabo]] (63 BC–AD 21), the Greek [[geographer]], wrote that before its fall (in 146 BC) Carthage enjoyed a population of 700,000 and directed an alliance of 300 cities.<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'', XVII: 3, 15; in the Loeb Classic Library edition of 1932, translated by H. L. Jones, at VIII: 385.</ref> The Greek historian [[Polybius]] ({{circa|203}}–120) referred to Carthage as "the wealthiest city in the world".<ref>Cf., [[Theodor Mommsen]], ''Römische Geschicht'' (Leipzig: Reimer and Hirzel 1854–1856), translated as the [[History of Rome (Mommsen)|History of Rome]] (London 1862–1866; reprinted by J. M. Dent 1911) at II: 17–18 (Mommsen's Book III, Chapter I).</ref>