Editing Tunis (section)

===Carthage and early settlements===
{{Main|Carthage|Ancient Carthage|History of Carthage}}
[[File:Karthago Antoninus-Pius-Thermen.JPG|Ruins of the Roman [[Baths of Antoninus]] in Carthage.|thumb|left]]

The historical study of Carthage is problematic. Because its culture and records were destroyed by the Romans at the end of the [[Third Punic War]], very few Carthaginian [[primary source|primary historical sources]] survive. While there are a few ancient translations of [[Punic language|Punic]] texts into Greek and [[Latin]], as well as [[Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions|inscriptions on monuments and buildings discovered in Northwest Africa]],<ref>{{cite web
 |last        = Jongeling
 |first       = K.
 |year        = 2005
 |url         = http://website.leidenuniv.nl/~jongelingk/projects/neopunic-inscr/puninscr.html
 |title       = The Neo-Punic Inscriptions and Coin Legends
 |publisher   = University of Leiden
 |access-date  = April 14, 2006
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060629212917/http://website.leidenuniv.nl/~jongelingk/projects/neopunic-inscr/puninscr.html
 |archive-date = June 29, 2006
}}</ref> the main sources are [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] historians, including [[Livy]], [[Polybius]], [[Appian]], [[Cornelius Nepos]], [[Silius Italicus]], [[Plutarch]], [[Dio Cassius]], and [[Herodotus]]. These writers belonged to peoples in competition, and often in conflict, with Carthage.<ref name="Warmington_11">{{cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&docId=9384201|title=Carthage – 1960, Page 11 by B. H. Warmington|access-date=2017-09-17|archive-date=2011-10-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111021114736/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&docId=9384201}}</ref> Greek cities contended with Carthage over [[Sicily]],<ref>Herodotus, V2. 165–7</ref> and the [[Roman Republic|Romans]] fought three wars [[Punic Wars|against Carthage]].<ref>Polybius, World History: 1.7–1.60</ref> Not surprisingly, their accounts of Carthage are extremely hostile; while there are a few Greek authors who took a favourable view, these works have been lost.<ref name="Warmington_11"/> The area was originally a Berber settlement.<ref name="Fromherz2016">{{cite book|author-link1=Allen James Fromherz| first= Allen James |last= Fromherz|title=Near West: Medieval North Africa, Latin Europe and the Mediterranean in the Second Axial Age |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=k5w7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|date=16 March 2016|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-1-4744-1007-6 |page= 87}}</ref> The existence of settlements in and around the area of Tunis is attested by sources dating from the 4th century BC.<ref name="Sebag60">{{harvp|Sebag|1998|p=60}}</ref> Situated on a hill, its location served as an excellent point from which the comings and goings of naval and caravan traffic to and from Carthage could be observed. It was one of the first towns in the region to fall under Carthaginian control, and in the centuries that followed the settlement was mentioned in the military histories associated with [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]]. Thus, during Agathocles' expedition, which landed at [[Cape Bon]] in 310 BC, the town changed hands on various occasions.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}}

During the [[Mercenary War]], it is possible that the town served as a center for the native population of the area,<ref name="Sebag60"/> and that its population was mainly composed of peasants, fishermen, and craftsmen. Compared to the ancient ruins of Carthage, the town's ancient ruins are not as large. According to [[Strabo]], it was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC during the [[Third Punic War]]. Both the town and Carthage were destroyed; the former, however, was rebuilt first<ref name="Sebag70">{{harvp|Sebag|1998|p=70}}</ref> under the rule of [[Augustus]] and became an important town under Roman control and the center of a booming agricultural industry. The township is mentioned as ''Thuni'' in the [[Tabula Peutingeriana]].<ref name="Sebag70"/> In the system of Roman roads for the [[Africa (Roman province)|Roman province of Africa]], the town had the title of {{lang|la|mutatio}} ("way station, resting place").<ref name="Sebag70"/> The borough, increasingly Romanized, was also eventually Christianized and became the seat of a [[bishop]]. However, it remained modestly sized compared to Carthage during this time.<ref name="Renate">{{cite web |url=http://www.saisonstunisiennes.com/articles/tunishistoire/ |title= Tunis - Émergence d'une capitale| first= Renate |last= Fisseler-Skandrani| language=fr| trans-title= Tunis - Emergence of a Capital |website= saisonstunisiennes.com |url-status=usurped |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081204093252/http://www.saisonstunisiennes.com/articles/tunishistoire/ |archive-date=December 4, 2008}}</ref>