Carthage

Carthage was a city in Northern Africa, and center of a vast trading empire in the Western Mediterranean. Little fact is known about the nation, or it's people. The Romans speak very foully about the nation as a land where children were sacrificed to merciless gods, a land where the majority of the people lived as slaves to a wealthy Plutocracy. Several schoalars have come forth to defend the name of the country, though as Rome burned down the city, and killed every man, woman, and child their in over a year long period of mass genecide the people's own record of themselves has been lost. What we do know is that the city was founded by Phonecians. According to legend, it's first ruler was Dido, a Phonecian Princess who fled her brother's domain in order to escape assassination. Dido purchased the land that became Carthage from local berbers, and soon had a city to rival that of her brothers. Dido's story is full of some questions as this strong heroine is reported to have committed suicide. The questions are raised by the fact that the wealthy of the city did not favor the idea of her marrying a shepherd, a man whose humble nature made him, compared to others, more desirable to Dido; as the other suiters seemed to her wealthy weaklings who did not understand what it meant to be a true man. The legend varries though it is generally stated that the sheperd was falesly reported killed, which drove her to end her own life. This is acredited to have led to the rise of the citie's Oligarchy which would rule till the day of the citie's distruction. Carthage continued to be a viable trade port, and soon established, like it's Phonecian motherland, colonies. This expansion concerned Rome, who began a campaign against it. According to records the Romans captured a Carthaginian vessel (records claim it to have been a warship, though many now believe it to have been a simple trade vessel they pirated). The Romans soon found that each tember was labeled. Carthage was unique in that it created 'ship kits'. One could purchase a well organized, pre-pared set of parts, and using instructions written on the parts themselves, build your own ship. It was the service that enabled Rome to create a fleet to threaten the Carthaginians, as the designs they gained from the Carthaginian ship were noted by them, and the ships massproduced. Most of the Carthaginian army where mercenaries, as Carthage was a nation of trade, and not of war. The Roman attacks lead to the Punic Wars, and the rise of Hanabal, a Carthaginian General who nearly sacked Rome. When he found the city was no longer defended by mere wooden walls, he decided to bypass Rome, and regather his forces. Rome took the chance to strike at Carthage, putting the city in seige, and forcing Hanabal to return. The battle lasted a year, with many Carthaginians dying of starvation. The city was burned, the people killed, none where allowed to survive the terror.