Is it true that the Romans planted the earth with salt in the place of the destroyed Carthage?

It is generally accepted that after the long -awaited victory over Carthage and the complete destruction of the city in 146 BC. The troops of Scipio African plowed the land in the district and fell asleep by sea salt so that nothing would grow in these places. We checked how plausible this historical detail is.

The fact that the winners chose such an original way to end the worst enemy once and for all, many sources in Russian and other languages ​​report. Among them as authoritative online resources (encyclopedia "Around the world"), and print publications ("Big Russian Encyclopedia", 14-volume encyclopedia "World History", books "100 great cities of antiquity" And "100 great battles of antiquity"), as well as some university Textbooks.

In 2012, explaining his position regarding the war in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the first large -scale ethnic cleaning took place against the population of the Phoenician state. “The Roman Empire not only captured and occupied Carthage, but also when it destroyed everything, cut it all out, they also sprinkled with salt so that nothing grew,” - reminded Then Putin.

As is known from school textbooks, The third Punic war I put an end to the centuries -old confrontation between Carthage and the Roman Republic. The dream of the Roman Cato of the Elder, who, according to believe Plutarch, each of his performances in the Senate finished with the words: “Ceterum Censeo Carthaginem Esse Dolendam” (“And besides, I claim that Carthage should be destroyed” - lat.). Cato himself lived a rather long life (especially for the ancient world) life - 85 years, but for only three years I missed one of the key events in the history of his country.

In 146 BC. e. After a long siege, Carthage fell. Having taken the city, Roman commander Scipio Emilian African ordered Start it. The fire in the almost half a million city lasted 17 days. Most of the inhabitants died during the siege and assault, and the survivors were sold into slavery. Further, as the material tells on the website of the Russian Historical Library, Scipio sent a request to the Senate what to do with the conquered state. “Most of the senators insisted on the implementation of a long -standing goal - to equalize Carthage with the Earth, to destroy all the cities that remained to the end to him. It was executed. According to the old custom, Scipio called to the gods of Carthage, asking them to leave the defeated country and settle in Rome; The ruins of Carthage were demolished, and a curse was uttered over his place, which turned into an empty field, condemning him forever to remain abandoned people; It was forbidden to settle on it or sow bread, ”the site tells us.

Curses with curses, but how is the notorious salt? There are several basic sources of information about the purean wars. This is first of all "Universal History" In 40 books of the ancient Greek historian Polybius, who witnessed the capture of Carthage. Unfortunately, most of this work is considered lost, including a significant share of information about the Third Punic War. Today, certain details of the disappeared books are known only in the retelling of Byzantine historians of the 10th century. Also, the fundamental work on this topic can be called the "History of Rome from the founding of the city" of Titus Libya, who lived at the turn of two er. However, the 51st book-about the period of interest to us-has been preserved only in the form brief content. Other ancient sources about the purean wars include stories Plutarch, Cassia Dion And Diodorus of Sicilian. Alas, and from them only scattered information about the events of 146 BC came to us. And nothing "Roman history" Appian of Alexandria (II century) contains more or less detailed data on the last days of Carthage. Neither in it, nor in those scraps that have been preserved from other ancient authors, there is nothing about salt or a plow.

Moreover, they did not write about the "pickling" of the Carthaginian land and no medieval historians. When at the end of the 13th century the Italian Pacacrine rebelled against the power of the pope, Boniface VIII He ordered to destroy this town and published Bull, which was said to be plowed “according to the old example of Carthage in Africa”, and then salted. From the quote “I spent it with a plow, like an ancient Carthage in Africa, and sowed salt on it ...”, you must agree, it is not clear whether the dad implied that the second action in Carthage was also produced.

And only many centuries later in the literature information about the use of salt in Carthage. So, in 1858 they wrote about this in the not -so -author "New American Encyclopedia", and in 1930 they first reproduced in academic literature - in the article "Cambridge ancient history". Following this, the information about the symbolic gesture dispersed from historical books. And only in the 1980s, historians began to nominate convincing against her Arguments.

In 2007 on the site The Straight Dope We decided to calculate how much salt would need to really make the land of Carthage barren or almost barren. As it turned out, 763 210 tons, or a fleet of 5000 - 10,000 ships of that time. So the practical, non -immoval version of sowing salt here could be excluded even without familiarization with the works of historians.

Where did the information about salt come from? The fact is that the custom of sprinkling the destroyed city with salt and curse anyone who dares to restore it was widespread in the ancient Middle East. In the book of judges (9:45) It is said: "And Avimelech fought with the city the whole day, and took the city, and beat the people who were in it, and destroyed the city and sowed it with salt." The city in question is the Canaanian echo. Also, the ceremonial sprinkling of salt over destroyed cities is mentioned in various Hittite and Assyrian texts. Perhaps the echoes of this ancient tradition have reached historians of the New Age, and one of them weaved a beautiful custom in the history of the death of one of the greatest cities of antiquity. One way or another, but there is no reason to claim to sow salt in Carthage. And even information about the plow of the earth at the place of Carthage in serious literature for the first time appear only in the XVIII - XIX centuries (for example, in 1797 - in "British encyclopedia", In 1875 - with a German historian Bartold Nibur). All this is apparently later embellishment of events.

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. 7 myths about Rome
2. DID Ancient Romans Sprinkle with Salt Carthage’s Ground?