If you are a European, living in Europe, or from a country that is highly influenced by European culture like America, then you would be hard-pressed to go a day without stumbling upon a structural or cultural meme that is not connected to ancient Rome in some way.They set the precursors for its current geographical boundaries, language differences, and even its major religions and systems of democracy.With our current social, cultural, and political situation still so closely tied to our Roman ancestors, it is hard to believe that it could have easily been quite different.Founded in the 6 th century, one could consider Carthage as Romes complete antithesis.
Carthaginians preferred establishing colonies that retained their national identities in exchange for annual tribute, whereas Rome opted for the assimilation or annihilation of conquered lands, and encouraged a singular Roman identity. The three decisive wars that lasted almost a century in total, resulted in the ruin and eventual destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, clearing the way for Rome to continue its expansion. He and his army won a succession of victories across the Italian peninsula only to be called back to Carthage before having the chance to take Rome itself. The Punic wars would have ended early, Carthage would have colonized Italy and gone on to become the dominant superpower in the Mediterranean, significantly altering European history as we know it. After successfully seizing Rome, the Barcid family would have gained more power and prestige and Hannibal may have likely set his sights on conquering the Iberian Peninsula to consolidate the Barcid family lands in Spain. Therefore, Northern Europe would have continued to develop as independent states and maintained their pagan heritage. As a result, we would probably have had a European map that is centered around Southern Europe, North Africa, and Italy. These three countries would have shared a stronger common identity, whereas Britain and Germany would have been largely insular. With no Rome to stop them, Germany would have likely taken East Gaul, and West Gaul would have maintained itself as an independent pagan state. ![]() Since Carthage did not impose their religion on other states or assimilate readily into other cultures, it is likely that their state religion would have stayed within their territories. Europe would continue to be divided between several polytheistic religions instead of the blanket monotheism of Christianity we have today. Northern Europe would be largely centered around Celtic and Germanic traditions with smaller states comprising of a mixture of both. English would be considerably different and it is unlikely that French or German as we know it would exist at all. Therefore, there may have been more emphasis on sea exploration and we may have come into contact with the Americas far sooner than on our original timeline. It is likely that Carthage would have continued to trade with the Han Empire as Rome did, but may have had greater influence over trade routes and tolls.
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