| Carthage Punic Ports | |
|---|---|
 Location of Punic ports. | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 36°50′44.02″N 10°19′31.65″E / 36.8455611°N 10.3254583°E |
The Carthage Punic Ports were the old ports of the city of Carthage that were in operation during ancient times. Carthage was first and foremost a thalassocracy,[1] that is, a power that was referred to as an Empire of the Seas, whose primary force was based on the scale of its trade. The Carthaginians, however, were not the only ones to follow that policy of control over the seas, since several of the people in those times "lived by and for the sea".
Carthage, or Qart Hadasht (New City), was a product of eastern colonization, having its origin in Dido, the daughter of the king of Tyre. According to her legend recorded in the Aeneid, this Tyrian princess was the founder and first queen of the city in 814 B.C. (the most widely accepted date).
Since Utica was founded around 1100 BC, Carthage is not considered the first Phoenician colony on the North African coast. Beyond its origin, the city largely controlled the entire western basin of the Mediterranean Sea and developed its African hinterland, only reaching its end when it had to face the Roman Republic, an emerging power that caused its ultimate downfall.
Due to its identity, Carthage was an anchor point between the two basins of the Mediterranean; the eastern part, known as the cradle of Phoenicia, and the western part, which was the place of its expansion and downfall.
The ports of such a city, which were the most important point of communication with the outside world, are therefore of fundamental importance in the history of Carthage in this context. Their history was documented by an important source; Appian, a historian of Ancient Greece who lived in the 2nd century BC Despite his description, the location of the ports was the work of archaeological excavations begun in the 1970s.