Circumstances which led the Phoenicians to colonise--Their
colonies best grouped geographically--1. Colonies of the
Eastern Mediterranean--in Cyprus, Citium, Amathus, Curium,
Paphos, Salamis, Ammochosta, Tamisus, and Soli;--in Cilicia,
Tarsus;--in Lycia, Phaselis;--in Rhodes, Lindus, Ialysus,
Camirus;--in Crete, and the Cyclades;--in the Northern
Egean; &c. 2. In the Central and Western Mediterranean--in
Africa, Utica, Hippo-Zaritis, Hippo Regius, Carthage,
Hadrumetum, Leptis Minor, Leptis Major, and Thapsus;--in
Sicily, Motya, Eryx, Panormus, Solocis;--between Sicily and
Africa, Cossura, Gaulos, and Melita;--in Sardinia, Caralis,
Nora, Sulcis, and Tharros;--in the Balearic Isles;--in
Spain, Malaca, Sex, Abdera. 3. Outside the Straits of
Gibraltar;--in Africa, Tingis, and Lixus; in Spain,
Tartessus, Gades, and Belon--Summary.
The narrowness of the territory which the Phoenicians occupied the
military strength of their neighbours towards the north and towards the
south, and their own preference of maritime over agricultural pursuits,
combined to force them, as they began to increase and multiply, to
find a vent for their superfluous population in colonies. The military
strength of Philistia and Egypt barred them out from expansion upon
the south; the wild savagery of the mountain races in Casius, northern
Bargylus, and Amanus was an effectual barrier towards the north; but
before them lay the open Mediterranean, placid during the greater
portion of the year, and conducting to a hundred lands, thinly peopled,
or even unoccupied, where there was ample room for any number of
immigrants. The trade of the Phoenicians with the countries bordering
the Eastern Mediterranean must be regarded as established long
previously to the time when they began to feel cramped for space; and
thus, when that time arrived, they had no difficulty in finding fresh
localities to occupy, except such as might arise from a too abundant
amplitude of choice. Right in front of them lay, at the distance of not
more than seventy miles, visible from Casius in clear weather,[51] the
large and important island, once known as Chittim,[52] and afterwards as
Cyprus, which played so important a part in the history of the East from
the time of Sargon and Sennacherib to that of Bragadino and Mustapha
Pasha. To the right, well visible from Cyprus, was the fertile tract of
Cilicia Campestris, which led on to the rich and picturesque regions of
Pamphylia, Lycia, and Caria. From Caria stretched out, like a string
of stepping-stones between Asia and Europe, the hundred islets of
the Ægean, Cyclades, and Sporades, and others, inviting settlers, and
conducting to the large islands of Crete and Euboea, and the shores of
Attica and the Peloponnese. It is impossible to trace with any exactness
the order in which the Phoenician colonies were founded. A thousand
incidental circumstances--a thousand caprices--may have deranged what
may be called the natural or geographical order, and have caused
the historical order to diverge from it; but, on the whole, probably
something like the geographical order was observed; and, at any rate, it
will be most convenient, in default of sufficient data for an historical
arrangement, to adopt in the present place a geographic one, and,
beginning with those nearest to Phoenicia itself in the Eastern
Mediterranean, to proceed westward to the Straits of Gibraltar,
reserving for the last those outside the Straits on the shores of the
Atlantic Ocean.
The nearest, and probably the first, region to attract Phoenician
colonies was the island of Cyprus. Cyprus lies in the corner of the
Eastern Mediterranean formed by the projection of Asia Minor from the
Syrian shore. Its mountain chains run parallel with Taurus, and it is
to Asia Minor that it presents its longer flank, while to Phoenicia it
presents merely one of its extremities. Its length from east to west is
145 miles, its greatest width about sixty miles.[53] Two strongly marked
mountain ranges form its most salient features, the one running close
along the north coast from Cape Kormaciti to Cape S. Andreas; the other
nearly central, but nearer the south, beginning at Cape Renaouti in the
west and terminating at Cape Greco. The mountain ranges are connected
by a tract of high ground towards the centre, and separated by two broad
plains,[54] towards the east and west. The eastern plain is the more
important of the two. It extends along the course of the Pediæus from
Leucosia, or Nicosia, the present capital, to Salamis, a distance of
thirty-five miles, and is from five to twelve miles wide. The fertility
of the soil was reckoned in ancient times to equal that of Egypt.[55]
The western plain, that of Morfou, is much smaller, and is watered by
a less important river. The whole island, when it first became known to
the Phoenicians, was well wooded.[56] Lovely glens opened upon them, as
they sailed along its southern coast, watered by clear streams from the
southern mountain-range, and shaded by thick woods of pine and cedar,
the latter of which are said to have in some cases attained a greater
size even than those of the Lebanon.[57] The range was also prolific of
valuable metals.[58] Gold and silver were found in places, but only in
small quantities; iron was yielded in considerable abundance; but the
chief supply was that of copper, which derived its name from that of
the island.[59] Other products of the island were wheat of excellent
quality; the rich Cyprian wine which retains its strength and flavour
for well nigh a century, the _henna_ dye obtained from the plant called
_copher_ or _cyprus_, the _Lawsonia alba_ of modern botany; valuable
pigments of various kinds, red, yellow, green, and amber; hemp and flax;
tar, boxwood,[510] and all the materials requisite for shipbuilding
from the heavy timbers needed for the keel to the lightest spar and the
flimsiest sail.[511]
The earliest of the Phoenician settlements in Cyprus seem to have lain
upon its southern coast. Here were Citium, Amathus, Curium, and Paphus,
the Palæ-paphus of the geographers, which have all yielded abundant
traces of a Phoenician occupation at a very distant period. Citium, now
Larnaka, was on the western side of a deep bay, which indents the more
eastern portion of the southern coast, between the promontories of Citi
and Pyla. It is sheltered from all winds except the south-east,
and continues to the present day the chief port of the island. The
Phoenician settlers improved on the natural position by the formation
of an artificial basin, enclosed within piers, the lines of which may be
traced, though the basin itself is sanded up.[512] A plain extends for
some distance inland, on which the palm-tree flourishes, and which
is capable of producing excellent crops of wheat.[513] Access to the
interior is easy; for the mountain range sinks as it proceeds eastward,
and between Citium and Dali (Idalium), on a tributary of the Pediæus, is
of small elevation. There are indications that the Phoenicians did not
confine themselves to the coast, but penetrated into the interior, and
even settled there in large numbers. Idalium, sixteen miles north-west
of Citium, and Golgi (Athiénau), ten miles nearly due north of the
same, show traces of having supported for a considerable time a large
Phoenician population,[514] and must be regarded as outposts advanced
from Citium into the mountains for trading, and perhaps for mining
purposes. Idalium (Dali) has a most extensive Phoenician necropolis; the
interments have a most archaic character; and their Phoenician origin
is indicated both by their close resemblance to interments in Phoenicia
proper and by the discovery, in connection with them, of Phoenician
inscriptions.[515] At Golgi the remains scarcely claim so remote an
antiquity. They belong to the time when Phoenician art was dominated by
a strong Egyptian influence, and when it also begins to have a partially
Hellenic character. Some critics assign them to the sixth, or even to
the fifth century, B.C.[516]
West of Citium, also upon the south coast, and in a favourable situation
for trade with the interior, was Amathus. The name Amathus has been
connected with “Hamath;”[517] but there is no reason to suppose that the
Hamathites were Phoenicians. Amathus, which Stephen of Byzantium calls
“a most ancient Cyprian city,”[518] was probably among the earliest of
the Phoenician settlements in the island. It lay in the bay formed by
the projection of Cape Gatto from the coast, and, like Citium, looked
to the south-east. Westward and south-westward stretched an extensive
plain, fertile and well-watered, shaded by carob and olive-trees,[519]
whilst towards the north were the rich copper mines from which the
Amathusians derived much of their prosperity. The site has yielded a
considerable amount of Phoenician remains--tombs, sarcophagi, vases,
bowls, pateræ and statuettes.[520] Many of the tombs resemble those
at Idalium; others are stone chambers deeply buried in the earth. The
mimetic art shows Assyrian and Egyptian influence, but is essentially
Phoenician, and of great interest. Further reference will be made to it
in the Chapter on the Æsthetic Art of the Phoenicians.
Still further to the west, in the centre of the bay enclosed between
the promontories of Zeugari and Boosoura, was the colony of Curium, on
a branch of the river Kuras. Curium lay wholly open to the
south-western-gales, but had a long stretch of sandy shore towards the
south-east, on which vessels could be drawn up. The town was situated
on a rocky elevation, 300 feet in height, and was further defended by
a strong wall, a large portion of which may still be traced.[521] The
richest discovery of Phoenician ornaments and objects of art that has
yet been made took place at Curium, where, in the year 1874, General Di
Cesnola happened upon a set of “Treasure Chambers” containing several
hundreds of rings, gems, necklaces, bracelets, armlets, ear-rings,
bowls, basins, jugs, pateræ, &c., in the precious metals, which have
formed the principal material for all recent disquisitions on the true
character and excellency of Phoenician art. Commencing with works of
which the probable date is the fifteenth or sixteenth century B.C.,
and descending at least as far as the best Greek period[522] (B.C.
500-400), embracing, moreover, works which are purely Assyrian, purely
Egyptian, and purely Greek, this collection has yet so predominant a
Phoenician character as to mark Curium, notwithstanding the contrary
assertions of the Greeks themselves,[523] for a thoroughly Phoenician
town. And the history of the place confirms this view, since Curium
sided with Amathus and the Persians in the war of Onesilus.[524] No
doubt, like most of the other Phoenician cities in Cyprus, it was
Hellenised gradually; but there must have been many centuries during
which it was an emporium of Phoenician trade and a centre of Phoenician
influence.
Where the southern coast of Cyprus begins to trend to the north-west,
and a river of some size, the Bocarus or Diorizus, reaches the sea,
stood the Phoenician settlement of Paphos, founded (as was said[525]) by
Cinyras, king of Byblus. Here was one of the most celebrated of all the
temples of Astarté or Ashtoreth,[526] the Phoenician Nature-Goddess; and
here ruled for many centuries the sacerdotal class of the Cinyridæ. The
remains of the temple have been identified, and will be described in a
future chapter. They have the massive character of all early Phoenician
architecture.
Among other Phoenician settlements in Cyprus were, it is probable,
Salamis, Ammochosta (now Famagosta), Tamasus, and Soli. Salamis must be
regarded as originally Phoenician on account of the name, which cannot
be viewed as anything but another form of the Hebrew “Salem,” the
alternative name of Jerusalem.[527] Salamis lay on the eastern coast of
the island at the mouth of the main river, the Pediæus. It occupied
the centre of a large bay which looked towards Phoenicia, and would
naturally be the place where the Phoenicians would first land. There is
no natural harbour beyond that afforded by the mouth of the Pediæus,
but a harbour was easily made by throwing out piers into the bay; and of
this, which is now sanded up, the outline may be traced.[528] There
are, however, no remains, either at Salamis or in the immediate
neighbourhood, which can claim to be regarded as Phoenician; and the
glories of the city belong to the history of Greece.
Ammochosta was situated within a few miles of Salamis, towards the
south.[529] Its first appearance in history belongs to the reign of
Esarhaddon (B.C. 680), when we find it in a list of ten Cyprian cities,
each having its own king, who acknowledged for their suzerain the great
monarch of Assyria.[530] Soon afterwards it again occurs among the
cities tributary to Asshur-bani-pal.[531] Otherwise we have no mention
of it in Phoenician times. As Famagosta it was famous in the wars
between the Venetians and the Turks.
Tamasus, or Tamassus, was an inland city, and the chief seat of the
mining operations which the Phoenicians carried on in the island in
search of copper.[532] It lay a few miles to the west of Idalium (Dali),
on the northern flank of the southern mountain chain. The river Pediæus
flowed at its feet. Like Ammochosta, it appears among the Cyprian towns
which in the seventh century B.C. were tributary to the Assyrians.[533]
The site is still insufficiently explored.
Soli lay upon the coast, in the recess of the gulf of Morfou.[534] The
fiction of its foundation by Philocyprus at the suggestion of Solon[535]
is entirely disproved by the occurrence of the name in the Assyrian
lists of Cyprian towns a century before Solon’s time. Its sympathies
were with the Phoenician, and not with the Hellenic, population of the
island, as was markedly shown when it joined with Amathus and Citium in
calling to Artaxerxes for help against Evagoras.[536] The city stood on
the left bank of the river Clarius, and covered the northern slope of
a low hill detached from the main range, extending also over the low
ground at the foot of the hill to within a short distance of the shore,
where are to be seen the remains of the ancient harbour. The soil in
the neighbourhood is very rich, and adapted for almost any kind of
cultivation.[537] In the mountains towards the south were prolific veins
of copper.
The northern coast of the island between Capes Cormaciti and S. Andreas
does not seem to have attracted the Phoenicians, though there are some
who regard Lapethus and Cerynia as Phoenician settlements.[538] It is a
rock-bound shore of no very tempting aspect, behind which the mountain
range rises up steeply. Such Phoenician emigrants as held their way
along the Salaminian plain and, rounding Cape S. Andreas, passed into
the channel that separates Cyprus from the mainland, found the coast
upon their right attract them far more than that upon their left, and
formed settlements in Cilicia which ultimately became of considerable
importance. The chief of these was Tars or Tarsus, probably the Tarshish
of Genesis,[539] though not that of the later Books, a Phoenician city,
which has Phoenician characters upon its coins, and worshipped the
supreme Phoenician deity under the title of “Baal Tars,” “the Lord of
Tarsus.”[540] Tarsus commanded the rich Cilician plain up to the very
roots of Taurus, was watered by the copious stream of the Cydnus, and
had at its mouth a commodious harbour. Excellent timber for shipbuilding
grew on the slopes of the hills bounding the plain, and the river
afforded a ready means of floating such timber down to the sea.
Cleopatra’s ships are said to have been derived from the Cilician
forests, which Antony made over to her for the purpose.[541] Other
Phoenician settlements upon the Cilician coast were, it is probable,
Soli, Celenderis, and Nagidus.
Pursuing their way westward, in search of new abodes, the emigrants
would pass along the coast, first of Pamphylia and then of Lycia. In
Pamphylia there is no settlement that can be with confidence assigned
to them; but in Lycia it would seem that they colonised Phaselis,
and perhaps other places. The mountain which rises immediately behind
Phaselis was called “Solyma;”[542] and a very little to the south was
another mountain known as “Phoenicus.”[543] Somewhat further to the west
lies the cape still called Cape Phineka,[544] in which the root Phoenix
({phoinix}) is again to be detected. A large district inland was named
Cabalis or Cabalia,[545] or (compare Phoen. and Heb. _gebal_, mod. Arab.
_jebel_) the “mountain” country. Phaselis was situated on a promontory
projecting south-eastward into the Mediterranean,[546] and was reckoned
to have three harbours,[547] which are marked in the accompanying chart.
Of these the principal one was that on the western side of the isthmus,
which was formed by a stone pier carried out for more than two hundred
yards into the sea, and still to be traced under the water.[548]
The other two, which were of smaller size, lay towards the east. The
Phoenicians were probably tempted to make a settlement at the place,
partly by the three ports, partly by the abundance of excellent timber
for shipbuilding which the neighbourhood furnishes. “Between Phaselis
and Cape Avora, a little north of it,” says a modern traveller, “a belt
of large and handsome pines borders the shore for some miles.”[549]
From Lycia the Asiatic coast westward and north-westward was known as
Caria; and here Phoenician settlements appear to have been numerous. The
entire country was at any rate called Phoenicé by some authors.[550]
But the circumstances do not admit of our pointing out any special
Phoenician settlements in this quarter, which early fell under almost
exclusive Greek influence. There are ample grounds, however, for
believing that the Phoenicians colonised Rhodes at the south-western
angle of Asia Minor, off the Carian coast. According to Conon,[551] the
earliest inhabitants of Rhodes were the Heliades, whom the Phoenicians
expelled. The Phoenicians themselves were at a later date expelled by
the Carians, and the Carians by the Greeks. Ergeias, however, the native
historian, declared[552] that the Phoenicians remained, at any rate in
some parts of the island, until the Greeks drove them out. Ialysus was,
he said, one of their cities. Dictys Cretensis placed Phoenicians,
not only in Ialysus, but in Camirus also.[553] It is the conclusion of
Kenrick that “the Phoenician settlement in Rhodes was the first which
introduced civilisation among the primeval inhabitants, and that they
maintained their ascendancy till the rise of the naval power of the
Carians. These new settlers reduced the Phoenicians to the occupancy
of three principal towns”--i.e. Lindus, Ialysus, and Camirus; but “from
these too they were expelled by the Dorians, or only allowed to remain
at Ialysus as the hereditary priesthood of their native god.”[554]
Rhodes is an island about one-fourth the size of Cyprus, with its axis
from the north-east to the south-west. It possesses excellent harbours,
accessible from all quarters,[555] and furnishing a secure shelter in
all weathers. The fertility of the soil is great; and the remarkable
history of the island shows the importance which attaches to it in the
hands of an enterprising people. Turkish apathy has, however, succeeded
in reducing it to insignificance.
The acquisition of Rhodes led the stream of Phoenician colonisation
onwards in two directions, south-westward and north-westward.
South-westward, it passed by way of Carpathus and Casus to Crete,
and then to Cythera; north-westward, by way of Chalcia, Telos, and
Astypalæa, to the Cyclades and Sporades. The presence of the Phoenicians
in Crete is indicated by the haven “Phoenix,” where St. Paul’s
conductors hoped to have wintered their ship;[556] by the town of
Itanus, which was named after a Phoenician founder,[557] and was a
staple of the purple-trade,[558] and by the existence near port Phoenix
of a town called “Araden.” Leben, on the south coast, near Cape
Leo, seems also to have derived its name from the Semitic word for
“lion.”[559] Crete, however, does not appear to have been occupied by
the Phoenicians at more than a few points, or for colonising so much
as for trading purposes. They used its southern ports for refitting and
repairing their ships, but did not penetrate into the interior, must
less attempt to take possession of the whole extensive territory. It was
otherwise with the smaller islands. Cythera is said to have derived its
name from the Phoenician who colonised it, and the same is also reported
of Melos.[560] Ios was, we are told, originally called Phoenicé;[561]
Anaphé had borne the name of Membliarus, after one of the companions
of Cadmus;[562] Oliarus, or Antiparos, was colonised from Sidon.[563]
Thera’s earliest inhabitants were of the Phoenician race;[564] either
Phoenicians or Carians had, according to Thucydides,[565] colonised in
remote times “the greater part of the islands of the Ænean.” There was a
time when probably all the Ægean islands were Phoenician possessions,
or at any rate acknowledged Phoenician influence, and Siphnus gave its
gold, its silver,[566] and its lead,[567] Cythera its shell-fish,[568]
Paros its marble, Melos its sulphur and its alum,[569] Nisyrus its
millstones,[570] and the islands generally their honey,[571] to increase
the wealth and advance the commercial interests of their Phoenician
masters.
From the Sporades and Cyclades the advance was easy to the islands
of the Northern Ægean, Lemnos, Imbrus, Thasos, and Samothrace. The
settlement of the Phoenicians in Thasos is attested by Herodotus, who
says that the Tyrian Hercules (Melkarth) was worshipped there,[572] and
ascribes to the Phoenicians extensive mining operations on the eastern
shores of the island between Ænyra and Coenyra.[573] A Phoenician
occupation of Lemnos, Imbrus, and Samothrace is indicated by the worship
in those islands of the Cabeiri,[574] who were undoubtedly Phoenician
deities. Whether the Phoenicians passed from these islands to the
Thracian mainland, and worked the gold-mines of Mount Pangæus in the
vicinity of Philippi, may perhaps be doubtful, but such seems to have
been the belief of Strabo and Pliny.[575] Strabo also believed that
there had been a Semitic element in the population of Euboea which had
been introduced by Cadmus;[576] and a Phoenician settlement in Boeotia
was the current tradition of the Greek writers upon primitive times,
whether historians or geographers.[577]
The further progress of the Phoenician settlements northward into the
Propontis and the Euxine is a point whereon different opinions may
be entertained. Pronectus, on the Bithynian, and Amastris, on the
Paphlagonian coast, have been numbered among the colonies of the
Phoenicians by some;[578] while others have gone so far as to ascribe to
them the colonisation of the entire countries of Bithynia, Mariandynia,
and Paphlagonia.[579] The story of the Argonauts may fairly be held to
show[580] that Phoenician enterprise early penetrated into the stormy
and inhospitable sea which washes Asia Minor upon the north, and even
reached its deepest eastern recess; but it is one thing to sail into
seas, and, landing where the natives seem friendly, to traffic with
the dwellers on them--it is quite another thing to attempt a permanent
occupation of portions of their coasts. To do so often provokes
hostility, and puts a stop to trade instead of encouraging it. The
Phoenicians may have been content to draw their native products from the
barbarous tribes of Northern Asia Minor and Western Thrace--nay, even
of Southern Scythia--without risking the collisions that might have
followed the establishment of settlements.
As with the Black Sea, so with the Adriatic, the commercial advantages
were not sufficient to tempt the Phoenicians to colonise. From Crete
and Cythera they sent their gaze afar, and fixed it midway in the
Mediterranean, at the western extremity of the eastern basin, on the
shores of Sicily, and the vast projection from the coast of North Africa
which goes forth to meet them. They knew the harbourless character
of the African coast west of Egypt, and the dangers of the Lesser and
Greater Syrtes. They knew the fertility of the Tunisian projection, the
excellence of its harbours, and the prolificness of the large island
that lay directly opposite. Here were the tracts where they might expand
freely, and which would richly repay their occupation of them. It
was before the beginning of the eleventh century B.C.--perhaps
some centuries before--that the colonisation of North Africa by the
Phoenicians was taken in hand:[581] and about the same time, in all
probability, the capes and isles about Sicily were occupied,[582] and
Phoenician influence in a little time extended over the entire island.
In North Africa the first colony planted is said to have been Utica.
Utica was situated a little to the west of Carthage, at the mouth of the
Mejerda or Bagradas river.[583] It stood on a rocky promontory which ran
out into the sea eastward, and partially protected its harbour. At the
opposite extremity, towards the north, ran out another promontory, the
modern Ras Sidi Ali-el-Mekki, while the mouth of the harbour, which
faced to the south-east, was protected by some islands. At present the
deposits of the Mejerda have blocked up almost the whole of this ancient
port, and the rocky eminence upon which the city stood looks down on
three sides upon a broad alluvial plain, through which the Mejerda
pursues a tortuous course to the sea.[584] The remains of the ancient
town, which occupy the promontory and a peninsula projecting from it,
include a necropolis, an amphitheatre, a theatre, a castle, the ruins
of a temple, and some remains of baths; but they have nothing about
them bearing any of the characteristics of Phoenician architecture, and
belong wholly to the Roman or post-Roman period. The neighbourhood is
productive of olives, which yield an excellent oil; and in the hills
towards the south-west are veins of lead, containing a percentage of
silver, which are thought to bear traces of having been worked at a very
early date.[585]
Near Utica was founded, probably not many years later, the settlement
of Hippo-Zaritis, of which the name still seems to linger in the modern
Bizerta. Hippo-Zaritis stood on the west bank of a natural channel,
which united with the sea a considerable lagoon or salt lake, lying
south of the town. The channel was kept open by an irregular flux and
reflux, the water of the lake after the rainy season flowing off into
the sea, and that of the sea, correspondingly, in the dry season passing
into the lake.[586] At the present time the lake is extraordinarily
productive of fish,[587] and the sea outside yields coral;[588] but
otherwise the advantages of the situation are not great.
Two degrees further to the west, on a hill overlooking the sea, and
commanding a lovely prospect over the verdant plain at its base, watered
by numerous streams, was founded the colony of Hippo Regius, memorable
as having been for five-and-thirty years the residence of St. Augustine.
The Phoenicians were probably attracted to the site by the fertility of
the soil, the unfailing supplies of water, and the abundant timber and
rich iron ore of the neighbouring mountains.[589] Hippo Regius is now
Bona, or rather has been replaced by that town, which lies about a mile
and a half north of the ancient Hippo, close upon the coast, in the
fertile tract formed by the soil brought down by the river Seybouse. The
old harbour of Hippo is filled up, and the remains of the ancient city
are scanty; but the lovely gardens and orchards, which render Bona
one of the most agreeable of Algerian towns, sufficiently explain and
justify the Phoenician choice of the site.[590]
In the same bay with Utica, further to the south, and near its inner
recess, was founded, nearly three centuries after Utica, the most
important of all the Phoenician colonies, Carthage. The advantages of
the locality are indicated by the fact that the chief town of Northern
Africa, Tunis, has grown up within a short distance of the site.
It combined the excellences of a sheltered situation, a good soil,
defensible eminences, and harbours which a little art made all that was
to be desired in ancient times and with ancient navies. These basins,
partly natural, partly artificial, still exist;[591] but their
communication with the sea is blocked up, as also is the channel which
connected the military harbour with the harbours of commerce. The
remains of the ancient town are mostly beneath the surface of the soil,
but modern research has uncovered a portion of them, and brought to
light a certain number of ruins which belong probably to the very
earliest period. Among these are walls in the style called “Cyclopian,”
built of a very hard material, and more than thirty-two feet thick,
which seem to have surrounded the ancient Byrsa or citadel, and which
are still in places sixteen feet high.[592] The Roman walls found
emplaced above these are of far inferior strength and solidity. An
extensive necropolis lies north of the ancient town, on the coast near
Cape Camart.
Another early and important Phoenician settlement in these parts was
Hadrumetum or Adrymes,[593] which seems to be represented by the
modern Soûsa. Hadrumetum lay on the eastern side of the great Tunisian
projection, near the southern extremity of a large bay which looks to
the east, and is now known as the Gulf of Hammamet. Its position was
upon the coast at the edge of the vast plain called at present the
“Sahel of Soûsa,” which is sandy, but immensely productive of olive oil.
“Millions of olive-trees,” it is said, “cover the tract,”[594] and the
present annual exportation amounts to 40,000 hectolitres.[595] Ancient
remains are few, but the Cothon, or circular harbour, may still be
traced, and in the necropolis, which almost wholly encircles the town,
many sepulchral chambers have been found, excavated in the chalk,
closely resembling in their arrangements those of the Phoenician
mainland.
South of Hadrumetum, at no great distance, was Leptis Minor, now
Lemta. The gulf of Hammamet terminates southwards in the promontory of
Monastir, between which and Ras Dimas is a shallow bay looking to the
north-east. Here was the Lesser Leptis, so called to distinguish it
from the larger city of the same name between the Lesser and the Greater
Syrtis; it was, however, a considerable town, as appears from its
remains. These lie along the coast for two miles and a half in Lat. 35º
43´, and include the ruins of an aqueduct, of a theatre, of quays, and
of jetties.[596] The neighbourhood is suited for the cultivation of the
olive.
The Greater Leptis (Leptis Major) lay at a considerable distance from
the Lesser one. Midway in the low African coast which intervenes between
the Tunisian projection and the Cyrenaic one, about Long. 14º 22´ E.
of Greenwich, are ruins, near a village called Lebda, which, it is
generally agreed, mark the site of this ancient city. Leptis Major was
a colony from Sidon, and occupied originally a small promontory, which
projects from the coast in a north-easterly direction, and attains a
moderate elevation above the plain at its base. Towards the mainland
it was defended by a triple line of wall still to be traced, and on
the sea-side by blocks of enormous strength, which are said to resemble
those on the western side of the island of Aradus.[597] In Roman times
the town, under the name of Neapolis,[598] attained a vast size, and
was adorned with magnificent edifices, of which there are still numerous
remains. The neighbourhood is rich in palm-groves and olive-groves,[599]
and the Cinyps region, regarded by Herodotus as the most fertile in
North Africa,[5100] lies at no great distance to the east.
Ten miles east, and a little south of Leptis Minor,[5101] was Thapsus,
a small town, but one of great strength, famous as the scene of Julius
Cæsar’s great victory over Cato.[5102] It occupied a position close to
the promontory now known as Ras Dimas, in Lat. 35º 39´, Long. 11º 3´,
and was defended by a triple enclosure, whereof considerable remains
are still existing. The outermost of the three lines appears to have
consisted of little more than a ditch and a palisaded rampart, such as
the Romans were accustomed to throw up whenever they pitched a camp in
their wars; but the second and third were more substantial. The second,
which was about forty yards behind the first, was guarded by a deeper
ditch, from which rose a perpendicular stone wall, battlemented at top.
The third, forty yards further back, resembled the second, but was on
an enlarged scale, and the wall was twenty feet thick.[5103] Such triple
enclosures are thought to be traceable in other Phoenician settlements
also;[5104] but in no case are the remains so perfect as at Thapsus. The
harbour, which lay south of the town, was protected from the prevalent
northern and north-eastern winds by a huge mole or jetty, carried
out originally to a distance of 450 yards from the shore, and still
measuring 325 yards. The foundation consists of piles driven into the
sand, and placed very close together; but the superstructure is a stone
wall thirty-five feet thick, and still rising to a height of ten feet
above the surface of the water.[5105]
It is probable that there were many other early Phoenician settlements
on the North African seaboard; but those already described were
certainly the most important. The fertile coast tract between Hippo
Regius and the straits is likely to have been occupied at various
points from an early period. But none of these small trading settlements
attained to any celebrity; and thus it is unnecessary to go into
particulars respecting them.
In Sicily the permanent Phoenician settlements were chiefly towards the
west and the north-west. They included Motya, Eryx, Panormus (Palermo),
and Soloeis. That the Phoenicians founded Motya, Panormus, and Soloeis
is distinctly stated by Thucydides;[5106] while Eryx is proved to have
been Phoenician by its remains. Motya, situated on a littoral island
less than half a mile from the western shore, in Lat. 38º nearly,
has the remains of a wall built of large stones, uncemented, in the
Phoenician manner,[5107] and carried, like the western wall of Aradus,
so close to the coast as to be washed by the waves. It is said by
Diodorus to have been at one time a most flourishing town.[5108] The
coins have Phoenician legends.[5109]
Eryx lay about seven miles to the north-east of Motya, in a very strong
position. Mount Eryx (now Mount Giuliano), on which it was mainly built,
rises to the height of two thousand feet above the plain,[5110] and,
being encircled by a strong wall, was rendered almost impregnable. The
summit was levelled and turned into a platform, on which was raised the
temple of Astarte or Venus.[5111] An excellent harbour, formed by Cape
Drepanum (now Trapani), lay at its base. There were springs of water
within the walls which yielded an unfailing supply. The walls were of
great strength, and a considerable portion of them is still standing,
and attests the skill of the Phoenician architects. The blocks in the
lower courses are mostly of a large size, some of them six feet long,
or more, and bear in many cases the well-known Phoenician
mason-marks.[5112] They are laid without cement, like those of Aradus
and Sidon, and recall the style of the Aradian builders, but are at once
less massive and arranged with more skill. The breadth of the wall is
about seven feet. At intervals it is flanked by square towers projecting
from it, which are of even greater strength than the curtain between
them, and which were carried up to a greater height. The doorways in
the wall are numerous, and are of a very archaic character, being either
covered in by a single long stone lintel or else terminating in a false
arch.[5113] The commercial advantages of Eryx were twofold, consisting
in the produce of the sea as well as in that of the shore. The shore
is well suited for the cultivation of the vine,[5114] while the
neighbouring sea yields tunny-fish, sponges, and coral.[5115]
Panormus (now Palermo) occupies a site almost unequalled by any other
Mediterranean city, a site which has conferred upon it the title of
“the happy,” and has rendered it for above a thousand years the most
important place in the island. “There is no town in Europe which enjoys
a more delicious climate, none so charming to look on from a distance,
none more delightfully situated in a nest of verdure and flowers. Its
superb mountains, with their bare flanks pierced along their base with
grottoes, enclose a marvellous garden, the famous ‘Shell of Gold,’ in
the midst of which are seen the numerous towers and domes, the fan-like
foliage of the palms, the spreading branches of the pines, and Mount
Reale on the south towering over all with its vast mass of convents and
churches.”[5116] The harbour lies open to the north; but the Phoenician
settlers, here as elsewhere, no doubt made artificial ports by means
of piers and moles, which have, however, disappeared on this
much-frequented site, where generation after generation has been
continually at work building and destroying. Panormus has left us no
antique remains beyond its coins, which are abundant, and show that the
native name of the settlement was Mahanath.[5117] Mahanath was situated
about forty miles east of Eryx, on the northern coast of the island.
Solus, or Soloeis, the Soluntum of the Romans (now Solanto), lay on the
eastern side of the promontory (Cape Zafferana) which shuts in the bay
of Palermo on the right. It stood on a slope at the foot of a lofty
hill, overlooking a small round port, and was fortified by a wall of
large squared blocks of stone,[5118] which may be still distinctly
traced. The site has yielded sarcophagi of an unmistakably Phoenician
character,[5119] and other objects of a high antiquity which recall the
Phoenician manner;[5120] but the chief remains belong to the Greco-Roman
times.
The islands in the strait which separates the North African coast from
Sicily were also colonised by the Phoenicians. These were three in
number, Cossura (now Pantellaria), Gaulos (now Gozzo), and Melita (now
Malta). Cossura, the most western of the three, lay about midway in the
channel, but nearer to the African coast, from which it is distant not
more than about thirty-five miles. It is a mass of igneous rock, which
was once a volcano, and which still abounds in hot springs and in
jets of steam.[5121] There was no natural harbour of any size, but the
importance of the position was such that the Phoenicians felt bound to
occupy the island, if only to prevent its occupation by others. The soil
was sterile; but the coins, which are very numerous,[5122] give reason
to suppose that the rocks were in early times rich in copper.
Gaulos (now Gozzo) forms, together with Malta and some islets, an
insular group lying between the eastern part of Sicily and the Lesser
Syrtis. It is situated in Lat. 36º 2´, Long. 12º 10´ nearly, and is
distant from Sicily only about fifty miles. The colonisation of the
island by the Phoenicians, asserted by Diodorus,[5123] is entirely
borne out by the remains, which include a Phoenician inscription of
some length,[5124] coins with Phoenician legends,[5125] and buildings,
believed to be temples, which have Phoenician characteristics.[5126]
Some of the blocks of stone employed in their construction have a length
of nearly twenty feet,[5127] with a width and height proportionate; and
all are put together without cement or mortar of any kind. A conical
stone of the kind known to have been used by the Phoenicians in their
worship was found in one of the temples.[5128] Gaulos had a port which
was reckoned sufficiently commodious, and which lay probably towards the
south-east end of the island.
Melita, or Malta, which lies at a short distance from Gozzo, to the
south-east, is an island of more than double the size, and of far
greater importance. It possesses in La Valetta one of the best harbours,
or rather two of the best harbours, in the world. All the navies of
Europe could anchor comfortably in the “great port” to the east of the
town. The western port is smaller, but is equally well sheltered. Malta
has no natural product of much importance, unless it be the honey, after
which some think that it was named.[5129] The island is almost treeless,
and the light powdery soil gives small promise of fertility. Still, the
actual produce, both in cereals and in green crops, is large; and the
oranges, especially those known as mandarines, are of superior quality.
Malta also produced, in ancient as in modern times, the remarkable breed
of small dogs[5130] which is still held in such high esteem. But the
Phoenician colonisation must have taken place rather on account of the
situation and the harbour than on account of the products.
From Sicily and North Africa the tide of emigration naturally and easily
flowed on into Sardinia, which is distant, from the former about 150
and from the latter about 115 miles. The points chosen by the Phoenician
settlers lay in the more open and level region of the south and the
south-west, and were all enclosed within a line which might be drawn
from the coast a little east of Cagliari to the northern extremity of
the Gulf of Oristano.[5131] The tract includes some mountain groups,
but consists mainly of the long and now marshy plain, called the
“Campidano,” which reaches across the island from Cagliari on the
southern to Oristano on the western coast. This plain, if drained, would
be by far the most fertile part of the island; and was in ancient times
exceedingly productive in cereals, as we learn from Diodorus.[5132]
The mountains west of it, especially those about Iglesias, contain
rich veins of copper and of lead, together with a certain quantity of
silver.[5133] Good harbours exist at Cagliari, at Oristano, and between
the island of S. Antioco and the western shore. It was at these points
especially that the Phoenicians made their settlements, the most
important of which were Caralis (Cagliari), Nora, Sulcis, and Tharros.
Caralis, or Cagliari, the present capital, lies at the bottom of a deep
bay looking southwards, and has an excellent harbour, sheltered in
all weathers. There are no remains of Phoenician buildings; but the
neighbourhood yields abundant specimens of Phoenician art in the shape
of tombs, statuettes, vases, bottles, and the like.[5134] Caralis
was probably the first of the settlements made by the Phoenicians in
Sardinia; it would attract them by its harbour, its mines, and the
fertility of its neighbourhood. From Caralis they probably passed to
Nora, which lay on the same bay to the south-west; and from Nora they
rounded the south-western promontory of Sardinia, and established
themselves on the small island now known as the Isola di San Antioco,
where they built a town which they called Sulchis or Sulcis.[5135]
Sulcis has yielded votive tablets of the Phoenician type, tombs, vases,
&c.[5136] The island was productive of lead, and had an excellent
harbour towards the north, and another more open one towards the south.
Finally, mid-way on the west coast, at the northern extremity of the
Gulf of Oristano, the Phoenicians occupied a small promontory which
projects into the sea southwards and there formed a settlement which
became known as Tharras or Tharros.[5137] Very extensive remains, quite
unmistakably Phoenician, including tombs, cippi, statuettes in metal and
clay, weapons, and the like, have been found on the site.[5138]
The passage would have been easy from Sardinia to Corsica, which is
not more than seven miles distant from it; but Corsica seems to have
possessed no attraction for the Phoenicians proper, who were perhaps
deterred from colonising it by its unhealthiness, or by the savagery of
its inhabitants. Or they may have feared to provoke the jealousy of the
Tyrrhenians, off whose coast the island lay, and who, without having
any colonising spirit themselves, disliked the too near approach of
rivals.[5139] At any rate, whatever the cause, it seems to have
been left to the Carthaginians, to bring Corsica within the range of
Phoenician influence; and even the Carthaginians did little more than
hold a few points on its shores as stations for their ships.[5140]
If from Sardinia the Phoenicians ventured on an exploring voyage
westward into the open Mediterranean, a day’s sail would bring them
within sight of the eastern Balearic Islands, Minorca and Majorca.
The sierra of Majorca rises to the height of between 3,000 and 4,000
feet,[5141] and can be seen from a great distance. The occupation of the
islands by “the Phoenicians” is asserted by Strabo,[5142] but we cannot
be sure that he does not mean Phoenicians of Africa, i.e. Carthaginians.
Still, on the whole, modern criticism inclines to the belief that, even
before the foundation of Carthage, Phoenician colonisation had made its
way into the Balearic Islands, directly, from the Syrian coast.[5143]
Some resting-places between the middle Mediterranean and Southern Spain
must have been a necessity; and as the North African coast west of Hippo
offered no good harbours, it was necessary to seek them elsewhere.
Now Minorca has in Port Mahon a harbour of almost unsurpassed
excellence,[5144] while in Majorca there are fairly good ports both at
Palma and at Aleudia.[5145] Ivica is less well provided, but there is
one of some size, known as Pormany (i.e. “Porta magna”), on the western
side of the island, and another, much frequented by fishing-boats,[5146]
on the south coast near Ibiza. The productions of the Balearides were
not, perhaps, in the early times of much importance, since the islands
are not, like Sardinia, rich in metals, nor were the inhabitants
sufficiently civilised to furnish food supplies or native manufactures
in any quantity. If, then, the Phoenicians held them, it must have been
altogether for the sake of their harbours.
The colonies of the Mediterranean have now been, all of them, noticed,
excepting those which lay upon the south coast of Spain. Of these the
most important were Malaca (now Malaga), Sex or Sexti, and Abdera
(now Adra). Malaca is said by Strabo to have been “Phoenician in
its plan,”[5147] Abdera is expressly declared by him to have been “a
Phoenician settlement,”[5148] while Sexti has coins which connect it
with early Phoenician legends.[5149] The mountain range above Malaca
was anciently rich in gold-mines;[5150] Sexti was famous for its
salt-pans;[5151] Abdera lay in the neighbourhood of productive
silver-mines.[5152] These were afterwards worked from Carthagena,
which was a late Carthaginian colony, founded by Asdrubal, the uncle
of Hannibal. Malaga and Carthagena (i.e. New-Town) had well-sheltered
harbours; but the ports of Sexti and Abdera were indifferent.
Outside the Straits of Gibraltar, on the shores of the Atlantic, were
two further sets of Phoenician colonies, situated respectively in Africa
and in Spain. The most important of those in Africa were Tingis (now
Tangiers) and Lixus (now Chemmish), but besides these there were a vast
number of staples ({emporia}) without names,[5153] spread along the
coast as far as Cape Non, opposite the Canary Islands. Tingis, a second
Gibraltar, lay nearly opposite that wonderful rock, but a little west
of the narrowest part of the strait. It had a temple of the Tyrian
Hercules, said to have been older than that at Gades;[5154] and
its coins have Phoenician legends.[5155] The town was situated on
a promontory running out to the north-east at the extremity of a
semicircular bay about four miles in width, and thus possessed a harbour
not to be despised, especially on such a coast. The country around
was at once beautiful and fertile, dotted over with palms, and well
calculated for the growth of fruit and vegetables. The Atlas mountains
rose in the background, with their picturesque summits, while in front
were seen the blue Mediterranean, with its crisp waves merging into the
wilder Atlantic, and further off the shores of Spain, lying like a blue
film on the northern horizon.[5156]
While Tingis lay at the junction of the two seas, on the northern
African coast, about five miles east of Cape Spartel, Lixus was situated
on the open Atlantic, forty miles to the south of that cape, on the
West African coast, looking westward towards the ocean. The streams
from Atlas here collect into a considerable river, known now as the
Wady-el-Khous, and anciently as the Lixus.[5157] The estuary of this
river, before reaching the sea, meanders through the plain of
Sidi Oueddar, from time to time returning upon itself, and forming
peninsulas, which are literally almost islands.[5158] From this plain,
between two of the great bends made by the stream, rose in one place
a rocky hill; and here the Phoenicians built their town, protecting it
along the brow of the hill with a strong wall, portions of which still
remain in place.[5159] The blocks are squared, carefully dressed, and
arranged in horizontal courses, without any cement. Some of them are
as much as eleven feet long by six feet or somewhat more in height. The
wall was flanked at the corners by square towers, and formed a sort of
irregular hexagon, above a mile in circumference.[5160] A large building
within the walls seems to have been a temple;[5161] and in it was found
one of those remarkable conical stones which are known to have been
employed in the Phoenician worship. The estuary of the river formed a
tolerably safe harbour for the Phoenician ships, and the valley down
which the river flows gave a ready access into the interior.
In Spain, outside the Pillars of Hercules, the chief Phoenician
settlements were Tartessus, Agadir or Gades, and Belon. Tartessus has
been regarded by some as properly the name of a country rather than a
town;[5162] but the statements of the Greek and Roman geographers to the
contrary are too positive to be disregarded. Tartessus was a town in
the opinions of Scymnus Chius, Strabo, Mela, Pliny, Festus Avienus,
and Pausanias,[5163] who could not be, all of them, mistaken on such a
point. It was a town named from, or at any rate bearing the same
name with, an important river of southern Spain,[5164] probably the
Guadalquivir. It was not Gades, for Scymnus Chius mentions both cities
as existing in his day;[5165] it was not Carteia, for it lay west of
Gades, while Carteia lay east. Probably it occupied, as Strabo thought,
a small island between two arms of the Guadalquivir, and gradually
decayed as Gades rose to importance. It certainly did not exist
in Strabo’s time, but five or six centuries earlier it was a most
flourishing place.[5166] If it is the Tarshish of Scripture, its
prosperity and importance must have been even anterior to the time of
Solomon, whose “navy of Tarshish” brought him once in every three years
“gold, and silver, and ivory, and apes, and peacocks.”[5167] The south
of Spain was rich in metallic treasures, and yielded gold, silver,
copper, iron, lead, and tin;[5168] trade along the west coast of Africa
would bring in the ivory and apes abundant in that region; while the
birds called in our translation of the Bible “peacocks” may have
been guinea-fowl. The country on either side of the Guadalquivir to
a considerable distance took its name from the city, being called
Tartessis.[5169] It was immensely productive. “The wide plains through
which the Guadalquiver flows produced the finest wheat, yielding an
increase of a hundredfold; the oil and the wine, the growth of the
hills, were equally distinguished for their excellence. The wood was not
less remarkable for its fineness than in modern times, and had a native
colour beautiful without dye.”[5170] Nor were the neighbouring sea and
stream less bountiful. The tunny was caught in large quantities off the
coast, shell-fish were abundant and of unusual size,[5171] while huge
eels were sometimes taken by the fishermen, which, when salted, formed
an article of commerce, and were reckoned a delicacy at Athenian
tables.[5172]
Gades is said to have been founded by colonists from Tyre a few years
anterior to the foundation of Utica by the same people.[5173] Utica, as
we have seen, dated from the twelfth century before Christ. The site of
Gades combined all the advantages that the Phoenicians desired for their
colonies. Near the mouth of the Guadalete there detaches itself from the
coast of Spain an island eleven miles in length, known now as the “Isla
de Leon,” which is separated from the mainland for half its length by a
narrow but navigable channel, while to this there succeeds on the
north an ample bay, divided into two portions, a northern and a
southern.[5174] The southern, or interior recess, is completely
sheltered from all winds; the northern lies open to the west, but is so
full of creeks, coves, and estuaries as to offer a succession of fairly
good ports, one or other of which would always be accessible. The
southern half of the island is from one to four miles broad; but the
northern consists of a long spit of land running out to the north-west,
in places not more than a furlong in width, but expanding at its
northern extremity to a breadth of nearly two miles. The long isthmus,
and the peninsula in which it ends, have been compared to the stalk and
blossom of a flower.[5175] The flower was the ancient Gades, the modern
Cadiz. The Phoenician occupation of the site is witnessed to by Strabo,
Diodorus, Scymnus Chius, Mela, Pliny, Velleius Paterculus, Ælian and
Arrian,[5176] and is further evidenced by the numerous coins which bear
the legend of “Agadir” in Phoenician characters.[5177] But the place
itself retains no traces of the Phoenician occupation. The famous temple
of Melkarth, with its two bronze pillars in front bearing inscriptions,
has wholly perished, as have all other vestiges of the ancient
buildings. This is the result of the continuous occupation of the site,
which has been built on successively by Phoenicians, Carthaginians,
Romans, Vandals, Moors, and Spaniards. The space is somewhat confined,
and the houses in ancient times were, we are told, closely crowded
together,[5178] as they were at Aradus and Tyre. But the advantages of
the harbour and the productiveness of the vicinity more than made up for
this inconvenience. Gades may have been, as Cadiz is now said to be, “a
mere silver plate set down upon the edge of the sea,”[5179] but it was
the natural centre of an enormous traffic. It had easy access by the
valley of a large stream to the interior with its rich mineral and
vegetable products; it had the command of two seas, the Atlantic and the
Mediterranean; it trained its sailors to affront greater perils than any
which the Mediterranean offers; and it enjoyed naturally by its position
an almost exclusive commerce with the Northern Atlantic, with the
western coasts of Spain and Gaul, with Britain, North Germany, and the
Baltic.
Compared with Gades and Tartessus, Belon was an insignificant
settlement. Its name[5180] and coins[5181] mark it as Phoenician, but
it was not possessed of any special advantages of situation. The modern
Bolonia, a little south of Cadiz, is thought to mark the site.[5182]
We have reached now the limits of Phoenician colonisation towards
the West. While their trade was carried, especially from Gades, into
Luisitania and Gallæcia on the one hand, and into North-western Africa
on the other, reaching onward past these districts to Gaul and Britain,
to the Senegal and Gambia, possibly to the Baltic and the Fortunate
Islands, the range of their settlements was more circumscribed. As,
towards the north-east, though their trade embraced the regions of
Colchis and Thrace, of the Tauric Chersonese, and Southern Scythia,
their settlements were limited to the Ægean and perhaps the Propontis,
so westward they seem to have contented themselves with occupying a few
points of vantage on the Spanish and West African coasts, at no great
distance from the Straits, and from these stations to have sent out
their commercial navies to sweep the seas and gather in the products of
the lands which lay at a greater distance. The actual extent of their
trade will be considered in a later chapter. We have been here concerned
only with their permanent settlements or colonies. These, it has been
seen, extended from the Syrian coast to Cyprus, Cilicia, Rhodes, Crete,
the islands and shores of the Ægean and Propontis, the coasts of Sicily,
Sardinia, and North Africa, the Balearic Islands, Southern Spain, and
North-western Africa as far south as Cape Non. The colonisation was
not so continuous as the Greek, nor was it so extensive in one
direction,[5183] but on the whole it was wider, and it was far bolder
and more adventurous. The Greeks, as a general rule, made their advances
by slow degrees, stealing on from point to point, and having always
friendly cities near at hand, like an army that rests on its supports.
The Phoenicians left long intervals of space between one settlement and
another, boldly planted them on barbarous shores, where they had nothing
to rely on but themselves, and carried them into regions where the
natives were in a state of almost savagery. The commercial motive was
predominant with them, and gave them the courage to plunge into wild
seas and venture themselves among even wilder men. With the Greeks the
motive was generally political, and a safe home was sought, where social
and civil life might have free scope for quiet development.