Hi there, you're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast.

Episode 116, the Third Punic War, Dido's Lament.

After being pushed to the edge by the increasingly impossible demands of the Roman Senate, the Carthaginians had reached their breaking point.

They would not submit themselves to a fate that would see the

withering away of their society, but instead chose to stand and fight against the power of the

Roman Republic, perhaps hoping to give one last black eye to their Italian foes who were

equally determined to bring about their destruction. After murdering or expelling any Roman sympathizers in the city,

the Carthaginians went to work to prepare themselves for the inevitable onslaughts that followed their

rejection of the ultimatum posed by the Consuls in 149. They unfortunately found themselves on the backfoot,

having already handed over most of their weapons

and armors as part of an earlier negotiation with the Romans, and their defeat in the war with

Massenissa made a major dent in their fighting capability. Yet they were undeterred, and a vigorous

attempt to rebuild their arsenal took place. According to Appian and Strabo,

many parts of the city were converted into full-time workshops, which produced up to 140 shields,

300 swords, 500 spears, 500 javelins, and a thousand catapult missiles each day. To replenish

their depleted navy, the Punic shipwrights

feverishly worked day and night, using stored lumber and materials scavenged from houses to

construct 120 ships in less than two months. The women of Carthage also took part in the preparations,

many of them angry mothers of the children that were sent

into Roman captivity, who offered to melt down their jewelry to be used in munitions factories

in lieu of bronze or iron, and even donated their long hair so it could be spun into rope

for catapults and ship rigging. A message was sent to recall Hasdrubal from exile to lead the

...