Carthage Must Be Destroyed

The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization

By: Richard Miles

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

An epic history of a doomed civilization and a lost empire. The devastating struggle to the death between the Carthaginians and the Romans was one of the defining dramas of the ancient world. In an epic series of land and sea battles, both sides came close to victory before the Carthaginians finally succumbed and their capital city, history, and culture were almost utterly erased.

Drawing on a wealth of new archaeological research, Richard Miles vividly brings to life this lost empire-from its origins among the Phoenician settlements of Lebanon to its apotheosis as the greatest seapower in the Mediterranean. And at the heart of the history of Carthage lies the extraordinary figure of Hannibal-the scourge of Rome and one of the greatest military leaders, but a man who also unwittingly led his people to catastrophe. The first full-scale history of Carthage in decades, Carthage Must Be Destroyed reintroduces modern listeners to the larger-than-life historical players and the ancient glory of this almost forgotten civilization.

©2011 Richard Miles (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp

Great account of the Mediterranean's "Other" City

As much as I have read about Roman history, I have only learned about Carthage while studying about Rome. Everything has been derived. Thus, Carthage was typically presented in almost a stereotypical manner, juxtaposed as the proverbial villain against Rome. Miles did a good job in distilling Carthaginian history, much of which was passed to us through Roman bias.

It is amazing to consider what Phoenicia and Carthage did through their exploration and establishing trade routes. Reading that they made it to the West coast of Africa, and probably up the French coast is not surprising. But to accomplish what they did given their technology and tools is remarkable.

Its tragic end was somewhat anti-climatic, although everything we have of it is through a Roman lens. And I don't think Miles fully grasped Scipio Corculum's opposition to the war. He presented this as a possible addition by later generations who had experienced the Roman Civil Wars that broke out after the fall of Carthage. But many Roman's understood their history and had seen what had happened previously when an up-and-coming civilization had supplanted its rival and arrived on the pinnacle with no rivals. Athens (Persian Empire) and Sparta (Athens) both suffered in a breakdown of their society's and then of their country after having bested their nemesis. The parallel with the US and the USSR is unmistakable.

Great read and a great companion to Cline's 1177 B.C., both of which I recommend highly. - Hamilton of the Smokies

Just what I was looking for

I was always curious about Carthage. Couldn't fathom why a city state was obliterated. Maybe this book gave me a bit more than I wished for, but it was great. Thorough. Narrator was very good too.

Excellent but…

Wonderful effort in bringing to light the history of Carthage, as could be expected, sources are mainly from the victors…

The anglification of Latin names, using English long vowels where short ones are in order does feel awkward.

Tenacious Carthage

This is a great story that she be told and heard again. Once in each season if a person had such a luxury.
Here the author and performer both do a great job. One thing that could be gleaned from this history is that Hannibal, as a General or Commander, comes out not quite so fantastic as his fame suggested, while Scipio Africanus it would seem was left somewhat underated.

Fascinating Part of the Story!

Having studied several ancient civilizations, this treatment of the Carthage goes beyond the traditional Greco-Roman accounts and was exactly what I was looking for on the subject. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of western civilization.

The well researched material

Great overall, smart and entertaining. You can tell the depth of research that went into writing this book. The writer makes it entertaining and easy to follow.

Fascinating Overview, Occasional dry stretches

I have read a fair amount of ancient history, but never knew much about Carthage in particular. This book gives a compelling, easy to understand and enjoyable to hear overview of the ancient city's entire history. There are just a few dry as dust sections where archaeological details get a little overwhelming, but the vast majority of the book moves along well. Grover Gardner, as always, does a great job with the narration.

Excellent and Informative

Where does Carthage Must Be Destroyed rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's in my top twenty- I'm generally fond of historical books and this is in my top 5, in that particular category.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I found the early sections of the book to be most enjoyable, in spite of a popular consensus that they are "Dryer" than the rest- indeed, to an extent I found the earlier parts the most engaging of the entire work, because of how well the author explains the painstaking work that goes into reconstructing any bit of useful historical information about Qart-Hadasht.

Excellent for any ancient history buff

The book was fantastic, it had both storytelling and gives the background as to how we got the knowledge. the one thing I can pick on is that the narrator mispronounced a word or a now here and there, but you get over it.

Interesting, missing important things

Overall gives an interesting overview with more attention to Carthage than other books. Biggest concern - all other scholarly material says the Roman Corvus worked ONLY ONCE, this book has it a key weapon for all of the 2nd Punic war. Misunderstood reference to boarding actions in general?