DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0031
Carthao'e and Rome
O
5
The boundaries of Punic territory appear to have been
etermined at a very remote period, when the neighbouring
ountry of Cyrene had attained power and prosperity, and when
1 le tribes of North Africa had recognised the supremacy of the
Phoenician colony settled at Carthage. The river Tusca, sepa-
' ating Carthage on the west from the land of the Massylii,
ormed a natural boundary. The borders of the Desert were
i.lso a natural boundary on the south, peopled at all times, even
at the present day, by numerous tribes wandering from place
t:o place and living in incessant rivalry.1 But the limitation of
the eastern frontier, separating the Carthaginians from the Greek
colony of Cyrene, did not admit of easy solution. No river or
watercourse was there to mark the line of territory. No fortress
or earthwork had been raised in testimony of a settlement of
ancient claims. Nothing was there but shifting tracts of sand
and an undefined coastline. Physical force was at last resorted
to for the purpose of deciding a long-pending controversy, not
the force of arms or skill with weapons, but strength of limb
and endurance in a long and harassing journey. And this was
the simple expedient. Two deputies on either side, probably
athletes, were to leave home at a given hour, and the spot
where they met should be the boundary between the two States.
The names of two brothers, deputies on the Carthaginian side,
are recorded ; but those despatched from Cyrene have not been
handed down. Neither have we any description of the race,
or circumstances attending the journey. All we know is that
the spot where the race terminated is designated in most
charts of the ancient world as Philtznorum Arce, and we
are told that the Cyrenians, having covered but a small
distance compared with their opponents, accused them of having
started before the time agreed upon. Like many a school-
boy, who is worsted in a youthful encounter, they endeavoured
to account for their defeat by imputing to their adversaries that
1 The country in the south between Mount Atlas and the Sahara, as far as the
Niger, was inhabited by the Getuli and Melanogetuli, the Moslem Tuariks, or, as
they are now called, Touaregs. (Niebuhr's Lectures.) Pliny also speaks of the
inhabitants of the south as Getulians. They are a distinct people in African ethnology.
Owing to their geographical position they were not subject to external influences.
Their neighbours, the Garamantes, who occupied the country south of Tripoli as far
as Ghadames, may be classed with them. ( Vide Tissot, Geogr. comparee de VAfrique,
i. 447.) The limits of the country occupied by either of them are not known.
O
5
The boundaries of Punic territory appear to have been
etermined at a very remote period, when the neighbouring
ountry of Cyrene had attained power and prosperity, and when
1 le tribes of North Africa had recognised the supremacy of the
Phoenician colony settled at Carthage. The river Tusca, sepa-
' ating Carthage on the west from the land of the Massylii,
ormed a natural boundary. The borders of the Desert were
i.lso a natural boundary on the south, peopled at all times, even
at the present day, by numerous tribes wandering from place
t:o place and living in incessant rivalry.1 But the limitation of
the eastern frontier, separating the Carthaginians from the Greek
colony of Cyrene, did not admit of easy solution. No river or
watercourse was there to mark the line of territory. No fortress
or earthwork had been raised in testimony of a settlement of
ancient claims. Nothing was there but shifting tracts of sand
and an undefined coastline. Physical force was at last resorted
to for the purpose of deciding a long-pending controversy, not
the force of arms or skill with weapons, but strength of limb
and endurance in a long and harassing journey. And this was
the simple expedient. Two deputies on either side, probably
athletes, were to leave home at a given hour, and the spot
where they met should be the boundary between the two States.
The names of two brothers, deputies on the Carthaginian side,
are recorded ; but those despatched from Cyrene have not been
handed down. Neither have we any description of the race,
or circumstances attending the journey. All we know is that
the spot where the race terminated is designated in most
charts of the ancient world as Philtznorum Arce, and we
are told that the Cyrenians, having covered but a small
distance compared with their opponents, accused them of having
started before the time agreed upon. Like many a school-
boy, who is worsted in a youthful encounter, they endeavoured
to account for their defeat by imputing to their adversaries that
1 The country in the south between Mount Atlas and the Sahara, as far as the
Niger, was inhabited by the Getuli and Melanogetuli, the Moslem Tuariks, or, as
they are now called, Touaregs. (Niebuhr's Lectures.) Pliny also speaks of the
inhabitants of the south as Getulians. They are a distinct people in African ethnology.
Owing to their geographical position they were not subject to external influences.
Their neighbours, the Garamantes, who occupied the country south of Tripoli as far
as Ghadames, may be classed with them. ( Vide Tissot, Geogr. comparee de VAfrique,
i. 447.) The limits of the country occupied by either of them are not known.