Founding of Carthage

According to ancient tradition, most fully preserved in the account of the Roman historian Justin, Carthage was founded in 814 BCE by Phoenician settlers from the city of Tyre led by the legendary queen Dido, who is said to have fled her home city after her brother Pygmalion murdered her husband. Archaeological evidence broadly corroborates a Phoenician colonial foundation in this general period, with the earliest excavated material from Carthage's Bir Massouda site dating to the last quarter of the eighth century BCE, consistent with the traditional date, even though the specific narrative of Dido is generally regarded by historians as legend rather than verified history. Founded as one of many Phoenician trading colonies across the western Mediterranean, Carthage grew over the following centuries into the dominant commercial and naval power of the western Mediterranean, eventually ruling a substantial territorial empire across North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia and Iberia before its long rivalry with Rome culminated in the Punic Wars and the city's destruction in 146 BCE.