[BTS] [RFC] The Rise of Carthage

[Gruekiller]

Well, here's my first try at a Civ story. Sorry for the generic title; I'm not feeling terribly creative today. At any rate, I'm playing RFC with a 3000 BC start on Viceroy ('cause I suck). I won't be trying for any particular victory. I'll just try to stay alive until 2050, and thus defy History as we know it and have fun. Suck on it, Romans!

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The Founding of the New Tyre
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The foundation of Qart-Hadasht (the New City) is steeped in legend. It was said to have been founded by Queen Elissa - or, as she was known to the local Libyans, Dido - a Phoenician princess fleeing her tyrannical brother's rule. Her new city-state maintained good relations with the locals. However, as Dido later threw herself onto a sword upon a burning pyre when the Libyans' king proposed to her, these good relations plainly had their limits.

In a matter of less than a century, a new power had emerged in the Mediterranean, in the form of the city-state of Carthage. With a strong maritime tradition, they sought to monopolize trade in the Mediterranean Sea. Eventually, in their attempts to control Mediterranean trade, the Carthaginians came into conflict with the Greek colonists in Sicily. After a series of wars against the Greeks, the Carthaginians had cleared the way to colonization of the island.

And that is where our story begins.

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[AnotherPacifist]

Well you're just setting yourself up for an early war with Rome if you found anything in Sicily because it'll flip to Rome in about 5 turns.

 

[Gruekiller]

Indeed. *suspiciously glancing about* But Carthage is never complete without a Sicilian colony.

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Messana and the Romans​

As time went on, an increasing number of ships docked by a certain fishing village in eastern Sicily. Eventually, this village grew into a port town, which the Carthaginians called Messana. The port soon thrived thanks to its position upon a natural harbor, increasing the trade which went into Carthaginian merchants' pockets.

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Word eventually reached Carthage from their Etruscan trading partners in northern Italia of a large and powerful city-state founded upon the Tiber River. They apparently called themselves "Romans". Even at this early stage, the Shofet ("judge", ruler of a Punic city) apparently commented that the Romans were going to cause trouble sooner or later.

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And, just as he suspected, the Romans eventually demanded to be ceded control of the ports at Messana. Though much grumbling transpired, the Carthaginians signed control of the town over to the Italians peacefully. They didn't have the power to fight Rome... yet.

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So. Yeah. I guess it will flip. But mark my words! I'll send a Barca over there and give 'em a what-for.

 

[Bobbtjoe]

Good start!

 

[Gruekiller]

Thanks. Things will get quite interesting soon. I can tell you one thing: I fully intend to outlast those darned Romans.

 

[Gruekiller]

Tyre Lost and the Invasion of Italia​

At about this time, the ship bearing the annual tribute to the mother city of Tyre (also known as Sur) arrived at the shore of Phoenicia, only to find charred ruins where the city once stood. It was suspected that the sacking of the city was perpetrated by the Babylonians, but the Hattic barbarians to the north were also likely suspects. Though a desire for vengeance burned in the hearts of Carthage's people, the city-state just couldn't project its power that far across the sea. It was up to the Carthaginians to carry on the Phoenician legacy.

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Not long after this revelation, the Shofet determined that if Carthage were to survive without the mother city, it must cement its hold on Mediterranean trade. In the dead of night, a force of galleys stole across the straits into Sicily. Numidian mercenaries closed in on the city of Messana and prepared to lay siege. Through diplomatic maneuvering, the Carthaginians coerced the Greeks and Egyptians to also declare war upon the Romans.

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Despite having the element of surprise, it is simply not good tactics to charge cavalry up a hill at archers. Heavy losses were incurred upon the raiding party as death rained down from the port town's palisades. One Hamilcar Barca, the commander of the Carthaginian forces, tasked a small group of men with sneaking into the city and poisoning the water supply. This worked wonders, as eventually the archers began to fall prey to the sickness. (Well, I didn't actually send any spies into the city. I needed to think of some reason why my troops managed to win...)

Before long, the port was once again in Carthaginian hands. The town's Christian missionaries were sacrificed upon the tophet outside the city for the glory of Ba'al. In contrast to the generally negative reactions of the local Romans, those of Punic descent rejoiced at the recapture of the city.

Recruiting a few more men from the town as troops, a rare move in Carthaginian military history, Hamilcar made a daring choice: the way to Rome lay wide open, and his men would ensure that Rome would never again be a power in the region...

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[Karalysia]

I would suggest you burn Rome. It seems fitting.

 

[Gruekiller]

You're in luck. I have a very special fate in store for our Italian friends.
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Rome, Conquerable​

Reports crept across the Mediterranean, to the effect that a Celtic people known as the Gauls were harassing Rome's encampments in Gallia Narbonensis and the region around the Rhine. The Carthaginians also had intelligence to the effect that Greece was attacking Rome's cities in northern Italia and Illyria.

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Hamilcar's choice to move onward to the Roman capital was wise indeed. But whether or not he knew of the Legions being stretched so thin beforehand is unknown.

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Numidian cavalry descended upon the so-called Eternal City, rapidly overwhelming the single regiment of archers, and quickly took control of Roma. In order to assure Rome's humbling, the city was burned to the ground. What remained was taken apart brick-by-brick, and used to construct cities and forts in North Africa.

The Carthaginians never bothered to sign a treaty of peace with the Romans. The cavalry regiments were ferried back home to a hero's welcome. Rome, certainly, would never pose an obstacle to Carthage again.

 

[AnotherPacifist]

Mediolanum is an excellent city if you care to expand northwards.
Ah, the pleasure of getting Feudalism in 11 turns...(make that 40 turns if you play in emperor with cities' maintenance costing an arm and a leg).

 

[Gruekiller]

I don't have any intention of expanding much further into Italy. And besides that, by the time I post this message, some other civilization has grabbed the city at any rate. (Can't recall which.) Exciting times are ahead for Carthage with the rise of Islam, as well as finally picking up a state religion.

 

[W|M]

Is it Islam?

 

[Gruekiller]

Why make Africa peaceful when I can polarize it into two halves?

 

[Gruekiller]

And by the way...

 

[W|M]

Well, who couldn't see THAT coming?

 

[Gruekiller]

The Romans, apparently.

 

[Gruekiller]

One last update, and then I can't be online for a week.
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Pax Carthaga and the Rise of Islam​

The years following the Roman War were a period of peaceful growth and trade for the Carthaginian people. New lighthouses were erected all across the coast of North Africa and Sicily, including the Great Lighthouse of Rusadir, which was to be the tallest structure on Earth for a number of centuries.

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Eventually, as the teachings of the Roman saints travelled along with the trade, Carthage adopted Christianity as its state religion, abandoning the old gods Ba'al and Tanit. Records of the sacrifice of Christian priests during the invasion of Sicily were quietly swept under the rug.

News reached the ears of the Shofet of a powerful new civilization rising up from the sands of Arabia. The Arabs practiced a faith which was similar to Christianity, but in many ways radically different. The Greeks and Egyptians had already abandoned the Jewish faith for the teachings of Islam, effectively isolating Carthage as the lone Christian power.

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Welcome news came from the lands of Iberia. A people who spoke a language descended from Latin had risen from the proverbial mists, and called themselves Spanish. Christianity soon spread to the settlements of Spain, finally giving Carthage an ally against the threat of Islam's rapid expansion.

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[Matt0088]

I don't think you have stacked enough units to the east there.

Certainly very interesting to read so far. Keep it up Gruekiller!

 

[Gruekiller]

Once I got Feudalism, I started stacking longbowmen all over the place. xD

 

[mechaerik]

Spoiler apparently freaky :

RFC stories are always fun. I love how you burned Rome to the ground.

 

[W|M]

Please edit that pic out. It freaks me out and scares me.