Roman Republic · 149-146 BC

146 BC: the destruction of Carthage

"Carthage must be destroyed," Cato kept telling the Senate. Students investigate why Rome attacked a city that was no longer a danger, how the Carthaginians resisted, and how the myth of the salted fields was born.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, 150 BC to 100 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

"Carthage must be destroyed," Cato kept telling the Senate. Students investigate why Rome attacked a city that was no longer a danger, how the Carthaginians resisted, and how the myth of the salted fields was born.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why Rome went to war with Carthage for the third time in 149 BC.
  • Describe the siege of Carthage and its outcome from both the Roman and the Carthaginian side.
  • Tell the difference between what ancient sources say and later myths, such as the salting of the fields.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

150 BC

A city reborn

Open the map in 150 BC and find Carthage, now a small state on the coast of Africa next to the Numidian kingdoms. Does it look like a danger to Rome?

Open this view on the map
b

146 BC

The siege

Turn on Historical Events, choose Sieges, and find the marker for Carthage in 146 BC. Zoom in on the city by the sea. Why was a city on the coast hard to starve out?

Open this view on the map
c

100 BC

A Roman province

Jump to 100 BC. What has happened to the land of Carthage? Rome named its new province "Africa". Find it on the map.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Carthage had paid off its war debt and had almost no fleet. Why did some Romans still fear it?
  2. Rome ordered the Carthaginians to leave their city and settle about 15 km from the sea. Why could they not accept this?
  3. Polybius watched Carthage burn. He says the Roman commander Scipio Aemilianus wept, fearing Rome would one day share its fate. What does that tell us?
  4. No ancient writer says the Romans sowed salt on Carthage's fields; that story is modern. Why do such myths spread?
  5. Rome later built a new Roman Carthage on the same spot. What does it mean to build a new city on top of a destroyed one?
4

Game round

10 min

No ruler in Rule History took part in this war. Play one round as Julius Caesar, who planned a Roman colony at Carthage about a century after its destruction. Discuss: why would Rome rebuild a city it had wiped out?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.