Carthago delenda est

[Lemur]

Latest faction preview: Carthage



“Democracy, commerce, faith"

The beating heart of Carthage is the city itself, a major port and bustling trade hub nestling on the North African coast. Since gaining independence from its Phoenician forbears, it has quickly established a considerable military, naval and trade empire of its own. Holding the same polytheistic beliefs as their ancestors, the Carthaginians worship many gods, chief amongst them Ba’al Hammon, The Ruler Of The Multitudes, and Tanit, the patron goddess of Carthage itself. Many people believe that child sacrifice takes place at their temples.

Carthage is an expansionist trading state with a small indigenous population. As such, the bulk of its armies consist of mercenary units. The core of its land forces, however, are elite Carthaginian citizens known as the Sacred Band and mighty war elephants from the forests of North Africa. Accomplished seamen, their ships are fast and manoeuvrable, with good ramming and missile capabilities.

Since the 6th century BC, Carthage has enjoyed a commercial treaty with Rome. The nations even fought together during the Pyrrhic War, although this was a marriage of convenience to prevent Greek hegemony of Southern Italy and Sicily. The outcome of that war was perhaps better for Rome; Carthage gained a foothold in Sicily, but Rome achieved dominance over much of the Italian peninsula. Now, tensions run high between these mighty nations….

As a playable faction, Carthage benefits from its mastery of the waves and its heritage as a great trading nation. As a democracy, it also enjoys an improved level of population happiness. The player also has the choice to play as one of three major political powers, each of which confers further military, economic and cultural benefits.

[edyzmedieval]

I have to say, I was impressed by the screenshots. The shields and soldiers look fantastic.

[Barkhorn1x]

I have to say, I was impressed by the screenshots. The shields and soldiers look fantastic.

Yea, me too!

[Arjos]

No carthaginian possessions in Spain and Lybia?

Also if those units are wearing bronze cuirasses, what are those leather/linen like strips on the shoulders? XD

[dge1]

Love the initial write up and look. They look to be a great play this time around.

[SalmonSoil]

ha ha ha Arse ha ha ha

[Jacobin]

No carthaginian possessions in Spain and Lybia?

Not if the starting date is c.270 BC - Carthage only moved into Spain after the First Punic War because they'd lost Sicily and Sardinia

And Libya didn't mean quite the same thing in antiquity as it does now - the Carthaginian Army included Liby-Phoenician units but these seem to have come primarily from modern Tunisia.

Certainly there were old Punic colonies in both (modern) Libya and Spain but these seem to have been trading ports that were only loosely allied to Carthage itself.

And no way should Carthage rule the whole Maghreb as on that map - their actual domain in Africa never spread that much further than modern Tunisia and Numidia and Mauretania were always independent kingdoms.

Plus Carthage a 'democracy' - utter bollocks - what little we know about the constitution suggests a strongly oligarchic system.

Every faction reveal is making my heart sink further - every single paragraph contains elementary historical errors.

[Arjos]

Didn't mean the whole of Lybia, but for example Tripolitania and Byzacena, gotta be part of it, at least imo...
Also Cadiz was carthaginian since way before the 3rd century and Mastia, iirc was mentioned in the treaty with Roma, in the 4th century, so again, imo that's already under Carthage...

[Shigawire]

Carthage was indeed an oligarchy, ruled by a body politic similar to the Roman "senate," called "Shofet" (Latin "Suffete"). Literally means "Judge", from the verb "Š-P-T", "to pass judgment"

Probably, the suffetes were originally representatives of the king or (in the Bible) God. Later, this informal title became a well-defined office. The Phoenician city of Tyre sent suffetes to its colonies in the west. There, they had certain religious duties, controled the colony's finances, and were president of several kinds of political assemblies. As their title indicates, they also served as judges. They are usually not mentioned as military leaders. Often, there were two of them, so that they would control each other.

After Tyre had been captured by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 585, the colonies were without supervision. Sometimes, they choose kings; sometimes, they became republics, led by the suffetes, who were now no longer representatives of the mother city, but of their own town. This happened, for example, in Carthage, which was ruled by a team of two elected suffetes who remained in office for a fixed period of one year.

The idea to divide executive leadership and make it last for only one year, was copied by several other nations and is known from Sardinia and Libya. The most remarkable emulation is in Rome, where the two consuls (originally known as iudices, 'judges') were also elected for one year. The matter is discussed here.

http://www.livius.org/su-sz/suffetes/suffetes.html

[The Stranger]

really doubt that is the real map or that the real map will look anything like it.

[Brennus]

Every faction reveal is making my heart sink further - every single paragraph contains elementary historical errors.

Would this cheer you up? https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...he-Areuakoi-10

I am just waiting for the Celtic factions to be revealed. No doubt we will be shown very beautiful, colourful and probably historically accurate Celtic warriors. However I fear that either the Celts will be presented as either "barbarian" or in some sort of new romantic/hippy/Mel Gibson Braveheart vein.

[Ignoramus]

Carthage a democracy? By CA's terminology 5th century Sparta would be a thriving democracy resulting in "increased happiness".

[soroosh]

I have a question? Rome Total War 2 when it is released?

[Barkhorn1x]

I have a question? Rome Total War 2 when it is released?

Estimate release between Oct - Dec of this year.

[Brother Sam]

Great visuals, not the map mind. There seems to be an emphasis on the mercenary constitution of the Carthaginian army which wasn't really explored in the first game. It will be interesting to see how this is displayed in game, how easy it is to recruit mercenaries as Carthage, and how this will work if you do well as this faction in your wars against Rome. I'm thinking that by the time you need a few standing armies the cost of the mercenaries will be sky high.

I've also read about the possibility of many types of ships. It will be very nice to see what they come up with for Carthage and how they compare to the Roman fleets.