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The founding of Qart Hadasht

Cartagena, Campo de Cartagena, Murcia

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The founding of Qart Hadasht

Historical milestone · Cartagena, Campo de Cartagena, Murcia

Image of Cartagena, not of the place itself.

Qart Hadasht, "new city" in Punic, was founded by the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal the Fair in 227 BC on the bay where Cartagena stands today, although it is likely that it was not built on empty ground but rather refounded an earlier settlement, perhaps the Tartessian Mastia mentioned by classical sources. It became the capital of the Barcid dominions in Iberia and the main Carthaginian base of operations, with the region's silver mines financing the army. From here Hannibal set out in 218 BC with his elephants for Italy. In 209 BC the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio besieged the city and conquered it, a decisive step toward the end of Punic rule in the south of the peninsula, and from then on it came to be called Carthago Nova.

227 a. C.

Photo: agracier - NO VIEWS (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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