Carthaginian Cavalry in Southern Spain, 280 BC
Carthage is quite a strange civilization. Despite descending from the rather peaceful and mercantile Phoenicians, they have acquired the reputation among historians of both the past and present as bloodthirsty militarists who rampaged across the Mediterranean. Despite their reputation as an "army with a state, rather than a state with an army", Carthage did in fact start off as a mercantile nation. However, Phoenician colonial ambition was not taken lightly by the native Berber tribes, who constantly raided and pillaged minor Phoenician colonies. Carthage itself was sacked at least once in its recorded history, but quickly recovered and annihilated the invading Berbers shortly after.
Early Carthaginian history is shrouded in myth and legend. Different cultures have different depictions on how the city came to be. The Carthaginians themselves believe that the daughter of a Phoenician King, Elissa, was outmaneuvered by her older brother Pygmalion, who ousted her from Tyre. Elissa fled across the sea with a small group of loyalists, mercenaries, and colonists and eventually landed on the sight of where Carthage would later be built. Suddenly, as the settlers unloaded their supplies from the ships, a group of Berber raiders attacked them. A Phoenician "general" by the name of Baalhanno (most likely a mercenary captain) who had gone with Elissa rallied to few soldiers and mercenaries and decisively defeated the raiders. For years to come, many famous Carthaginian generals would claim that they were a descendant of Baalhanno. The Berbers have a very different account of what occurred. According to the very few Berber sources, a full-on Phoenician invasion force stormed the African shore. They pillaged and burned nearby villages, and used the spoils to construct a great city. Today, none of these accounts can be proven or fully disproved, but both sides have some discrepancies. On the Carthaginian side, little documentation at the time of Elissa's flight ever say that any of the characters mentioned in the story existed, and archaeological evidence suggests Phoenician activity at Carthage occurred much earlier than the myth suggests. However, the Berber side is also flawed. No archaeological evidence suggests that a bloody Phoenician invasion occurred, and the Phoenicia could not have mustered that strong of an army, being that they were still subjects of the mighty Assyrian Empire. Furthermore, the militarization of Carthage seems to have occurred around 600 BCE, when many accounts of Carthaginian conquests of the Tunisian hinterland are apparent.
Because of Berber hostility, many of the small Phoenician trading hubs were quickly overrun by Berber tribes such as the Masaesyli and Massylii. Refugees flooded into Carthage, further bolstering it's manpower. At first, it seems that Carthage attempted to establish diplomatic relations with the Berbers, but these were met with little to no success. Carthage quickly found itself under siege by a Berber warlord named Gala. Very little sources make note of this conflict, but it seems that Gala attempted to starve out the city, but the gigantic Carthaginian fleet kept the citizens fed and morale high. Gala's army was highly unprofessional, and after many failed assault attempts, finally made a breach in the Carthaginian defenses. As the Berber war band rampaged through Carthage, they were halted by a group of Phoenician nobles who bravely held the line in a narrow street. This gave the rest of the Carthaginian high command to assemble a citizen militia which slammed into the Berber rear, winning the day for Carthage.
A few decades before the victory over Gala, Carthage was clearly sacked. Early Carthaginian writers tell of a massive Berber army that simply overpowered the small Carthaginian garrison. Most of the population was evacuated or hidden, but a large portion of the city was sacked and burnt. Despite the Carthaginians eventually winning the day, it was a huge blow to Carthaginian morale and prestige. Determined to not let the city ever suffer the same fate ever again, the Carthaginian military underwent great expansion. Phoenician merchant ships were converted into warships which could help protect Carthage's ever-growing influence on the Central Mediterranean trade routes. The Nobles who saved the day during Gala's attack on Carthage formed an honor guard now known as the Sacred Band. The Sacred Band would form a crucial part of Carthage's military to come, and be a deciding factor against the many wars against the Greeks. Carthage also seemed to have developed one of the first examples of a standing army, mainly used for garrison duties and defending small Phoenician villages. News reached the Phoenician motherland about the success of Carthage, and in return Phoenician nobility, merchant, and peasant alike sailed for Carthage, sick of living under the Assyrian yoke.
Slowly but surely, the strategic situation in Africa swung in the favor of Carthage. The constant stream of Phoenician colonists made sure the Carthaginian army had a good supply of manpower, and soon the Tunisian hinterland found itself under Carthaginian rule. While most of the more developed Carthaginian towns and cities were propped up on the coast, small farming villages began to pop up further inland. However, despite all this success, Carthage still had major problems. The most crucial being an inefficient government. Early Carthaginian leadership was headed by a group of Phoenician nobles which constantly battled over power. This could either lead to coups against rival noble families, or full-on bloody civil wars. Eventually, the constant warring between the Nobility ended in 550 BC. A Carthaginian general by the name of Mago had crushed most of his rivals, and established him and his family as the dominant force in Carthage. The reign of Mago ushered in a new era for Carthage, called the age of "Kings." Although today Mago and his successors are classified as Kings, they operated more like Tyrants and political strongmen than actual monarchs. Under Mago, Carthage began to expand overseas. Phoenician cities in Sicily and surrounding islands were absorbed into the Carthaginian sphere of influence, either through diplomatic means or conquest.
Carthaginians were not the only colonists in the West. For centuries the Greeks had been setting up successful cities from Italy all the way to the Eastern Coast of Spain. Carthaginian expansion inevitably brought the two powerhouses into conflict. Although most the conflict between Carthage and Greece were battles and skirmishes here and there, most historians state that the "Greco-Carthaginian" wars had begun at this point. They first clashed in a naval battle near the newly founded Greek city of Alalia. Before the battle, Mago was determined to secure Corsica and Sardinia For Carthage. So far, it his efforts had payed off. The old Phoenician necropolis of Karalis submitted to Carthage under fear it would instantly be sacked. Most of the Sardinian coast had been secured, but the interior of the island was home to the Nuragic tribes; fierce warriors who would fight the Carthaginian invaders tooth and nail to preserve every inch of their land. When Mago heard that a new Greek city had popped up in Corsica, he was infuriated. Corsica and Sardinia clearly fell within the Carthaginian sphere of influence, and the Greeks had pretty much made an act of war. Mago marched his army northwards, and sent word to Carthage to send a naval force to Alalia.
Mago's army was delayed by constant harassment from Nuragic ambushes, but the Carthaginian navy reached Alalia right on time. The Greeks sallied out in their ships to meet the Carthaginians, and the battle began. For hours no outcome could be decided, as the much quicker Phoenician ships were to paranoid to risk being locked in a prolonged melee fight with the Greeks. Carthaginian naval tactics were mainly hit-and-run: ram the enemy and be gone before they know it. The Greeks on the other hand were highly trained marines and excelled at raiding and boarding ships. Eventually, the Carthaginian numerical superiority prevailed, and most of the Greek navy was routed or destroyed. A few days later, Mago's army would reach Alalia and finish off the survivors. Despite this early success, Carthage was in for a long and bloody road against various Greek city-states, but for now, Carthage ruled the Central Mediterranean with an iron fist.
(Main POD(s): A much more hostile reception from native Berber tribes, an aggressive foreign policy against Greek colonial competition, and a much larger amount of Phoenician colonists lead to the slow transition of Carthage into a military power.