Most of the written records of Carthage were lost when the
Romans sacked the city, set about a comprehensive propaganda campaign, that
still echoes down the years to today, and successfully vilified the entire
culture of the Carthaginians.
As a result of this historical vandalism (a word we get from
the peoples who destroyed the Roman Empire) we know only the sketchiest details
of Hanno’s extraordinary expedition around 470BC.
Leading a small fleet of galleys, this explorer, the seminal
hero in my series, set out through the Straits of Gibraltar and ventured south
around Africa. As he went he founded small Carthaginian colonies along the
coast, and up a couple of the river mouths. After we’re not sure how long and
having travelled as far south as the Equator he returned home, retracing his
path.
Those colonies, alas, did not survive long and scant record
shows up in the archaeological record, but there is enough proof to show Hanno
actually existed, and this epic journey took place. The written record is
sketchy, thanks to the depredations of the aforementioned Romans, but supports
his story. Some say he was the king of Carthage, others more of a merchant
prince, but nevertheless it was an extraordinarily intrepid feat, when you
consider they knew virtually nothing about the size of the Atlantic or the
continent they were sailing around.
In the world of the Carthaginian Empire series, Hanno is
driven north by a storm, ends up almost shipwrecked on the coast of what is now
Dorset in England, but that’s my story, and you’ll have to read more of that
later.
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