David Abulafia David Abulafia

Remembering Dido – and the fate of Carthage

Katherine Pangonis also traces the histories of Tyre, Antioch, Syracuse and Ravenna, once proud centres of government, trade and culture

Part of the ruins of Roman Carthage. Some of the rubble was used to build Tunis, situated nearby. [Getty Images] 
issue 08 July 2023

It is a curious fact that between the foundation of Tunis by the Arabs in the 7th century and the foundation of Tel Aviv in the early 20th century no major cities were created on the shores of the Mediterranean. Even those cities were not quite new: Tunis, as Katherine Pangonis points out, was partly constructed out of rubble from Roman Carthage, situated nearby; and Tel Aviv originated as a Jewish suburb of Jaffa.

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