Antiquities Exhibits

Competition among the elites of Rome in both the political and military spheres is well known. It was also used by one of Rome's most fiercesome opponents as well.  In Carthage, command was sometimes shared between two or even three generals and sometimes commanders were expected to seek approval from the council of 104 and the two suffetes (roughly equivalent to Rome's consuls) for  important decisions such as declaring a truce, to sue for peace, or withdraw from a conflict altogether. Furthermore, punishment of command officers was draconian (in every sense of that word!). It ranged from large fines to crucifixion of the offending general.  Even the families of those committing suicide were not spared humiliation.  Ancient sources record that the council crucified the corpse of one commander named Mago (out of the many men named Mago in the history of Carthage) in 344 BCE.  Scholars think these severe punishments rather than simply a  loss of command may ...

Alalia, the Battle that Changed History, through November 3, 2019 at the Musei Di Maremma in Vetulonia, Italy.  The naval Battle of Alalia took place between 540 BCE and 535 BCE off the coast of Corsica between Greeks and an allied fleet of Etruscans and Carthaginians.  The Punic-Etruscan fleet of 120  pentekonters (ships with 48 oars and two steering rudders) defeated a Greek force of Phocaean ships while emigrating to the western Mediterranean and the nearby colony of Alalia (now Aléria).   Although the Greeks drove the allied fleet off, they lost almost two-thirds of their own fleet, a Cadmean victory according to Herodotus. Realizing they could not withstand another attack, the Greeks evacuated Corsica, and initially sought refuge in Rhegion in Italy. A legend describes how Greek prisoners were stoned to death at Caere by the Etruscans, while the Carthaginians sold their prisoners into slavery.  The exhibit features 150 objects on loan from the museu...