Tyrannizing Sicily:The Despots Who Cried ‘Carthage!’

Abstract

The subject of the negative and stereotypical portrayal of Carthaginians, Punics, and Phoenicians in the ancient literary tradition is hardly a new one, although greater attention has been paid to their portrayal by the Romans than by the Greeks. The impact of the ancient literary tradition upon the modern reception of the same peoples has also been placed under the spotlight in recent years. This chapter focuses on one particular aspect of this broad field: the (negative) portrayal of the Carthaginians as barbarians in the western Greek tradition, down to the time of the Punic Wars.The primary source for this negative portrayal in the western tradition is the discourse generated by many of the Sicilian (and especially Syracusan) tyrants. The notorious synchronism of Himera and Salamis is explicitly attributed by Herodotus to the Sicilian version. Keywords: barbarian; Carthaginians; Punic Wars; Sicilian tyrants

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