Phoenician and Carthaginian
Utica
Today: Utique, Tunisia
- Years
- 800 BCE–146 BCE
A Phoenician port on a headland at the mouth of the Bagradas, commanding the rich land around it, though it lived on trade rather than farming. Pliny the Elder founds it about 1101 BCE, but the same account warns that the foundation dates of Utica, Carthage and Gadir are doubtful, because the Hellenistic age tended to ennoble origins. It stayed independent of Carthage until the end of the 6th century BCE, and in 146 BCE became the Roman capital of Africa Proconsularis.
What to see today
- Yacimiento de Útica (Utica): Archaeological site, c. 800 to 146 BCE