Larry Miller, Tennessee Place Names: "This label was inspired by the famed North African city of antiquity. Exotic place-names were in vogue in the United States for a period, and this site was probably named during that time."
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| Ironically, about ten miles down the road from Rome is Carthage. Named for the other great superpower of the ancient Mediterranean, defeated by the Romans in the Punic Wars, today Carthage, Tennessee is the thriving seat of Smith County. The prosperity of Carthage relative to Rome is due, in no small part, to the influence of the Gore family, a powerful Carthaginian political dynasty that represented Tennessee in Washington for decades. Al Gore, Jr. kicked off his 2000 presidential campaign from these courthouse steps in June of 1999. |
Ancient Carthage
Sample Latin Text:
Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal 7
This passage illustrates how Hannibal's refusal to accept the peace treaty negotiated with the Romans, established after the Second Punic War, made him something of a persona non grata in his own hometown.
Deinde, M. Claudio L. Furio consulibus, Roma legati Carthaginem venerunt. Hos Hannibal ratus sui exposcendi gratia missos, priusquam eis senatus daretur, navem ascendit clam atque in Syriam ad Antiochum profugit. Hac re palam facta, Poeni naves duas, quae eum comprehenderent, si possent consequi, miserunt, bona eius publicarunt, domum a fundamentis disiecerunt, ipsum exulem iudicarunt.
Loeb Translation:
"Then in the following year, when Marcus Claudius and Lucius Furius were consuls, envoys came to Carthage from Rome. Hannibal thought that they had been sent to demand his surrender; therefore, before they were given audience by the senate, he secretly embarked on a ship and took refuge with King Antiochus in Syria. When this became known, the Carthaginians sent two ships to arrest Hannibal, if they could overtake him; then they confiscated his property, demolished his house from its foundations, and declared him an outlaw."
