The destruction of Carthage had the same effect on the ancient world as the bombing of Guernica in the mid-twentieth century. It was something unprecedented, almost unimaginable. Of course, at all times, especially in ancient times, it happened that enemy armies wiped out entire cities from the face of the earth, destroyed fortresses, and exterminated populated areas to the last person. But the destruction of Carthage, even against this background, remained something egregious.