Propaganda War In The Roman World: The Demonizing of Hannibal and the Carthaginians
All these allegations are refuted by recent research findings, including the report published in PLoS ONE on February 17, 2011. Jeffrey H. Schwartz, a professor of anthropology, history and philosophy of science at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Arts and Sciences and president of the World Academy of Art and Science, working together with Frank Houghton of the Veterans Research Foundation of Pittsburgh, Roberto Macchiarelli of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, and Luca Bondioli of the National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography in Rome, inspected the remains of children found in the Tophets, burial sites peripheral to conventional Carthaginian cemeteries for older children and adults. Tophets house urns containing the cremated remains of young children and animals, which led to the theory that they were reserved for victims of sacrifice. The evidence found by the researchers showed clearly that the great majority of the interred remains were from children of both sexes who died prenatally, in other words, the victims of the high incidence of stillbirths, miscarriages, and infant death. They write that “if conditions in other ancient cities held in Carthage, young and unborn children could have easily succumbed to the diseases and sanitary shortcomings found in such cities as Rome and Pompeii.” No evidence of systematic child sacrifices was found.
An impartial examination of the facts clearly shows that there is no evidence of the practice of child sacrifices at Carthage. On the contrary, all indications point toward this being a fabrication, part of the demonization of the Carthaginians by their rivals in the ancient Mediterranean. After the Romans destroyed Carthage in 146 BCE it became necessary to paint the victims of this genocidal holocaust as evil, cruel, and barbaric to justify the carnage.
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© 2012 by Yozan Mosig
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