Ceterum Censeo
But Carthage has been destroyed for more than two millennia--here's a few postcards from Tunisia!
I recall one of my favourite childhood books, “The Myths of Classical Rome” (orig. Sagen der römischen Antike), which I read, and re-read, multiple times as a child. I also read the accompanying volumes of myths of classical Greece and “German” mediaeval myths multiple times.
What can I say “in my defence”? Well, I love reading, and there’s nothing more exciting than such mythical stories (my girls love them, too).
Well, one of the stories from classical Rome that I found very intriguing were the Punic Wars; little did I know about anything related to class conflict, plutocracy, and the oligarchy ruling Rome then (and “the West” ever since).
So, the below postcards from Carthage, or what’s left of it, are a kind of trip down memory lane, so to speak, in any number of ways. Having never been to Tunisia, they’re also quite literally “new territory” to me, and I hope you may enjoy them, too.
“A Victoria”, the postcard mailed in 1982, simply mentions.
“Chenini de Tatouine”, the above postcard, mailed also in the early 1980s, says, which tells us that the Star Wars set and ancient Carthage are not that far apart, it would seem. Below, the “antiquarium” of Carthage:
And, finally, a “souvenir” from one of the Mediterranean’s more spectacular ancient sites:
More tomorrow, dear readers, for now: best wishes from Copenhagen.
I loved the ancient mythologies too, as a child. Ancient Roman ruins are so striking even seen on a screen. Although I have not been able to travel abroad since my youth, I have had the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art close enough to home and their 1992 presentation of Classical Greek sculpture, makes one wonder at how man seems to have wasted the last 2000 years, trying to find truth and beauty. It was all there, 2000 and so many years ago.