What if Carthage had conquered Rome. . .and the Roman Empire had never existed?

Question

This is a "What if?" kind of question for real history-lovers.
How different would the world be today, if Carthage had won and Rome been conquered? The influence of Rome on the whole of the Western World is vast. But what if Carthage had won, instead? How do you think life would be like today? What direction do you think the Western World would have taken?

Answer 1

Minor changes of various degrees based on which Punic war they lost.

Changes from the Roman Catholics being based in Carthage and fighting the Muslims for that city as much as Constantinople, maybe sucessfully as crusades get called regularly.

Romance languages, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian, would not be based in Latin, but rather Phonecian. (English is a Germanic language with a forced sheen of Latin grammar over it.)

The alphabet would look different. Depending on how far North they got, English might end up with the Cyrillic alphabet.
The new Testament would be different as the Phoenician's (Carthage was originally a Phoenician colony.) would control Jerusalem, not Romans.)

Sicily would be part of Algeria, not Italy. The Mafia may not exist. (It would be replaced, organized crime always exists. Just not Italians, maybe Irish.)

Names of months would be different.

Of course, depending on whether the Romans lost Punic war I, II, or III makes a difference. More change for I and the least for III.

Since they were further south their empire can be assumed to be further south and they may have never bothered to cross the English channel. (Which means no flight to Brittany, no William the Conqueror who had a major ally in the Brittany guys wanting revenge on the Saxons.)

WWI would have happened. Austria being to diverse with Germanic and Romance (now Punic) and Slavic peoples would still get involved in the mess in the Balkans. What side the English fall on might be different.

If WWI happened the same WWII happens. Germany is still hit severely at Versailles and the seeds for WWII are still sown.

If WWII happened the same (or close enough) the cold war between the US and Soviet Union happens the same.

In about 2,000 or so years it straightens itself out.:)

Answer 2

I have been reading a discussion about alternative history just recently, and there are two schools of thought. One is that small changes can have big effects (there is a famous sf story by Ray Bradbury. written in the 50s. about a time traveller to the Cretaceous who steps on to a butterfly and totally changes history in his own time). Then there is the theory that things tend to come back to what we know. So had Carthage won? Well, I have no doubt the architecture would be different. Washington wouldn't look like it does, today, for example as it is strongly influenced by Roman architecture, Our languages would be entirely different, based on Punic rather than Latin. We would not have much Greek influence as the Carthaginians weren't as interested in Greece as the Romans were, and perhaps much of their literature, etc., would have been lost. The Carthaginians were much like the Romans in many ways though. I guess they would have gone on and conquered much of the world conquered by the Romans and would probably have lasted as long and fallen, for much the same reasons that the Roman Empire fell. The big if is what would have happened to Christianity and Islam. My guess (again) is much as happened in the Roman Empire - but the Pope wouldn't be based in Rome, but in North Africa - if he hadn't been overthrown by the Muslim expansion.

Answer 3

Rome Hotelbye today is among the most important tourist locations of the world, due to the incalculable immensity of their archaeological and artwork secrets, as well as for the allure of its unique traditions, the beauty of their panoramic views, and the majesty of their great parks. One of many things must see durante Rome is Campo de'Fiori. Campo de'Fiori is a rectangular square south of Piazza Navona applied as a market place during the day, and party main for university students and tourists at night. The title means “area of flowers” and was first given during the Middle Ages when the location was actually a meadow. Yet another place worth visit is The Roman Forum. Situated in the tiny pit involving the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, The Roman Forum was for generations the teeming heart of historical Rome and today is really a expansive damage of architectural pieces

Answer 4

The Western world will be based on oligarchy, not democracy (as in the Roman Empire). Paganism will still dominate because Christianity will not exist (since Jesus was crucified by Roman soldiers under Pontius Pilate). In particular, the religion of Freemasonry will dominate since it was based partly on Carthaginian/Phoenician religious tenets (such as Hiram being the architect of King Solomon's Temple).There will be a lot of decadence just like the way the Carthaginians behaved. Mystery religions and mysticism will flourish as they did under the Carthaginians.The major languages of Europe will be mainly derived from Punic (Carthaginian) script. And the Western World would have discovered the New World possibly centuries earlier, since the Carthaginians are great seafaring people.

Answer 5

If you are talking about the successor empires to Alexander the Great, they all fought the Roman Republic/Empire. And they all lost. During Alexander's campaigns, yes Rome was a republic, but it was busy with internal affairs--essentially, conquering all of Italy.

Answer 6

i think therefore i am. really, my dear, the Renaissance would have happened, the plagues were predetermined, and somebody was certain to discover and colonize America. the Italian families would not have established the mafia in new york. etc. etc. things would have been a little different. i wonder if ww1and ww2 would have happened? it would have revised history, of course, but so much was inevitable, don't you think?