posted AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ON THE AMAZON KINDLE STORE: Carthage Atlantica
quote:It is 200 BC, and the North African civilization of Carthage is recovering from a brutal war against the Roman Republic. Searching for new lands to colonize so they can rebuild their wealth, the Carthaginians send a fleet across the Atlantic Ocean that lands on the shore of North America, which they call “Atlantis”. As they struggle to adapt to this new world, the Carthaginian settlers find themselves drawn into a conflict between Native American nations, a conflict the colonists’ own leadership is willing to aggravate in the name of their personal ambitions. Can the colony of Carthage Atlantica survive in this account of alternate history?
You can read a couple of excerpted chapters from the novella here.
The cover illustration:
The dramatis personae (the first character in the first image, Isceradin, is of Iberian descent unlike the other Carthaginian characters): Larger version here
quote:After a disastrous war against Rome, a group of Carthaginian explorers set out across the Atlantic to find places to settle and rebuild. Upon reaching a new continent, which some name Atlantis, they establish contact with a local tribe and begin trade. However, this new land isn’t without its dangers. Harsh winters take their toll on the colony, and war with a hostile nation looks over their heads. Will the colony be able to survive?
Brandon Pilcher once again crafts an imaginative tale looking at a version of Earth where history take a divergent turn. In addition to his portrayal of Carthaginians, the author creates two different tribes of Native Americans. The characters feel fleshed out, from desiring power to wanting to help one’s family. I also enjoy how the tribes were not based off a single group, but seemed to take inspiration from an assortment of Native American tribes. If someone wanted a fun alternative history that didn’t look at the recent past, then you should pick this book up.
There are a few things to keep in mind. People do take to smoking tobacco, and it sounds like some develop an addiction. There is a same-sex couple (a warning for those who get uncomfortable with such choices), and a couple discuss transgenderism. The s-word is used and there is some gore.
This book can be used to bring up discussions of American history. There are also lessons on honesty and integrity in the story.
quote:While most know about the Roman and Greek civilizations, some if only by name, it’s a safe bet that few have heard of the Phoenician Empire. Though a confederation of prosperous mercantile city-states, whose diverse citizenry probably didn’t see themselves as a nation or even as “a people” as many Americans do, The Phoenicians rose to power around the 12th century BC from what is present-day Lebanon. In addition to their trading prowess, the Phoenicians were also able-bodied sailors who, according to many historians including Greek contemporary Herodotus, established a vast empire that stretched from Western Africa to what is now Southern England. Furthermore, Phoenician business transactions helped re-invigorate Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. However, they also gradually made enemies; their clashes with the upstart Roman Republic led to the conquest of Phoenicia’s major city-state Carthage, during the Punic Wars, and signaled the finish of Phoenician supremacy.
Given the Phoenicians’ substantial seafaring skills, theories have emerged that they could have sailed beyond Africa. Documentaries such as “Carthage’s Lost Warriors,” for example, posit that The Phoenicians, not Columbus, likely reached The Americas first. Brazilian adventurer Yuri Sanada even reasoned in “King Solomon’s Gold” that the Biblical Land of Ophir (1 Kings 9: 26-28) from where King Solomon’s wealth was derived was instead perhaps a Phoenician-Hebrew port based in the Americas.
It is from this fertile ground of Phoenician fact and fiction that modern author Brandon Pilcher offers his version of events in “Carthage Atlantica.” “Carthage Atlantica” is an alternate history that picks up after the defeat of Carthage, Phoenicians’ most famous city-state, by the Romans in the Third Punic War. Rather than go the way of the dinosaur, though, a mixed group of Carthaginians escape to present-day Brazil.
As far as the characterization of the Carthaginians, they are mostly dark-skinned, “black,” Africans (which fits some of the archaeological demographic data and Herodotus’s writings of a significant Phoenician presence in Africa). Making the lead protagonist Isceradin a “tan-skinned” Iberian (or native of the Spanish and Portuguese Peninsula) is also historically accurate. To some, positioning a light-skinned “hero” may seem like playing to the trope of the white savior enlightening and rescuing another civilization. Here, however, the author is careful to show that Isceradin is but a member of a colony of Carthage (Iberia). He is himself not truly “Carthaginian,” though married to Arishat (the story’s capable black heroine whose beauty is also admired by some of the indigenous peoples). This subtle reversal of a light-skinned person’s struggle for acceptance amongst the majority black power structure makes for an interesting subplot to the story and advances the alternate history perspective.
Make no mistake: While there are many colorful characters in “Carthage Atlantica,” the main theme is the effects (positive and negative) of colonization. Perhaps the best tools the author uses time and again to illustrate the point are irony and allusion. The Carthaginians don’t want to merely survive in the new land but develop a thirst for conquering it. They, after all, come from an empire themselves, though a defeated one. So it isn’t long before they realize the advantages of having superior weaponry and the ability to domesticate animals. There is a brief debate about misusing these advancements. But soon, ironically, the Carthaginians begin to think like their Roman vanquishers, introducing conquering code words like “tribute” and “protectorate” into their relations with the indigenous population. They even describe the land as “Atlantis,” borrowing from the Greek mythical lost civilization; and the inhabitants as “Atlanteans,” for a time.
And much like the story of the Aztec Empire to the north, where indigenous foes of King Montezuma II allied themselves with the Spanish conquistador Cortes to topple his territory, it’s not just the new arrivals who try to manipulate the situation to their advantage. The indigenous Inu’naabe nation and one of their leaders, Sukamek, offer Isceradin and the other starving Carthaginians food and tobacco. However, they become fascinated with aspects of Carthaginian culture and see them as a means to defeat their enemies. As one Inu’naabe character notes, “I see [the Carthaginians] carry weapons and armor of metal…Since we’ve won them over, maybe they could help us against our enemies.” Thus, the Inu’naabe fatefully ally themselves with the Carthaginians against their nemeses (The Shaawanaki) to the east. In this, the author debunks the “prelapsarian myth”: That is, before Columbus, The Americas were a peaceful paradise.
Complete with delightful illustrations of the story’s main characters, traditional third person past tense narration, and a glossary that delivers some of the real world archaeological and historical inspiration for the story, “Carthage Atlantica” is easily one of the best literary interpretations of the Phoenicians in The Americas theory and a well-designed, fast-paced piece of alternate historical fiction in its own right.
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