The precise period of the introduction of Christianity we are unable to ascertain, but it is evident that it should be fixed very early. For in the middle of the second century, arose Tertullian, the first Latin father of the church with whose writings we are acquainted, and he speaks, as of a notorious fact, of the wide extent of Christianity in Africa. His words are, cc Were we dis posed to act the part of enemies, should we want forces or numbers ? Are there not multitudes of us in every part of the world ? It is true we are but of yesterday, and yet we have filled all your towns, cities, islands, castles, camps, courts, palaces, senate, forum :—we leave you only your temples." Gibbon, with his usual unfairness wherever Christianity is the subject, affects to under stand an expression of Tertullian (ad scapdam) to mean, that a tenth of Carthage alone was converted. That fa ther says, if you would punish the Christians, you must decimate Carthage, that is, you must imitate the Ro mans when the whole army is equally guilty ; you must put to death every tenth man. In the year 311 arose the schism of the Donatists. Cmcilianus had been chosen bishop of Carthage, without the participation of the Numidian bishops in his election ; and upon his refusing to submit to their cognizance, they appointed Alajorinus in his place. Mutual resentment, and all the bad passions which necessarily mingle in controversy, inflamed the partizans of each faction to the highest pitch of rancour. In Constantine himself heard the cause, and decided in favour of excilianus. The Donatists were supported by a hand of ruffians, who called themselves Circumccl hones, and who had recourse to fire and sword as the means of success. Hence all Africa was filled with mur der and rapine. Constantine having tried every other method of accommodation, at last had recourse to that which usually has allayed the fury and fanaticism of sectaries, a full permission to the people to follow the tenets of which they approved ; but here without effect. And it was only after their defeat at Bagnia by Macarius, the lieutenant of Constans the son of Constantine, that the Donatists were repressed. (Mosheinz, cent. IV. pt. ii. chap. 5.) The emperor Julian revived the falling sect, which found a strong and active enemy in St Augustine. The; bitter hatred of these schismatics, and the revolt of Count Boniface, governor of Carthage, (A. D. 431.) paved the way for the invasion of Genseric, king of the Vandals. He had landed from Spain at the desire of Boldface, who too late found his error in employing a foreign and bar barous force to do right to an injured subject. He op posed him on his entrance into Africa, and though worst ed in several important actions, succeeded in protracting the war for a considerable period. The craft and the perseverance of Genseric finaliy prevailed ; the whole of the fruitful provinces from Tangier to Tripoli were in succession overwhelmed, and Carthage itself was at length surprised, five hundred and eighty-five years after the destruction of the city and republic by the younger Scipio. The stern barbarian carried on the work of desolation in a manner the most systematic and unrelenting. Carthage never recovered the blow ; its very name is scarcely to be found in the records of sub sequent historians.
Several modern travellers have visited the ruins of Carthage. We shall give extracts from two of them : from Shaw, because he is unquestionably the most learn ed ; and from De Chateaubriand, because his visit was most recent.—Shaw's account is as follows.
4, Carthage has not much better supported itself against the encroachments of the north-east wind and the Mejer dab, which together have stopped up its ancient harbour, and made it almost as far distant from the sea as Utica. The place is still called El Mersa, the port, lying to the north and north-west of the city, and forms with the lake of Tunis the peninsula upon which Carthage was built. Upon the other side of the peninsula, Carthage hath been a loser by the sea, for in that direction near three fur longs in length, and half a furlong or more in breadth, lieth under water. A little to the northward of these ruins, but to the south-east of El Mersa, are the traces of a Cothon, scarcely a hundred yards square. This was probably the new port which the Carthaginians built after Scipio had blocked up the old ; and might be the same that was called Mundracitnn in the time of Proco pius. The greatest part of Carthage hath been erected on three hills, inferior in elevation to those on which Rome was built. Upon that which overlooketh the south-east, there is the area of a spacious room, with several smaller ones by it. Some of them had tesselated pavements, hut neither the design nor the materials are worthy of notice. The Byrsa, I presume, had formerly this situation. In rowing along the shore, the common sewers discover themselves ; which, being well built at first, time bath not in the least injured or impaired. The
cisterns are other structures which have submitted the least to the general ruin of the city. Besides those ap pertaining to particular houses, there were two sets be longing to the public ; the greater whereof, which was the grand reservoir of the aqueduct, lay near the wes tern wall of the city, and consisted of more than twenty contiguous cisterns, each of them about 100 feet long and 30 broad. The lesser is in a higher situation, near the Cothon ; having been made to collect the rain-water which fell on the top of it, and upon some adjacent intvc inentS Made for that purpose. This might be repaired with little expellee; the small earthen pipes through which the rain water was conducted wanting only to be cleaned. Besides these, there are no other tokens left us of the grandeur and magnificence of this ancient city, the rival of Rome: we even meet with no triumphal arch, or sculptured piece of architecture ; no granite pillars, or curious entablatures ; but the broken walls and structures that remain to this day, are either built in the Gothic manner, or according to that of the later inhabitants."—Shaw's Travels, p. 150-154.
The account given by Chateaubriand differs from this in many respects; differences which it would be impos sible to reconcile or decide upon, without an actual in spection. We subjoin it in his own words : " The ship in which I left Alexandria having arrived in the port of Tunis, we cast anchor opposite to the ruins of Carthage. I looked at them, but was unable to make out what they could be. I perceived a few Moorish huts, a Mahometan hermitage at the point of a projecting cape, sheep browz ing among the ruins ; ruins so far front striking, that I could scarcely distinguish them from the ground on which they lay. This was Carthage."—" In order to discover these ruins, it is necessary to go methodically to 1 suppose then, that the reader sets out with me from the fort of Golteltu, standing upon the canal by which the lake of Tunis discharges itself into the sea. Riding along the shore in an east-north-east direction, you conic in about half an hour to some salt-pits, which extend towards the west. Passing between these salt pits and the sea, you begin to discover jetties running out to a considerable distance under water. The sea and the jetties arc on your right ; on your left you per ceive a great quantity of ruins upon eminences of une qual height, and below these ruins is a basin of a circu lar form and of considerable depth, which formerly com municated with the sea by means of a canal, traces of which are still to be seen. This basin must be, in my opinion, the Cothon, or inner port of Carthage. The re mains of the immense works discernible in the sea would, in this case, indicate the site of the outer mole. 111 am not mistaken, some piles of the dam constructed by Sci pio for the purpose of blocking up the port, may still be distinguished. I also observe a second inner canal, which may have been the cut made by the Carthaginians when they opened a new passage for the fleet." " Having now settled the situation of the ports, the rest will not detain us long. 1 suppose that we have pursued our way along the coast to the angle from which tne pro montory of Carthage projects. This cape was never in cluded in the city. Leaving the sea, and striking off to the left, we first find the remains of a very extensive edi fice, which seems to have formed part of a palace or of a theatre. Above this edifice, ascending to the west, you come to the beautiful cisterns, which are generally accounted the city relics of ancient Carthage : they were probably supplied with water from an aqueduct, sonic fragments of which may be seen in the plain. This aqueduct was fifty miles in length, commencing at the springs of Zawan and Zangar. There were temples above these springs. The largest arches of the aque duct arc seventy feet high, and the columns which sup port these arches are sixteen feet square. The cisterns ,are prodigious ; they form a series of vaults commUni eating with each other, and arc bordered throughot their whole length with a Corridor. This is a (.1 illy nilicent work. A rugged road lead% front the publif cisterns to the hill of Ilyrsu, from the ...mit of hid, the eye embrar es the ruins of Carthage, which arc more numerous than is generally imagined. They resemble those of Sparta, ha•. Mg nothing left in tolerable preser vation, hut coverinl; an extensive space. I sass th(An in the month of February ; the lig and olive trees already were clothed with their young leaves, large angelicas and acanthuses formed verdant thickets among marble fragments of every colour." See Chateaubriand's Trc 'yds, vol. ii. p. 285, Scc. (J. M. •.)