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Carthage (Qrtḥdšt ( = ‘New Town’); Καρχήδων; Carthago), a *Phoenician colony and later a major Roman city on the coast of NE Tunisia.According to tradition (Timaeus, FGrH 566 fr. 60) Carthage was founded from *Tyre in 814/3 bce, but no archaeological evidence has yet been found earlier than the second half of the 8th cent. bce. The site provided anchorage and supplies for ships trading in the western Mediterranean for *gold, *silver, and *tin, and soon outstripped other Phoenician colonies because of its position, its fertile hinterland, and its better harbour.Trade was more important to Carthage throughout its history than perhaps to any other ancient state. Initially most of it was conducted by barter with tribes in Africa and Spain, where metals were obtained in return for wine, cloth, and pottery; but early contact with the Greek world is shown by the presence of Attic *amphorae in the earliest levels at Carthage.