Quote:
Originally Posted by thealphajerk
so this dude would say this at the end of every speech regardless?
what did he have against Carthage?
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Carthago est delenda! Carthage must be destroyed!
Yep, at the end of
every speech.
There were three Punic (Rome V Carthage) wars: 264-241, 218-201 and 149-146.
Cato being born in 234, he was 18 when the second started. In this war Hannibal (Carthage) occupied Italy for 16 years, slaughtering people and causing havoc, but was never able to take Rome. Cato, naturally a pretty disagreeable chap, was thoroughly pissed. Consumed by hatred, much as Hitler was consumed by hatred during the bad times in Germany from 1914-33. (Quirks exception, please.)
Anyway, long after the second war ended, Carthage slowly recovered, and Cato was furious that they should be happy and prosperous. The romans found excuses - remarkably similar to WMD - to make war again. War, siege and victory followed, and in those days they had no qualms about finishing off a foe without leaving an "insurgency". Of about 500,000 people, about 450,000 were slaughtered, the rest sold as slaves, the city destroyed, and the ground plowed with salt.
Class dismissed.
PS: since you're in the middle of an election campaign, AlphaJ, you must surely be hearing all the bacomation you could want, with all the pork barreling going on.