Genocide Bibliography

1)War and Imperialism in Republican Rome by Harris
In this work he describes the struggle between Rome and Carthage the main genocide that I have been studying in the ancient world. In this he tell how this was one powerful state looking to decimate another state. He tells how this Carthage did not really bring this war upon themselves but instead had it thrust onto them by Rome. He goes into length how Rome would find any excuse they could muster to get this war started. They blamed in on a skirmish they had with Roman allies in North Africa and the fact that they were experienced a very prosperous time in their history. This infuriated the Romans because they though themselves to be far superior and they therefore attacked and eventually destroyed Carthage.

2)The Worlds Bloodies History: Massacre, Genocide, and the Scars Left on Civilization By Joseph Cumming
This book goes into even greater detail of this genocide. He first gives another reason for the attack on Carthage. He gives proof of the child sacrifices that the Carthaginians had been performing. This was against the Roman way of life and therefore was another reason they wanted to destroy Carthage. He also tells of how the Carthaginian people did all they could to try to avoid this war from coming upon them. They gave up 300 of their most noble youth and sent them to Rome. They also gave every weapon that they had to the Romans in hope that they would not attack. However, this did not stop the Romans and when they did attack the Carthaginians had to scramble to make new weapons.

3)Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization by Richard Miles
In this book he describes how before the Roman destruction, Carthage was experiencing one of the most prosperous times in their history. One reason for this may have been the fact that they no longer had a standing army that they had to finance and keep, since part of the treaty at the end of the Second Punic War had made it so that they could not have an army. During this time they had used their location on the Mediterranean Sea to continue their high levels of commerce. So even though they had to pay taxes to Rome, another part of the treaty, they were still able to maintain a high level of success in their other facets of life.

4)History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
He describes the Athenian genocide of the island nation of Melos. This is called the Melian Dialogue. In this passage it is the Athenian envoy telling the leader of Melos that they need to either surrender to Athens and become part of its empire or it will be destroyed. In the end the Melian leaders decide that it is better to die free then to live as part of the Athenian state. After they decide this they are then destroyed by Athens and the remaining people sold into slavery. This shows how this was another genocide committed in the ancient world. It was interesting in this text about how the leaders of Melos were given a choice and they basically chose genocide, which the Athenians then brought down upon them.

5)Appian's History
The part of Appian's History related to genocide describing the conflict between Rome and Carthage. His text really gets into the heart of the conflict. It describes in detail the Roman advance into the Carthaginian city and their complete destruction of its people. There is one passage that describes the brutality of the genocide that was taking place. It tells how the Romans were just running through the street slaughtering every man, woman, and child in their path. Then it describes how they level all the building, many of them with people still inside and how in the rubble there were limbs sticking out all over the place. His description of the genocide is very in depth and thorough.

6)The Jewish War By Flavius Josephus
This text was useful to describe many attacks on the Jewish people. It detailed some genocides like the attack and mass suicide on Masada. He goes into great detail on these subjects and give a firsthand look at these wars and each side.

7)Periochae 48-50 by Livy
This is a text describing the Third Punic War. This is the attack by Rome on Carthage. He goes through what let up to and how the conflict went. He gives very good detail about the genocide and this work give us another inside look into this genocide.

8)The Third Punic War, 149-146 BCE [The Histories, Book XXXVI-XXXIX] by Polybius
This is another look inside the Carthage genocide. This gives a strong view from the Carthaginian side before they are wiped off of the face of the earth. Goes into the decisions that were made prior to the war and then what happened. Again gives a good look at this genocide.