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narrow neck of land westward, forming a double harbour for ships of war and commerce, it is believed to have been founded between 878 and  826, the Roman writers, as a rule, assuming Carthage to have been only a collection of huts till Dido came. On the other hand, Utica is distinctly stated from Phœnician records to have been in existence two hundred and eighty years before Carthage. As, too, it was earlier in date, so did it long survive the greater city, being, according to Strabo, in his time, the metropolis of Northern Africa. Utica appears also as an independent power in the treaties between Carthage and the Romans.

The headland first occupied by the Tyrians, near the harbour now called the Goletta, is exactly the kind of place Thucydides says the Phœnicians always selected; a promontory easy of defence and commanding an adjoining port. Modern travellers have recognized in the "Hill of St. Louis," the site of the ancient Byrsa (itself a genuine Phœnician word, meaning fortress).

Unfortunately, no ancient historian has given us any reliable information as to the means whereby Carthage raised herself so far above the other Phœnician colonies. But these may be in part traced to the natural fertility of her soil, the excellent situation of the city for carrying on a large inland as well as maritime commerce, and, above all, to the firmness with which she adhered to the enlightened policy of