Past the Last Outpost

Punic Merchants in the Atlantic Ocean (5th–1st century BC)

Abstract

Whereas the Punic presence in the Mediterranean is well-known and there is a large literature dealing with the politics, economy and culture of the Punic colonies and factories, the Phoenician and Punic presence in the Atlantic has received very little attention until recently. In this article, it is argued that, by adopting a post-colonial perspective and by exploring a region that at least partially lay beyond the effective control of Mediterranean sailors, we can obtain a different view both of Punic expansion, and the modes of interaction between foreign merchants and local communities