Through a glass clearly... the invention of clear glass by the Ancient Carthaginians changed the whole history of the world

In 237 BC, so I was told, "While the Egyptians have made coloured glass for many years, the Carthaginians have perfected a method for making clear glass! The new clear goblets are much prized across the world by people of taste and discernment." I was told this by my grandson, who had discovered it by playing a computer game called, "Rome Total War." But it lead me to thinking.

Perhaps the clear glass of the Carthaginians was as important an event in the history of the world as the birth of Jesus Christ. Now there is a wild claim... or is it?

Location of Carthage at the north of Africa

Carthaginian artisans amazed the ancient world with their skill and craftmanship.

The Carthaginians were also sailors and international traders. Among the desirable goods that they spread across the Mediterranean were salt, amber, tin, silver, furs, cinnamon, sesame seeds, dyes, frankincense, myrrh, ebony wood, ivory, and metals such as copper, lead, and gold.

Carthaginian clear glass goblet

It was when Carthaginian craftsmen perfected the method of making clear glass that Carthage had the means to corner the ancient market in goblets. Clear glass showed if wine was adulterated or poor in quality. Every wealthy Roman wanted the new and expensive status symbols.

Even in conparatively modern times, the Chinese monopoly on the silk trade led to industrial espionage. At the time of the Roman Empire, silk was literally worth its weight in gold. For many centuries, Chinese law punished the attempted export of silkworms, and the Chinese also kept the secret of feeding the worms on mulberry leaves. This trade brought huge wealth to China. The monopoly was only broken when Christian monks smuggled silkworm eggs, and the essential mulberry saplings out of China in about 550 AD. Breaking the Chinese silk monopoly

The Chinese also had a monopoly on tea, and it was forbidden to export tea plants. When tea became a popular beverage in Britain, this led to a huge trade imbalance and Britain's gold began to drain into China. British merchants found a way to correct the trade imbalance by exporting opium to China. The Chinese government naturally objected to the resulting number of drug addicts, and forbade the import of opium. In 1839 the British government then sent gunboats to force China to allow British merchants to sell opium there in the Opium War. In 1843 the British spy Robert Fortune went into China, and managed to smuggle tea plants out of China. The British established tea in their Indian colony, and Mr Fortune made his... ah... fortune.

Everybody has heard of the Roman, "Imperial Purple." Purple became the Romans's most coveted colour because the dye was so expensive. Good purple dye was worth many times its weight in gold. Only the Carthaginians knew the secret of producing purple dye by crushing thousands of Murex sea snails. In fact the Carthaginians were referred to as, "traders in purple." In 276 BC the Carthaginians crucified two Roman citizens for trying to steal the secret of the purple dye.

The Carthaginian invention of clear glass in 237 BC was probably worse for Rome. Most Romans would hesitate before trying to wear the purple that was the emblem of the better classes. But for any wealthy Roman, clear goblets became the latest "must have" luxury.

Just to confuse schoolchildren, the Romans called the Carthaginians, "Punics", as a reference to their Phoenician ancestry (punicus in Latin). If the analysis above is correct, then war was inevitable. Rome would want to steal back by force of arms all the gold that they had paid to Carthage. Just as taught by Marx and Engels, the root cause of wars is money.

The First Punic War: 264-241 BC. This was a war disputing spheres of influence in Sicily. Although the Roman excuse for war was to assist Greek colonies on the island, after winning the war the Romans treacherously made the island into their first province.

The Second Punic War: 218-201 BC. Rome picked this quarrel by interfering with the Carthaginian colony in Spain. I submit that a large part of Rome's reasons for wanting war was simply to steal the wealth of Carthage, now reaching frightening proportions by virtue of the trade imbalance caused by the new clear glass. This was the major one of the Punic Wars, and it became one of the most famous wars in history, when Hannibal Barca invaded Italy by crossing the Alps with elephants. The war ended when the Roman general Scipio worked out how to defeat Hannibal's elephants by opening his ranks and subjecting the elephants to javelin fire.

The Third Punic War: 149-146 BC. After the Second Punic War, Rome imposed a massive war indemnity intended to financially cripple Carthage. Carthage terrified Rome by paying this debt off early. The Roman senator Marcus Cato became obsessed with the danger from Carthage. Cato was a great orator, and he ended every speech (whatever the subject) with the phrase, "Ceterum autem censeo, Carthaginem esse delendam" ("Furthermore, I think Carthage must be destroyed.") This became a Roman catchphrase as, "Carthago delenda est" or "Delenda est Carthago." Carthage was captured after a seige of three years. The Romans burned the city to the ground, and ploughed the fields with salt so crops would never grow again.

Carthage's most implacable enemy, Marcus Cato ("Cato the Elder")

Some people think that the saddest and most cruel part of the Punic Wars was that the Romans exterminated the sub-species of elephant that the Carthaginians had used as war elephants. The Romans feared them so much that they deliberately made a part of the animal world extinct. We only know what the elephants look like from ancient coins.

Carthaginian War Elephant. Ancient Romans made them extinct because of fear.

But modern man can be even worse than the Romans! At least the Romans destroyed elephants because of fear. Modern man casually destroys irreplaceable species out of mere greed. Whole forests are destroyed simply to create more industrial and agricultural space, and all the wild animals are left to die of starvation.

Giant Panda. At risk of extinction because of modern human greed and ignorance.

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