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When one thinks about what the Phoenicians did in the ancient world, one has to be impressed. A large trading network built by a small group of people, the contribution of the alphabet – these are not small tasks done by a civilization which I believe had no real military might. I was amazed to hear that they had established colonies as far away as North Africa and Marseilles in France, sailed up to Britannia and…perhaps around the African cape? This suggests a high level of skill at navigating the sea and engineering ships. So although they were small, their achievements were quite grand.
A (very) short explanation could be: Vae victisNot only the Phoenicians but the Carthaginians, Celts and other subjugated nations
I wish I could remember where i read it but I seem to remember reading that the Phoenicians were descended from the Sea Peoples that devastated Ancient Egypt. There is no doubt that they did great things. Carthage was originally a Phoenician trading colony, we all know how much grief Carthage gave Rome.
I think the primary reason they get the shaft is because we don't know all that much about them other than what has been mentioned, and because they were among the great losers in history in the wake of the great powers of their day. But I agree with the OP that they deserve more credit than they usually get.
Given that Carthage was a Phoenician city couldn't we say that the Phoenicians were like the Germans, they wanted too much and got slapped down for it? At least we didn't plow Germany under and sow it with salt. The Carthaginians/Phoenicians were treated harder than the Germans were and they did not even try genocide, just conquest.
