This volume is published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name presented in Rome, at the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo from 27 September 2019 to 29 March 2020. The curatorial project, as a whole, arises from the scant attention paid so far to the famous North African metropolis: while the Phoenicians have already been the subject of some exhibitions (the most famous being that at Palazzo Grassi in 1987), until now Carthage has not been the subject of equal interest, despite the progress of studies. The work of excavation and research in recent decades therefore gives the volume an objective and elevated scholarly interest, offering the opportunity to provide an up-to-date picture of our knowledge and also to report some outstanding new insights and discoveries. Apart from archaeology, it is characterised by a plunge into modernity, with the role of Carthage in the collective imagination through an extraordinary collection of contemporary illustrations that includes literature, comics, music, videogames and, of course, cinema. We have therefore sought to approach a subject familiar to most people with a distinctive approach: Carthage cannot fail to immediately evoke Rome, since the events of the two great Mediterranean metropolises were historically entwined.

Together with this volume, the exhibition catalogue is also being published, covering the event section by section and presenting the whole series of over 400 exhibits from major Italian and international collections.