Carthage was first and foremost a thalassocracy,[1] that is, a power that was referred to as an Empire of the Seas, whose primary force was based on the scale of its trade.

Beyond its origin, the city largely controlled the entire western basin of the Mediterranean Sea and developed its African hinterland, only reaching its end when it had to face the Roman Republic, an emerging power that caused its ultimate downfall.

Their history was documented by an important source; Appian, a historian of Ancient Greece who lived in the 2nd century BC Despite his description, the location of the ports was the work of archaeological excavations begun in the 1970s.

The embarkation area was formidably protected thanks to the opportune location of the Sidi Bou Saïd promontory, the city itself in stricto sensu.

It was located on the outside of the seafront, between two stretches of water (today's Lake of Tunis and Sebkha Ariana), and the interior was intercepted by a succession of hills, which formed a natural defensive line.

It is known that the location of the city concerning the shore evolved a lot over the centuries and that during ancient times a process of polderization took place, consisting of a human action that was coupled to the transport of sediments from the Bagradas river, moved there due to ocean currents.

[5] Serge Lancel has also documented that the level of Lake Tunis was significantly higher than in the ancient period of the city, and mentions its shores as a probable place of refuge.

[7] The location of the Tofet of Salambo, in the vicinity of the centre of the original Phoenician colony, is a clear sign of this possible hostility according to the sections that have been discovered, dating from the 8th century BC.

Certain historians believe, however, that the site of the primitive port was in the vicinity of the village of Sidi Bou Saïd, because of its location near a cape, which gave it a privileged geographical position so important in the eyes of the Phoenicians.

Other experts, including Serge Lancel, placed the position of the ports along the Lake of Tunis, less assembled in ancient times than nowadays.

Lancel places the position of the port on the beaches of Marsa, at a relative distance from the city (about 3 km approximately), but close enough to the neighbourhood of Megara.

[8] Regardless, it becomes essential to focus on the observation of the structures of which traces are preserved to see if it is possible to contrast their existence with ancient sources and thus obtain an approximate date of their construction.

The ports of Carthage were arranged in such a way that ships could pass from one to the other; they were accessed from the sea through an entrance about 21 m wide, which was closed with an iron chain.

The island was located in front of the entrance and was at a higher altitude: thus the admiral could see what was happening at sea, while those arriving from beyond could not clearly distinguish the interior of the port.

[note 4] The commercial port was connected to the sea by a canal, which must have flowed into the present-day Kram Bay, of which no remains exist.

Strabo also provides data on the distance from the Carthage Ports to Cape Lillibaeus,[note 5] a promontory southeast of Sicily, which he estimates at 1500 stadia (277.5 km).

An American mission proceeded to carry out a series of excavations in that area and found the remains of part of a dock[14] dating from the second half of the 3rd century BC.

A channel led from the port to the sea and ended near the foreshore, called "Falbe's quadrilateral", after the name of the 19th century Danish archaeologist who was the first to study it.

[16] In connection with the text of Appian, one can certainly recognize, in this embankment, the space for manoeuvring, unloading and storage that protected the entrance from the prevailing winds.

Serge Lancel quotes Cicero, who speaks of the destruction of Carthage in this way in his work (De lege agraria, II, 32, 87), despite the fact that "it had strong walls and was surrounded by ports".

The places recognized as the possible locations of the ports are the following: The vast beaches of La Marsa could also represent the merchant landing sites that were so characteristic of the daily life of the Punic capital.