Battle of Carthage (698)
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| Battle of Carthage | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb (Arab–Byzantine wars) | |||||||||
 Roman Carthage was destroyed, its walls torn down, its water supply cut off, and its harbours made unusable. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Umayyad Caliphate | Byzantine Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan Hasan ibn al-Nu'man |
Leontius Tiberius Apsimarus John the Patrician | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 40,000 | Unknown | ||||||||
The Battle of Carthage was fought in 698 AD between a Byzantine expeditionary force and the armies of the Umayyad Caliphate. The battle was a lynchpin of the ongoing Muslim conquest of the Maghreb and put remaining Byzantine resistance to rest.
During the Second Invasion of the Arab conquest of North Africa, the forces sent by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik made it deep into the Roman Province of Africa and established a military base there called Kairouan. Due to other ongoing conflicts to the North and East of the Umayyad Caliphate, these conquering forces were redeployed elsewhere. In the vacuum, Byzantine and Carthaginian forces in the region were able to push the garrison forces out and back to Cyrenaica.[1]
Abd al-Malik responded by appointing the general Hassan ibn al-Nu'man to an army, that historians claim to be numbered at 40,000 strong, that would reconquer the lost territory and push on through the rest of Byzantine provinces.[2] In his push back into Tripolitania, Hassan took to a divide and conquer strategy. He would deny coordination between the Carthaginians and Byzantines, who he would deal with the former first. The subduing of the Carthaginian of Tripolitania and Africa gave Hassan and his army access to the interior of the provinces, while the coast was still controlled by the Byzantines. Once Hassan recaptured Kairouan, he and his forces regrouped in the fortified town and prepared to march on Carthage.
Preparation
In 697, Hassan began his foray into proper Byzantine controlled territory.[3] To isolate Carthage in preparation for the coming siege, Hassan's forces conquered the surrounding towns and eliminated the surrounding garrisons. The Arab forces encountered little resistance and faced minimal casualties. When the Arab forces arrived at the gates of Carthage they quickly established a land siege of the city and offered terms to the inhabitants. Many wealthy Carthaginains fled and took most of the wealth of the city off to Iberia, Italy, and Greece. Once all evacuating citizens had left, the remaining population surrendered to the Arabs in order to prevent any bloodshed.
Emperor Leontius, only in the third year of his reign, soon learnt of the events that befell Africa and undertook a mobilisation effort. Tasked to the reclaiming of the province was the general John the Patrician. He was given a contingent of soldiers from Sicily, veteran Goth warriors, and the Karabisianoi Theme Navy and they immediately began their excursion that fall.[4] Hassan figured as long as he chained the Cothon of Carthage, the city would be safe from any Byzantine reprisals. Presuming his position secure, Hassan took the majority of his forces to continue the conquest and went to fight the Berbers tribes to the West.
