Salammbô


Salammbô is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert. It is set in Carthage during the 3rd century BC, immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt which took place shortly after the First Punic War. Flaubert's main source was Book I of Polybius's Histories. The novel jumpstarted a renewed interest in the history of the Roman Republic's conflict with the North African Phoenician colony of Carthage.
Contemporary readers, familiar with Flaubert's previous realistic work, Madame Bovary, were shocked and, in some instances, appalled by the indiscriminate violence and sensuality prevalent throughout the novel, which is why, notwithstanding the praise it received for its style and story, Salammbô remains controversial in literary circles to this day. Nevertheless, it was a massive best-seller, which sealed the author's reputation as one of the most prominent French writers of the 19th century, with even some of the Carthaginian costumes described influencing contemporary French fashion. Since then, however, it has fallen into obscurity in much of the Anglophone world.

Genesis of the Novel

In 1857, Flaubert decides to start doing research on Carthage. In March of that year, he writes a letter to Félicien de Saulcy, a French archeologist, to learn about the region’s past.
From April 12 to June 5, 1858, Flaubert travels to Tunisia in order to research Carthage’s past. He also wants to see with his own eyes the country in which his novel will take place.
In a letter to Mme de Chantepie, dated January 23, 1858, he tells her about his travel plans. “I absolutely have to go to Africa. This is why, around the end of March, I will go back to the country of exotic dates. I am giddy with excitement. I will once again spend my days on horseback and my nights in a tent. What a happy breath I will take as I get onboard the steam boat in Marseilles!”

Plot

After the First Punic War, Carthage is unable to fulfill promises made to its army of mercenaries, and finds itself under attack. The fictional title character, a priestess and the daughter of Hamilcar Barca, the foremost Carthaginian general, is the object of the obsessive lust of Matho, a leader of the mercenaries. With the help of the scheming freed slave, Spendius, Matho steals the sacred veil of Carthage, the Zaïmph, prompting Salammbô to enter the mercenaries' camp in an attempt to steal it back. The Zaïmph is an ornate bejewelled veil draped about the statue of the goddess Tanit in the sanctum sanctorum of her temple: the veil is the city's guardian and touching it will bring death to the perpetrator.
The transliterations follow J. W. Matthews's English version.
It was at Megara, a suburb of Carthage, in the gardens of Hamilcar, that the soldiers whom he had commanded in Sicily were holding a great feast to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Eryx. The master was absent, their numbers were large, and accordingly they ate and drank in perfect freedom.
—The opening words.
The brazen arms were working more quickly. They paused no longer. Every time that a child was placed in them the priests of Moloch spread out their hands upon him to burden him with the crimes of the people, vociferating: "They are not men but oxen!" and the multitude round about repeated: "Oxen! oxen!" The devout exclaimed: "Lord! Eat!".
—Chapter 13, the passage describing the burning of the children inside the huge, hollow brass statue of the Baal Moloch.

Historical inaccuracies

There are departures from Polybius's historical account, although some of them were made intentionally by Flaubert. For example, in reality it was not Hanno who was crucified by the mercenaries but a Carthaginian general known as Hannibal. Fearing that the readers would mistakenly assume this figure to be the famed military commander of the Second Punic War, the author changed the name of his novel counterpart.

Adaptations

Salammbô inspired Jacques Martin to create his historical comics series Alix.

Musical