From 5th century BCE
Atlantic coast of Spain, France and Brittany
Himilco was a Carthaginian expedition leader whose voyage explored the Atlantic coast of Spain and France and reached Brittany. The passage presents the expedition as contemporary with Hanno’s and suggests that its purpose was to strengthen direct control over tin commerce along Atlantic routes. The surviving evidence is fragmentary, and the account does not establish that Himilco or any Phoenician reached Britain itself.
Continue exploring
The Story
Himilco is presented as a contemporary of Hanno and the leader of another Carthaginian voyage. Unlike Hanno’s expedition along the Moroccan coast, Himilco’s journey explored the Atlantic shore of Europe. Ancient references to the voyage survive only in scattered form, leaving its itinerary and chronology incompletely known.
The expedition reached at least as far as Brittany, along the coasts of Spain and France. Its probable objective was to increase Carthaginian control over the tin trade obtained from sources near the Atlantic coasts. This activity belonged to a long-standing commercial system that connected Atlantic mineral-producing regions with Mediterranean markets.
The passage carefully separates the reach of the trade from direct Phoenician presence. No Phoenician object has been found in Britain or Brittany, and there is no evidence that a Phoenician navigator reached Britain. If British tin entered Carthaginian commerce, it may have moved through intermediaries in Brittany or Gaul; northern Spain may also have supplied much of the tin received by Carthage.
From 5th century BCE
Atlantic coast of Spain, France and Brittany
Himilco was a Carthaginian expedition leader whose voyage explored the Atlantic coast of Spain and France and reached Brittany. The passage presents the expedition as contemporary with Hanno’s and suggests that its purpose was to strengthen direct control over tin commerce along Atlantic routes. The surviving evidence is fragmentary, and the account does not establish that Himilco or any Phoenician reached Britain itself.
Continue exploring
The Story
Himilco is presented as a contemporary of Hanno and the leader of another Carthaginian voyage. Unlike Hanno’s expedition along the Moroccan coast, Himilco’s journey explored the Atlantic shore of Europe. Ancient references to the voyage survive only in scattered form, leaving its itinerary and chronology incompletely known.
The expedition reached at least as far as Brittany, along the coasts of Spain and France. Its probable objective was to increase Carthaginian control over the tin trade obtained from sources near the Atlantic coasts. This activity belonged to a long-standing commercial system that connected Atlantic mineral-producing regions with Mediterranean markets.
The passage carefully separates the reach of the trade from direct Phoenician presence. No Phoenician object has been found in Britain or Brittany, and there is no evidence that a Phoenician navigator reached Britain. If British tin entered Carthaginian commerce, it may have moved through intermediaries in Brittany or Gaul; northern Spain may also have supplied much of the tin received by Carthage.
Continue the journey
Other paths related to this story.