3. The sack of Carthage left over 350,000 defenders dead or massacred
The Battle of Carthage and its subsequent fall to and destruction by the Romans was the signature event of the Third Punic war, which was fought during the second century BCE. In 149 a Roman army arrived before the city and demanded its surrender. The Carthaginians agreed to surrender hostages to the Romans, as well as to the payment of tribute, but they refused to allow the Romans to occupy the walls of the city. Roman troops remained outside of Carthage while the inhabitants strengthened the fortifications and walls, as well as manufacturing weapons for use in the city’s defense. The situation remained a virtual stalemate for two years.
When the Romans launched their final assault on Carthage approximately four to five hundred thousand were residing in the city, though not all of them were involved in the military defense. The final assault consisted of street fighting from building to building, the Romans advancing over the rooftops and along the streets, with fierce resistance from the defenders continuing for a week. When the fighting ended the population of Carthage was gone, except for about 50,000 captured into Roman slavery. The remaining 350,000 to 450,000, including civilian women and children were dead. The Romans destroyed the city and its battlements, executing about 900 Roman prisoners who had deserted, though the oft reported plowing under of the city’s remains and salting of its agricultural fields is not recorded in contemporaneous annals of the event.