Carthago prosperanda est: representation of Carthaginians in video games

Abstract

Roma Aeterna! Words corroborated by the continuous popularity of the Romans in the ever‐growing video game industry. Games and movies, along with their respective fields of study, often favour the Roman Empire as the star of the show. Instead, this paper analyses one of their greatest adversaries in video games: the Carthaginians. The article explores the representation of the Carthaginians in the digital ludic realm and the sources used to form these representations. Furthermore, the study analyses how game designers manage gaps in the historical record. The absence of Carthaginian literary texts means the creators turn to other sources or adopt alternative approaches. How can lacunas in sources turn into a depiction of a complex culture and society? The paper analyses two popular video games: Imperator: Rome and Old World. 2 The focus lies on the influence of ancient and historiographic sources in shaping digital representation, as evident from in‐game texts and game files. This analysis requires a multidisciplinary methodology and perspective, combining historical research and game studies. The study demonstrates the great influence that Roman and Greek sources have on the representation of Carthage in video games. Additionally, I discuss developers’ approaches to gaps in knowledge, and what other sources they employ to create a complete and layered representation.