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Crafts4Less
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Maintained by:
crafts4less ( 1768 )  
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Crafts4less ... Online Store Specializing in Exotic Olive Wood Crafts and Ceramic Tiles Wall Murals. Find: Ceramic Tiles, Wall Murals, Exotic Kitchenware, Hand Painted Ceramic, Wooden Bowls, Mortars and Pestles, House Signs, Rare Bird Cages, Unique Chess Sets and more. (Operated by fine-crafts.com)
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Distinctive
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Roman Era Crafts Reproduction ... At Auction Prices
Made
in Carthage - Tunisia
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Some History ...
Condensed
History of the Central Mediterranean 814 B.C. - 146 B.C.
The Central
Mediterranean, like most of the Mediterranean basin, underwent many
migrations of peoples into the region. Two migrations which occurred
during the first millennium B.C. were the Greeks, who came as a result of
over-population at home, and the Phoenicians who came for trade and as a
result of political turmoil at home.
The Greeks
arrived in large numbers, and quickly established strong positions in
southern Italy, Sicily. Eventually the most powerful of these colonized
cities was Syracusa. The Phoenicians sent considerably fewer persons, at
first establishing not colonies but trading outposts. About 814 B.C.
political turmoil in the Phoenician city of Tyre led to the establishment
of Kirjath-Hadeschath, or in European tongue, Carthage (New Town).
The Greek
expansion in the Central Mediterranean continued until 536 B.C. when the
Carthaginians combined forces with the Eturscans (an Italic peoples). From
this time the Greeks concentrated their efforts on the island of Sicily.
By increasing their strength on Sicily, the Greeks forced many of the
Phoenician settlements to look to Carthage for protection. During this
same time the land of Phoenicia was conquered. As a result, the
Phoenicians in the Central/Western Mediterranean became known as Punic.
In 480 B.C.
the Greeks dealt the Carthaginians a crippling defeat at Himera, on the
north coast of Sicily. This defeat brought down the Carthaginian Kings,
established a Republic, and for the next 100 years Carthage focused on
expanding her dominions in Africa (modern Tunisia).
The year 410
B.C. began a 250 year long struggle for survival for Carthage with first
the Greeks and then the Romans. The Sicil city of Segesta, asked for help
against its mortal Greek enemy of Selinius. Carthage, in a lightning fast
campaign sacked both Selinius, and the large Greek city of Agrigento. But
the Carthaginians failed in their attempt to siege Syrcausa. Shortly after
this time, Dionysius of Scyracusa, called upon many craftsmen, and
invented numerous new weapons of war, including the catapult. Dionysius
then broke his peace treaty with Carthage and sacked the important city of
Moyta.
For the next
100+ years the Carthaginians battled the Syracusians. Then Phyrrus of
Epirus arrived on the battle scene. Phyrrus attempted to rescue the Greeks
of southern Italy from Rome. Carthage and Rome allied and eventually
defeated Phyrrus. Although Rome and Carthage had signed three previous
treaties, in 264 B.C. Rome decided that, with the Roman conquest of
southern Italy, the Carthaginians in Sicily were now too close for
comfort. Thus began what was to be known as the First Punic War.
The Romans, a
land power managed to capture a Carthaginian warship. The Carthaginians
had been masters of the sea for over 500 years. But the secrets the
warship yielded, along with Roman ingenuity, led to several important
Roman naval victories. After 24 years of war, Rome was at the point of
breaking. They had already had one army wiped out attempting to invade
Africa. Furthermore, a Carthaginian general by the name of Hamilcar Barca
continued to conduct successful campaigns from his mountain fortress of
Erice in north-west Sicily. But, in 241 B.C., within sight of Hamilcar's
fortress, the Carthaginians lost yet another naval battle. Carthage
decided it was no longer economically-viable to continue the war, and she
surrendered.
The terms of
the First Punic war were harsh. Harsher still was when Rome, while
Carthage was suppressing a revolt, seized Sardinia and demanded additional
moneys. Realizing that Rome would not be satisfied until she had all of
the Mediterranean, Hamilcar Barca brought his young son, Hannibal with him
on a campaign to conquer Spain.
Within a few
years Hamilcar had built a powerful empire in Spain. Hamilcar died, and
his son, Hannibal attacked the Greek city of Sagentum in eastern Spain.
Although the city was south of the borders agreed upon by Rome and
Carthage, the Romans declared war. Hannibal then crossed the Alps, and
began a 16 year war which ended in defeat again for Carthage.
The closing
chapter came in 149 B.C. when the Romans demanded three things of the now
weakened Carthaginian state. First, she must turn over all her generals.
Which Carthage did. Second, they must turn over all tier weapons. Which
Carthage did, to the tune of 2,000 catapults, and 100,000 sets of armor.
Third, the Carthaginians must leave the city, and be settled inland. Not
wanting to accept this third point, the Carthaginians held out for three
years against a Roman siege. In the end, the city was destroyed.
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Welcome to Crafts4less
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What we do
Crafts4less
is based in Atlanta, GA and specializes in promoting
the Art of talented Individual Tunisian Artists on the Internet, and
beyond.
How we do it
While
bringing supply and demand together, we work in order to
maintain the highest possible finish on handmade crafts as well as
enhancing our unique product line to offer consumers the most unique
products at the lowest possible prices.
Social Responsibility
In an
effort to maintain local authorities support, we are locally
involved in terms of Social Responsibility initiatives by financing
campaigns to sustain education, fight hunger, conserve natural
reserve, etc in rural areas of Tunisia.
Satisfaction
Although most of our clients consist of returning clients,
we do every possible effort to meet demand half way, in terms
of quality, prices, and customer support.
We are
consumers of other goods and services ourselves, and so far, we are
pretty familiar with consumers' expectations
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Need Assistance?
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(Replays within 24 hours)
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Page Content
- About Us "Hello!"
- Historical Value of my Products
- Picture Gallery of Roman Ruins
- Brief History of the Central Mediterranean
Hello!
At
Crafts4Less, we work in order to
supply the E-bay audience with unique and exotic crafts at very convenient
prices.
Our
added value consists of our persistence in making Crafts4Less the ultimate
place you can go to for an original selection of handcrafts. Soon you will
be browsing a "Gifts and Clearance" section.
A unique
product at a time.
Crafts4Less is owned and managed by MTZ Network.
Historical Value of my products
Pottery, especially Roman
pottery, holds an important position in the world's history as it often
serves as the main realistic and indicatory medium for our understanding
of ancient societies and chronology.
Pottery was made throughout
the Roman empire, both geographically and historically. Roman civilization
expanded from the fifth century B.C. to the second century A.D. to include
such areas as Carthage, Spain, Greece, and Egypt. As the empire embraced
these areas, it also accepted their cultures and traditions, which
eventually influenced the development of Roman pottery types. Roman
pottery was thus diversified, and included fine table wares as well as
coarse cooking and storage vessels. Shapes, decorations, and so forth
varied by province, but the finest wares were red. This fine pottery,
known most often as Arretine ware, and its decorations originated in the
Hellenistic world. In Roman pottery, generally, the finer pieces were all
carefully decorated and covered with glazes, glosses, and slips. These
were methods designed to leave the vessel with an attractive surface and
finish, one that covered any blemishes. It is interesting to note that
these surface treatments were inherited from early Greek ceramics.
Much of what we know about the
Roman world depends upon literary evidence and archaeological finds.
Interestingly enough, the processes of decorating pottery are rarely
mentioned in ancient literature. In fact, Pliny the Elder's description of
Roman pottery only goes so far as to comment on the productivity of the
earth in forming such vessels. The decorating techniques of Roman potters
are never mentioned. However, the archaeological evidence for Roman
pottery is extensive. For example, in Portchester, England, a 3700 square meter dig at Shore Fort resulted in
over 350 kilograms of Roman wares. Additionally, an excavation of a
Benghazi (Libya) cistern yielded 320 kilograms and one at Carthage
produced 10 tons of pottery. Excavations like these provided an enormous
amount of evidence with regards to Roman pottery practices. Thus, through
this plethora of physical evidence, we have been able to make headway into
the analysis of Roman pottery, generally, the finer pieces were all
carefully decorated and covered with glazes, glosses, and slips.
Today, Carthage
hosts an increasingly number of tourists that exceeded 5 million visitors
a year since the year 2000 (Source: Office National du Tourisme Tunisien).
Crafts with Roman roots, remain, the "bread & butter" products for local
artisans/artists to offer to the region's visitors.
Hand made & painted, just like
in the old days ... a tradition ... maintained, and optimized, a
generation after an other ...
Roman Ruins in
Carthage
Carthage Map
Roman Amphitheatre
Details of Pediment
Interior Roman site on hill
overlooking a pastoral valley
Roman Temple
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Arch in the Roman city
Close-up Showing the heating
chambers where fires kept the water hot and the rooms steamy
.jpg)
Head of Roman God (all that
remains of the statue in the temple)
Mosaics remaining to this day
Roman Bath Ruins along the
Mediterranean
Roman Temple
The site of Old Carthage
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