Hijos de Melqart. Justino (44.5) y la koiné tiria entre los siglos iv y III a.C.

Abstract

We propose a new interpretation of Justin's (44.5) passage on Carthaginian rule in the Iberian Peninsula, which wouldn't begin with the foundation of Gadir, but of a colony by the Gaditanians, with the participation of the temple of Melqart of Tyre. We identify that colony with Carteia, founded in the second quarter of the 4th century BC with the intervention of the tyrian Melqart as archegetes. This episode allows for a better understanding of the relationships within a network of communities that recognise Tyre as their motherland and that are bound by kinship ties through the figure of Melqart. Carthaginian military aid to Gadir, in mid-4th century BC, should be explained within this network. In addition, this reading confirms the Carthaginian establishment of some territorial dominions in the Iberian Peninsula before the Barcids, which leads us to date Atlantic explorations such as Hanno and Himilco's in the second half of the 4th century BC.