Salammbô Illustrated

Salammbô (1862) is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert.[1] It is set in Carthage during the 3rd century BC,[1] immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt which took place shortly after the First Punic War. Flaubert's main source was Book I of Polybius's Histories. The novel jumpstarted a renewed interest in the history of the Roman Republic's conflict with the North African Phoenician colony of Carthage.[citation needed]Contemporary readers, familiar with Flaubert's previous realistic work, Madame Bovary, were shocked and, in some instances, appalled by the indiscriminate violence and sensuality prevalent throughout the novel[citation needed], which is why, notwithstanding the praise it received for its style and story, Salammbô remains controversial in literary circles to this day.[citation needed] Nevertheless, it was a massive best-seller[citation needed], which sealed the author's reputation as one of the most prominent French writers of the 19th century, with even some of the Carthaginian costumes described influencing contemporary French fashion.[citation needed] Since then, however, it has fallen into obscurity in much of the Anglophone world.