Barcids
Sign in to saveAlso known as Barcas, Barcid family, Barca family, Barcas family, Barcid, Barca
thumb|upright|Carthaginian coin depicting Hasdrubal Barca (245-207 BC), younger brother of [[Hannibal Barca (247-c.182 BC)]] thumb|A Carthaginian currency|Carthaginian coin possibly depicting [[Hannibal as Hercules (i.e. Heracles)]] The Barcid () family was a notable Punic (Phoenician) family in the ancient city of Carthage; many of its members were fierce enemies of the Roman Republic. "Barcid" is an adjectival form coined by historians (cf. "Ramesside" and "Abbasid"); the actual byname was the Northwest Semitic Barca or Barcas, which means lightning (He ברק). See , barq in Arabic, berqa in M
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thumb|upright|Carthaginian coin depicting Hasdrubal Barca (245-207 BC), younger brother of [[Hannibal Barca (247-c.182 BC)]] thumb|A Carthaginian currency|Carthaginian coin possibly depicting [[Hannibal as Hercules (i.e. Heracles)]] The Barcid () family was a notable Punic (Phoenician) family in the ancient city of Carthage; many of its members were fierce enemies of the Roman Republic. "Barcid" is an adjectival form coined by historians (cf. "Ramesside" and "Abbasid"); the actual byname was the Northwest Semitic Barca or Barcas, which means lightning (He ברק). See , barq in Arabic, berqa in Maltese, መብረቅ mebrek’ in Amharic, Akkadian (aka Assyrian, Babylonian, Barku) and Neo-Assyrian Syriac (Barkho).
==Background== During the 3rd century BC, the Barcids comprised one of the leading Phoenician families in the ruling oligarchy of Carthage. Realizing that the expansion of the Roman Republic into the Mediterranean Sea threatened the mercantile power of Carthage, they fought in the First Punic War (264–241 BC) and prepared themselves for the Second Punic War (218–201 BC).