What did Hannibal and the Phoenicians look like? Rhesusnegative.net 12 months ago Phoenicia, or Phœnicia, was an ancient Semitic thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. Who were the Phoenicians? Ancient Carthage was an ancient Semitic civilization centered in North Africa. Initially a settlement in present-day Tunisia, it later became a city-state and then an empire. Hannibal was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War See also: Who were the Sea Peoples?