Ancient Carthage was a Phoenician state founded in 814BC. The Carthaginian Empire was to extend over much of the coast of Northwest Africa as well as substantial parts of coastal Iberia and the islands of the western Mediterranean sea. At its height, the city state served as a major hub of trade, which brought it into conflict with the Greeks in Sicily, and with the Roman Republic, which led to a series of conflicts known as the Punic Wars.