Set in Carthage during the 3rd century BC immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt which took place shortly after the First Punic War. It's a tale of war between Rome and Carthage and in many ways, the novel is an exercise in the sensual, the violent -- the exotic. And that may explain why, despite the fact that the French appreciate this novel as a classic, it is today practically unknown today among English-speakers. Because the lot of us are a bunch of puritanical fuddy-duddies! Be the first on your block to read Salammbô today!