Salammbô

Salammbô

This historical novel was published in 1862 by Gustave Flaubert. Outside the walls of Carthage, an army prepares for siege. We are in the 3rd century BC: Hamilcar has just lost the first Punic war. The mercenaries demand their pay; discontent grows. From the heights of the city, Salammbô, the daughter of Hamilcar, prays to Tanit, the goddess of the Moon. Witch and priestess, beautiful and evil, she seems to cast a spell on the army of barbarians: two mercenaries, who see her at a banquet, fall madly in love with her… A novel of fascination, Salammbô stages a sensual orientalism and violent, where the passions of combat and love intertwine. Obsessive and fantasized, the heroine haunts every page of the novel.