Utica

Utica, ancient Phoenician colony on the coast of North Africa on the Mediterranean Sea. Founded about 1100 B.C., it was an important port and helped give the Phoenicians control over sea trade on the Mediterranean. A rival of its neighbor Carthage, Utica sided with Rome against Carthage in the Third Punic War (149–146 B.C.). With the Roman victory and the destruction of Carthage, Utica became the capital of the province. It fell to the Vandals (A.D.439), was recaptured by the Byzantine Empire (534), and destroyed by the Arabs (c.700).