Salammbo

Salammbô (1862) is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert. It is set inCarthage during the 3rd century BCE, immediately before and during theMercenary Revolt which took place shortly after the First Punic War. Flaubert's main source was Book I of Polybius's Histories. It was not a particularly well-studied period of history and required a great deal of work from the author, who enthusiastically left behind the realism of his masterpiece Madame Bovary for this tale of blood and thunder. The book, which Flaubert researched painstakingly, is largely an exercise in sensuous and violent exoticism.