The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire (1817) : It is one of a pair of paintings showing the rise and fall of the Carthaginian Empire in North Africa. Carthage was the most Carthage was powerful empire and once the most important trading hub of the Ancient Mediterranean before the rise of ancient Rome and one of the most affluent cities of the Ancient World. As the Carthaginian Empire fell, another superpower in the form of the Roman Empire rose. This decline is symbolised by the setting sun. Turner saw the rise and fall of once-great empires as a historical inevitability, confirmed by the fall of Napoleon, during Turner�s time. Turner was concerned that the same fate was threatening to overtake the victorious British. *JMW (Joseph Mallord William) TURNER (1775-1851) was one of the most important English Romantic Painters of the 19th century. He is known for his expressive colourisations, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings. Turner's imagination was sparked by shipwrecks, fires, and natural phenomena such as sunlight, storm, rain, and fog. He was fascinated by the violent power, turbulence and tidestorms of the sea. It's said that his last words before death were, 'The Sun is God!'