11 h 50 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 11 h 50 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a city refuses to pay its soldiers, and desire reaches for something sacred?
In Carthage, just after the first war with Rome, a feast for hired soldiers turns into a riot. The men wait for wages that never come, and anger becomes revolt. Among them stands Mâtho, a huge Libyan fighter whose obsession with Salammbô binds private longing to the city's struggle for survival.
Salammbô, daughter of the general Hamilcar Barca, lives in devotion to Tanit, Carthage's moon goddess. The goddess's sacred veil ties her fate to Mâtho's. In Gustave Flaubert's historical novel, soldiers, priests and merchants face a conflict driven by unpaid debts, fierce belief and desires that reason cannot quiet.
What you’ll discover
- A feast on the edge Enter Hamilcar's gardens, where a celebration for soldiers turns into a riot.
- Devotion meets obsession Follow Salammbô and Mâtho as devotion and longing bind their fates to a sacred veil.
- A city under threat Feel the pressure on Carthage as its own hired army turns against it.
- Power beyond the walls Explore how belief shapes a city whose strength rests on more than wealth.
- An ancient world made vivid Discover Flaubert's rich descriptions, where physical detail gives war and desire a troubling closeness.
Who will love it
This is for readers who love vivid ancient worlds, war on a huge scale, rich detail of temples and feasts, and tales where desire, religion, and politics tangle around a few unforgettable people.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Unpaid soldiers turn celebration into violence
- Spendius turns resentment into rebellion
- A stolen veil makes war sacred
- Military skill cannot overcome political distrust
- Salammbô carries faith into Matho's tent
- Sacred duty becomes an excuse for cruelty
- Desire mistakes people for divine power
- Concrete details bring the world close
- Private longing draws a civilization toward harm
Who’s who
- SalammbôHamilcar's daughter, a young devotee of the moon goddess Tanith, raised in seclusion and longing to see the goddess face to face.
- MathoA giant Libyan soldier who leads the rebel army and is consumed by love and hatred for Salammbô.
- SpendiusA cunning Greek former slave who stirs the soldiers to revolt and schemes to turn the war to his profit.
- Hamilcar BarcaThe Carthaginian general and Suffet, proud and ruthless, who alone can lead the city against the rebels.
- Narr' HavasA young Numidian prince who desires Salammbô, plays both sides in the war, and aims to expand his power.
- SchahabarimHigh priest of Tanith and Salammbô's teacher, a learned man whose faith is mixed with jealousy and doubt.
- HannoA Suffet of Carthage, bloated and diseased, cruel to Africans and jealous of Hamilcar.
- GiscoAn aged Carthaginian general who tries to pay the Mercenaries fairly and keeps faith with his country.
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Salammbô
by Gustave Flaubert · 1862
A drunken army ruins a feast as a soldier falls for Hamilcar's secluded daughter, devoted to Carthage's goddess Tanith.
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“Surely there must have fallen upon the soul of Flaubert in the glorious sphere of the imagination a ray of beauty that was perhaps too bright.”
In short
Picture a garden at night where thousands of paid soldiers eat, drink, and smash everything within reach. Gustave Flaubert published Salammbô in 1862.
Salammbô at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 45 min5 h 25 min fast, 8 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 96,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1862by Gustave Flaubert
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A feast turns into a riot
The story opens in the gardens of Hamilcar's palace in Megara, a suburb of Carthage. The soldiers he led in Sicily gather to feast on the orders of the Council while he is away.
Carthage has not paid them, and the Council has chosen Hamilcar's house for the party to shame him. When the general Gisco refuses to hand over the golden cups of the Sacred Legion, a Gaul rushes at him with two swords. Gisco strikes him down and leaves. Fear spreads like fire, and the soldiers shoot the lions, burn the trees, and boil the sacred fish in bronze pots. Spendius, a Greek slave freed that night, watches who among them can be led.
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Details
- First published
- 1862
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 45 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Flaubert, Gustave. Salammbô. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/salammbo.
Flaubert, G. (2026). Salammbô. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/salammbo (Original work published 1862)
Flaubert, Gustave. Salammbô. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/salammbo.
@book{flaubert2026salammbo,
author = {Flaubert, Gustave},
title = {Salammbô},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/salammbo},
note = {First published 1862}
}
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What is Salammbô about?
It tells of the revolt of unpaid foreign soldiers against Carthage after its first war with Rome. Around that war it weaves the love and hatred between the soldier Matho and Hamilcar's daughter Salammbô, and the theft of a sacred veil.
Is Salammbô based on a true story?
It is built on a real event, the Mercenary War that shook Carthage after its defeat by Rome. Flaubert places the struggle between Carthage and its Mercenaries alongside the desires, religious doubts, and ambitions of his central characters. It appeared in 1862.
What is the zaïmph in Salammbô?
The zaïmph is the sacred veil of the goddess Tanith, kept in her temple at Carthage. Carthaginians believe it holds the city's luck, so its theft by Matho shakes their courage and drives much of the plot.
The author
Gustave Flaubert
1821–1880 · French novelist
Gustave Flaubert was a French novelist born in Rouen in 1821. He lived much of his adult life at Croisset, near Rouen. He published Madame Bovary in 1857, Salammbô in 1862, Sentimental Education in 1869, and Three Tales in 1877. He died at Croisset in 1880.
“Carthage, you will fall!”
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