Phoenician colonial culture has gained a distinct "Punic" characteristic by the end of the seventh century BCE, indicating the emergence of a distinct culture in Western Mediterranean.

Carthage had planted her own colony in 650 BCE, and fifty year on she is warring with Greeks on her own away from the African mainland and becoming one of the leading commercial centers of the West Mediterranean region, a position she is to retain until overthrown by the Roman Republic.

Carthage, unlike Rome, had not concentrated on conquering lands adjacent to the city prior to embarking on overseas ventures.

Her dependence on trade and focus on protecting that trade network had seen the evolution of an overseas hegemony before Carthage pushed inland into Africa.

It may be possible that the power of the Libyan tribes had prevented expansion in the neighborhood of the city for some time.

Carthage had probably colonized the Syrtis region (the area between Thapsus in Tunisia and Sabratha in Libya) between 700-600 BCE.

Carthage has also focused on bringing the existing Phoenician colonies along the African coast into the hegemony, but exact details are lacking.