Salammbô (1925)

The story deals with the love of Matho, the leader of the Libyan Mercenani, for Salammbo, the daughter of Hamilcar, who returned after the second Punic War to restore order in Carthage, which has been endangered by the treacherous conduct of the Council of Elders. Matho encounters a deadly rival in the person of Narr' Haras, a Numidian chief, a rivalry which commences at a great feast in Hamilcar's palace, where Matho first is dazzled by the beauty of the great general's daughter. For the love of Salammbo, Matho is willing to encounter any peril, and for he is induced to commit an act of sacrilege by stealing the sacred Veil of Tanit, an act to which he is incited by a renegade Greek who wishes to embroil the Mercenanis with the Carthagenians. Matho is rewarded by the love of Salammbo, but has to take arms against the vengeance of Hamilcar. The Mercenanis are defeated and Matho is treacherously taken by Narr' Haras, who has been selected by Hamilcar as the husband of Salammbo. On the day of their wedding, Matho is compelled to run the gauntlet of the vast crowds who have been incited against him for the sacrilege of the Veil. Almost torn to pieces by the angry mob, he falls prostrate at the feet of Salammbo, who claims his life from the Elders as a consideration for having restored the veil.