Salammbo

Salaambo is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert, whose vivid plot bursts with exoticism, high drama and bloody violence. 
Set in Carthage during the 3rd century BC immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt which took place shortly after the First Punic War. It's a tale of war between Rome and Carthage. Flaubert describes in detail the Mercenary Revolt and the fight of the Mercenaries against the all-powerful Carthage, the theft of the magical Zaimph and the love and hate between the Carthaginian princess Salammbô and the fiercest leader of the Mercenaries, Matho.