Carthaginian peace

American  

noun

1. the treaty by which Rome reduced Carthage to the status of a puppet state in 201 b.c.

2. any brutal peace treaty demanding total subjugation of the defeated side.

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Example Sentences

World leaders opted for what Keynes called a “Carthaginian Peace”, designed to crush the Central Powers.

From Nature

Before the vote was taken, he described the measures agreed upon in Brussels over the weekend as “a new Versailles Treaty”—a reference to the Carthaginian peace that Germany’s enemies imposed upon it after the First World War.

From The New Yorker

The economy has been crippled by the terms of the bailout, a Carthaginian peace if ever there was one, and the country's debt ratio is bound to explode.

From The Guardian

Peace, Carthaginian, peace, and hear me, Dost thou not know, that on the very man Thou hast insulted, Barce's fate depends?

From Project Gutenberg

This was indeed a Carthaginian peace.

From Time Magazine Archive