What does the phrase "hardly a man is now alive"

i think it was because of how protected egyptian civilization was was which allowed them to evolve without much outside influence.

the romans were initially interested in expansion via sicily (which at that time was a cultural melting pot), part of which lay under carthaginian control. at the start of the first punic war (264-241 bc), carthage was the dominant power of the western mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire