The paper aims to examine the role of the Carthaginians in the work of Valerius Maximus: the analysis of the exempla externa related to them shows how they represent an anti-model, a vicious people from whose comparison Rome is valued in its moral, political, military and cultural aspects. The negativity of the Carthaginian example, which finds its highest expression in Hannibal, not only has the function of enhancing, by contrast, the positivity of the Romans’ attitudes, but also that of reducing the vicious and negative behaviors found within roman society, showing a greater presence of these vices in the Punic world. For this reason, within the work of Valerius Maximus, the negativity of the Carthaginian behavior, and of Hannibal in particular, is often exaggerated compared to previous sources, so that the contrast with the positive model of Rome is greater.