It implies, not so much high intellectual power, as a combination of valuable, yet not very admirable, qualities of a lower order.

Industry, perseverance, shrewdness, quickness of perception, power of forecasting the future, power of organisation, boldness, promptness, are among the qualities needed, and there may be others discoverable by the skilful analyst.

All these met in the Phoenicians, and met in the proportions that were needed for the combination to take full effect.
Whether unscrupulousness and want of good faith are rightly assigned to the Phoenicians as characteristic traits, is, at the least, open to doubt.

The Latin writers, with whom the reproach contained in the expression "Punica fides" originated, are scarcely to be accepted as unprejudiced witnesses, since it is in most instances a necessity that they should either impute "bad faith" to the opposite side, or admit that there was "bad faith" on their own.

The aspersions of an enemy are entitled to little weight.