Bribery - for votes, favourable decisions, and access to high positions – and embezzlement were such a problem that Hannibal's first task on being elected suffete was to improve the endemic corruption which was crippling the state's finances. These limitations were, no doubt, to prevent individuals from becoming too powerful, but it does not seem to have curbed corruption. Other important state officials were the head of the priests ( rb khnm) and the head of the army ( rb mhnt), the latter very often also being a suffete in important conflicts.Īll of these positions were elected, and all seem to have had a limited term of office, with the exception of the general who served for the duration of a war. In addition, there was a state treasury ( mhsbm) headed by a single treasurer ( rb) who is mentioned in one inscription as imposing penalties on those merchants who failed to pay customs duties. Aristotle describes these as consisting of 5 members (hence their name 'pentarchies') who acted as judges in law courts, but Punic inscriptions only mention a 10-man commission responsible for religious sites and a 30-man commission which supervised taxation. The position of suffete continued to exist even when North Africa became a Roman province and is recorded at least until the 2nd century CE.Ĭertain senators were selected to special commissions. Wealth and family background seem to have been the two most important factors in being considered eligible for the role. Greek and Roman sources indicate that the suffetes operated in collaboration with the senate and were also concerned with civil lawsuits. From the 5th century BCE electing two suffetes becomes standard, one leading the armed forces of Carthage when at war and the other running the government at home. It is also possible that there was only one suffete in the first century or so of the new system. These had replaced the initial system of monarchy sometime in the early 7th century BCE, and so their association with purely judicial matters may too have widened in political scope as the office evolved. The most powerful office in the Carthaginian government was held jointly by two magistrates elected annually known as suffetes (Latinized from the Punic sptm or shophetim and conventionally translated as 'judges'). Although the system was praised by such noted figures as Aristotle, some of the exact workings of the Carthaginian government have remained elusive, a situation further confused by Greek and Roman writers using their own familiar terminology to describe the political institutions of Carthage. As in other contemporary ancient cultures participation in political life and the popular assembly of the city was limited to those who held citizenship – indigenous and free males. Unlike its founding city, Tyre in Phoenicia, Carthage did not have a monarchy but its politics was dominated by an aristocratic elite which was composed of competing clans and which held all important political, judicial, and military positions. The government of Carthage was based on a system of elected officials accountable to a popular assembly.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |