How Did Carthaginians Build Their Politics

Around 265 BCE, Carthage was a city in the North African coast founded by the Phoenicians as a colony of Tyre in the East. Its success and rapid growth founded an empire on trade and commerce. Their routes extended from Tyre to Spain and even to Britain so it was mainly conducted at sea. To sustain their commercial resources they created an unrivalled naval fleet and the harbor revealed the importance of the city because it was the largest of that time with over 200 docks.
At the same time, Rome was a military power supported by their courageous army. During their intestinal conflicts they built an important political system which was the support for all the social agreements with the plebeians and helped building an ambitious society supported …show more content…
Their government had two leaders which were elected annually and were called suffetes or "kings". Their political organization also included a “Council of Elders” - the adirim or "Mighty Ones" and an assembly of citizens, who could arbitrate between the suffetes and Council. Unlike the Romans, whose annually-elected magistrates managed both civilian and military affairs, the Carthaginians created a separate office of military General, who was appointed for a specific mission and who would continue in office until that mission was completed. As a result, these Generals could accumulate considerable power. Their action was checked, however, by the Council of 104 judges, who had the power to convict and crucify incompetent Generals. Carthage's political system was often praised in antiquity: Aristotle thought Carthage possessed one of the best constitutions. In practice, however, a single prominent family often acquired political supremacy for extended periods of time. Sometimes this family would rule collaboratively with other members of the aristocracy and sometimes, it would exercise near absolute authority in the

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