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When
the sentiments and votes were unanimous, the senate decided
supremely,
and there lay no appeal from it.(536) When there was a
division,
and the senate could not be brought to an agreement, the affair
was
then laid before the people, on whom the power of deciding
thereby
devolved.
The reader will easily perceive the great wisdom of this
regulation:
and how happily it was adapted to crush factions, to produce
harmony,
and to enforce and corroborate good counsels; such an assembly
being
extremely jealous of its authority, and not easily prevailed upon
to
let
it pass into other hands. Of this we have a memorable instance in
Polybius.(537)
When after the loss of the battle fought in Africa, at the
end
of the second Punic war, the conditions of peace offered by the
victor
were
read in the senate; Hannibal, observing that one of the senators
opposed
them, represented in the strongest terms, that as the safety of
the
republic lay at stake, it was of the utmost importance for the
senators
to be unanimous in their resolutions, to prevent such a debate
from
coming before the people; and he carried his point. This,
doubtless,
laid
the foundation, in the infancy of the republic, of the senate’s
power,
and raised its authority to so great a height. And the same
author
observes,
in another place,(538) that whilst the senate had the
administration
of affairs, the state was governed with great wisdom, and
was
successful in all its enterprises.
_The
People._—It
appears from every thing related hitherto, that even so
low
as Aristotle’s time, who gives so beautiful a picture, and bestows
so
noble
an eulogium on the government of Carthage, the people
spontaneously
left
the care of public affairs, and the chief administration of them,
to
the
senate: and this it was which made the republic so powerful. But
things
changed afterwards. For the people, grown insolent by their
wealth
and
conquests, and forgetting that they owed these blessings to the
prudent
conduct of the senate, were desirous of having a share in the
government,
and arrogated to themselves almost the whole power. From that
period,
the public affairs were transacted wholly by cabals and factions:
and
this Polybius assigns as one of the chief causes of the ruin of
Carthage.
_The
Tribunal of the Hundred._—This
was a body composed of a hundred and
four
persons; though often, for brevity’s sake, they are called only,
the
Hundred.
These, according to Aristotle, were the same in Carthage, as the
Ephori
in Sparta; whence it appears, that they were instituted to
balance
the
power of the nobles and senate: but with this difference, that
the
Ephori
were but five in number, and continued in office but a year;
whereas
these were perpetual, and were upwards of a hundred. (M97) It is
believed,
that these Centumviri are the same with the hundred judges
mentioned
by Justin,(539) who were taken out of the senate, and appointed
to
inquire into the conduct of their generals. The exorbitant power
of
Mago’s
family, which, by its engrossing the chief employments both of
the
state
and the army, had thereby the sole direction and management of
all
affairs,
gave occasion to this establishment. It was intended as a curb to
the
authority of their generals, which, whilst the armies were in the
field,
was almost boundless and absolute; but, by this institution, it
became
subject to the laws, by the obligation their generals were under,
of
giving an account of their actions before these judges on their
return
from
the campaign: _Ut hoc metu ita in bello imperia cogitarent, ut
domi
judicia
legesque respicerent._(540) Of these hundred and four judges,
five
had
a particular jurisdiction superior to that of the rest; but it is
not
known
how long their authority lasted. This council of five was like
the
council
of ten in the Venetian senate. A vacancy in their number could be
filled
by none but themselves. They also had the power of choosing those
who
composed the council of the hundred. Their authority was very
great,
and
for that reason none were elected into this office but persons of
uncommon
merit; and it was not judged proper to annex any salary or reward
to
it; the single motive of the public good, being thought a tie
sufficient
to engage honest men to a conscientious and faithful discharge
of
their duty. Polybius, in his account of the taking of New Carthage
by
Scipio,(541)
distinguishes clearly two orders of magistrates established
in
Old Carthage; for he says, that among the prisoners taken at New
Carthage,
were two magistrates belonging to the body or assembly of old
men,
ἐκ
τῆς
Γερουσίας:
so he calls the council of the hundred; and fifteen
of
the senate, ἐκ
τῆς
Συγκλήτου.
Livy mentions(542) only the fifteen of
the
senators; but, in another place, he names the old men; and tells
us,
that
they formed the most venerable council of the government, and had
great
authority in the senate. _Carthaginenses—Oratores
ad pacem petendam
mittunt
triginta seniorum principes. Id erat sanctius apud illos
concilium,
maximaque ad ipsum senatum regendum vis._(543)
Establishments,
though constituted with the greatest wisdom and the
justest
harmony of parts, degenerate, however insensibly, into disorder
and
the most destructive licentiousness. These judges, who by the
lawful
execution
of their power were a terror to transgressors, and the great
pillars
of justice, abusing their almost unlimited authority, became so
many
petty tyrants. (M98) We shall see this verified in the history of
the
great
Hannibal, who during his prætorship, after his return to Africa,
employed
all his influence to reform so horrid an abuse; and made the
authority
of these judges, which before was perpetual, only annual, about
two
hundred years from the first founding the tribunal of the One
Hundred.
_Defects
in the Government of Carthage._—Aristotle,
among other
reflections
made by him on the government of Carthage, remarks two great
defects
in it, both which, in his opinion, are repugnant to the views of
a
wise
lawgiver and the maxims of sound policy.
The
first of these defects was, the investing the same person with
different
employments, which was considered at Carthage as a proof of
uncommon
merit. But Aristotle thinks this practice highly prejudicial to
the
public welfare. For, says this author, a man possessed but of one
employment,
is much more capable of acquitting himself well in the
execution
of it; because affairs are then examined with greater care, and
sooner
despatched. We never see, continues our author, either by sea or
land,
the same officer commanding two different bodies, or the same
pilot
steering
two ships. Besides, the welfare of the state requires that places
and
preferments should be divided, in order to excite an emulation
among
men
of merit: whereas the bestowing of them on one man, too often
dazzles
him
by so distinguishing a preference, and always fills others with
jealousy,
discontent, and murmurs.
The
second defect taken notice of by Aristotle in the government of
Carthage,
was, that in order for a man to attain the first posts, a
certain
income was required (besides merit and noble birth.) By which
means,
poverty might exclude persons of the most exalted merit, which he
considers
as a great evil in a government. For then, says he, as virtue is
wholly
disregarded, and money is all-powerful, because all things are
attained
by it, the admiration and desire of riches seize and corrupt the
whole
community. Add to this, that when magistrates and judges are
obliged
to
pay large sums for their employments, they seem to have a right
to
reimburse
themselves.’
There
is not, I believe, one instance in all antiquity, to show that
employments,
either in the state or the courts of justice, were sold. The
expense,
therefore, which Aristotle talks of here to raise men to
preferments
in Carthage, must doubtless be understood of the presents that
were
given in order to procure the votes of the electors: a practice,
as
Polybius
observes, very common at Carthage, where no kind of gain was
judged
a disgrace.(544) It is, therefore, no wonder, that Aristotle
should
condemn
a practice whose consequences, it is very plain, may prove fatal
to
a government.
But
in case he pretended that the chief employments of a state ought to
be
equally
accessible to the rich and the poor, as he seems to insinuate,
his
opinion
is refuted by the general practice of the wisest republics; for
these,
without any way demeaning or aspersing poverty, have thought
that,
on
this occasion, the preference ought to be given to riches; because
it
is
to be presumed that the wealthy have received a better education,
have
nobler
sentiments, are more out of the reach of corruption, and less
liable
to commit base actions; and that even the state of their affairs
makes
them more affectionate to the government, more disposed to
maintain
peace
and order in it, and more interested in suppressing whatever may
tend
to sedition and rebellion.
Aristotle,
in concluding his reflections on the republic of Carthage, is
much
pleased with a custom that prevailed there: _viz._ of sending
from
time
to time colonies into different countries; and in this manner
procuring
its citizens commodious settlements. This provided for the
necessities
of the poor, who, equally with the rich, are members of the
state:
and it disburdened Carthage of multitudes of lazy, indolent
people,
who
were its disgrace, and often proved dangerous to it: it prevented
commotions
and insurrections, by thus removing such persons as commonly
occasion
them; and who being ever discontented under their present
circumstances,
are always ready for innovations and tumults.
SECT.
IV. TRADE OF CARTHAGE, THE FIRST SOURCE OF ITS WEALTH AND
POWER.—Commerce,
strictly speaking, was the occupation of Carthage, the
particular
object of its industry, and its peculiar and predominant
characteristic.
It formed the greatest strength and the chief support of
that
commonwealth. In a word, we may affirm that the power, the
conquests,
the
credit, and glory of the Carthaginians, all flowed from their
commerce.
Situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, and stretching out
their
arms eastward and westward, the extent of their commerce took in
all
the
known world, and wafted it to the coast of Spain, of Mauritania,
of
Gaul,
and beyond the straits and pillars of Hercules. They sailed to
all
countries,
in order to buy at a cheap rate the superfluities of every
nation;
which, by the wants of others, became necessaries; and these they
sold
to them at the dearest rates. From Egypt the Carthaginians
fetched
fine
flax, paper, corn, sails and cables for ships; from the coast of
the
Red-Sea,
spices, frankincense, perfumes, gold, pearls, and precious
stones;
from Tyre and Phoenicia, purple and scarlet, rich stuffs,
tapestry,
costly furniture, and divers curious and exquisite works of art:
in
a word, they fetched, from various countries, all things that can
supply
the necessities, or are capable of contributing to the
convenience,
the
luxury, and the delights of life. They brought back from the
western
parts
of the world, in return for the articles carried thither, iron,
tin,
lead,
and copper: by the sale of these various commodities, they
enriched
themselves
at the expense of all nations; and put them under a kind of
contribution,
which was so much the surer as it was spontaneous.
In
thus becoming the factors and agents of all nations, they had
made
themselves
lords of the sea; the band which held the east, the west, and
south
together; and the necessary channel of their communication: so
that
Carthage
rose to be the common city, and the centre of the trade, of all
those
nations which the sea separated from one another.
The
most considerable personages of the city were not ashamed of
engaging
in
trade. They applied themselves to it as industriously as the
meanest
citizens;
and their great wealth did not make them less in love with the
diligence,
patience, and labour, which are necessary to augment it. To
this
they owed their empire of the sea, the splendour of their
republic;
their
being able to dispute for the superiority with Rome itself; and
their
exalted pitch of power, which forced the Romans to carry on a
bloody
and
doubtful war, for upwards of forty years, in order to humble and
subdue
this haughty rival. In short, Rome, even when triumphant, thought
Carthage
was not to be entirely reduced any other way, than by depriving
that
city of the resources which it might still derive from its
commerce,
by
which it had so long been enabled to resist the whole strength of
that
mighty
republic.
However,
it is no wonder that, as Carthage came in a manner out of the
greatest
school of traffic in the world, I mean Tyre, she should have been
crowned
with such rapid and uninterrupted success. The very vessels on
which
its founders had been conveyed into Africa, were afterwards
employed
by
them in their trade. They began to make settlements upon the coasts
of
Spain,
in those ports where they unloaded their goods. The ease with
which
they
had founded these settlements, and the conveniences they met
with,
inspired
them with the design of conquering those vast regions; and some
time
after, _Nova Carthago_, or New Carthage, gave the Carthaginians
an
empire
in that country, almost equal to that which they enjoyed in
Africa.
SECT.
V. THE MINES OF SPAIN, THE SECOND SOURCE OF THE RICHES AND POWER
OF
CARTHAGE.—Diodorus
justly remarks,(545) that the gold and silver mines
found
by the Carthaginians in Spain, were an inexhaustible fund of
wealth,
that
enabled them to sustain such long wars against the Romans. The
natives
had long been ignorant of these treasures that lay concealed in
the
bowels of the earth, at least of their use and value. The
Phœnicians
took
advantage of this ignorance; and, by bartering some wares of
little
value
for this precious metal, they amassed infinite wealth. When the
Carthaginians
had made themselves masters of the country, they dug much
deeper
into the earth than the old inhabitants of Spain had done, who
probably
were content with what they could collect on the surface; and the
Romans,
when they had dispossessed the Carthaginians of Spain, profited
by
their
example, and drew an immense revenue from these mines of gold and
silver.
The
labour employed to come at these mines, and to dig the gold and
silver
out
of them, was incredible.(546) For the veins of these metals
rarely
appeared
on the surface; they were to be sought for and traced through
frightful
depths, where very often floods of water stopped the miners, and
seemed
to defeat all future pursuits. But avarice is no less patient in
undergoing
fatigues, than ingenious in finding expedients. By pumps, which
Archimedes
had invented when in Egypt, the Romans afterwards threw up the
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