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How did Hannibal change Carthage’s government after becoming suffete?

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Illustration of Hannibal the Carthaginian general wearing a metal helmet and armor, holding a shield decorated with a horse. — Hannibal Hannibal, engraving by John Chapman, 1800.

After becoming a suffete (a civil magistrate) following the Second Punic War, Hannibal utilized his position to challenge the entrenched power of the Carthaginian oligarchic faction.1

He implemented administrative and constitutional reforms aimed at curbing the influence of the wealthy nobility who had long dominated the city's government. Specifically, Hannibal took action against the systemic graft practiced by these elites. By challenging their corruption and restructuring aspects of the government, he sought to diminish the control of the council of state and the powerful panel of judges that typically held sway over Carthaginian affairs.12

These reforms made him deeply unpopular with the nobility, who subsequently denounced him to the Romans, ultimately forcing him into exile.1