A vének szerepe tehát igen jelentős volt a hattiknál, sőt általában a pankué (az előkelőké), amit jelez, hogy a korai időkben a nagykirály választással szerezte a hatalmát. A hatti uralkodóra gyakran az "első az egyenlők között" minősítés a helytálló.
Érdekes és talán az amazon téma szempontjából is jelentős , hogy a királyné olykor önálló politikát vitt, a királytól függetlenül levelezhetett az idegen hatalmakkal, és saját hivatalos pecsétje is volt.
The Hittites' earliest kings rose to the throne by an "election" based upon the approval of the other noble families. King Labarna (16801650 B.C.), the first Hittite king, was challenged by a rival nominated by the nobles (Panku). Labarnas was successful in keeping his position. It was only, however, when King Telipinu (15251500 B.C.) created a law to ensure a succession right. Until Telipinu enactment whenever any king died, whether he left a successor or not, general anarchy ensued. Telipinu, who cited examples of how usurpations and murders had become an integral feature of Hittite royalty and had resulted in aristocratic disunity, assured a measure of stability.
Two hundred years later when a king, Muwatalli II, died in 1282 without leaving a legitimate heir, there was no great challenge to his illegitimate heir Murili, the son of a concubine. Seven years passed before his uncle Hattuili rose to challenge him. The deposition of Murili II, with no internal disruptions, occurred only after seven years of incompetence.
Telipinu, in the Edict of Telipinu, had laid down a precise law of succession. His law specified the exact order of procedure to be observed in the selection of the successor. He also prescribe that the nobles must again stand united in loyalty to the king. If they became dissatisfied with the king's conduct, or the conduct of one of his sons, they should refrain from taking the law into their own hands by murder, but take recourse to legal means. Telipinu set the court for punishment of wrongdoers to be the Panku (the whole body of citizens the fighting men and the servants of the king). Hittite kingship became based on the idea of "primus inter pares", first among equals. The King was required to bring many matters before the Panku.
The Hittite society had emerged along patriarchal lines. The king was given ownership of all the land under his control. Individuals were allowed control over land, which belonged to the king, only by serving int the king's army. In Hittite society, therefore, the bulk of the population became tenant farmers. Among the Sumerians and the Amorites, from whom the Hittites had absorbed their laws, private property was allowed and the monarch only owned his own private property.
The Hittite king was a suzerain ruler over sovereign princes and states. Some of the states were taken directly into the kingdom and given over to princes and favored governors to rule. These "protectorate" states had prestige, but despite their independence they were expected to appear annually to reaffirm their affiliations with homage and tribute to the Hittite king. To ensure the honesty and loyalty of these "protectorate" states a promissory contract was extracted from their leaders. These contracts were under oath to the gods of both nations as the Hittite were a very religious people. Still diplomatic marriages were common as the Hittite kings, always concerned with loyalty, sought a completely safe union.
The king performed many functions. He was the chief military officer, he held supreme judicial authority, he was the chief priest, and was the chief diplomat to other countries. The king was required to perform most of the royal duties himself; only the judicial duties were handed down to subordinates. His paramount duty, however, was to preside over religious ceremonies: missing a religious ceremony was considered the gravest sin a king could commit and to do so, it was thought, would bring down the wrath of the gods upon his people. There were instances, therefore, when a king had to leave a general in charge of some military endeavor, other types of duties could be postponed. Seldom did the king not lead his military forces because military action was normally undertaken in the summer when snow would not hamper military campaigns, while religious ceremonies, conveniently, took place during the winter.
The Queen of the Hittites had the power to act independently of the King. The Queen had power of state and her own seal with which to legitimize documents. She could even contact foreign dignitaries independently of the King. In some instances, the queen and the king were not married. The queen was the Queen of the Hittites until her death. If the queen outlived her husband, even if the new king had a wife, the Queen still was queen: the wife of the new king in this situation was only the king's wife.
Hittite nobility also acted independently of the Hittite royal family. The nobility consisted not only of the extended family of the king but also of the sovereign kings of the satellite kingdoms and their extended families, who acted much like the king's extended family but on a lower scale.
Each town in the Hittite empire which did not have its own monarch was presided over by a "Council of Elders". They controlled the administration of their lands and settled disputes that arose. On the same level as the nobility and the council groups were the high priests of certain holy cities. The High Priest's underlings acted as the local government.
One of the Hittite's most impressive achievements was their decrees and laws. They greatly modified the system of laws they incorporated from the Amorites creating a more merciful system. There were only a limited number of crimes that carried capital punishment: even premeditated murder only resulted in a fine, a very large fine, but not the loss of life.
