marked off for the reception of the several tribes. A lot was first cast to decide in which tribe the Latins were to vote; then one of the thirty-five tribes was chosen by lot to cast its vote first (principium), and as soon as its vote was announced the others voted simultaneously. The method of voting was the same as in the centuriate assembly (cf. pp. 255 f.). The assembly was essentially a democratic body. Certain considerations, however, tended to increase or diminish the value of an individual vote. The larger the tribe was to which a citizen belonged, so much the less influence his vote had. Now the four city tribes were much larger than the country tribes created before 387, and the tribes added after 387 were also larger than the early country tribes, because of the additions which were made to the list of citizens by conquest and by the grant of citizenship. Those who belonged to the city tribes or to the new rural tribes were, therefore, at a disadvantage when compared with the members of the old rural tribes. One factor tended to diminish still more the value of a vote in one of the new country tribes, but to increase the importance of an urban vote. It was easy for those who lived in the city to attend a concilium, but difficult for those at a distance.

319. The Concilium Plebis as an Electoral Body. The concilium plebis was established primarily for the purpose of electing the tribunes, and those officials were always chosen by it. The plebeian aediles were chosen in the same assembly. An interesting extension of the electoral rights of the body was made during the Gracchan period when commissioners were elected in the concilium plebis for the division of state land. This precedent proved to be of great importance later, since the Gabinian and Manilian laws, which conferred extraordinary powers on Pompey, were passed in this body.

320. As a Legislative Body. The combined effect of the Valerio-Horatian law of 449, the Publilian of 339, and the Hortensian of 287, was to make the concilium plebis an independent legislative body (pp. 49 ff.). After 287 the approval of the patrician element in the senate became unnecessary, but the senate was still able to control legislation in large measure (cf. pp. 65 ff.). The plebeian assembly seems to have been competent in Cicero's time to legislate on any subject, except the declaration of an offensive war, and such administrative questions as the assignment of state land to individuals, the appointment of commissions, and the prorogatio imperii, were brought up in the tribal assemblies, preferably in the concilium plebis, rather than in the centuriate comitia. In the later period the plebeian assembly even annulled contracts made by the censor and in this way encroached on the rights of the magistrate and the senate. Its enactments were called plebiscita. The three laws just mentioned, however, gave such measures the force of leges, so that the action of the assembly is not infrequently termed lex plebeivescitum.

321. As a Judicial Body. The circumstances under which the criminal jurisdiction of the tribune developed have already been mentioned (pp 199 f.). One class of cases, however, deserves special notice. The lex Aternia Tarpeia of 454 would seem to have conferred on all magistrates the right of imposing a fine not to exceed two sheep and thirty oxen, or, according to the money valuation of a later day, 3020 asses. An appeal taken from the decision of a magistrate was carried to the comitia tributa, but an appeal from a fine imposed by a tribune or a plebeian aedile was heard by the concilium plebis. The institution of the quaestiones perpetuae did away, however, with the judicial functions of the latter body.

Citizens and their rights: M. Voigt, Ueber d. Klientel u. Libertinität, Ber. d. k. sächs. Ges. d. Wiss., Philol. hist. Kl., 1878, 1 Abt. 146-219; F. Lindet, De l'acquisition et de la perte du droit de cité romaine, Paris, 1880; L. Pinvert, Du droit de cité, Paris, 1885; A. Josson, Condition juridique des affranchis en droit rom., Douai, 1879; L. Pardon, De aerariis, Berlin, 1853. — Division of the people for political purposes: Pelham, The Roman curiae, Journ. of Phil. IX. 266–279; Soltau, Entstehung der altrömischen Volksversammlungen, Berlin, 1881; Kubitschek, De rom. trib. origine ac propagatione, Vienna, 1882; Plüss, Die Entwicklung d. Centurienverf., Leipzig, 1870. — Popular assemblies: Soltau, Altr. Volksversammlungen; Ullrich, Die Centuriatkomitien, Landshut, 1873; Genz, Die Centuriatkomitien nach der Reform, Freienwalde, 1882; C. Berns, De comitiorum tributorum et conciliorum plebis discrimine, Wetzlar, 1875; Soltau, Die Giltigkeit der Plebiszite, Berlin, 1884; Ihne, Die Entwickelung d. Tributkomitien, Rhein. Mus. (N.F.), XXVIII (1873), 353 ff.; Lange, Die promulgatio trinum nundinum, Rhein. Mus. (N.F.), XXX (1875), 350 ff.; E. Morlot, Les comices électoraux sous la république romaine, Paris, 1884; Ch. Borgeaud. Histoire du plébiscite, Paris, 1887; K. W. Ruppel, Die Teilnahme der Patricier an den Tributkomitien, Heidelberg, 1887.

1 See also pp. 22, 173, 219, 243.

PART III-IMPERIAL PERIOD

SECTION I-HISTORICAL

CHAPTER XII

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE

322. Restoration of Order in Italy. When Octavius returned to Italy in the summer of 29, he was confronted by a state of things not unlike that which faced him after the battle of Philippi (cf. p. 143). It was necessary to relieve the poverty-stricken people of Italy at once, to provide lands for the veterans, and to decide upon a policy with reference to the soldiers of Antony. The prudence and moderation which he had shown on the previous occasion encouraged friend and foe alike to look for a wise policy now. This expectation was not disappointed. His very arrival in Italy inspired that confidence. in the future which is the precursor of prosperity, while immediate financial difficulties were relieved by a liberal use of the treasures of Egypt. One hundred and twenty thousand veterans were provided with land, not by confiscation, but by purchase at a total cost of 600,000,000 sesterces, as Octavius himself tells us in the Monumentum Ancyranum, and in pursuance of the same wise policy a general amnesty was granted to the followers of Antony and Sextus Pompeius. The beneficial results of this course

were apparent at once in the rise of the price of land and in the revival of trade, and Octavius received immediate recognition of his services in restoring prosperity in the extraordinary popularity which he enjoyed,—a factor that helped him in no small degree in making the great political changes which he had in mind.

323. Constitutional Position of Octavius from 32 to 27. It does not seem to be possible to make out with certainty the authority by virtue of which he made his preliminary arrangements. In the year 32, when he deposed Antony (cf. p. 146), he probably resigned his own position as triumvir, but he would seem to have been vested at once with extraordinary powers similar to those which he gave up. This was the basis of his authority down to 29 B.C., when another change took place of which we know as little. It seems rather probable, however, that in the year 29 the consular imperium was conferred on him, together with the control of the army and the provinces, and the right to hold the census.

324. The Change made in 27 B.C. The problem which he set himself to solve was to retain his position as master of the state, yet at the same time to keep intact the old forms of the constitution. Various methods of accomplishing this object seem to have occurred to him, and to have been tried, before he established his authority on the basis on which it finally rested. Two of these attempts have been mentioned in the preceding paragraph. A third essay was made in 27 B.C. At a meeting of the senate, held on the 13th of January in that year, he transferred the control of the state to the senate and people. he himself puts it in the Monumentum Ancyranum, rem publicam ex mea potestate in senat[us populique Romani a]rbitrium transtuli. This transfer of authority was only

As