rom among the allies or soldiers, or sons of freedmen, but even slaves.
At any rate one Maximus, when about to become quaestor, was recognized by
his master and taken away. And he incurred no injury through having dared
to stand for the office: but another who had been caught serving as a
praetor, was hurled down the rocks of the Capitol, having been
first freed, that there might be some legal justification for his
punishment[46].

[-35-] The expedition which Antony was getting in readiness against the
Parthians afforded them some excuse for the mass of prospective senators.
The same plea permitted them to extend all the offices for a number of
years and that of consul to eight full years, rewarding some of those who
had cooeperated with them, and bringing others to trial. They chose not
two annual consuls, as had been the custom, but now for the first time
several, and on the very day of the elections. Formerly, to be sure, some
had held office after others who had neither died nor been removed for
disenfranchisement or in any other way: but those persons had become
officials as suited those who had been elected for the entire year,
whereas now no magistrate was chosen to serve for a year, but first one,
then another would be appointed for different divisions of the entire
time. Also the men first to enter upon office were accustomed to hold the
title of the consulship through the entire year as is now done: the rest
were accorded the same title by the dwellers in the capital themselves
and by the people in the rest of Italy during each period of their office
(as is also now the custom), but those in outside nations knew few or
none of them and therefore called them lesser consuls.

[-36-] This was the situation at home when the leaders first made
proposals to Sextus through companions as to how and on what terms they
could effect a reconciliation; afterward the parties concerned held a
conference near Misenum. The two from the capital took their stand on the
land, the other on a kind of mound constructed for his safety in the sea,
by which it was purposely surrounded, not far from them. There was also
present the entire fleet of Sextus and the entire infantry force of the
other two; and not that merely, but the one command had been drawn up on
the shore and the other on the ships, both fully armed, so that this very
fact made it perfectly evident to all that it was from fear of their
accoutrement and from necessity, t