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, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}: so he calls the council of the hundred; and fifteen
of the senate, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}. Livy mentions(542) only the fifteen of
the senators; but, in another place, he names the old men; and tells us,
that th