e _spectabiles_, or
Respectables, and the _illustres_, or Illustrious. The illustriate was
conferred solely upon the great ministers of state. Under Justinian, in
the sixth century, there was established the still higher order of the
_gloriosi_ (the Glorious). The official positions, to which these titles
of rank were attached, were called dignities (_dignitates_), and the great
demand for admission to these rank classes, which entitled their members
to valuable privileges, caused the conferment of many honorary dignities,
i. e., titles of official posts with their appropriate rank but without
the duties of office.

*The patricians and counts.* The other titles of nobility were those of
patrician and count. The former, created by Constantine I in imitation of
the older patrician order, was granted solely to the highest dignitaries,
although it was not attached to any definite official post. It was
Constantine also who revived the _comitiva_, which had been used
irregularly of the chief associates of the princeps until the death of
Severus Alexander, and put it to a new use. The term count became a title
of honor definitely attached to certain offices, but also capable of being
conferred as a favor or a reward of merit. Like the other titles of rank
the patriciate and the _comitiva_ brought with them not only precedence
but also valuable immunities.

Nothing illustrates more clearly the importance of official positions than
the division of the people of the empire as a whole into two classes--the
_honestiores_ (more honorable) and the _humiliores_ (more humble or
plebeians). The former class, which included the imperial senators, the
soldiers and the veterans, were exempt from execution except with the
emperor's consent, from penal servitude, and, with some limitations, from
torture in the course of judicial investigations.

*The Senate.* The Senate at Rome was not abolished but continued to
function both as a municipal council and as the mouthpiece of the
senatorial order. After the founding of Constantinople a similar Senate
was established there for the eastern part of the empire. At first all
_clarissimi_ had a right to participate in the meetings of the Senate, and
their sons were expected to fill the quaestorship. However, after the
middle of the fifth century only those having the rank of _illustris_ were
admitted to the senate chamber, and the active Senate became a gathering
of the highest officials and ex-off