an order, and the people; four hundred and fifty
were appointed for single questions; and the various rolls or _decuries_
of judges must have contained the names of some thousand Romans, who
represented the judicial authority of the state. In each particular
cause, a sufficient number was drawn from the urn; their integrity was
guarded by an oath; the mode of ballot secured their independence; the
suspicion of partiality was removed by the mutual challenges of the
accuser and defendant; and the judges of Milo, by the retrenchment of
fifteen on each side, were reduced to fifty-one voices or tablets,
of acquittal, of condemnation, or of favorable doubt. 3. In his civil
jurisdiction, the praetor of the city was truly a judge, and almost a
legislator; but, as soon as he had prescribed the action of law, he
often referred to a delegate the determination of the fact. With the
increase of legal proceedings, the tribunal of the centumvirs, in which
he presided, acquired more weight and reputation. But whether he acted
alone, or with the advice of his council, the most absolute powers might
be trusted to a magistrate who was annually chosen by the votes of
the people. The rules and precautions of freedom have required some
explanation; the order of despotism is simple and inanimate. Before the
age of Justinian, or perhaps of Diocletian, the decuries of Roman judges
had sunk to an empty title: the humble advice of the assessors might
be accepted or despised; and in each tribunal the civil and criminal
jurisdiction was administered by a single magistrate, who was raised and
disgraced by the will of the emperor.

A Roman accused of any capital crime might prevent the sentence of
the law by voluntary exile, or death. Till his guilt had been legally
proved, his innocence was presumed, and his person was free: till the
votes of the last _century_ had been counted and declared, he might
peaceably secede to any of the allied cities of Italy, or Greece, or
Asia. His fame and fortunes were preserved, at least to his children,
by this civil death; and he might still be happy in every rational and
sensual enjoyment, if a mind accustomed to the ambitious tumult of Rome
could support the uniformity and silence of Rhodes or Athens. A bolder
effort was required to escape from the tyranny of the Caesars; but this
effort was rendered familiar by the maxims of the stoics, the example of
the bravest Romans, and the legal encouragements of suicide. T