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we have already mentioned. Such is the cloak, and theatrical, a tunic entirely of purple, and a belt of red leather, glued upon itself, and from the edges of the sides carefully sewn into a thin seam, and having a certain small moon on the left, made of gold, and from the other side a certain tongue or rather a clasp, it also made of gold, made in the shape of a bunch of grapes, for which we have given the reason in the treatise On the Months; which clasp, being brought from the right and thrown upon the small moon, girds the wearer securely, a pin, also of gold, biting into the strap and joining the bunch of grapes to the small moon; the Romans call it fibula in their native tongue and the belt balteus, and the whole construction of the girdle the Gauls call cartamera, which the common people out of ignorance name cartalamus. That this little word is not Roman, the Roman Varro is a witness in the fifth book On the Roman Dialect, in which he explains which word is Aeolic, and which Gallic; and that the language of the Thoosci is one, and that of the Etruscans another, from the fusion of which the now prevailing language of the Romans was formed. 14 Such then is the so-called paratura, instead of stole, of the office, and a vehicle such as we know, and cases; thus they call what is termed by the multitude an ink-pot, which for the sake of grandeur alone was constructed in such a form, wrought of gold; it is supposed to contain one hundred pounds of gold. Another, 106 deep one of silver for holding common ink serves the court, called calliclium, as if a small cup, from calyx it is customary to call it, and cantharus, like a kind of basin, of silver upon a silver tripod, and a mixing bowl placed for those who plead cases with fixed deadlines in the court; concerning which, judging it to be tedious to speak at length, I am compelled to take up the narrative, stating beforehand that there are still even now three ferry-boats for the office for the crossings from the queen of cities to the neighboring continents. The ancients called them barcae, instead of dromones, in their native tongue, and celoces, that is, swift, because celer according to them means swift, and sarcinariae, instead of cargo ships, because sarcina according to them is called a burden. Such, then, are these things. But let us return to the subject at hand. 15 For it was the law, and it has only recently been corrupted, for those who plead cases in the provinces based on the decisions of the magistracy to refer them again upon appeal to the magistracy within a fixed time according to the law of appeal, and those cases in the archaic courts from their own decisions to the emperor; and for the former to be called temporales, that is, within a fixed time, and the latter sacrae, that is, divine, because, as I said, they were referred after appeal to the hearing of the emperor. A very great wonder and proof of a most blessed state; the emperor of the Romans endured to undertake the service of a lowly judge and to decide matters, perhaps even tolerating a very paltry case, just as our most clement emperor does because of his affection for his subjects, although he spends most of his sleepless nights against enemies and is zealous to face danger on our behalf. If only the populace did not make our peace more precarious by kindling heaven-sent discords, for the sake of which the state endures a heavier expense for the preservation of peace than for the repulse of enemies; from this 108 comes the occasion for the so-called novae expenditures and the straitening of necessities. For if indolence corrupted those who reigned before, how could this one rest, not relaxing at all for sleep, and for nourishment not even touching dry bread to satiety? 16 Since such a custom, therefore, had already previously dissolved into luxury, and those before, along with their weapons, had spat out even the concern for public affairs which extends to words, a law came into force, for the prefect to hear the sacred rescripts, a matter sufficient even after the change to show the divinity which he formerly possessed. For the prefect is in white robes on the tribunal, and a fitting staff

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προέφαμεν. τοιαύτη μὲν ἡ χλαμύς, παραγώδης δέ, χιτὼν καταπόρφυρος, καὶ ζωστὴρ ἐκ φοινικοῦ δέρματος, ἐφ' ἑαυτὸν μὲν ἀνακεκολλημένος, ἐξ ἄκρων δὲ τῶν πλευρῶν εἰς λεπτὴν καταρραφὴν ἐσπουδασμένος, καὶ σεληνίσκον μὲν ἔχων τινὰ ἐξ εὐωνύμων, χρυσῷ πεποιημένον, ἐκ δὲ τῆς ἑτέρας γλωσσίδα τινὰ ἤ γ' οὖν διάβλημα, χρυσοτελὲς καὶ αὐτό, εἰς βότρυος σχῆμα πεποιημένον, δι' ἣν ἐν τῇ Περὶ Μηνῶν συγγραφῇ ἀποδεδώκαμεν αἰτίαν· ὅπερ διάβλημα ἀπὸ δεξιᾶς φερόμενον καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν σεληνίσκον βαλλόμενον διαζώννυσι τὸν περιτιθέμενον ἀσφαλῶς, περόνης καὶ αὐτῆς χρυσῆς ἐνδακνούσης τὸν ἱμάντα καὶ συναπτούσης τὸν βότρυν τῷ σεληνίσκῳ· φίβουλαν αὐτὴν πατρίως οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ βάλτεον τὸν ζωστῆρα λέγουσιν, τὴν δὲ ὅλην κατασκευὴν τοῦ περιζώματος οἱ Γάλλοι καρταμέραν, ἣν τὸ πλῆθος καρτάλαμον ἐξ ἰδιωτείας ὀνομάζει. ὅτι δὲ οὐ Ῥωμαϊκὸν τουτὶ τὸ ῥημάτιον, μάρτυς ὁ Ῥωμαῖος Βάρρων ἐν βιβλίῳ πέμπτῳ Περὶ Ῥωμαϊκῆς ∆ιαλέκτου, ἐν ᾧ διαρθροῦται ποία μέν τις λέξις ἐστὶν Αἰολική, ποία δὲ Γαλλική· καὶ ὅτι ἑτέρα μὲν ἡ Θούσκων, ἄλλη δὲ Ἐτρούσκων, ὧν συγχυθεισῶν ἡ νῦν κρατοῦσα τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀπετελέσθη φωνή. 14 Τοιαύτη μὲν τῆς ἀρχῆς ἡ παρ' αὐτοῖς καλουμένη παρατοῦρα, ἀντὶ τοῦ στολή, ὄχημα δὲ ὁποῖον ἴσμεν καὶ θῆκαι· οὕτω δὲ τὸ λεγόμενον τῷ πλήθει καλαμάριον ἐκεῖνοι λέγουσιν, ὅπερ ὄγκου καὶ μόνου χάριν εἰς τύπον τοιοῦτον χρυσήλατον κατεσκεύαστο· ἑκατὸν ἔχειν χρυσίου λίτρας ὑπείληπται. ἕτερον 106 δὲ ἐξ ἀργυρίου βαθὺ πρὸς ὑποδοχὴν κοινοῦ μέλανος ἐξυπηρετεῖται τῷ δικαστηρίῳ καλλίκλιον αὐτό, οἷον εἰ κυαθίσκον, ἀπὸ τοῦ κάλυκος καλεῖσθαι νόμος καὶ κάνθαρος, ὡς λεκάνη τις, ἐξ ἀργύρου ἐπὶ τρίποδος ἀργυραίου καὶ κρατὴρ ὑπὲρ τῶν τὰς ἐμπροθέσμους δίκας ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ λεγόντων κείμενος· περὶ οὗ μακρηγορεῖν ἀηδὲς εἶναι κρίνων ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀναλαβεῖν τὴν ἀφήγησιν συνωθοῦμαι, ἐκεῖνο προλέγων ὥς εἰσιν ἔτι καὶ νῦν πορθμίδες τρεῖς τῇ ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὰς ἀντιπόρθμους διαπεραιώσεις ἐκ τῆς βασιλίδος ἐπὶ τὰς γείτονας ἠπείρους. βάρκας αὐτάς, ἀντὶ τοῦ δρόμωνας, πατρίως ἐκάλεσαν οἱ παλαιότεροι καὶ κέλωκας, οἷον ταχινάς, ὅτι κέλερ κατ' αὐτοὺς ὁ ταχὺς λέγεται, καὶ σαρκιναρίας, ἀντὶ τοῦ ὁλκάδας, ὅτι σάρκινα κατ' αὐτοὺς τὸ ἄχθος καλεῖται. τοιαῦτα μέν τινα καὶ ταῦτα. πρὸς δὲ τὸ προκείμενον ἐπανέλθωμεν. 15 Νόμος ἦν καὶ γὰρ ἄρτι παρεφθάρη τοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ ψήφων τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐπὶ τῶν ἐπαρχιῶν τὰς δίκας λέγοντας μετὰ ἔφεσιν αὖθις ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐμπροθέσμως αὐτὰς κατὰ τὸν ἔκκλητον νόμον ἀναπέμπειν, τὰς δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀρχαιοτικῶν δικαστηρίων ἀπὸ ψήφων αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν· κἀκείνας μὲν καλεῖσθαι τεμποραλίας, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐμπροθέσμους, ταύτας δὲ σάκρας, οἷον θείας, διὰ τό, ὡς ἔφην, πρὸς τὴν βασιλέως ἀκρόασιν μετ' ἔκκλητον ἀναπέμπεσθαι. θαῦμα μέγιστον καὶ πανευδαίμονος πολιτείας τεκμήριον· βασιλεὺς Ῥωμαίων ὑπέμενε χαμαιζήλου δικαστοῦ λειτουργίαν ὑφίστασθαι καὶ κρίνειν πράγματα, ἴσως καὶ σφόδρα γλίσχρης ὑποθέσεως ἀνεχόμενος, καθάπερ ὁ ἡμερώτατος ἡμῶν βασιλεὺς διὰ τὴν περὶ τοὺς ὑπηκόους στοργήν, καίτοι τὰ πλεῖστα κατὰ πολεμίων ἀγρυπνῶν καὶ προκινδυνεύειν ἡμῶν διὰ σπουδῆς ἔχων. εἰ μὴ σφαλερωτέραν ἡμῖν τὴν εἰρήνην ὁ δῆμος θεηλάτοις διχονοίαις ἀναπτόμενος ἀπετέλει, ἧς ἕνεκα βαρυτέραν τὸ δημόσιον δαπάνην ὑφίσταται πρὸς φυλακὴν τῆς εἰρήνης ἢ πρὸς ἀναχαιτισμὸν τῶν πολεμίων· ἔνθεν 108 ἡ τῶν λεγομένων νόβων ἀναλωμάτων ἀφορμὴ καὶ στένωσις τῶν ἀναγκαίων. εἰ γὰρ τοὺς ἔμπροσθεν βεβασιλευκότας ῥᾳστώνη διέλυσεν, πῶς ἂν ἠρέμησεν οὗτος, ὕπνῳ μὲν μηδὲ ὅλως χαλώμενος, τροφῆς δὲ χάριν μηδὲ ἄρτου ξηροῦ πρὸς κόρον ἁπτόμενος; 16 Τῆς τοιαύτης οὖν συνηθείας ἤδη πρότερον εἰς τρυφὴν ἀναλυθείσης καὶ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἅμα τοῖς ὅπλοις καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν μέχρι λόγων φροντίδα τῶν κοινῶν ἀποπτυσάντων, νόμος ἐφοίτησεν, τὸν ὕπαρχον ἀκροάσασθαι τῶν σακρῶν διατυπῶν, πρᾶγμα καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐναλλαγὴν ἀρκοῦν ἐπιδεῖξαι τὴν οὖσαν αὐτῷ τὸ πάλαι θειότητα. λευχείμων μὲν γὰρ ὁ ὕπαρχος ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος, καὶ τάξις ἁρμοδία