Page:A history and description of Roman political institutions (IA historyanddescri00abbo).pdf/55

Rh one year it was thrown open to the plebeians, in the next patricians only were eligible. We have already noticed the fact (p. 37) that the importance of opening one of the priestly offices to the plebeians lay in the fact that a precedent was established for the adoption of a similar provision in the case of the augurate and pontificate. The hopes of the plebeians in this respect were realized by the passage of the in 300, which reserved to the plebeians a certain number of places in each of the colleges mentioned. The changes all benefited the commonwealth and the plebs, in that they unified the community and gave the plebeians such a representation in the several magistracies as their number and services to the state entitled them to have, but they were of special importance to those plebeians who were prominent through wealth or ability, for they alone could hope to secure election to a magistracy.

44. Reëlection and Plurality of Offices. The special interests concerned in the matter are in fact indicated clearly by two plebiscites attributed to the year 342, one of which provided that a citizen should not be reëlected to an office until an interval of ten years had elapsed, while the other made it unlawful to hold more than one office at a time. These provisions were not inspired by a fear of autocracy, but by a desire on the part of the rising politicians to keep as many offices open as possible. The first-mentioned law was not well observed, however, since T. Manlius Torquatus was consul in 344 and 340, and M. Valerius Corvus in 343 and 335.

45. Promagisterial Government and the Prorogatio Imperii. The law which forbade immediate reëlection to an office made the military situation intolerable. In the period which we are considering Rome was carrying on