Page:Cicero And The Fall Of The Roman Republic.djvu/41

Rh led the Roman armies in their triumphal march over the civilised world, and this power and influence they handed on to their descendants. There was likewise among the Romans a strong public opinion in favour of a man's sitting in the seat of his fathers. There was no occasion for the Nobles to assert by law their exclusive right to the highest offices, for the electors would hardly look at any candidate who had not ancestral claims on their attention. It was perfectly legal indeed, for "the son of a Roman Knight"—in other words, for one who did not belong to the official caste—to contend for high office with a Noble; but he would find that the stars in their courses fought against the "new man." "Fato Romæ fiunt Metelli consules"—Providence always sends the great Noble, the Cæcilius Metellus, to the head of the poll. To dream of clearing in a single generation the space that lies between the Roman Knight and the consul is an insolence which is to be suppressed by the united force of the Nobility, and which is looked on with disfavour even amongst the ranks from which the candidate is struggling to emerge.

Thus the Roman Nobles became in fact though not in law an hereditary caste of office-holding families. In their best days they had all the great qualities of an oligarchy—high spirit, steadiness of purpose, persistence under difficulties, trained sagacity in war, and diplomacy. The Nobility represented Rome in a stronger and loftier spirit than any popular organisation could have done, and the Romans were proud to follow its lead and to accept