Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/271

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 253 to the two consuls elect, it was declared, that they were CHAP, created by his sole authority ". Their names and por- ' traits, engraved on gilt tablets of ivory, were dispersed over the empire as presents to the provinces, the cities, the magistrates, the senate, and the people". Their solemn inauguration was performed at the place of the imperial residence ; and during a period of one hundred and twenty years, Rome was constantly de- prived of the presence of her ancient magistrates''. On the morning of the first of January, the consuls assumed the ensigns of their dignity. Their dress was a robe of purple, embroidered in silk and gold, and sometimes ornamented with costly gems'!. On this solemn occasion they were attended by the most emi- nent officers of the state and army, in the habit of senators ; and the useless fasces, armed with the once formida))le axes, were borne before them by the lictors '". " Cum de consulibus in annum cieandis solus mecum volutarem te consulem et designavi, et declaravi, et priorem nuncupavi ; are some of the expressions employed by the emperor Gratian to his preceptor the poet Ausonius. " Immanesque denies Qui secti ferro in tabulas auroque micantes, Inscripti rulilum ccelato console nomen Per proceres et vuigus eant. Claud, in ii Cons. Stilichon. 456. Montfaucon has represented some of these tablets or dypticks. See Supple- ment a I'Antiquite expliquee, torn. lii. p. 220. P Consule laetatur post piurima saecula viso Pallanteus apex : agnoscunt rostra curules Auditas quondam proavis : desuetaque cingit Regius auratis Fora fascibus Ulpia lictor. Claud, in vi Cons. Honorii, 643. From the reign of Cams to the sixth consulship of Honorius, there was an interval of one hundred and twenty years, during which the emperors were always absent from Rome on the first day of January. See the Chronologic de Tillemont, tom. iii. iv. and v. ". See Claudian in Cons. Prob. et Olybrii 178, etc. and in iv Cons. Ho- norii, 585, etc.; though in the latter it is not easy to separate the orna- ments ot the emperor from those of the consul. Ausonius received, from the liberality of Gratian, a veitis ]Hilmatu, or robe of state, in which the figure of the emperor Constantius was embroidered. ' Cernis et armorum proceres legumque potentes : Patricios sumunt habitus; et more Gabino Discolor incedit legio, positisque parum per Bellorum signis, sequitur vexilla Quirini. Lictori cedunt aquila;, ridetque tngatus Miles, et in mediis effulget curia caslris. Claud, in iv Cons. Honorii, 5. siiiciasuue procul radiare secures. In Coos. Prob. 229.