Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/139

Rh, the ablest Roman general, who had both been consuls before the war, each held the office five times; and Quintus Fulvius, four times.

The chief means of avoiding a change of commanders was to prolong the authority of a general (prorogatio imperii). This was done more extensively and effectively than ever before. For example, Publius Cornelius Scipio, consul in 218, was proconsul in Spain from 217 to his death in 211. Through these extensions of authority, the senate obtained also a sufficient number of commanders for the different fields of military operations. In 211 it went so far as to confer the supreme authority (imperium) on all who had been dictators, consuls, and censors.

By such means the senate perhaps came as near securing unity and continuity of military leadership as was possible under the constitution, and at the same time it reached the zenith of its power and influence.

II. The Senate and the Popular Assemblies.

Special Appointment of Senators. — When through losses in battle, especially at Cannae, the number of senators had been reduced to about one hundred and twenty-three, it was considered necessary, in view of the important senatorial functions, to appoint new senators before the next census. Spurius Carvilius, a new man, proposed that two senators from each of the Latin colonies should be given Roman citizenship, and be admitted to the Roman senate. The proposal was rejected with indignation; and Varro, the surviving consul, was directed to appoint the oldest ex-censor as dictator, for the purpose of adding to the senatorial roll. There was already a military dictator, and the new appointment was, for various reasons, the most irregular proceeding of the war. One hundred and seventy-seven new senators