Page:The Ancient City- A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome.djvu/411

 CHAP. Vll. TEE PLEBS ENTER THE CITY. 405 plebeian. To propose to have plebeian consuls was to wish to suppress the religion of the city. Thenceforth the worship would be impure, and the city would no longer be at peace with its gods.' The patricians used ail their influence and all their address to keep the plebeians from the magistracies. They were defending at the same time their religion and their power. As soon as they saw that the con sulship was in danger of falling into the hands of plebe- ians, they separated from it the religious function which was the most important of all, — that which consisted in making the lustration of the citizens, — and thus the censorship was established. At the moment when it seemed impossible to resist the claims of the plebeians, the consulship was replaced by the military tribune- ship. But the plebs showed great patience; they waited seventy-five years before their hopes were realized. It is clear that they displayed less ardor in obtaining the high magistracies than they had shown in conquer- ing the tribuneship and a code. But if the plebs were somewhat indifferent, there was a plebeian aristocracy that was ambitious. Here is a legend of this period: "Fabius Arabustus, one of the most distinguished of the patricians, had married his two daughters?, one to a patrician, who became a military tribune, the other to Licinius Stole, a promi- nent pk'beian. This plebeian's wife was one day at the house of her sister, when the lictors, conducting the military tribune to his house, struck the door with their fasces. As she was ignorant of this usage, she showed signs of fear. The laughter and the ironical questions of her sister showed her how much a plebe* ' Livy, VI. 41.