Page:The Ancient City- A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome.djvu/415

 CDAP. Vn. THE PLEBS ENTER THE CITY. 409 ancient rules, declaring, "The worship will oe changed and sullied by unworthy hands ; you are attacking the gods themselves; take care that their anger is not felt sgainst our city." It does not seem that these argu- ments had much influence with the plebs, or even that the majority of the patricians were moved by them. The new manners gave the advantage to the plebeian principle. It was decided, therefore, that half of the pontiffs and augurs should, from that time, be chosen among the plebs.' This was the last conquest of the lower orders; they had nothing more to wish for. The patricians had lost even their religious superiority. Nothing distinguished them now from the plebs ; the name patrician was now only a souvenir. The old principle upon which the Roman city, like all ancient cities, had been founded, had disappeared. Of this ancient, hereditary religion, which had so long governed men, and which had es- tablished ranks among them, there now remained only the exterior forms. The plebeian had struggled against it for four centuries, — under the republic and under the kings, — and had conquered. ' The dignities of king of the sacrifices, of flamens, salii, and vestals, to which no political importance was attached, were left without danger in the hands of the patricians, who always re- mained a sacred caste, but who were no longer a dominant caste.