^6
[Footnote6:Claudius,raisedbythesoldierstotheempire,wasthefirstwhogaveadonative。Hegavequinadena,120l。
Sueton。inClaud。c。10:whenMarcus,withhiscolleagueLuciusVersus,tookquietpossessionofthethrone,hegavevicena,160l。toeachoftheguards。Hist。August。p。25,Dion,l。lxxiii。p。1231。Wemayformsomeideaoftheamountofthesesums,byHadrian\'scomplaintthatthepromotionofaCaesarhadcosthimtermillies,twomillionsandahalfsterling。]
Theadvocateoftheguardsendeavoredtojustifybyargumentsthepowerwhichtheyassertedbyarms;andtomaintainthat,accordingtothepurestprinciplesoftheconstitution,theirconsentwasessentiallynecessaryintheappointmentofanemperor。Theelectionofconsuls,ofgenerals,andofmagistrates,howeverithadbeenrecentlyusurpedbythesenate,wastheancientandundoubtedrightoftheRomanpeople。^7ButwherewastheRomanpeopletobefound?NotsurelyamongstthemixedmultitudeofslavesandstrangersthatfilledthestreetsofRome;aservilepopulace,asdevoidofspiritasdestituteofproperty。Thedefendersofthestate,selectedfromthefloweroftheItalianyouth,^8andtrainedintheexerciseofarmsandvirtue,werethegenuinerepresentativesofthepeople,andthebestentitledtoelectthemilitarychiefoftherepublic。Theseassertions,howeverdefectiveinreason,becameunanswerablewhenthefiercePraetoriansincreasedtheirweight,bythrowing,likethebarbarianconquerorofRome,theirswordsintothescale。^9
[Footnote7:CicerodeLegibus,iii。3。ThefirstbookofLivy,andthesecondofDionysiusofHalicarnassus,showtheauthorityofthepeople,evenintheelectionofthekings。]
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