citizens and Latin colonies; names which had no reference to the persons who formed the colonies, but merely indicated their political rights with respect to Rome as members of the colony. The members of a Roman colony (_colonia civium Romanorum_) preserved all the rights of Roman citizens. The members of a Latin colony (_colonia Latina_) ceased to have the full rights of Roman citizens. Probably some of the old Latin colonies were established by the Romans in conjunction with other Latin states. After the conquest of Latium, the Romans established colonies, called Latin colonies, in various parts of Italy. Roman citizens, who chose to join such colonies, gave up their civic rights for the more solid advantage of a grant of land, and became LATINI. [CIVITAS.] Such colonies were subject to, and part of, the Roman state; but they did not possess the Roman franchise, and had no political bond among themselves.--The lex Julia, passed B.C. 90, gave the Roman franchise to the members of the Latin colonies and the Socii; and such Latin colonies and states of the Socii were then called _municipia_, and became complete members of the Roman state. Thus there was then really no difference between these municipia and the Roman coloniae, except in their historical origin: the members of both were Roman citizens, and the Roman law prevailed in both.--In the colonies, as at Rome, the popular assembly had originally the sovereign power; they chose the magistrates, and could even make laws. When the popular assemblies became a mere form in Rome, and the elections were transferred by Tiberius to the senate, the same thing happened in the colonies, whose senates then possessed whatever power had once belonged to the community. The common name of this senate was _ordo decurionum_; in later times, simply _ordo_ and _curia_; the members of it were _decuriones_ or _curiales_. Thus, in the later ages, _curia_ is opposed to _senatus_, the former being the senate of a colony, and the latter the senate of Rome. But the terms senatus and senator were also applied to the senate and members of the senate of a colony. After the decline of the popular assemblies, the senate had the whole internal administration of a city, conjointly with the magistratus; but only a decurio could be a magistratus, and the choice was made by the decuriones. The highest magistratus of a colonia were the _duumviri_ or _quattuorviri_, so called, as the members might vary, whose functions may be compared with those of the consulate at Rome before the establishment of the praetorship. The name _duumviri_ seems to have been the most common. Their principal duties were the administration of justice, and accordingly we find on inscriptions “Duumviri J. D.” (_juri dicundo_), “Quattuorviri J. D.” The name consul also occurs in inscriptions to denote this chief magistracy; and even dictator and praetor occur under the empire and under the republic. The office of the duumviri lasted a