distinction was the twelve lictors with the _fasces_, who preceded the consuls; but the axes did not appear in the fasces within the city. This outward sign of their power was taken by the consuls in turn every month, and while one consul was preceded by the twelve lictors with their fasces, the other was during the same month preceded by an _accensus_, and followed by the lictors; and the one was called during that month _consul major_, and the other _consul minor_. Other distinctions of the consuls were the curule chair (_sella curulis_), and the toga with the purple hem (_toga praetexta_). The ivory sceptre (_scipio_ or _sceptrum_) and purple toga were not distinctions of the consuls in general, but only when they celebrated a triumph. Under the empire a consul was sometimes distinguished by the senate with a sceptre bearing an eagle on the top, but his regular ensigns consisted of the _toga picta_, the _trabea_, and the fasces, both within and without the city.--The consuls were the highest ordinary magistrates at Rome. Their power was at first quite equal to that of the kings, except that it was limited to one year, and that the office of high priest, which had been vested in the king, was at the very beginning detached from the consulship, and given to the _rex sacrorum_ or _rex sacrificulus_. Yet the _auspicia majora_ continued to belong to the consuls. This regal power of the consuls, however, was gradually curtailed by various laws, especially by the institution of the tribunes of the plebs, whose province it was to protect the plebeians against the unjust or oppressive commands of the patrician magistrates. Nay, in the course of time, whole branches of the consular power were detached from it; the reason for which was, that, as the patricians were compelled to allow the plebeians a share in the highest magistracy, they stripped it of as much of its original power as they could, and reserved these detached portions for themselves. In this manner the censorship was detached from the consulship in B.C. 443, and the praetorship in B.C. 367. But notwithstanding all this, the consuls remained the highest magistrates, and all other magistrates, except the tribunes of the plebs, were obliged to obey their commands, and show them great outward respect. The functions of the consuls during the time of the republic may be conveniently described under the following heads:--1. They were in all civil matters the heads of the state, being invested with the imperium, which emanated from the sovereign people, and which they held during the time of their office. In this capacity they had the right of convoking both the senate and the assembly of the people; they presided in each (in the comitia of the curies as well as in those of the centuries), and they took care that the resolutions of the senate and people were carried into effect. They might also convoke _contiones_, whenever they thought it necessary. In the