historical developments. [43] _Una_ is the plural. See Zumpt, S 115, note. [44] It is indeed wonderful how quickly the Roman people, although consisting of a mixture of different tribes--whether, as Sallust briefly intimates, they were Trojans and Aborigines, or, as the more minute historians relate, Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans--united into one nationality. The language spoken by the Roman people, however, was not a mixture of those of the last-mentioned tribes, but Latin, which, in conformity with Sallust's notion, appears to be a combination of Greek with some early Italian idiom. [45] _Temptare_, the historical infinitive, about the meaning and construction of which see Zumpt, S 599, note. [46] _Auxilia portare_ is a less common expression than _auxilium ferre_; for _portare_ is generally used only to denote the actual physical carrying of something, while _ferre_ has a wider meaning. The plural _auxilia_, however, here alludes to the repeated assistance given to friends. [47] 'Their government was a legitimate one'--that is, the powers of the government were limited by law; 'and bore the name of a kingly government'--that is, a king stood at the head of it. [48] Chosen men had the care of public affairs, and deliberated about the good of the state; they stood by the side of the kings as a _consilium publicum_, and were addressed by the term _patres_. [49] Respecting the meaning of these genitives, for which datives also might have been used, see Zumpt, S 662. [50] _Ubi--convertit_, 'when it had changed (itself).' For _ubi_ with the perfect in the sense of a pluperfect, see Zumpt, S 506; and for the use of _vertere_ in an intransitive or reflective sense, S 145. [51] In the earliest times they were called _praetores_ or leaders, _qui praeeunt exercitui_; afterwards _consules_. As two were elected every year, Sallust uses _bini_, and not _duo_.