by _adlectio_. Certain official posts, of which it would have been inadvisable to deprive senators, could thus be bestowed upon the promoted equites. The control of the imperial correspondence and purse was at first in the hands of freedmen and slaves. The emperor Claudius tentatively entrusted certain posts connected with these to the equites; in the time of Hadrian this became the regular custom. Thus a civil career was open to the equites without the obligation of preliminary military service, and the emperor was freed from the pernicious influence of freedmen. After the reign of Marcus Aurelius (according to Mommsen) the equites were divided into: (a) _viri eminentissimi_, the prefects of the praetorian guard; (b) _viri perfectissimi_, the other prefects and the heads of the financial and secretarial departments; (c) _viri egregii_, first mentioned in the reign of Antoninus Pius, a title by right of the procurators generally. Under the empire the power of the equites was at its highest in the time of Diocletian; in consequence of the transference of the capital to Constantinople, they sank to the position of a mere city guard, under the control of the prefect of the watch. Their history may be said to end with the reign of Constantine the Great. Mention may also be made of the _equites singulares Augusti_. The body-guard of Augustus, consisting of foreign soldiers (chiefly Germans and Batavians), abolished by Galba, was revived from the time of Trajan or Hadrian under the above title. It was chiefly recruited from the pick of the provincial cavalry, but contained some Roman citizens. It formed the imperial "Swiss guard," and never left the city except to accompany the emperor. In the time of Severus, these equites were divided into two corps, each of which had its separate quarters, and was commanded by a tribune under the orders of the prefect of the praetorian guard. They were subsequently replaced by the _protectores Augusti_.