pompous march whenever they appeared in public; and every circumstance of their demeanor, their dress, their ornaments, and their train, was calculated to inspire a deep reverence for the representatives of supreme majesty. By a philosophic observer, the system of the Roman government might have been mistaken for a splendid theatre, filled with players of every character and degree, who repeated the language, and imitated the passions, of their original model. 76 73 (return) [ Scilicet externæ superbiæ sueto, non inerat notitia nostri, (perhaps _nostræ;_) apud quos vis Imperii valet, inania transmittuntur. Tacit. Annal. xv. 31. The gradation from the style of freedom and simplicity, to that of form and servitude, may be traced in the Epistles of Cicero, of Pliny, and of Symmachus.] 74 (return) [ The emperor Gratian, after confirming a law of precedency published by Valentinian, the father of his _Divinity_, thus continues: Siquis igitur indebitum sibi locum usurpaverit, nulla se ignoratione defendat; sitque plane _sacrilegii_ reus, qui _divina_ præcepta neglexerit. Cod. Theod. l. vi. tit. v. leg. 2.] 75 (return) [ Consult the _Notitia Dignitatum_ at the end of the Theodosian code, tom. vi. p. 316. * Note: Constantin, qui remplaca le grand Patriciat par une noblesse titree et qui changea avec d’autres institutions la nature de la societe Latine, est le veritable fondateur de la royaute moderne, dans ce quelle conserva de Romain. Chateaubriand, Etud. Histor. Preface, i. 151. Manso, (Leben Constantins des Grossen,) p. 153, &c., has given a lucid view of the dignities and duties of the officers in the Imperial court.—M.] 76 (return) [ Pancirolus ad Notitiam utriusque Imperii, p. 39. But his explanations are obscure, and he does not sufficiently distinguish the painted emblems from the effective ensigns of office.]