Inside these official diptychs the wax may have been inscribed with the Fasti Consulares or list of names of all preceding consuls, closing with that of the new magistrate, the donor. As Ausonius, himself consul in the year 379, says in one of his epigrams: “Hactenus adscripsi fastos. Si sors volet, ultra Adjiciam: si non, qui legis, adjicies. Scire cupis, qui sim? titulum qui quartus ab imo est Quære; legis nomen consulis Ausonii.” This, however, as a rule, is matter of conjecture. Outside, the leaves were carved with various ornaments; sometimes with scrolls, or cornucopiæ, or the bust of the new consul in a medallion. Sometimes—and as the diptychs which we now possess repeat this style the most frequently we may conclude it to have been the usual practice at least for the more important of those presented—the consul was represented at full length and sitting in the cushioned curule chair: one hand often being uplifted and holding the _mappa circensis_. He is clothed in the full ceremonial vestments of his office, as used when he was inducted into it. The dress itself seems to be a splendid imitation of that worn by the old generals at the celebration of a triumph; a richly embroidered cloak (_toga picta_) with ample folds, beneath which is a tunic striped with purple (_trabea_) or figured with palm leaves (_tunica palmata_). On his feet are shoes of cloth of gold (_calcei aurati_), and in one hand the consular staff or sceptre (_scipio_) surmounted by an eagle or an image of Victory. The conspicuous representation of a cushion on the seat of the chair is probably not to be overlooked as of small signification or importance. Cushions were permitted only to certain privileged classes during the games of the circus; and Caligula conceded the use of cushions to senators as a graceful compliment at the beginning of his reign. Some will remember also the advice given by Ovid, in his “Art of Love,” to the lover in attendance on his mistress in the theatre or at public games (he had just before been speaking of the ivory statues carried in the procession): “Parva leves capiunt animos. Fuit utile multis Pulvinum facili composuisse manu. Profuit et tenui ventum movisse tabella [_flabello_?]; Et cava sub teneram scamna dedisse pedem.” Not unusually in the lower part of each leaf, in a separate compartment, were representations of the shows which the consul intended to give, of the manumission of slaves, and of the presents, money, bread, &c., which were also to be distributed among the people.