The two consuls were at once military leaders, the sole administrators of the higher civil and criminal jurisdiction, and the sole officials entrusted with the duty of registering and distributing burdens over the citizens. Such a combination of functions could not continue to exist with the widening of Rome’s political horizon, and the first attempt was now made at a division of the military, judicial, and registrative duties of the supreme magistrate. To effect this object, and at the same time to make a concession to the Plebs, it was decided to replace the consulship by the office of military tribune with consular power (_tribunus militum consulari potestate_).[431] The change, permission for which may have been granted by a special _lex_,[432] consisted in raising some of the ordinary legionary delegates of the consul to a level with the commanding officer and suppressing the latter.[433] These extraordinary officials were elected at the _comitia centuriata_ under the presidency of one of the chief magistrates, whether consul or consular tribune, for the time being. The normal number, six, was no doubt suggested by the six tribunes of the old _legio_ or army. But this full number was not always appointed. The question how many military tribunes should be created for a given year depended on the exigencies of the state. Sometimes three were elected, sometimes four, at other times six, a number which seems never to have been exceeded.[434] It rested formally with the magistrate who guided the elections, practically perhaps with the Senate, to determine how many of these officers should be appointed for any given year. As military posts below the supreme command had long been opened to the Plebs, it goes without saying that Plebeians were eligible to the consular tribunate; their admission, in fact, had been one of the motives of the change.[435] Yet the patrician element was almost exclusively present in the earlier years of this magistracy, and to the end of the office it largely preponderated. Even if we reject the account that it was not until forty-five years after the institution of the consular tribunate (400 B.C.) that a Plebeian was actually elected to this post,[436] it is a significant fact that while purely patrician colleges are found, there is no instance of one composed exclusively of Plebeians. This fact may be simply a demonstration of the aristocratic character of elective office, and shows that the masses preferred the safety of the state to the advancement of their own order; for military skill and experience, and even knowledge of law, were still chiefly to be sought in the ranks of the _patres_.[437] Gradually, however, the Plebs became familiarised with power and displayed greater trust in the leaders of their own order. The year 400 does in any case mark a turning point in the history of the office. After it we find more Plebeians elected; in 399 and 396 they form a majority of the college, and events were tending