With respect to the capital jurisdiction of the tribunes, we have seen how their tacit recognition of the appeal gave rise to this jurisdiction.[706] But in theory the coercion of the tribune, when used in defence of the sanctity of his own person, was not subject to appeal.[707] Here the old religious penalties remained in force, and a period as late as the year 131 B.C. witnessed the spectacle of a tribune dragging a censor, who had degraded him, to the Tarpeian rock with intent to hurl him down—a fate from which he was saved only by the veto of the tribune’s colleagues.[708] Scourging, which is found in the early Republic as a punishment employed in the military levy,[709] was practically abolished as a mode of _coercitio_ by the third _lex Valeria_ of 300 B.C.[710] and the _leges Porciae_, which submitted the threat of such punishment to appeal, the latter laws imposing a heavy penalty on the magistrate who inflicted it. Imprisonment (_abductio in carcerem, in vincula_), although not recognised as a penalty in Roman law, plays a double part in the _coercitio_. It was one of the modes by which the magistrates defended their dignity and secured obedience, not merely from private citizens, but from lower magistrates and senators; and it was adopted as a precautionary measure to secure the appearance on trial of one whom they accused. The use of this severe measure against magistrates by any power but the tribunate is rare;[711] but it plays a great part in the tribunician annals, and the temporary imprisonment of a consul became a familiar feature of party strife during the closing years of the Republic.[712] It was a summary method of silencing the opposition of a too zealous optimate, and the veto of the tribune’s colleague was the only means of releasing the head of the state.[713] Preventive imprisonment for the purpose of securing the appearance of an accused at trial was rare at Rome. The custom of giving sureties or bail (_vades, vadimonium_) was early recognised;[714] but it rested entirely with the magistrate whether he should accept such a security.[715]