In the fragment of the law which we possess this division is manifested in two particulars. The right of declaring bankruptcy (_missio in possessionem_) is reserved for the praetor, although the provisional arrest of the debtor (_duci jubere_) may be ordered by the local magistrate. Again, in the action for the recovery of a loan and in those arising from some other obligations, all cases involving a sum over 15,000 sesterces must be remitted to Rome, the local magistrate having the right to enforce on the parties bail (_vadimonium_) for their appearance there.[1483] These fragmentary notices are an index to a principle which was doubtless fully elaborated in the Augustan legislation. A tolerable degree of uniformity was also secured in the political structure of the towns of Italy. It was but a development of the typical Italian constitution of magistrates (_magistratus potestatesve_),[1484] senate (_senatus_, _curia_, composed of _decuriones conscriptive_), and popular assembly (_comitia conciliumve_, composed of _municipes_ and sometimes of _incolae_); and the _lex Julia municipalis_ of Caesar (45 B.C.) ordains a uniform qualification for the local magistracies and senates, and enjoins that the local census shall be taken in conjunction with that of Rome. But, though the general lines of organisation were the same, this uniformity was chiefly the result of growth, not of creation. No effort was made at securing a common nomenclature either for the states or for their officials. Caesar’s municipal law shows _municipia_, _coloniae_ and _praefecturae_ existing side by side,[1485] while inscriptions show titles for officials, such as dictator or praetor, which may be as old as those of Roman magistrates.[1486] CHAPTER VIII THE ORGANISATION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCES