magistrates and to
retain much of its influence, dignity and importance.

The outer provinces and those prone to turbulence were governed not by ex-
consuls and ex-praetors acting in the name of the Senate, but each by a
deputy of the Emperor, styled propraetor, praeses, or procurator. These
were called imperial provinces. The magistrates of the senatorial
provinces were, under the Empire, no longer elected by the people, but
appointed by the Senate, with or without an indication of the Emperor's
wishes.

The Romans never devised any method of choosing a chief magistrate other
than acclamation by an army and confirmation by the Senate, creating an
Emperor. If two commanders at about the same time were separately saluted
"Imperator," as were Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger, there was no
method of adjudicating their conflicting claims except by Civil War and
the survival of one Imperator only.

B. THE FISCUS

From this word comes our "confiscate," "to turn totally into the Fiscus."
A fiscus was a large basket, such is were used by all Roman financial
concerns to contain live vouchers. The fiscus was the organization
managing the pubic property, income and expenditures of the Roman Emperor.
It controlled the proceeds of the taxes of all the imperial provinces and
of the domains, mines, quarries, fisheries, factories, town property and
whatever else the fiscus held for the Emperors, impersonally. It gathered
in all moneys and possessions forfeited for suicide, crime or treason.

C. THE ROMAN CALENDAR

All primitive calendars went by the moon. Moon and month are the same word
in English. No more than Hengist and Horsa could the early Romans have
conceived of a month not beginning with the day of the new moon, as all
months begin yet in the Jewish and Mohammedan calendars.

The first day of each month the Romans called its Kalends (announcement
day). After that day they called each day so many before the Nones (half
moon), then so many before the Ides (full moon), then so many to the
Kalends of the next month. Julius Caesar, impatient with the difficulties
of fitting together the solar and lunar calendars, bade his experts ignore
the moon and divide the solar year into twelve months. They did, and his
calendar, with trifling improvements, has lasted till our days. The Romans
continued to reckon days before the Nones, Ides and Kalends. The Nones
fell on the seventh of March, May, July and October, on the fift