is Greek; the custom probably came from the Greeks of the Orient.

=The Senate and the People.=--The Roman Senate remained what it had
always been--the assembly of the richest and most eminent personages
of the empire. To be a senator was still an eagerly desired honor; in
speaking of a great family one would say, "a senatorial family." But
the Senate, respected as it was, was now powerless, because the
emperor could dispense with it. It was still the most distinguished
body in the state, but it was no longer the master of the government.
The emperor often pretended to consult it, but he was not bound by its
advice.

The people had lost all its power since the assemblies (the Comitia)
were suppressed in the reign of Tiberius. The population of 2,000,000
souls crowded into Rome was composed only of some thousands of great
lords with their slaves and a mob of paupers. Already the state had
assumed the burden of feeding the latter; the emperors continued to
distribute grain to them, and supplemented this with donations of
money (the congiarium). Augustus thus donated $140 apiece in nine
different distributions, and Nero $50 in three. At the same time to
amuse this populace shows were presented. The number of days regularly
appointed for the shows under the republic had already amounted to 66
in the year; it had increased in a century and a half, under Marcus
Aurelius, to 135, and in the fourth century to 175 (without counting
supplementary days). These spectacles continued each day from sunrise
to sunset; the spectators ate their lunch in their places. This was a
means used by the emperors for the occupation of the crowd. "It is for
your advantage, Caesar," said an actor to Augustus, "that the people
engage itself with us." It was also a means for securing popularity.
The worst emperors were among the most popular; Nero was adored for
his magnificent spectacles; the people refused to believe that he was
dead, and for thirty years they awaited his return.[146]

The multitude of Rome no longer sought to govern; it required only to
be amused and fed: in the forceful expression of Juvenal--to be
provided with bread and the games of the circus (panem et circenses).

=The Praetorians.=--Under the republic a general was prohibited from
leading his army into the city of Rome. The emperor, chief of all the
armies, had at Rome his military escort (praetorium), a body of about
10,000 men quartered in the interior of the city. The