Ediles were added in B.C. 365. The four AEdiles in
common had the charge of the public buildings,[40] the care of the
cleansing and draining of the city, and the superintendence of the
police. They had also the regulation of the public festivals; and the
celebration of the Ludi Magni, or Great Games, was their especial
function. Originally they received a sum of money from the state to
defray the expenses of these games, but the grant was withdrawn about
the time of the First Punic War; a measure attended with important
consequences, since the higher magistracies were thus confined to the
wealthy, who alone could defray the charges of these costly
entertainments. After the Macedonian and Syrian wars, the Curule AEdiles
often incurred a prodigious expense, with the view of pleasing the
people, and securing their votes in future elections.

3. The institution of the _Praetorship_ in B.C. 366 has been already
narrated. There was originally only one Praetor, subsequently called
Praetor Urbanus, whose chief duty was the administration of justice. In
B.C. 246 a second Praetor was added, who had to decide cases in which
foreigners were concerned, and who was hence called Praetor Peregrinus.
When the territories of the state extended beyond Italy, new Praetors
were created to govern the provinces. Two Praetors were appointed to
take the administration of Sicily and Sardinia (B.C. 227), and two more
were added when the two Spanish provinces were formed (B.C. 197). There
were thus six Praetors, two of whom staid in the city and the other four
went abroad. Each Praetor was attended by six Lictors.

4. The _Consuls_ were the highest ordinary magistrates at Rome, and were
at the head both of the state and the army. They convoked the Senate and
the Assembly of the Centuries; they presided in each, and had to see
that the resolutions of the Senate and the People were carried into
effect. They had the supreme command of the armies in virtue of the
Imperium conferred upon them by a special vote of the People. At the
head of the army, they had full power of life and death over their
soldiers. They were preceded by twelve lictors, but this outward sign of
power was enjoyed by them month by month in turn.

The magistrates above-mentioned were elected annually, but it was the
practice frequently to prolong the command of the Consuls or Praetors in
the provinces under the titles of Proconsuls or Propraetors. In the later
times of the Repub