OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 251 with such emblems as were best adapted to explain its CM A P. nature and high dignity ; the image or portrait of the "^^^^^ reigning emperors ; a triumphal car ; the book of man- dates ])laced on a table, covered with a rich carpet, and illuminated by four tapers ; the allegorical figures of the provinces which they governed ; or the appella- tions and standards of the troo)>s whom they com- manded. Some of these official ensigns were rtjally exhibited in their hall of audience ; others preceded their pompous march whenever they appeared in pub- lic ; and every circumstance of their demeanour, their dress, their ornaments, and their train, was calculated to inspire a deep reverence for the representatives of supreme majesty. By a philosophic observer, the sys- tem of the Roman government might have been mis- taken for a splendid theatre, filled with players of every character and degree, who repeated the lan- guage, and imitated the passions of their original model ^. All the magistrates of sufficient importance to find a Thn e ranks place in the general state of the empire, were accu- °' ^"""^"f- rately divided into three classes. 1. The ' illustrious.' 2. The * spectabiles,' or * respectable :' and 3. The ' clarissimi;' whom we may translate by the word ' honourable.' In the times of Roman simplicity, the last-mentioned epithet was used only as a vague ex- pression of deference, till it became at length the pe- culiar and appropriated title of all who were members of the senate , and consequently of all who, from that venerable body, were selected to govern the provinces. The vanity of those who, from their rank and office, might claim a superior distinction above the rest of the senatorial order, was long afterwards indulged with the new appellation of ' respectable :' but the title of
- illustrious' was always reserved to some eminent per-
s I^ancirolus ad Notitiam utriusque Imperii, p. 39. But his explana- tions are obscure, and he does not sufficiently distinguish the painted em- blems from the eftective ensigns of office. '■ In the Pandects, which may be referred to the reigns of the Antonincs, clarmimus is the ordinary and legal title of a senator.
