882 THE REVOLUTIONS. BOOK IV. that, when it has [)rescrved the memory of so many events from the times of the ancient kings, it has re- corded so few of the time of the aristocratic govern- ments. The reason is doubtless because at that time very few acts of general interest took place. The re- turn of the patriarchal regime had almost suspended the national life. Men lived apart, and had few com- mon interests. The horizon of each one was the small group and the small hamlet where be lived, as Euj)atrid or as servant. At Rome, too, each patrician family lived upon its estate, surrounded by its clients. Men came to the city to celebrate the festivals of the public worship, and for the public assemblies. During the years that followed the expulsion of the kings, the power of the aristocracy was absolute. None but a patrician could fill the priestly office in the city ; the vestals, the pontiffs, the salii, the flamens, and the augurs, were chosen exclu- sively from the sacred caste. Patricians alone could be consuls ; they alone composed the senate. Though they did not suppress the assembly by centuries, to which the plebeians had access, they at any rate re- garded the assembly by curies as the only one that was legitimate and sacred. The centuries had, in appear- ance, the election of the consuls ; but we have seen that they could vote only on the names that the pa- tricians presented, and, besides, their decisions were submitted to the triple ratification of the senate, the curies, and the augurs. Patricians alone administered justice, and knew the forms of the law. This political system lasted at Rome only a few years. In Greece, on the contrary, there was a long period during which the aristocracy was master. The Odyssey presents us with a faithful picture of this
