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35The expedition which Antony was preparing against the Parthians afforded them some excuse for the large number of new senators. On this same plea they also appointed various magistrates for a number of years ahead, including the consuls for eight full years, thus rewarding some of those who had coöperated with them and winning the favour of others. 2And they did not choose two annual consuls only, as had been the custom, but now for the first time chose several, and these on the very day of the elections. Even before this time, to be sure, some had held office after others who had neither died nor been removed because of disfranchisement or any other reason, but all such persons had become officials presumably in accordance with the decision of the magistrates who had been chosen to office for the entire year, whereas now nobody was chosen to serve for a year, but various sets of officials were appointed for the different portions of the entire period. 3And the men first to enter upon the office of consul secured the name of consuls for the whole year, as is even now the case; the others were accorded the same title, it is true, by those who lived in the city or in the rest of Italy during the period of each one’s office, as, indeed, is the case to -day, but the other citizens of the empire knew few or none of them and therefore called them “lesser consuls.”
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