from which I have learned so much, though compelled to dissent in one matter of cardinal importance) and of Anton von Premerst

f the law might circumscribe the prerogative of the First Citizen. No matter : the Princeps stood pre-eminent, in virtue of pre

30. Cf. Münzer, RA, 349 ff. 2 That it need not have been a serious matter is shown by Ad Att. 1, 13, 3: ‘nosmet ipsi, qui L

gain and advancement, some for revolution. Yet for all that, in the matter of Caesar’s party the contrast of disreputable sc

s Roman contemporaries do not seem to have taken much interest in the matter , Roman Ideas of Deity (1914), 112 ff. Phil. 2, 11

icy. The majority of the leading consulars was massed against him. No matter Caesar’s faction numbered not only many senators

ive of his, Dio 40, 63, 5.) PageBook=>070 constitution did not matter they were older than the Roman Republic. It was t

greed. 4 Demonstrations of sympathy cost nothing. Money was another matter . The Liberators sought to inveigle their supporte

to profit, tirelessly urging the interests of his friend Atticus in a matter concerning lands in Epirus. 4 On the whole, Anton

n his Autobiography saw no occasion to misrepresent the truth in this matter ’ipse Augustus nihil amplius quam equestri famili

sassinate him. Octavianus protested his innocence. The truth of the matter naturally eludes inquiry. Antonius did not press

ar-chest of the Liberators, would not have looked at this venture. No matter : Caesar’s heir secured almost at once the financi

s not only a sincere and consistent champion of legality, but in this matter all too perspicacious a judge of men and politics

ome’s empire might become her citizens! Where a man came from did not matter at all at Rome it had never mattered! 7 From th

ctly what corresponded to the Republican constitution was, however, a matter not of legal definition but of partisan interpret

the prospect of pay and loot, regarded loyalty to their leaders as a matter of their own choice and favour. 1 Treachery was c

fted up and lifted off. 1 Cicero may never have said it. That did not matter . The happy invention epitomized all too faithfull

uth a senior consular for colleague. Of the intrigues concerning this matter there is scant but significant evidence. In June

n. He was reluctant to force the pace and preclude compromise in this matter perhaps at variance with the more resolute Cassiu

anus a public enemy is not recorded: these formalities were coming to matter less and less. Octavianus marched down the Flamin

us (born perhaps in 41 B.C.) informed the learned Asconius that, as a matter of fact, none other than he, Gallus, was the wond

Coins, Sicily, 61; 95). 3 His misfortunes gave Antonius sufficient matter for ridicule (quoted in Suetonius, Divus Aug. 16)

can have believed in the sincerity of such professions. That did not matter . Octavianus was already exploring the propaganda

had already been crammed full with the partisans of the Triumvirs. No matter Messalla was created an augur extraordinary. 5 Oc

a monumental work on the theory and practice of agriculture, of which matter , as a landowner with comfortably situated friends

the grave moral tone, flagrant in contrast with his earlier life. No matter : Sallustius at once set the fashion of a studied

so patently the pride and monopoly of the senator that it was held a matter of note, if not of scandal, when an inferior pers

rbances of the Perusian War supervened, and whatever the truth of the matter , a greater than Pollio earned or usurped the ulti

four years earlier, Cleopatra had given birth to twin children, not a matter of any importance hitherto at least in so far as

sibly a very influential source for these transactions. 3 As in the matter of the conference at Tarentum, the role of Octavi

ligious content. Dionysus-Osiris was the consort of Isis. But in this matter exaggeration and credulity have run riot. When An

r importance in history, apart from literature and legend, is another matter . It NotesPage=>274 1 Plutarch, Antonius 26

leged among other enormities NotesPage=>282 1 The truth of the matter is lost for ever. Octavianus had the first view o

Antonius victorious in war with the help of alien allies was another matter . No less disquieting, perhaps, the prospect of an

—still less feed them when they arrived. Fighting quality was another matter . Since the Pact of Brundisium Antonius had been u

y and criminal aliens the dominions of the Roman People. That did not matter now. The gifts to the NotesPage=>300 1 Dio

be uncomfortable but not dangerous. Armies and provinces were another matter . M. Licinius Crassus, the proconsul of Macedoni

e. The denial to Crassus of the title of imperator was not merely a matter of constitutional propriety—or rather, impropriet

sti, discovered in the word ‘dux’ a convenience that was not merely a matter of metre. 3 Then, after a century, under the dyna

overnment. On the whole, better to say nothing of Caesar, or for that matter of Antonius, save as criminal types. The power an

nd just as the victory itself, on quieter reflection an uncomfortable matter , is no longer fervently advertised. A purified

there still were, loyal to a family and a cause—but that was another matter . Insistence upon the legal basis of Augustus’ pow

publica which he sought to ‘establish upon a lasting basis’ is not a matter of paramount importance. No man of the time, re

mand held by generals operating in northern Italy in this period is a matter of no little difficulty. 5 In Spain C. Antistiu

provinces of Illyricum, Macedonia and Africa, in public law merely a matter for the lot, was no less happy and inspired than

sanctioned their doom by its publica auctoritas. 1 The truth of the matter will never be known: it was known to few enough a

the heir of the Claudian house were perhaps not so far apart in this matter and in others. PageNote. 344 1 Velleius 2, 79

those terms. But the Caesarian party had thwarted its leader in the matter of Marcellus. Ultimately Marcellus might become

me Princeps, when age and merit qualified. For the moment, it did not matter . Whatever the distant future might bring, a more

50 1 Namely M. Insteius, Q. Nasidius and M. Octavius. But, for that matter , few Triumviral consuls even are at all prominent

al agents and secretaries, especially in financial duties; 9 in which matter Augustus inherited and developed the practices of

younger son of the Triumvir, became consul. But the consulate did not matter so much. Enemies were dangerous only if they had

ispensation his right to designate a praetor every year, that did not matter . There were other ways. The system broadens as

tonius, Tib. 9, 1; Dio 54, 9, 4 f.; Velleius 2, 94, 4 &c. On this matter , cf. now L. R. Taylor, JRS XXVI (1936), 161 ff.

the foreign policy of Augustus, see CAH x, 355 ff.: the truth of the matter has often been obscured by the belief that Octavi

learned antiquary, was no doubt a competent administrator. In this matter the Principate introduced no startling novelties.

emains to be mentioned, that of praefectus urbi. In the nature of the matter , it is difficult to see how the Princeps could be

No less evident the acute differences of opinion about that important matter , and bitter rivalries. The final and peaceful res

and Livia had thwarted the dynastic ambitions of the Princeps in the matter of his nephew Marcellus. Their triumph was brief

of Augustus’ own niece Antonia, and thus more highly favoured in the matter of political matches than any save Drusus (the hu

affled and mocked in his own family. Yet he could have dealt with the matter there. His programme was unpopular enough with th

ssimulationem vitiosissimo. ’ 5 Velleius 2, 97, 1. The truth of the matter is revealed by Dio 54, 20, 4 ff. Too much has bee

and inevitable version, inevitably mocked and disbelieved. It did not matter . Everything had been arranged, not merely the d

both to revive the past and to set standards for the future. In this matter there stood a valid precedent: Augustus inexorabl

corresponding restrictions on the unmarried and the childless in the matter of inheriting property. The education of the yo

tes. 461 1 Virgil, Aen. 6, 726 f. PageBook=>462 That did not matter . The New State had its lyric poet, technically su

in his last choice, a virtuous and excellent woman. 1 That did not matter . Ovid was a disgrace. He had refused to serve the

writings were officially condemned and publicly burned. That did not matter , said Cassius Severus, who had them all by heart.

Under the Empire the law courts became less political, justice less a matter of partisan interpretation. At the same time, how

ew State might be called monarchy, or by any other name. That did not matter . Personal rights and private status need not depe

ganized under a principate no dictatorship or monarchy. Names did not matter much. Before long the eloquent Seneca, when couns

re, as the author admits, there are uncertainties. Not less so in the matter of the Arruntii, cf. above, pp. 425 and 497. Furt

horius, Hermes xxxix (1904), 461 ff. (with a stemma, ib. 470). In the matter of his connexion with the Cornelii Lentuli, howev