part of this chapter may be characterized as "jagged." The sentences
lack clearness and the relation of the individual words is not always
certain. The reader may be interested to see a translation of
Hirschfeld's interpretation of the section, taken from his book entitled
_Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiete der Roemischen Verwaltungsgeschichte_
(pp. 117-120).

a [Flaccus]--It is here a question of a high senatorial office, which
can only be the _præfectura alimentorum_.

b [The iuridici]--Perhaps the person entrusted with the execution of
this ruling was C. Octavius Sabinus, who had the title of _electus ad
corrigendum statum Italiæ_.

c [The orphans]--Probably during the latter portion of Caracalla's
reign, as also under Commodus, the funds for food had been available
either not at all or at irregular intervals, and therefore the
restitution of district prefects was determined upon.

From these Food Prefects for a particular district those officials must
be distinguished who bear the general title of _præfectus alimentorum_
without any local limitation, and show a marked difference from the rest
in that they are invariably of consular rank, whereas the position of
district prefect, like that of curator of roads, was usually held by a
candidate that had only passed the prætorship. The inscriptions of these
_consular_ prefects begin not earlier than the end of the reign of
Marcus Aurelius, perhaps not till Commodus, and extend to the time of
Macrinus, while during this whole time (a period, that is, of about
forty years) all trace of the district prefects vanishes. Under these
circumstances the conclusion seems to me inevitable that towards the end