citizenship was found in Pompeii, which was a colony of Sulla's, it
must have been found also in Praeneste, another of his colonies.[233]
Before entering into the question of whether or not this can be proved,
it will be well to mention three probable reasons why Dessau is wrong in
his contention. The first, an argumentum ex silentio, is that if there
was trouble in Pompeii between the old inhabitants and the new colonists
then the same would have been true in Praeneste! As it was so close to
Rome, however, the trouble would have been much better known, and
certainly Cicero would not have lost a chance to bring the state of
affairs at Praeneste also into a comparison. Second, the great pains
Sulla took to rebuild the walls of Praeneste, to lay out a new forum,
and especially to make such an extensive enlargement and so many repairs
of the temple of Fortuna Primigenia, show that his efforts were not
entirely to please his new colonists, but just as much to try to defer
to the wishes and civic pride of the old settlers. Third, the fact that
a great many of the old inhabitants were left, despite the great
slaughter at the capture of the city, is shown by the frequent
recurrence in later inscriptions of the ancient names of the city, and
by the fact that within twenty years the property of the soldier
colonists had been bought up,[234] and the soldiers had died, or had
moved to town, or reenlisted for foreign service. Had there been much
trouble between the colonists and the old inhabitants, or had the
colonists taken all the offices, in either case they would not have been
so ready to part with their land, which was a sort of patent to
citizenship.

It is possible now to push the inquiry a point further. Dessau has
already seen[235] that in the time of Augustus members of the old
families were again in possession of many municipal offices, but he
thinks the Praenestines did not have as good municipal rights as the