We have seen how the long struggle between the patricians and
plebeians terminated in a nominal victory for the latter. From about
275, the outward form of the old constitution had undergone little
change. It was nominally that of a "moderate democracy." The Senate
and offices of state were, in law, open to all alike. In practice,
however, the constitution became an oligarchy. The Senate, not the
Comitias, ruled Rome. Moreover, the Senate was controlled by a class
who claimed all the privileges of a nobility. The Comitias were rarely
called upon to decide a question. Most matters were settled by a
DECREE OF THE SENATE (_Senatus Consultum_). To be sure the
Comitia declared for war or peace, but the Senate conducted the war
and settled the conditions of peace. It also usually assigned the
commands, organized the provinces, and managed the finances.

The causes for this ascendency of the Senate are not hard to find. It
was a body made up of men capable of conducting affairs. It could be
convened at any time, whereas the voters of the Comitias were
scattered over all Italy, and, if assembled, would not be competent to
decide questions demanding knowledge of military matters and foreign
policy.

The Senate and the Roman nobility were in the main the same. All
patricians were nobles, but all nobles were not patricians. The
patricians were the descendants of the original founders of the city.
The nobles were the descendants of any one who had filled one of the
following six curule offices, viz. Dictator, Magister Equitum, Consul,
Interrex, Praetor, or Curule Aedile. These nobles possessed the right
to place in their hall, or carry in funeral processions, a wax mask of