BOOK XXXIII. VI. 17-20 



aedile as a coileague of Quintus Anieius of Palestrina, 

 who a few years previously had been an enemy at 

 war with llome,*^ while Gaius Poetilius and Domi- 

 tius, whose fathers had been consuls, were passed 

 over. Flavius had the additional advantage of 

 being tribune of the plebs at the same time. This 

 caused such an outburst of blazing indignation 

 that we find in the oldest annals ' rings were laid 

 aside.' The common belief that the Order of 

 Knighthood also did the same on this occasion is 

 erroneous, inasmuch as the following v.ords w^ere also 

 added : * but also harness-bosses were put aside as 

 well ' ; and it is because of this clause that the name 

 of the Knights has been added ; and the entry in 

 the annals is that the rings were laid aside by the 

 nobihty, not by the entire Senate. This occurrence 

 took place in the consulship of Publius Sempronius 305 b.c 

 and Lucius Sulpicius. Flavius made a vow to erect 

 a temple to Concord if he succeeded in effecting a 

 reconcihation between the privileged orders and the 

 people ; and as money was not allotted for this 

 purpose from pubhc funds, he drew on the fine- 

 money collected from persons convicted of prac- 

 tising usury to erect a small shrine made of bronze 

 on the Graecostasis,^ which at that date stood above 

 the Assembly-place, and put on it an inscription 

 engraved on a bronze tablet that the shrine had 

 been constructed 204 years after the consecration 

 of the CapitoUne temple. This event took place in 

 the 44:9th year from the foundation of the city, and 305 b.o. 

 is the earliest evidence to be found of the use of 

 rings. There is however a second piece of evidence 

 Ibr their being commonly worn at the time of the 

 Second Punic War, as had this not been the case it 



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