In the lists of those who successively fill the great curule Magistracies, we find almost exclusively the names of members of the old patrician or of the more recent plebeian nobility.
"The Roman Poets of the Republic"
W. Y. Sellar
Next come the local magnates who have been dignified by election to any of the four great municipal Magistracies.
"Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius"
Samuel Dill
From this body, and from all the Magistracies, all persons engaged in certain mean or disgraceful occupations were expressly excluded, along with the great mass of the poorer citizens, the tenuiores.
"Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius"
Samuel Dill