To the masters-general of the cavalry and the infantry; and IV.

To the seven ministers of the palace, who exercised their sacred functions about the person of the emperor.

Among those illustrious magistrates who were esteemed coordinate with each other, the seniority of appointment gave place to the union of dignities.

By the expedient of honorary codicils, the emperors, who were fond of multiplying their favors, might sometimes gratify the vanity, though not the ambition, of impatient courtiers.
I.As long as the Roman consuls were the first magistrates of a free state, they derived their right to power from the choice of the people.
As long as the emperors condescended to disguise the servitude which they imposed, the consuls were still elected by the real or apparent suffrage of the senate.

From the reign of Diocletian, even these vestiges of liberty were abolished, and the successful candidates who were invested with the annual honors of the consulship, affected to deplore the humiliating condition of their predecessors.