Note 119 — Chapter II · ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CONSULAR REPUBLIC. (From 244 to 416.)
Reading edition
“The master of the knights was so called because he exercised the supreme power over the knights and the accensi, as the dictator exercised it over the whole Roman people; whence the name of master of the people, which was also given to him.” (Varro, De Lingua Latina, V. 82, edit. Müller.)