Note 55 — LIFE OF CAIUS MARIUS.

Lucius Aurelius Cotta and Lucius Cæcilius Metellus were consuls B.C. 119, in which year Marius was tribune. The law which Marius proposed had for its object to make the Pontes narrower. The Pontes were the passages through which the voters went into the Septa or inclosures where they voted. After passing through the pontes they received the voting tablets at the entrance of the septa. The object of the law of Marius was to diminish the crowd and pressure by letting fewer persons come in at a time. Cicero speaks of this law of Marius (De Legibus, iii. 17). As the law had reference to elections and its object was among other things to prevent bribery, Plutarch's remark is unintelligible: the text is corrupt, or he has made a mistake.