Note 329 — LIFE OF POMPEIUS. (continued 2)

Cn. Domitius Calvinus and M. Valerius Messala, the consuls of B.C. 53, were not elected till seven months after the proper time, so that there was during this time an anarchy ἀναρχία, which is Plutarch's word). This term 'anarchy' must be taken in its literal and primary sense of a time when there were no magistrates, which would be accompanied with anarchy in the modern sense of the term. Dion Cassius (40. c. 45) describes this period of confusion. The translation in the text may lead to a misunderstanding of Plutarch's meaning; it should be, "he allowed an anarchy to take place." Kaltwasser's translation: "so liess er es zu einer Anarchie kommen," is perfectly exact.