Note 1721 — Chapter XIII · THE COMITIA TRIBUTA AND THE RISE OF POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY From 449 to 287
Reading edition
Livy iii. 65. 1 (448). That the coöptation of tribunes was once legal is proved by a formula quoted by Livy iii. 61. 10. That the coöpted tribunes were patrician is now generally disbelieved (cf. Herzog, Röm. Staatsverf. i. 195) because it does not accord with the conventional view of a constitution kept in perfect working order from the beginning to the end of Roman history. The irregular is possible and is less likely to be invented.