Note 244 — MENSIS APRILIS.

Mommsen, Staatsrecht, ii. 2. 468, note 2, is doubtful as to the date of the cura annonae of the plebeian aediles. But Plin. H. N. 18. 3. 15 attributes it to an aedile of earlier date than Spurius Maelius (B.C. 438); and though the Consuls may have had the general supervision, the immediate cura, as far as the plebs was concerned, would surely lie with their officers. Two points should be borne in mind here—(1) that the plebeian population to be relieved would be a surplus population within the city, not the farmer-population of the country; (2) that it would probably be easier to transport corn by sea than by land, as roads were few, and enemies all around.