for the first time shaved his beard, and held a magnificent entertainment himself besides granting all the other citizens a festival at public expense.  He also kept his chin smooth afterward, like the rest; he was already beginning to conceive a passion for Livia, and for this reason divorced at once Scribonia, who had borne him a daughter.  Hence, as the expenditures grew far greater than before, and the revenues were not anywhere sufficient but at this time came in in even smaller amounts by reason of the factional disputes, they introduced certain new taxes; and they enrolled in the senate as many persons as possible, not only from among the allies or soldiers, or sons of freedmen, but even slaves.  At any rate one Maximus, when about to become quaestor, was recognized by his master and taken away.  And he incurred no injury through having dared to stand for the office:  but another who had been caught serving as a praetor, was hurled down the rocks of the Capitol, having been first freed, that there might be some legal justification for his punishment[46].

[-35-] The expedition which Antony was getting in readiness against the Parthians afforded them some excuse for the mass of prospective senators.  The same plea permitted them to extend all the offices for a number of years and that of consul to eight full years, rewarding some of those who had cooeperated with them, and bringing others to trial.  They chose not two annual consuls, as had been the custom, but now for the first time several, and on the very day of the elections.  Formerly, to be sure, some had held office after others who had neither died nor been removed for disenfranchisement or in any other way:  but those persons had become officials as suited those who had been elected for the entire year, whereas now no magistrate was chosen to serve for a year, but first one, then another would be appointed for different divisions of the entire time.  Also the men first to enter upon office were accustomed to hold the title of the consulship through the entire year as is now done:  the rest were accorded the same title by the dwellers in the capital themselves and by the people in the rest of Italy during each period of their office (as is also now the custom), but those in outside nations knew few or none of them and therefore called them lesser consuls.

[-36-] This was the situation at home when the leaders first made proposals to Sextus through companions as to how and on what terms they could effect a reconciliation; afterward the parties concerned held a conference near Misenum.  The two from the capital took their stand on the land, the other on a kind of mound constructed for his safety in the sea, by which it was purposely surrounded, not far from them.  There was also present the entire fleet of Sextus and the entire infantry force of the other two; and not that merely, but the one command had been drawn up on the shore and the other on the ships, both fully armed, so that this