Book iii

. 1. 704.]

[Footnote 605: The Senate-house.--Ver. 55. 'Curia'was the name of the place where the Senate held its meetings, such as the 'curia Hostilia,' * Julia,' Marcelli,' and others. Hence arose the custom of calling the Senate itself, in the various Roman towns, by the name of 'curia,' but not the Senate of Rome. He here means to say, that poverty excluded a man from the Senate-house, and that wealth alone was the qualification for the honours of the state.]

[Footnote 606: Wealth alone confers honours --Ver. 55. The same expression occurs in the Fasti,