15. Two consuls were created on the Calends of January; but
in the course of the year others were substituted in their
places, till the annual number seems to have amounted to no
less than twelve. The praetors were usually sixteen or
eighteen (Lipsius in Excurs. D. ad Tacit. Annal. l. i.). I
have not mentioned the Aediles or Quaestors. Officers of the
police or revenue easily adapt themselves to any form of
government. In the time of Nero, the tribunes legally
possessed the right of intercession, though it might be
dangerous to exercise it (Tacit. Annal. xvi. 26). In the
time of Trajan, it was doubtful whether the tribuneship was
an office or a name (Plin. Epist. i. 23).