"The great advantage of Senatorial rank," mused Marcus Philippus, "Is that one need not stand among the mob to witness the great events of one's time." He turned to his companions, "Of course one must question the quality of the company offered as an alternative."

He was standing among a considerable part of the Senatorial Order on the steps of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Decked out in purple bordered togas, the uniformity of their garb stood in stark contrast to the multi-toned sea of people gathered below. Every colour that human artifice could contrive to extract from nature was to be found there and here stood the senators of Rome, a solid block of purple bordered white.