Senatum constituit secundiordinis; Claros vocavit.
Anonym. Valesian. p. 715. The senators of old Rome were
styled Clarissimi. See a curious note of Valesius ad Ammian.
Marcellin. xxii. 9. From the eleventh epistle of Julian it
should seem that the place of senator was considered as a
burthen rather than as an honour; but the Abbe de la
Bleterie (Vie de Jovien, tom. ii. p. 371) has shown that
this epistle could not relate to Constantinople. Might we
not read, instead of the celebrated name of
, the
obscure but more probable word
? Bisanthe or Rhoedestus, now Rhodosto, was a small maritime city of Thrace. See Stephan. Byz. de Urbibus, p. 225 [ed Lugd. B. 1694], and Cellar. Geograph. tom. i. p. 849.