These remarks are taken from an essay by Wunder (Variæ Lectiones &c. ex Codice Erfurtensi), in which he has established the meaning of sitella and cista respectively to be that which Manutius long ago maintained. He observes that in the Roman comitia one sitella would be sufficient, as it was only used for receiving the names of the tribes or centuries, which were put in for the purpose of determining by drawing them out, in what order the tribes or centuries should vote. And accordingly he says that when comitia are spoken of, we never find urns or sitellæ spoken of in the plural number. But he has not mentioned the passage of Plutarch. It may be difficult to determine if Plutarch considered that the preliminary lot-drawing had been gone through, and the people were voting. If he considered the voting to be going on, he has used the wrong word. With this explanation, I leave the word “voting-urns” in the text, which is not the correct Roman word but may be what Plutarch meant. It seems as if he thought that the voting had commenced.
[60] Plutarch writes it Mallius, for the Greeks never place n before l.
[61] From this it appears that the vote of each tribe counted as one, and the vote of the tribe was determined by the majority of voters in each tribe. It seems to follow that each tribe had a cista to receive its votes. It is said, the practice was to count the votes when all was over; but they must have been counted as each tribe voted, according to this story. The narrative of Appian is the same (Civil Wars, i. 12).
[62] The names of various Roman officers and functionaries were derived from their number, as duumviri (two men), triumviri (three men), decemviri, and so on. Some description was added to the name to denote their functions. There were triumviri agro dando or dividendo, triumviri for the division of public land; duumviri juri dicundo, for administering justice, and so forth.
[63] Appian (Civil Wars, i. 13) calls him Quintus Mummius.
[64] Plutarch and other Greek writers translate the Roman word, cliens, by Pélates (πελάτης). (See Marius, c. 5, notes.)
[65] Plutarch generally uses Attic coins. Nine oboli were a drachma and a half, or about six sestertii. (See [c. 2], note.)
[67] This Attalus III., the last king of Pergamum, left his kingdom to the Romans on his death B.C. 133, the year of the tribunate of Gracchus. His kingdom comprised the best part of that tract out of which the Romans formed the province of Asia. Pergamum was the name of the capital. This rich bequest was disputed by Aristonikus. (See [c. 20].)
[68] Perhaps Q. Pompeius Rufus who was consul B.C. 141, and disgraced himself by a treaty with the Numantines and his subsequent behaviour about it. (Cicero, De Officiis, iii. 30; De Finibus, ii. 17; Appian, Iberica, c. 79.)