The former, therefore, stand on the same footing with the constitution of ten curies and the Flamines, Salii, and Luperci, as very ancient heirlooms of the Latin stock; whereas the Duoviri -sacris faciundis-, and the other colleges, like the thirty curies and the Servian tribes and centuries, originated in, and remained therefore confined to, Rome.

But in the case of the second college--the pontifices--the influence of Rome probably led to the introduction of that name into the general Latin scheme instead of some earlier--perhaps more than one--designation; or--a hypothesis which philologically has much in its favour-- -pons- originally signified not "bridge," but "way" generally, and -pontifex- therefore meant "constructor of ways." The statements regarding the original number of the augurs in particular vary.

The view that it was necessary for the number to be an odd one is refuted by Cicero (de Lege Agr.ii.35, 96); and Livy (x.

6) does not say so, but only states that the number of Roman augurs had to be divisible by three, and so must have had an odd number as its basis.

According to Livy (l.