...The power struggle in 324 bc between the Dictator L. Papirius Cursor and his Magister Equitum, Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus, revolved around competing claims of authority: the Dictator denied independence to the imperium and auspices of the Magister Equitum, and accused him...

... to believe that the annalists of the second century, much closer in time to the real thing, were ignorant of how it worked, but those of the first somehow discovered the truth? Livy does not portray Minucius as Dictator, calling him magister equitum (and Fabius dictator...

...The Magister Equitum receives his powers (imperium and auspices) through appointment by the Dictator; unlike other magistrates, he does not validate his own auspices upon taking office (the Dictator does it for him). He does not hold his office from the People, and thus can...

... contrary to orders from his superior, and justify­ ing his action by disputing the subordinate status of his own auspices: the famous x Preface dust-­up pitting the Dictator L. Papirius Cursor against his Magister Equitum, Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus, in the late fourth century. Chapter 2 reconsiders our...