Pope Pius XI him at the time of his death were spoken with clarity and firmness: "My soul parts from you all in peace." Some believe he was murdered, based on the fact that his primary physician was Dr. Francesco Petacci, father of Claretta Petacci, Mussolini's mistress. Cardinal Eugene Tisserant wrote in his diary that the pope had been murdered, which was a statement that Carlo Confalonieri later strongly denied. The Pope's last audible words were reported to have been: "peace, peace" as he died. Those at his bedside at 4:00am realized that the pontiff's end was near, at which stage the sacrist
Roman dictator of corruption. The dictator's lieutenant was the magister equitum, or "master of the horse". He would be nominated by the dictator immediately upon his own appointment, and unless the "senatus consultum" specified the name of the person to be appointed, the dictator was free to choose whomever he wished. It was customary for the dictator to nominate a magister equitum even if he were appointed for a non-military reason. Before the time of Caesar, the only dictator who refused to nominate a magister equitum was Marcus Fabius Buteo in 216 BC, and he strenuously objected to his own nomination, because