Consul

One of two annually elected magistrates who together ruled the Roman Republic. The head of a group of merchants. A foreign official. Someone who works for a foreign government in another country's town or port.

"Yes, I was happy when First Consul, at my marriage, at the birth of the king of Rome--but at those times I was not confident enough in myself. Perhaps it was at Tilsit. I had suffered reverses, I had had worries--at Eylau, for instance--and suddenly I found myself victorious, laying down the law, courted by emperors and kings. Perhaps I actually felt greater satisfaction after my victories in Italy. What enthusiasm! What shouting! 'Long live the liberator of Italy!' At twenty-five! From that moment I foresaw what I might be. Already I felt the earth flee from beneath me, as if I were being carried to the sky!"

--Napoleon, quoted in Herold, The Mind of Napoleon (1955).