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Encyclopedia > Censor (ancient Rome)
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Censor was the title of two magistrates of high rank in the Roman Republic. Their office was called censura. From early in the Republic, they were responsible for maintaining the census, which was a register of Roman citizens and of their property, and to supervise public morality and certain aspects of finance. King of Rome redirects here. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... The Principate is, according to its etymological derivation from the Latin word princeps, meaning chief or first, the political regime dominated by such a head of state and government. ... The Dominate was the despotic last of the two phases of government in the ancient Roman Empire between its establishment in 27 BC and the formal date of the collapse of the Western Empire in AD 476. ... The Western Roman Empire is the name given to the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 286 AD. It would exist intermittently in several periods between the 3rd Century and the 5th Century, after Diocletians Tetrarchy and the reunifications associated with Constantine the... Byzantine Empire (Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Magistratus ordinarii (ordinary magistrates) and Magistrarus extraordinarii (extraordinary magistrates) were two categories of officials who held political, military, and, in some cases, religious power in the Roman Republic. ... For modern, semi-diplomatic or colonial consuls, see Consul (representative). ... // Definition According to Cicero, Praetor was a title which designated the consuls as the leaders of the armies of the state. ... Quaestors were elected officials of the Roman Republic who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies and its officers. ... See Roman Governor for the duties of a promagistrate as a governor of a province A promagistrate is a person who acts in and with the authority and capacity of a magistrate, but without holding a magisterial office. ... Aedile (Latin Aedilis, from aedes, aedis temple, building) was an office of the Roman Republic. ... Tribune (from the Latin: tribunus; Greek form tribounos) was a title shared by several elected magistracies and other governmental and/or (para)military offices of the Roman Republic and Empire. ... A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief adminstator of Roman law throughout one or more of Ancient Romes many provinces. ... Magistratus ordinarii (ordinary magistrates) and Magistrarus extraordinarii (extraordinary magistrates) were two categories of officials who held political, military, and, in some cases, religious power in the Roman Republic. ... Dictator was a political office of the Roman Republic. ... The Master of the Horse was (and in some cases, is) a historical position of varying importance in several European nations. ... The term triumvirate is commonly used to describe an alliance between three equally powerful political or military leaders. ... Decemviri (singular decemvir) is a Latin term meaning Ten Men which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic (cf. ... Alternate meanings: see Pontifex (disambiguation) In Ancient Rome, the Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the collegium of the Pontifices, the most august position in Roman religion, open only to a patrician, until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post. ... A legatus (often anglicized as legate) was equivalent to a modern general officer in the Roman army. ... Dux is Latin for leader (from the verb ducere, to pull) and could refer to anyone who commanded troops, such as tribal leaders. ... Officium (plural officia) is a Latin word with various meanings, including service, (sense of) duty, courtesy, ceremony and the likes. ... A prefect (from the Latin praefectus, perfect participle of praeficio, to make in front, i. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Vigintisexviri (sing. ... The lictor, derived from the Latin ligare (to bind), was a member of a special class of Roman civil servant, with special tasks of attending magistrates of the Roman Republic and Empire who held imperium. ... Magister militum (Master of the Soldiers) was a rank used in the later Roman Empire dating from the reign of Constantine. ... The Latin word imperator was a title originally roughly equivalent to commander during the period of the Roman Republic. ... The princeps senatus (plural principes senatus) was the leader of the Roman senate. ... Roman Emperor is the term historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ... Augustus (plural augusti) is Latin for majestic or venerable. The feminine form is Augusta. ... Caesar (p. ... The Tetrarchs, a porphyry sculpture sacked from a Byzantine palace in 1204, Treasury of St. ... This is a tentative list of topics regarding political institutions of Ancient Rome. ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... The cursus honorum (Latin: succession of magistracies) was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. ... The Roman Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romanorum) vested formal governmental powers in four separate peoples assemblies — the Comitia Curiata, the Comitia Centuriata, the Comitia Tributa, and the Concilium Plebis. ... Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues. ... Roman Law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ... In the Roman Republic and later in the Roman Empire, all men could be very roughly divided into three classes. ... Imperium can, in a broad sense, be translated as power. ... Magistratus ordinarii (ordinary magistrates) and Magistrarus extraordinarii (extraordinary magistrates) were two categories of officials who held political, military, and, in some cases, religious power in the Roman Republic. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... The Roman census refers to the event from the Gospel of Luke, to explain how Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem, to fulfill the prophesy in Micah 5:2 that the messiah would be born in that city. ... Morality, in the strictest sense of the word, deals with that which is innately regarded as right or wrong. ...

Contents


Creation of the rank

The census was first established by Servius Tullius, the fifth king of Rome. After the expulsion of the kings and the creation of the Republic, the census was taken by the consuls until 443 BC. In 442 BC, no consuls were elected, but rather military tribunes with consular power were appointed in their place, as an attempt by the plebeians to attain higher magistracies (since consuls could only be patricians, while some military tribunes were plebeians). To keep the right of census from the hands of plebeians, the patricians deprived the consuls and consequently their representatives, the tribunes, of the right of taking the census, and entrusted it to two magistrates, called censores (English censors), who were to be chosen exclusively from the patricians. Servius Tullius was the sixth legendary king of ancient Rome, and the second king of the Etruscan dynasty. ... There were seven traditional Kings of Rome before the establishment of the Roman Republic. ... For modern, semi-diplomatic or colonial consuls, see Consul (representative). ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC Years: 448 BC 447 BC 446 BC 445 BC 444 BC - 443 BC - 442 BC 441 BC... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC Years: 447 BC 446 BC 445 BC 444 BC 443 BC - 442 BC - 441 BC 440 BC... Military tribunes were officers of the Roman Legions. ... In Ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians. ... Patricians were originally the elite caste in ancient Rome. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...


The magistracy continued to be a patrician one till 351 BC, when Gaius Marcius Rutilus was the first plebeian censor (Livy vii.22). Twelve years afterwards, 339 BC, it was provided by one of the Publilian laws that one of the censors had to be a plebeian (Livy viii.12), but it was not till 280 BC that a plebeian censor performed the solemn purification of the people ("lustrum"; Livy Periochae 13). In 131 BC, the two censors were for the first time both plebeians. Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC - 350s BC - 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 356 BC 355 BC 354 BC 353 BC 352 BC 351 BC 350 BC 349 BC 348... Gaius Marcius Rutilus (also seen as Rutulus) was the first plebeian dictator and censor of ancient Rome, and consul four times. ... Bust of Livy Titus Livius (around 59 BC - 17 AD), known as Livy in English, wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab urbe condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC). ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC - 330s BC - 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC Years: 344 BC 343 BC 342 BC 341 BC 340 BC - 339 BC - 338 BC 337 BC... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC - 280s BC - 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 285 BC 284 BC 283 BC 282 BC 281 BC 280 BC 279 BC 278 BC 277... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC - 130s BC - 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC Years: 136 BC 135 BC 134 BC 133 BC 132 BC - 131 BC - 130 BC 129 BC...


There were always two censors, because the two consuls had previously taken the census together. If one of the censors died during the time of his office, another had to be chosen to replace him, as in the case of consuls. This, however, happened only once, in 393 BC—the Gauls captured Rome in this lustrum (five-year period), so the Romans regarded it as "an offense against religion" thereafter (Livy v.31). From then on, if one of the censors died, his colleague resigned, and two new censors were chosen (Livy vi.27, ix.34, xxiv.43, xxvii.6). Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC - 390s BC - 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 398 BC 397 BC 396 BC 395 BC 394 BC - 393 BC - 392 BC 391 BC 390... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (from Latin Gallia, c. ...


Election

The censors were elected in the Centuriate Assembly held under the presidency of a consul (Auli Gellii xiii.15; Livy xl.45). Barthold Niebuhr suggests that they were at first elected by the Curiate Assembly, and that their election was confirmed by the Centuriate; but William Smith believes that "there is no authority for this supposition, and the truth of it depends entirely upon the correctness of [Niehbur's] views respecting the election of the consuls". Both censors had to be elected on the same day, and accordingly if the voting for the second was not finished, the election of the first was invalidated, and a new assembly had to be held (Livy ix.34). The Roman Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romanorum) vested formal governmental powers in four separate peoples assemblies — the Comitia Curiata, the Comitia Centuriata, the Comitia Tributa, and the Concilium Plebis. ... Barthold Georg Niebuhr. ... The Roman Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romanorum) vested formal governmental powers in four separate peoples assemblies — the Comitia Curiata, the Comitia Centuriata, the Comitia Tributa, and the Concilium Plebis. ... People William Smith (1769-1839), geologist William Smith (1728-1814), Representative for Maryland from 1789 to 1890 William Smith (1751-1837), Representative for South Carolina from 1797 to 1798 William Smith (1762-1840), Senator from South Carolina from 1815 to 1830 William Smith, Representative for Virginia from 1821 to 1824...


The assembly for the election of the censors was held under different auspices from those at the election of the consuls and praetors, so the censors were not regarded as their colleagues, although they likewise possessed the maxima auspicia (Gellii xiii.15). The assembly was held by the consuls of the year very soon after they had entered upon their office (Livy xxiv.10, xxxix.41); and the censors, as soon as they were elected and the censorial power had been granted to them by a decree of the Centuriate Assembly (lex centuriata), were fully installed in their office (Cicero, de Lege Agraria ii.11; Livy xl.45). Auspex was founded in the 1980s as a provider of network attached storage devices, a product category they invented. ... // Definition According to Cicero, Praetor was a title which designated the consuls as the leaders of the armies of the state. ... Marcus Tullius Cicero (standard English pronunciation ; Classical Latin pronunciation ) (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin orator and prose stylist. ...


As a general principle, the only ones eligible to the office of censor were those who had previously been consuls, but a few exceptions occur. At first there was no law to prevent a person being censor a second time, but the only person who was elected to the office twice was Gaius Marcius Rutilus in 265 BC. In that year, he brought forward a law stating that no one could be chosen censor twice. In consequence of this, he received the surname of Censorinus (Plutarch, Life of Coriolanus 1; Valerius Maximus iv.1 §3). Gaius Marcius Rutilus (also seen as Rutulus) was the first plebeian dictator and censor of ancient Rome, and consul four times. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC - 260s BC - 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC Years: 270 BC 269 BC 268 BC 267 BC 266 BC - 265 BC - 264 BC 263 BC... The cognomen (name known by in English) was originally the third name of a Roman in the Roman naming convention. ... Plutarch Mestrius Plutarchus (c. ... Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. ...


Attributes

The censorship differs from all other Roman magistracies in the length of time during which it was held. The censors were originally chosen for a whole lustrum (period of five years), but their office was limited to eighteen months as early as ten years after its institution (433 BC) by a law of the dictator Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus (Livy iv.24, ix.33). The censors also held a unique position with respect to rank and dignity. They had no imperium, and accordingly no lictors (Zonar. vii.19). Their rank was granted to them by the Centuriate Assembly, and not by the curiae, and in that respect they were inferior in power to the consuls and praetors (Cicero, de Lege Agraria ii.11). Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC - 430s BC - 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC Years: 438 BC 437 BC 436 BC 435 BC 434 BC - 433 BC - 432 BC 431 BC... Dictator was a political office of the Roman Republic. ... Imperium can, in a broad sense, be translated as power. ... The lictor, derived from the Latin ligare (to bind), was a member of a special class of Roman civil servant, with special tasks of attending magistrates of the Roman Republic and Empire who held imperium. ... A Curia in early Roman times was a subdivision of the people, i. ...


Notwithstanding this, the censorship was regarded as the highest dignity in the state, with the exception of the dictatorship; it was a "sacred magistracy" (sanctus magistratus), to which the deepest reverence was due (Plutarch Life of Cato the Elder 16, Life of Flaminius 18, Life of Camillus 2, 14, Life of Aemilius 38; Cicero ad Familiares iii.10). The high rank and dignity which the censorship obtained was due to the various important duties gradually entrusted to it, and especially to its possessing the regimen morum, or general control over the conduct and the morals of the citizens. In the exercise of this power, they were regulated solely by their own views of duty, and were not responsible to any other power in the state (Dionys. in Mai, Nova Coll. vol. ii p516; Livy iv.24, xxix.37; Valerius Maximus vii.2 §6).


The censors possessed of course the "curule seat" (sella curulis) (Livy xl.45), but there is some doubt with respect to their official dress. From a well-known passage of Polybius (vi.53) describing the use of the imagines at funerals, we may conclude that a consul or praetor wore the purple-bordered toga praetexta, one who triumphed the embroidered toga picta, and the censor a purple toga peculiar to him; but other writers speak of their official dress as the same as that of the other higher magistrates (Zonar. vii.19; Athen. xiv. p660c). The funeral of a censor was always conducted with great pomp and splendour, and hence a "censorial funeral" (funus censorium) was voted even to the emperors (Tacitus Annales iv.15, xiii.2). Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (ca. ... The Annales School is a school of historical writing named after the French scholarly journal Annales dhistoire économique et sociale (later called Annales. ...


Abolition

The censorship continued in existence for 421 years, from 443 BC to 22 BC; but during this period many lustra passed by without any censor being chosen at all. According to one statement, the office was abolished by Sulla (Schol. Gronov. ad Cic. Div. in Caecil. 3, p384, ed. Orelli). Although the authority on which this statement rests is not of much weight, the fact itself is probable, since there was no census during the two lustra which elapsed from Sulla's dictatorship of Pompey (8270 BC), and any strict "imposition of morals" would have been found very inconvenient to the aristocracy in whose favour Sulla legislated. Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC Years: 448 BC 447 BC 446 BC 445 BC 444 BC - 443 BC - 442 BC 441 BC... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC - 20s BC - 10s BC 0s 10s 20s 30s Years: 27 BC 26 BC 25 BC 24 BC 23 BC 22 BC 21 BC 20 BC 19 BC 18 BC 17... Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (Latin: L·CORNELIVS·L·F·P·N·SVLLA·FELIX) ¹ (ca. ... This article refers to the Roman General. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC - 80s BC - 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC Years: 87 BC 86 BC 85 BC 84 BC 83 BC - 82 BC - 81 BC 80 BC 79... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC - 70s BC - 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC Years: 75 BC 74 BC 74 BC 73 BC 72 BC 71 BC 70 BC 69 BC 68...


If the censorship was done away with by Sulla, it was at any rate restored in the consulship of Pompey and Crassus. Its power was limited by one of the laws of the tribune Clodius (58 BC), which prescribed certain regular forms of proceeding before the censors in expelling a person from the Roman Senate, and required that the censors be in agreement to exact this punishment (Cassius Dio xxxviii.13; Cicero pro Sestio 25, de Prov. Cons. 15). This law, however, was repealed in the third consulship of Pompey (52 BC), on the proposition of his colleague Caecilius Metellus Scipio (Cassius Dio xl.57), but the censorship never recovered its former power and influence. Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives (Latin: M·LICINIVS·P·F·P·N·CRASSVS·DIVES¹) (ca. ... Clodius is the Roman nomen Claudius altered to a spelling that would have sounded plebeian to Roman ears. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC - 50s BC - 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC Years: 63 BC 62 BC 61 BC 60 BC 59 BC 58 BC 57 BC 56 BC 55... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... Dio Cassius Cocceianus (155–after 229), known in English as Dio Cassius or Cassius Dio, was a noted Roman historian and public servant. ...


During the civil wars which followed soon afterwards, no censors were elected; it was only after a long interval that they were again appointed, namely in 22 BC, when Augustus caused Lucius Munatius Plancus and Paulus Aemilius Lepidus to fill the office (Suetonius Life of Augustus 37, Life of Claudius 16; Cassius Dio liv.2). This was the last time that such magistrates were appointed; the emperors in future discharged the duties of their office under the name of Praefectura Morum ("prefect of the morals"). Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC - 20s BC - 10s BC 0s 10s 20s 30s Years: 27 BC 26 BC 25 BC 24 BC 23 BC 22 BC 21 BC 20 BC 19 BC 18 BC 17... The famous statue of Octavian at the Prima Porta Caesar Augustus (Latin:IMP·CAESAR·DIVI·F·AVGVSTVS) ¹ (23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), known to modern historians as Octavian for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, is considered the first and one of the most... Lucius Munatius Plancus (c. ... Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (c. ...


Some of the emperors sometimes took the name of censor when they actually held a census of the Roman people, as was the case with Claudius, who appointed the elder Vitellius as his colleague (Suetonius Life of Claudius 16; Tacitus Annales xii.4, Historia i.9), and with Vespasian, who likewise had a colleague in his son Titus (Suet. Vesp. 8, Tit. 6). Domitian assumed the title of "perpetual censor" (censor perpetuus) (Cassius Dio liii.18), but this example was not imitated by succeeding emperors. In the reign of Decius we find the elder Valerian nominated to the censorship (Symmach. Ep. iv.29, v.9), but this design was never carried into effect. A statue of Emperor Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (August 1, 10 BC – October 13, 54), previously Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, was the fourth Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, 41 to his death in 54. ... Vitellius, Museo Nazionale della Civiltà Romana, Rome Aulus Vitellius Germanicus (September 24, 15–December 22, 69) was Roman Emperor from April 17 69 to December 22 of the same year, one of the emperors in the Year of the four emperors. He was the son of Lucius Vitellius, who had... The Histories (Latin: Historiae) is a book by Tacitus, written c. ... Vespasian sestertius, struck in 71 to celebrate the victory in the Jewish Rebellion. ... Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius (201- July 1, 251), Roman emperor (249 - 251), was born at Budalia near Sirmium in lower Pannonia. ... Valerian may mean: Valerian, two genera of garden plants Emperor Valerian I, Roman emperor 253-260 Valerian II, son of Gallienus (d. ...


Duties

The duties of the censors may be divided into three classes, all of which were closely connected with one another:

  1. The Census, or register of the citizens and of their property, in which were included the reading of the Senate's lists (lectio senatus) and the recognition of who qualified for equestrian rank (recognitio equitum);
  2. The Regimen Morum, or keeping of the public morals; and
  3. The administration of the finances of the state, under which were classed the superintendence of the public buildings and the erection of all new public works.

The original business of the censorship was at first of a much more limited kind, and was restricted almost entirely to taking the census (Livy iv.8), but the possession of this power gradually brought with it fresh power and new duties, as is shown below. A general view of these duties is briefly expressed in the following passage of Cicero (de Leg. ii.3): "Censores populi aevitates, soboles, familias pecuniasque censento: urbis templa, vias, aquas, aerarium, vectigalia tuento: populique partes in tribus distribunto: exin pecunias, aevitates, ordines patiunto: equitum, peditumque prolem describunto: caelibes esse prohibento: mores populi regunto: probrum in senatu ne relinquunto." The Roman census refers to the event from the Gospel of Luke, to explain how Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem, to fulfill the prophesy in Micah 5:2 that the messiah would be born in that city. ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... An Equestrian (Latin eques, plural equites) was a member of one of the two upper social classes in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. ...


Census

Main article: Roman census

The Census, the first and principal duty of the censors, was always held in the Campus Martius, and from the year 435 BC in a special building called Villa Publica, which was erected for that purpose by the second pair of censors, Gaius Furius Pacilus and Marcus Geganius Macerinus (Livy iv.22; Varro de Re Rustica iii.2). The Roman census refers to the event from the Gospel of Luke, to explain how Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem, to fulfill the prophesy in Micah 5:2 that the messiah would be born in that city. ... The Campus Martius, or Field of Mars, was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about 2 km² (600 acres) in extent. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC - 430s BC - 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC Years: 440 BC 439 BC 438 BC 437 BC 436 BC - 435 BC - 434 BC 433 BC... Varro was a Roman cognomen carried by: Caius Terentius Varro, the consul Marcus Terentius Varro (known as Varro Reatinus), the scholar Publius Terentius Varro (known as Varro Atacinus), the poet This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...


An account of the formalities with which the census was opened is given in a fragment of the Tabulae Censoriae, preserved by Varro (L.L. vi.86, 87, ed. Müller). After the auspices had been taken, the citizens were summoned by a public crier to appear before the censors. Each tribe was called up separately (Dionys. v.75), and the names in each tribe were probably taken according to the lists previously made out by the tribunes of the tribes. Every paterfamilias had to appear in person before the censors, who were seated in their curule chairs, and those names were taken first which were considered to be of good omen, such as Valerius, Salvius, Statorius, etc. (Festus, s.v. Lacus Lucrinus; Schol. Bob. ad Cic. pro Scaur. p374, ed. Orelli). Auspex was founded in the 1980s as a provider of network attached storage devices, a product category they invented. ... The pater familias was the eldest or ranking male in a Roman household. ... In the Roman Republic, and later the empire, the Curule chair (in Latin the sellis curulis) was the chair upon which senior magistrates or promagistrates owning imperium were entitled to sit including dictators, masters of the horse, consuls, praetors, and curule aediles. ... Valerius was a Roman nomen of the gens Valerii, one of the oldest families of the city. ... Salvius was a flute player who was proclaimed king by the rebelling slaves of ancient Sicily. ...


The census was conducted according to the judgment of the censor (ad arbitrium censoris), but the censors laid down certain rules (Livy iv.8, xxix.15), sometimes called leges censui censendo (Liv. xliii.14), in which mention was made of the different kinds of property subject to the census, and in what way their value was to be estimated. According to these laws, each citizen had to give an account of himself, of his family, and of his property upon oath, "declared from the heart" (Dionysius iv.15; Livy xliii.14). Several people in history have been known by the name Dionysius: Dionysius of Syracuse, a tyrant Dionysius the Elder, a Greek mythological figure Dionysius the Areopagite, a citizen of Corinth who was converted by Paul of Tarsus Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, identified by some with a Georgian theologist Peter the...


First he had to give his full name (praenomen, nomen, and cognomen) and that of his father, or if he were a freedman that of his patron, and he was likewise obliged to state his age. He was then asked, "You, declaring from your heart, do you have a wife?" and if married he had to give the name of his wife, and likewise the number, names, and ages of his children, if any (Gell. iv.20; Cicero de Oratore ii.64; Tab. Heracl. 142 (68); Digesta Iustiniani 50 tit.15 s3). Single women and orphans were represented by their guardians; their names were entered in separate lists, and they were not included in the sum total of heads (cf. Livy iii.3, Periochae 59). In the Roman naming convention used in ancient Rome, male names typically contain three proper nouns which are classified as praenomen (or given name), nomen gentile (or Gens name) and cognomen. ... In the Roman naming convention used in ancient Rome, male names typically contain three proper nouns which are classified as praenomen (or given name), nomen gentile (or Gens name) and cognomen. ... The cognomen (name known by in English) was originally the third name of a Roman in the Roman naming convention. ... For the fictional charm which is mentioned in the Harry Potter series of novels, see Patronus Charm Patronus (plural patroni) was the term used to refer to a Patrician benefactor in the Patrician/Plebian relationship called clientela, which was part of the social customs of Ancient Rome, extending back as...


After a citizen had stated his name, age, family, etc., he then had to give an account of all his property, so far as it was subject to the census. Only such things were liable to the census (censui censendo) as were property according to the Quiritarian law. At first each citizen appears to have merely given the value of his whole property in general without entering into details (Dionysius iv.15; Cicero de Legibus iii.3; Festus, s.v. Censores); but it soon became the practice to give a minute specification of each article, as well as the general value of the whole (cf. Cicero pro Flacc. 32; Gell. vii.11; Plutarch Life of Cato the Elder 18). In the first century B.C. the conservative senator Cicero wrote a work bearing the same name as Plato’s famous dialogue, The Laws. ...


Land formed the most important article in the census, but public land, the possession of which only belonged to a citizen, was excluded as not being Quiritarian property. If we may judge from the practice of the imperial period, it was the custom to give a most minute specification of all such land as a citizen held according to the Quiritarian law. He had to state the name and situation of the land, and to specify what portion of it was arable, what meadow, what vineyard, and what olive-ground: and to the land thus minutely described he had to affix his own valuation (Digesta Iustiniani 50 tit.15 s4).


Slaves and cattle formed the next most important item. The censors also possessed the right of calling for a return of such objects as had not usually been given in, such as clothing, jewels, and carriages (Livy xxxix.44; Plutarch Life of Cato the Elder 18). It has been doubted by some modern writers whether the censors possessed the power of setting a higher valuation on the property than the citizens themselves had put, but when we recollect the discretionary nature of the censors' powers, and the necessity almost that existed, in order to prevent fraud, that the right of making a surcharge should be vested in somebody's hands, we can hardly doubt that the censors had this power. It is moreover expressly stated that on one occasion they made an extravagant surcharge on articles of luxury (Livy xxxix.44; Plutarch Life of Cato the Elder 18); and even if they did not enter in their books the property of a person at a higher value than he returned it, they accomplished the same end by compelling him to pay down the tax upon the property at a higher rate than others. The tax was usually one per thousand upon the property entered in the books of the censors, but on one occasion the censors compelled a person to pay eight per thousand as a punishment (Livy iv.24). The word slaves has several meanings and usages: People who are owned by others, and live to serve them without pay. ...


A person who voluntarily absented himself from the census was considered incensus and subject to the severest punishment. Servius Tullius is said to have threatened such individuals with imprisonment and death (Livy i.44), and in the Republican period he might be sold by the state as a slave (Cicero pro Caecina Oratio 34). In the later times of the republic, a person who was absent from the census might be represented by another, and thus be registered by the censors (Varr. L.L. vi.86). Whether the soldiers who were absent on service had to appoint a representative may be questioned. In ancient times the sudden breaking out of a war prevented the census from being taken (Livy vi.31), because a large number of the citizens would necessarily be absent. It is supposed from a passage in Livy (xxix.37) that in later times the censors sent commissioners into the provinces with full powers to take the census of the Roman soldiers there, but this seems to have been only a special case. It is, on the contrary, probable from the way in which Cicero pleads the absence of Archias from Rome with the army under Lucullus, as a sufficient reason for his not having been enrolled in the census (pro Licinio Archia 5), that service in the army was a valid excuse for absence. Servius Tullius was the sixth legendary king of ancient Rome, and the second king of the Etruscan dynasty. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2. ... Lucius Licinius Lucullus (c. ...


After the censors had received the names of all the citizens with the amount of their property, they then had to make out the lists of the tribes, and also of the classes and centuries; for by the legislation of Servius Tullius the position of each citizen in the state was determined by the amount of his property [Comitia Centuriata.] These lists formed a most important part of the Tabulae Censoriae, under which name were included all the documents connected in any way with the discharge of the censors' duties (Cic. de Leg. iii.3; Liv. xxiv.18; Plut. Cat. Maj. 16; Cic. de Leg. Agr. i.2). These lists, as far at least as they were connected with the finances of the state, were deposited in the aerarium, which was the temple of Saturn (Liv. xxix.37); but the regular depositary for all the archives of the censors was in earlier times the Atrium Libertatis, near the Villa publica (Liv. xliii.16, xlv.15), and in later times the temple of the Nymphs (Cic. pro Mil. 27).


Besides the arrangement of the citizens into tribes, centuries, and classes, the censors had also to make out the lists of the senators for the ensuing five years, or till new censors were appointed; striking out the names of such as they considered unworthy, and making additions to the body from those who were qualified. In the same manner they held a review of the Equestrians who received a horse from public funds (equites equo publico), and added and removed names as they judged proper. The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... An Equestrian (Latin eques, plural equites) was a member of one of the two upper social classes in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. ...


After the lists had been completed, the number of citizens was counted up, and the sum total announced. Accordingly, we find that in the account of a census, the number of citizens is likewise usually given. They are in such cases spoken of as capita ("heads"), sometimes with the addition of the word civium ("of the citizens"), and sometimes not. Hence, to be registered in the census was the same thing as "having a head" (caput habere).


Census beyond Rome

A census was sometimes taken in the provinces, even under the republic (Cicero Verr. ii.53, 56); but there seems to have been no general census taken in the provinces till the time of Augustus. This emperor caused an accurate account to be taken of all persons in the Roman dominion, together with the amount of their property (Ev. Lucae, ii.1, 2; Joseph. Ant. Jud. xvii.13 §5, xviii.1 §1, 2 §1); and a similar census was taken from time to time by succeeding emperors, at first every ten, and subsequently every fifteen years (Savigny, Römische Steuerverfassung, in Zeitschrift, vol. vi pp375‑383). The emperor sent into the provinces especial officers to take the census, who were called Censitores (Dig. 50 tit.15 s4 § 1; Cassiod. Var. ix.11; Orelli, Inscr. No. 3652); but the duty was sometimes discharged by the imperial legati (Tac. Ann. i.31, ii.6). The Censitores were assisted by subordinate officers, called Censuales, who made out the lists, &c. (Capitol. Gordian. 12; Symmach. Ep. x.43; Cod. Theod. 8 tit.2). At Rome the census still continued to be taken under the empire, but the old ceremonies connected with it were no longer continued, and the ceremony of the lustration was not performed after the time of Vespasian. The two great jurists, Paulus and Ulpian, each wrote works on the census in the imperial period; and several extracts from these works are given in a chapter in the Digest (50 15), to which we must refer for further details respecting the imperial census. The famous statue of Octavian at the Prima Porta Caesar Augustus (Latin:IMP·CAESAR·DIVI·F·AVGVSTVS) ¹ (23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), known to modern historians as Octavian for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, is considered the first and one of the most... Domitius Ulpianus, Anglicized as Ulpian, (died 228) was a Roman jurist of Tyrian ancestry. ...


Other uses of census

The word census, besides the meaning of "valuation" of a person's estate, has other significations in Rome, which must be briefly mentioned:

  • the amount of a person's property, and hence we read of census senatorius, the estate of a senator; census equestris, the estate of an eques
  • the lists of the censors
  • the tax which depended upon the valuation in the census. The Lexicons will supply examples of these meanings.

An Equestrian (Latin eques, plural equites) was a member of one of the two upper social classes in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. ...

Regimen morum

Keeping the public morals (regimen morum, or in the empire cura morum or praefectura morum) was the most important branch of the censors' duties, and the one which caused their office to be the most revered and the most dreaded in the Roman state; hence they were also known as Castigatores 'chastisers'. It naturally grew out of the right which they possessed of excluding unworthy persons from the lists of citizens; for, as has been well remarked, "they would, in the first place, be the sole judges of many questions of fact, such as whether a citizen had the qualifications required by law or custom for the rank which he claimed, or whether he had ever incurred any judicial sentence, which rendered him infamous: but from thence the transition was easy, according to Roman notions, to the decisions of questions of right; such as whether a citizen was really worthy of retaining his rank, whether he had not committed some act as justly degrading as those which incurred the sentence of the law." For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...


In this manner the censors gradually became possessed of a complete superintendence over the whole public and private life of every citizen. They were constituted the conservators of public morality; they were not simply to prevent crime or particular acts of immorality, but their great object was to maintain the old Roman character and habits (mos majorum). The proper expression for this branch of their power was regimen morum (Cicero de Legibus iii.3; Livy iv.8, xxiv.18, xl.46, xli.27, xlii.3; Suetonius Life of Augustus 27), which was called in the times of the empire cura ("supervision") or praefectura ("command"). The punishment inflicted by the censors in the exercise of this branch of their duties was called nota ("mark, letter") or notatio, or animadversio censoria ("censorial reproach"). In inflicting it they were guided only by their conscientious convictions of duty; they had to take an oath that they would act neither through partiality nor favour; and, in addition to this, they were bound in every case to state in their lists, opposite the name of the guilty citizen, the cause of the punishment inflicted on him, Subscriptio censoria (Livy xxxix.42; Cicero pro Cluentio Oratio 42‑48; Gell. iv.20). For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...


This part of the censors' office invested them with a peculiar kind of jurisdiction, which in many respects resembled the exercise of public opinion in modern times; for there are innumerable actions which, though acknowledged by every one to be prejudicial and immoral, still do not come within the reach of the positive laws of a country. Even in cases of real crimes, the positive laws frequently punish only the particular offence, while in public opinion the offender, even after he has undergone punishment, is still incapacitated for certain honours and distinctions which are granted only to persons of unblemished character.


Hence the Roman censors might brand a man with their "censorial mark" (nota censoria) in case he had been convicted of a crime in an ordinary court of justice, and had already suffered punishment for it. The consequence of such a nota was only ignominia and not infamia (Cicero de Re Publica iv.6) Infamia and the censorial verdict was not a judicium or res judicata (Cicero pro Cluentio Oratio 42), for its effects were not lasting, but might be removed by the following censors, or by a lex (roughly "law"). A censorial mark was moreover not valid unless both censors agreed. The ignominia was thus only a transitory reduction of status, which does not even appear to have deprived a magistrate of his office (Livy xxiv.18), and certainly did not disqualify persons labouring under it for obtaining a magistracy, for being appointed as judices by the praetor, or for serving in the Roman armies. Mamercus Aemilius was thus, notwithstanding the reproach of the censors (animadversio censoria), made dictator (Livy iv.31). De re publica is a work by Cicero, written in six books 54-51 BC, in the format of a Socratic dialogue, that is to say: Scipio Africanus Minor (who had died a few decades before Cicero was born) takes the role of wise old man, that is an obligatory... Lex is a program that generates lexical analyzers (scanners). Lex is commonly used with the yacc parser generator. ... Judex is the title of a 1914 silent movie serial created by Louis Feuillade and Arthur Bernède. ... // Definition According to Cicero, Praetor was a title which designated the consuls as the leaders of the armies of the state. ... Soldiers of the Roman Army (on manoeuvres in Nashville, Tennessee) Rome was a militarized state whose history was often closely entwined with its military history over the 1228 years that the Roman state is traditionally said to have existed. ... Dictator was a political office of the Roman Republic. ...


A person might be branded with a censorial mark in a variety of cases, which it would be impossible to specify, as in a great many instances it depended upon the discretion of the censors and the view they took of a case; and sometimes even one set of censors would overlook an offence which was severely chastised by their successors (Cicero de Senectute 12). But the offences which are recorded to have been punished by the censors are of a threefold nature. On Old Age was an essay written by Cicero in 44BC on the subject of aging and death. ...

  1. Such as occurred in the private life of individuals, e.g.
    1. Living in celibacy at a time when a person ought to be married to provide the state with citizens (Valerius Maximus ii.9 §1). The obligation of marrying was frequently impressed upon the citizens by the censors, and the refusal to fulfil it was punished with a fine (aes uxorium).
    2. The dissolution of matrimony or betrothment in an improper way, or for insufficient reasons (Valerius Maximus ii.9 §2).
    3. Improper conduct towards one's wife or children, as well as harshness or too great indulgence towards children, and disobedience of the latter towards their parents (Plutarch Life of Cato the Elder 17; cf. Cicero de Re Publica iv.6; Dionys. xx.3).
    4. Inordinate and luxurious mode of living, or an extravagant expenditure of money. A great many instances of this kind are recorded (Livy Periochae 14, xxxix.4; Plutarch Life of Cato the Elder 18; Gellius, iv.8; Valerius Maximus ii.9 §4). At a later time the leges sumtuariae were made to check the growing love of luxuries.
    5. Neglect and carelessness in cultivating one's fields (Auli Gellii iv.12; Pliny Natural History xviii.3).
    6. Cruelty towards slaves or clients (Dionysius xx.3).
    7. The carrying on of a disreputable trade or occupation (Dionysius, l.c.), such as acting in theatres (Livy vii.2).
    8. Legacy-hunting, defrauding orphans, &c.
  2. A variety of actions or pursuits which were thought to be injurious to public morality, might be forbidden by an edict (Gellius, xv.11), and those who acted contrary to such edicts were branded with the nota and degraded. For an enumeration of the offences that might be punished by the censors with ignominia, see Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. ii p399, &c.

A person who had been branded with a nota censoria, might, if he considered himself wronged, endeavour to prove his innocence to the censors (causam agere apud censores, Varr. de Re Rust. i.7), and if he did not succeed, he might try to gain the protection of one of the censors, that he might intercede on his behalf. Sumptuary laws (from the Latin sumtuariae leges) are laws which dictated, amongst other things, what color and type of clothing individuals were allowed to own and wear. ... Naturalis Historia Pliny the Elders Natural History is an encyclopedia written by Pliny the Elder. ...


Punishments

The punishments inflicted by the censors generally differed according to the station which a man occupied, though sometimes a person of the highest rank might suffer all the punishments at once, by being degraded to the lowest class of citizens. But they are generally divided into four classes:—

  1. Motio ("removal") or ejectio e senatu ("ejection from the Senate"), or the exclusion of a man from the number of senators. This punishment might either be a simple exclusion from list of senators, or the person might at the same time be excluded from the tribes and degraded to the rank of an aerarian (Liv. xxiv.18). The latter course seems to have been seldom adopted; the ordinary mode of inflicting the punishment was simply this: the censors in their new lists omitted the names of such senators as they wished to exclude, and in reading these new lists in public, passed over the names of those who were no longer to be senators. Hence the expression praeteriti senatores ("passing over the senators") is equivalent to e senatu ejecti (Livy xxxviii.28, xxvii.11, xxxiv.44; Festus, s.v. Praeteriti).

    In some cases, however, the censors did not acquiesce in this simple mode of proceeding, but addressed the senator whom they had noted, and publicly reprimanded him for his conduct (Livy xxiv.18). As, however, in ordinary cases an ex-senator was not disqualified by his ignominia for holding any of the magistracies which opened the way to the senate, he might at the next census again become a senator (Cicero pro Cluentio Oratio 42, Plutarch Life of Cicero 17).

  2. The ademptio equi, or the taking away the publicly-funded horse from an equestrian. This punishment might likewise be simple, or combined with the exclusion from the tribes and the degradation to the rank of an aerarian (Livy xxiv.18, 43, xxvii.11, xxix.37, xliii.16).
  3. The motio e tribu, or the exclusion of a person from his tribe. This punishment and the degradation to the rank of an aerarian were originally the same; but when in the course of time a distinction was made between the rural or rustic tribes and the urban tribes, the motio e tribu transferred a person from the rustic tribes to the less respectable city tribes, and if the further degradation to the rank of an aerarian was combined with the motio e tribu, it was always expressly stated (Liv. xlv.15, Plin. H.N. xviii.3).
  4. The fourth punishment was called referre in aerarios (Livy xxiv.18; Cicero pro Cluentio Oratio 43) or facere aliquem aerarium (Livy xliii.43), and might be inflicted on any person who was thought by the censors to deserve it. This degradation, properly speaking, included all the other punishments, for an equestrian could not be made an aerarius unless he was previously deprived of his horse, nor could a member of a rustic tribe be made an aerarius unless he was previously excluded from it (Livy iv.24, xxiv.18, &c.).

An Equestrian (Latin eques, plural equites) was a member of one of the two upper social classes in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. ...

Administration of the finances of the state

The administration of the state's finances was another part of the censors' office. In the first place the tributum, or property-tax, had to be paid by each citizen according to the amount of his property registered in the census, and, accordingly, the regulation of this tax naturally fell under the jurisdiction of the censors (cf. Livy xxxix.44). They also had the superintendence of all the other revenues of the state, the vectigalia, such as the tithes paid for the public lands, the salt works, the mines, the customs, &c. A magnified crystal of salt In chemistry, salt is a term used for ionic compounds composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ...


All these branches of the revenue the censors were accustomed to let out to the highest bidder for the space of a lustrum or five years. The act of letting was called venditio or locatio, and seems to have taken place in the month of March (Macrobius Saturnalia i.12), in a public place in Rome (Cicero de Lege Agraria i.3, ii.21). The terms on which they were let, together with the rights and duties of the purchasers, were all specified in the leges censoriae, which the censors published in every case before the bidding commenced (Cicero ad Qu. Fr. i.1 §12, Verr. iii.7, de Nat. Deor. iii.19, Varr. de Re Rust. ii.1). For further particulars see Publicani. Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, Roman grammarian and philosopher, flourished during the reigns of Honorius and Arcadius (395-423). ... A Publican can be the manager of a public house, or in New Testament times, a tax collecter. ...


The censors also possessed the right, though probably not without the concurrence of the senate, of imposing new vectigalia (Livy xxix.37, xl.51), and even of selling the land belonging to the state (Livy xxxii.7). It would thus appear that it was the duty of the censors to bring forward a budget for a five-year period, and to take care that the income of the state was sufficient for its expenditure during that time. So far their duties resembled those of a modern minister of finance. The censors, however, did not receive the revenues of the state. All the public money was paid into the aerarium, which was entirely under the jurisdiction of the senate; and all disbursements were made by order of this body, which employed the quaestors as its officers. The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government. ... Aerarium (from Latin aes, in its derived sense of money) was the name (in full, aerarium stabulum - treasure-house) given in Ancient Rome to the public treasury, and in a secondary sense to the public finances. ... Quaestors were elected officials of the Roman Republic who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies and its officers. ...


In one important department the censors were entrusted with the expenditure of the public money, though the actual payments were no doubt made by the quaestors. The censors had the general superintendence of all the public buildings and works (opera publica), and to meet the expenses connected with this part of their duties, the senate voted them a certain sum of money or certain revenues, to which they were restricted, but which they might at the same time employ according to their discretion (Polybius vi.13; Livy xl.46, xliv.16). They had to see that the temples and all other public buildings were in a good state of repair (aedes sacras tueri and sarta tecta exigere, Livy xxiv.18, xxix.37, xlii.3, xlv.15), that no public places were encroached upon by the occupation of private persons (loca tueri, Livy xlii.3, xliii.16), and that the aqueduct, roads, drains, etc. were properly attended to. Polybius (ca 203 BC - 120 BC, Greek Πολυβιος) was a Greek historian of the Mediterranean world famous for his book called The Histories or The Rise of the Roman Empire, covering the period of 220 BC to 146 BC. // Personal experiences As the former tutor of Scipio Aemilianus , the famous adopted... Pont du Gard, France, a Roman era aqueduct circa 19 BC. It is one of Frances top tourist attractions at over 1. ...


The repairs of the public works and the keeping of them in proper condition were let out by the censors by public auction to the lowest bidder, just as the vectigalia were let out to the highest bidder. These expenses were called ultrotributa, and hence we frequently find vectigalia and ultrotributa contrasted with one another (Livy xxxix.44, xliii.16). The persons who undertook the contract were called conductores, mancipes, redemptores, susceptores, etc.; and the duties they had to discharge were specified in the Leges Censoriae. The censors had also to superintend the expenses connected with the worship of the gods, even for instance the feeding of the sacred geese in the Capitol, which were also let out on contract (Plutarch Roman Questions 98; Pliny Natural History x.22; Cicero pro Sexto Roscio Amerino Oratio 20). Naturalis Historia Pliny the Elders Natural History is an encyclopedia written by Pliny the Elder. ...


Besides keeping existing public works in a proper state of repair, the censors also constructed new ones, either for ornament or utility, both in Rome and in other parts of Italy, such as temples, basilicae, theatres, porticoes, fora, walls of towns, aqueducts, harbours, bridges, cloacae, roads, etc. These works were either performed by them jointly, or they divided between them the money, which had been granted to them by the senate (Liv. xl.51, xliv.16). They were let out to contractors, like the other works mentioned above, and when they were completed, the censors had to see that the work was performed in accordance with the contract: this was called opus probare or in acceptum referre (Cicero Verr. i.57; Livy iv.22, xlv.15; Lex Puteol. p73, Spang.). The Basilica of Saint Peter is the largest church in Christianity and often used by the Pope. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Roman Forum (Forum Romanum, although the Romans referred to it more often as the Forum Magnum or just the Forum) was the central area around which ancient Rome developed, in which commerce, business, prostitution, cult and the administration of justice took place. ... Pont du Gard, France, a Roman era aqueduct circa 19 BC. It is one of Frances top tourist attractions at over 1. ...


The aediles had likewise a superintendence over the public buildings, and it is not easy to define with accuracy the respective duties of the censors and aediles, but it may be remarked in general that the superintendence of the aediles had more of a police character, while that of the censors had reference to all financial matters. Aedile (Latin Aedilis, from aedes, aedis temple, building) was an office of the Roman Republic. ...


Lustrum

After the censors had performed their various duties and taken the five-yearly census, the lustrum, a solemn purification of the people, followed. When the censors entered upon their office, they drew lots to see which of them should perform this purification (lustrum facere or condere, Varr. L.L. vi.86; Livy xxix.37, xxxv.9, xxxviii.36, xlii.10); but both censors were of course obliged to be present at the ceremony. Lustrum was a sacrifice for expiation and purification offered by one of the censors of Rome in name of the Roman people at the close of the taking of the census, and which took place after a period of five years, so that the name came to denote a period...


Long after the Roman census was no longer taken, the Latin word lustrum has survived, and been adopted in some modern languages, in the derived sense of a period of five years, i.e. half a decennium.


See also

The cursus honorum (Latin: succession of magistracies) was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. ... History - Ancient history - Ancient Rome This is a List of Ancient Rome-related topics, that aims to include aspects of both the Ancient Roman Republic and Roman Empire. ... This is an incomplete list of censors of the Roman Republic … 312 BC-307 BC - Appius Claudius Caecus (and ?) 280 BC – Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus and Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus Maximus 275 BC - Quintus Aemlius Papus and Gaius Fabricius Luscinus 272 BC - Lucius Papirius Praerextatus and Manlius Curius Dentatus 269 BC... This is a tentative list of topics regarding political institutions of Ancient Rome. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ...

Sources and References

  • Pauly-Wissowa

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities by William Smith (1870). Pauly-Wissowa is the name commonly used for the Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, 1894ff, a German encyclopedia of classical scholarship. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... Title page A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities is single volume encyclopedia in English language first published in 1842. ... Sir William Smith (1813 - 1893), English lexicographer, was born at Enfield in 1813 of Nonconformist parents. ...



 

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