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{{full | {{full citations|date=June 2025}}{{Short description|Roman magistrate and census administrator}}{{See also|List of censors of the Roman Republic}}{{Politics of the Roman Republic}}{{For|the censorship of books in the Roman Catholic church|Index Librorum Prohibitorum}} | ||
The '''censor''' was a [[magistrate]] in [[ancient Rome]] who was responsible for maintaining the [[census]], supervising [[public morality]], and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances.<ref>Suolahti, J. (1963) ''The Roman Censors: A Study on Social Structure'' (Helsinki)</ref> | The '''censor''' was a [[magistrate]] in [[ancient Rome]] who was responsible for maintaining the [[census]], supervising [[public morality]], and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances.<ref>Suolahti, J. (1963) ''The Roman Censors: A Study on Social Structure'' (Helsinki)</ref> | ||
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==Early history of the magistracy== | ==Early history of the magistracy== | ||
According to [[Livy]]'s ''[[Ab urbe condita (Livy)|History of Rome]]'', the ''census'' was first instituted by [[Servius Tullius]], sixth [[king of Rome]], {{circa|575–535}} BC. After the abolition of the [[Kingdom of Rome|monarchy]] and the founding of the [[Roman Republic|Republic]] in 509 BC, the [[Roman consul|consul]]s had responsibility for the census until 443 BC.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 4, chapter 8 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0153:book=4:chapter=8#note-link1 |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> In | According to [[Livy]]'s ''[[Ab urbe condita (Livy)|History of Rome]]'', the ''census'' was first instituted by [[Servius Tullius]], sixth [[king of Rome]], {{circa|575–535}} BC. After the abolition of the [[Kingdom of Rome|monarchy]] and the founding of the [[Roman Republic|Republic]] in 509 BC, the [[Roman consul|consul]]s had responsibility for the census until 443 BC.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 4, chapter 8 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0153:book=4:chapter=8#note-link1 |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> In 444 BC, no consuls were elected, but [[tribune]]s with consular power were appointed instead. This was a move by the [[plebeians]] to try to attain higher magistracies:<ref>{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius • The Roman Censor (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Censor.html |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> only [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]] could be elected consuls, while some military tribunes were plebeians. To prevent the possibility of [[plebeians]] obtaining control of the census, the patricians removed the right to take the census from the consuls and tribunes, and appointed for this duty two magistrates, called ''censores'' (censors), elected exclusively from the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]] in Rome.<ref name=":0" /> <!-- Why was taking the census so valuable? --> | ||
The magistracy continued to be controlled by patricians until 351 BC, when [[Gaius Marcius Rutilus]] was appointed the first plebeian censor.<ref>''[[Livy]]'' vii.22.</ref> Twelve years later, in 339 BC, one of the [[Publilian laws]] required that one censor had to be a plebeian.<ref>Livy viii.12.</ref> Despite this, no plebeian censor performed the solemn purification of the people (the ''[[lustrum]]''; Livy ''[[Periochae]]'' 13) until 280 BC. In 131 BC, for the first time, both censors were plebeians.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah20027|title=Censor|last=Swithinbank|first=Hannah J.|date=October 2012|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History|isbn=9781444338386}}</ref> | The magistracy continued to be controlled by patricians until 351 BC, when [[Gaius Marcius Rutilus]] was appointed the first plebeian censor.<ref>''[[Livy]]'' vii.22.</ref> Twelve years later, in 339 BC, one of the [[Publilian laws]] required that one censor had to be a plebeian.<ref>Livy viii.12.</ref> Despite this, no plebeian censor performed the solemn purification of the people (the ''[[lustrum]]''; Livy ''[[Periochae]]'' 13) until 280 BC. In 131 BC, for the first time, both censors were plebeians.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah20027|title=Censor|last=Swithinbank|first=Hannah J.|date=October 2012|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History|isbn=9781444338386}}</ref> | ||
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The duties of the censors may be divided into three classes, all of which were closely connected with one another: | The duties of the censors may be divided into three classes, all of which were closely connected with one another: | ||
#The '' | #The ''Census'', register of all citizens and their property, confirmation or appointment of [[Roman Senate|senators]] (''lectio senatus'', {{lit|reading of the Senate}}), and recognition of those who qualified for the [[Equites|equestrian]] rank (''recognitio equitum''); | ||
#The ''Regimen Morum'', keeping of public morals; and | #The ''Regimen Morum'', keeping of public morals; and | ||
#The administration of the finances of the state, superintendence of public buildings, and erection of all new public works.<ref>Suolahti, J. (1963) ''The Roman Censors: A Study on Social Structure'' (Helsinki) 58f</ref> | #The administration of the finances of the state, superintendence of public buildings, and erection of all new public works.<ref>Suolahti, J. (1963) ''The Roman Censors: A Study on Social Structure'' (Helsinki) 58f</ref> | ||
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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,<ref>Livy i.44.</ref> and in the [[Roman Republic|Republican]] period he might be sold by the state as a slave.<ref>Cicero ''[[pro Caecina Oratio]]'' 34.</ref> In the later period of the Republic, a person who was absent from the census might be represented by another, and be thus registered by the censors.<ref>Varro ''De lingua Latina'' vi.86.</ref> Whether the soldiers who were absent on service had to appoint a representative is uncertain. In ancient times, the sudden outbreaks of war prevented the census from being taken,<ref>Livy vi.31.</ref> because a large number of the citizens would necessarily be absent. It is supposed from a passage in [[Livy]]<ref>xxix.37.</ref> 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 a special case. It is, on the contrary, probable from the way in which Cicero pleads the absence of [[Aulus Licinius Archias|Archias]] from Rome with the army under [[Lucullus]], as a sufficient reason for his not having been enrolled in the census,<ref>''[[pro Licinio Archia]]'' 5.</ref> that service in the army was a valid excuse for absence. | 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,<ref>Livy i.44.</ref> and in the [[Roman Republic|Republican]] period he might be sold by the state as a slave.<ref>Cicero ''[[pro Caecina Oratio]]'' 34.</ref> In the later period of the Republic, a person who was absent from the census might be represented by another, and be thus registered by the censors.<ref>Varro ''De lingua Latina'' vi.86.</ref> Whether the soldiers who were absent on service had to appoint a representative is uncertain. In ancient times, the sudden outbreaks of war prevented the census from being taken,<ref>Livy vi.31.</ref> because a large number of the citizens would necessarily be absent. It is supposed from a passage in [[Livy]]<ref>xxix.37.</ref> 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 a special case. It is, on the contrary, probable from the way in which Cicero pleads the absence of [[Aulus Licinius Archias|Archias]] from Rome with the army under [[Lucullus]], as a sufficient reason for his not having been enrolled in the census,<ref>''[[pro Licinio Archia]]'' 5.</ref> that service in the army was a valid excuse for absence. | ||
[[File:Foro romano tempio Saturno 09feb08 01.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Temple of Saturn]], which housed the ''aerarium Saturni'' and the ''aerarium sanctum]] | [[File:Foro romano tempio Saturno 09feb08 01.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Temple of Saturn]], which housed the ''aerarium Saturni'' and the ''aerarium sanctum'']] | ||
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.<ref>Cicero de Legibus iii.3; Liv. xxiv.18; Plut. Cat. Maj. 16; Cic. de Leg. Agr. i.2.</ref> These lists, insofar as they were connected with the finances of the state, were deposited in the ''[[aerarium]]'', located in the [[Temple of Saturn]];<ref>Liv. xxix.37.</ref> but the regular depository for all the archives of the censors was in earlier times the [[Atrium Libertatis]], near the Villa publica,<ref>Liv. xliii.16, xlv.15.</ref> and in later times the temple of the Nymphs.<ref>Cic. pro Mil. 27.</ref> | 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.<ref>Cicero de Legibus iii.3; Liv. xxiv.18; Plut. Cat. Maj. 16; Cic. de Leg. Agr. i.2.</ref> These lists, insofar as they were connected with the finances of the state, were deposited in the ''[[aerarium]]'', located in the [[Temple of Saturn]];<ref>Liv. xxix.37.</ref> but the regular depository for all the archives of the censors was in earlier times the [[Atrium Libertatis]], near the Villa publica,<ref>Liv. xliii.16, xlv.15.</ref> and in later times the temple of the Nymphs.<ref>Cic. pro Mil. 27.</ref> | ||
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#''Motio'' ("removal") or ''ejectio e senatu'' ("ejection from the Senate"), or the exclusion of a man from the ranks of senators. This punishment might either be a simple exclusion from the list of senators, or the person might at the same time be excluded from the tribes and degraded to the rank of an ''[[Aerarii|aerarian]]''.<ref>Liv. xxiv.18.</ref> 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, quietly omitted the names of those who were no longer to be senators. Hence the expression ''praeteriti senatores'' ("senators passed over") is equivalent to ''e senatu ejecti'' (those removed from the Senate).<ref>Livy xxxviii.28, xxvii.11, xxxiv.44; Festus, s.v. Praeteriti.</ref> In some cases, however, the censors did not acquiesce to this simple mode of proceeding, but addressed the senator whom they had noted, and publicly reprimanded him for his conduct.<ref>Livy xxiv.18.</ref> As 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.<ref>Cicero ''pro Cluentio Oratio'' 42, Plutarch ''Life of Cicero'' 17.</ref> | #''Motio'' ("removal") or ''ejectio e senatu'' ("ejection from the Senate"), or the exclusion of a man from the ranks of senators. This punishment might either be a simple exclusion from the list of senators, or the person might at the same time be excluded from the tribes and degraded to the rank of an ''[[Aerarii|aerarian]]''.<ref>Liv. xxiv.18.</ref> 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, quietly omitted the names of those who were no longer to be senators. Hence the expression ''praeteriti senatores'' ("senators passed over") is equivalent to ''e senatu ejecti'' (those removed from the Senate).<ref>Livy xxxviii.28, xxvii.11, xxxiv.44; Festus, s.v. Praeteriti.</ref> In some cases, however, the censors did not acquiesce to this simple mode of proceeding, but addressed the senator whom they had noted, and publicly reprimanded him for his conduct.<ref>Livy xxiv.18.</ref> As 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.<ref>Cicero ''pro Cluentio Oratio'' 42, Plutarch ''Life of Cicero'' 17.</ref> | ||
#The ''ademptio equi'', or | #The ''ademptio equi'', or taking away of the publicly funded horse from an [[Equites|equestrian]]. This punishment might likewise be simple, or combined with the exclusion from the tribes and the degradation to the rank of an ''aerarian''.<ref>Livy xxiv.18, 43, xxvii.11, xxix.37, xliii.16.</ref> | ||
#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.<ref>Liv. xlv.15, Plin. H.N. xviii.3.</ref> | #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.<ref>Liv. xlv.15, Plin. H.N. xviii.3.</ref> | ||
#The fourth punishment was called ''referre in aerarios''<ref>Livy xxiv.18; Cicero ''pro Cluentio Oratio'' 43.</ref> or ''facere aliquem aerarium'',<ref>Livy xliii.43.</ref> 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.<ref>Livy iv.24, xxiv.18, &c.</ref> | #The fourth punishment was called ''referre in aerarios''<ref>Livy xxiv.18; Cicero ''pro Cluentio Oratio'' 43.</ref> or ''facere aliquem aerarium'',<ref>Livy xliii.43.</ref> 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.<ref>Livy iv.24, xxiv.18, &c.</ref> | ||
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