Timeline - Censors of Rome During the Roman Republic
Background on Censors
The fifth Roman king, Servius Tullius, divided the Romans into tribes, creating new ones in addition to the 3 original ones (ramnes, tities, luceres), and carried out the first census to distinguish the people into ranks based on wealth and property. After the dissolution of the monarchy, consuls took over the task of taking the census, and then in 443, a new magistracy was created to carry out the task of taking the census. In addition to serving as census-takers, these high ranking magistrates acted as censors dealing with morality, and were called censores. By being two in number they carried on the tradition of the dual consuls.• The comitia curiata elected the censores.
• At first the censors' term of office was a lustrum or about 5 years, but it was soon reduced to a period of 18 months.
• Although the censors were awarded no imperium, and therefore had no bodyguarding lictors, the office was second only to the office of dictator in dignity.
• The dictator Q. Publilius Philo proposed what are called the Leges Publiliae (339 B.C.). The first of these laws was one to make one of the censors a plebeian. According to "The Roman Censors," by Robert Vincent Cram (Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 51, In Honor of William Scott Ferguson. (1940), pp. 71-110.), the first plebeian censor was C. Marcius in 351 B.C.
• According to the same source, the censorship ended in A.D. 22 when the emperor assumed the role of censor.
• In 280 the first plebeian censor performed the purification rite (lustrum) for the people of Rome.
• In 131 B.C. both censors were plebeian for the first time.
• The censorship lasted from 443-22 B.C.
Sources
Primary
Livy IV 8.2-6.
Secondary
Censor - William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.
T.J. Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome. Routledge: 1995. [A valuable addition to your home library.]
Index of Roman Timelines | The Census | Roman Timelines
| Year | Patrician | Plebeian |
|---|---|---|
| 280 | Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus | Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus Maximus |
| 275 | Quintus Aemilius Papus | Gaius Fabricius Luscinus |
| 272 | Lucius Papirius Praetextatus | Manius Curius Dentatus |
| 269 | Lucius Aemilius Barbula | Quintus Marcius Philippus |
| 265 | Gnaeus Cornelius Blasio | Gaius Marcius Rutilus Censorinus |
| 258 | Lucius Cornelius Scipio | Gaius Duilius |
| 253 | Lucius Postumius | Decimus Junius Pera |
| 252 | Manius Valerius Maximus Messalla | Publius Sempronius Sophus |
| 247 | Aulus Manlius Torquatus | Aulus Atilius Caiatinus |
| 241 | Marcus Fabius Buteo | Gaius Aurelius Cotta |
| 236 | Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus | Quintus Lutatius Cerco |
| 234 | Aulus Postumius Albinus | Quintus Atilius Bulbus |
| 231 | Titus Manlius Torquatus | Quintus Fulvius Flaccus |
| 230 | Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus | Marcus Sempronius Tuditanus |
| 225 | Gaius Claudius Centho | Marcus Junius Pera |
| 220 | Lucius Aemilius Papus | Gaius Flaminius |
| 214 | Publius Furius Philus | Marcus Atilius Regulus |
| 210 | Lucius Veturius Philo | Publius Licinius Crassus Dives |
| 209 | Marcus Cornelius Cethegus | Publius Sempronius Tuditanus |
| 204 | Gaius Claudius Nero | Marcus Livius Salinator |
| 199 | Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus | Publius Aelius Paetus |
| 194 | Gaius Cornelius Cethegus | Sextus Aelius PaetusCatus |
| 189 | Titus Quinctius Flaminius | Marcus Claudius Marcellus |
| 184 | Lucius Valerius Flaccus | Marcus Porcius Cato |
| 179 | Marcus Aemilius Lepidus | Marcus Fulvius Nobilior |
| 174 | Aulus Postumius Albinus | Quintus Fulvius Flaccus |
| 169 | Gaius Claudius Pulcher | Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus |
| 164 | Lucius Aemilius Paullus | Quintus Marcius Philippus |
| 159 | Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum | Marcus Popillius Laenas |
| 154 | Marcus Valerius Messalla | Gaius Cassius Longinus |
| 147 | Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Lupus | Lucius Marcius Censorinus |
| 142 | Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus | Lucius Mummius Achaicus |
| 136 | Appius Claudius Pulcher | Quintus Fulvius Nobilior |
| 131 | - | Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus & Quintus Pompeius |
| 125 | Gnaeus Servilius Caepio | Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla |
| 120 | - | Quintus Caecilius Metellus Baliarus & Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi |
| 115 | - | Lucius Caecilius Metellus Diadematus & Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus |
| 109 | Marcus Aemilius Scaurus | Marcus Livius Drusus |
| 108 | Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus | Gaius Licinius Getha |
| 102 | - | Gaius Caecilius Metellus Caprarius & QuintusCaecilius Metellus Numidicus |
| 97 | Lucius Valerius Flaccus | Marcus Antonius |
| 92 | - | Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus & Lucius Licinius Crassus |
| 89 | Lucius Julius Caesar | Publius Licinius Crassus |
| 86 | - | Lucius Marcius Philippus & Marcus Perperna |
| 70 | Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus | Lucius Gellius Publicola |
| 65 | - | Marcus Licinius Crassus & Quintus Lutatius Catulus |
| 28 | Imperator Caesar Augustus | Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa |
