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Roman censor

Roman magistrate responsible for the census and monitoring public morality

18 dated entries naming Roman censor, drawn from 18 separate years between 351 BCE and 85 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Roman census in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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4th century BC

  • 351 BCEGaius Marcius Rutilus becomes the first Roman plebeian to be elected to the office of censor.source
  • 312 BCEThe Roman censor, Appius Claudius Caecus, a patrician, enters office and begins construction of the Appian Way (the Via Appia) between Rome and Capua. He also embarks on a program of political reform, including the distribution of the landless citizens of Rome among the tribes, which at this time constitute basic political units. Appius also admits sons of freedmen into the Roman Senate. He also asserts the right of freed slaves to hold office.source

3rd century BC

  • 258 BCEGaius Duilius Nepos, the Roman commander who has won a major naval victory over the Carthaginians is made censor with Lucius Cornelius Scipio. The election of a novus homo (i.e. the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or be elected as consul) to the censorship is a very rare honor.source
  • 214 BCEThe censors Publius Furius Philus and Marcus Atilius Regulus condemn and degrade (i.e. cause to lose rank in Roman society and politics) two groups of Romans of high rank, including senators and equestrians. The first group are those Roman officers captured by Hannibal's forces in the Battle of Cannae who have come as Carthaginian hostages to Rome to plead for their ransom (and those of their fellow prisoners), and who then refuse to return to Carthaginian captivity when the Senate refuses to ransom any prisoners. The second group are those Romans who have advocated surrender to Carthage after the Battle of Cannae, or who have made plans to flee Rome and offer their services in Greece, Egypt, or Asia Minor.source

2nd century BC

  • 199 BCEScipio Africanus becomes censor and princeps Senatus (the titular head of the Roman Senate).source
  • 196 BCEMarcus Cornelius Cethegus, Roman consul and censorsource
  • 184 BCECato the Elder, along with his colleague, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, are elected censors in Rome. Already the champion of the ancient, austere Roman way of life, Cato inaugurates a puritanical campaign. He aims at preserving the mos maiorum ("ancestral custom") and combating all Greek influences, which he believes are undermining the older Roman standards of morality. He passes measures taxing luxury and strictly revises the list of persons eligible for the Senate. Abuses by tax gatherers are brought under control, and public building is promoted as a worthy cause.source
  • 179 BCEMarcus Aemilius Lepidus is appointed both censor and princeps senatus.source
  • 174 BCEPublius Aelius Paetus, Roman consul and censorsource
  • 164 BCELucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus is elected censor in Rome.source
  • 157 BCEThe Carthaginians, prevented by their treaty with Rome from engaging in armed resistance, but equally guaranteed against any loss of territory, appeal to Rome against the depredations of King Masinissa of Numidia. The Roman censor Marcus Porcius Cato heads a commission which arbitrates a truce between Carthage and her former ally, Masinissa.source
  • 152 BCEMarcus Aemilius Lepidus, Roman statesman, consul, Pontifex Maximus and censor; as a praetor, he has been governor of Sicily in 191 BC.source
  • 150 BCEThe Roman Senate shows displeasure with Carthage's decision to wage war against its neighbour without Roman consent, and tells Carthage that in order to avoid a war it has to "satisfy the Roman People". The Roman censor, Cato the Elder, urges the destruction of Carthage and the Roman Senate orders the gathering of an army.source
  • 136 BCECensorship of Appius Claudius Pulcher and Quintus Fulvius Nobilior.source
  • 130 BCERoman census carried out by Quintus Pompeius and Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus.source

1st century BC

1st century

  • 73Vespasian and Titus are appointed to be Roman censors.source
  • 85Domitian appoints himself censor for life, which gives him the right to control the Senate. His totalitarian tendencies put the senatorial aristocracy firmly in opposition to him.source

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