This list of

Roman censor 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. Established under the Roman Republic, power of the censor was lim ...

s includes all holders through to its subsumption under that of Roman emperor in 22BC. Censors were elected by the Centuriate Assembly and served as a duo. Censors were elected to take an account of all citizens and their property value before performing a rite of religious purification. Roman taxes were levied based on the censors' account, and the censors could punitively tax citizens who failed to present at the census or falsely accounted for their property. Whilst having no right to uphold law or command in war, the office of censor was the highest honour. Unlike the office of

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

, which deteriorated over the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

period, most censors were men of exceptional standing and character. Censors were known also as ''castigatores'' () for their duty as the regulators of public morality. For instance, in 92 BC censors Domitius Ahenobarbus and Crassus condemned the teaching of rhetoric in Latin (as opposed to the customary Greek): Initially, censors were chosen exclusively from among Roman citizens of patrician birth. after legislation – that he introduced while dictator – providing one censor of each two must be a plebeian.

5th century BC

Before 443 BC, the consuls were responsible for the census. In 443 BC, the right to take the census was moved from the consuls to the newly established office of censor. They were chosen exclusively from Patricians.

4th century BC

In 393 BC, Marcus Cornelius P.f. P. n. Maluginensis was elected suffect censor to replace the deceased censor Gaius Iulius Iullus. In 351 BC,

Gaius Marcius Rutilus Gaius Marcius Rutilus (also seen as "Rutulus") was the first plebeian dictator and censor of ancient Rome, and was consul four times. He was first elected consul in 357 BC, then appointed as dictator the following year in order to deal with an in ...

was elected as the first plebeian censor. According to the

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, since 339 BC at least one of the censors had to be plebeian. In 312 BC,

Appius Claudius Caecus Appius Claudius Caecus ( 312–279 BC) was a statesman and writer from the Roman Republic. He is best known for two major building projects: the Appian Way (Latin: Via Appia), the first major Roman road, and the first Roman aqueduct, aqueduc ...

was elected censor without being consul before.

3rd century BC

In 294 and 265 BC, Gaius Marcius Rutilus Censorinus was elected censor. This was the only time a person was elected censor twice. Marcius prevented this situation from repeating itself by originating a law stating that no one could be elected censor twice.

2nd century BC

In 131 BC, for the first time both censors were plebeian. After only one year in office the in 109 BC elected censor Marcus Livius Drusus died. His colleague Marcus Aemilius Scaurus at first refused to resign but resigned when new censors were elected in 108 BC.

1st century BC

Lucius Marcius Philippus and Marcus Perperna were elected censors in 86 BC. Due to civil war and the consequences of

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

's dictatorship, no new censors were elected until 70 BC.

After the Republic

With the solidification of Augustus' rule, the Roman Republic came to an end. The office of censor nominally continued a small way into the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, for example in 14 AD when

Caesar Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

held the office with Tiberius Caesar.

Notes

References

; General * Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Philological Monograph No. 15, vols. 1 and 2. (New York: American Philological Association, 1951, 1952). {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Censors of the Roman Republic *

Censors Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

Censors of the Roman Republic censor