Editing Roman censor (section)

==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 442 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 reason for having two censors was that the two consuls had previously taken the census together. If one of the censors died during his term of office, another was chosen to replace him, just as with consuls. This happened only once, in 393 BC. However, the [[Gauls]] captured Rome in that ''lustrum'' (five-year period), and the Romans thereafter regarded such replacement as "an offense against religion".<ref>Livy v.31.</ref> From then on, if one of the censors died, his colleague resigned, and two new censors were chosen to replace them.<ref>Livy vi.27, ix.34, xxiv.43, xxvii.6.</ref>

The office of censor was limited to eighteen months by a law proposed by the [[Roman dictator|dictator]] [[Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus]].<ref name="auto">Livy iv.24, ix.33.</ref> During the censorship of [[Appius Claudius Caecus]] (312–308 BC) the prestige of the censorship massively increased. Caecus built the first-ever [[Roman road]] (the [[Via Appia]]) and the first [[Roman aqueduct]] (the [[Aqua Appia]]), both named after him.<ref>"The Romans: From Village to Empire: A History of Rome from Earliest Times to the End of the Western Empire" by M. Boatwright, et al. 2nd edition. 2011.</ref> He changed the organisation of the [[Roman tribes]] and was the first censor to draw the list of [[Roman Senate|senators]]. He also advocated the founding of Roman ''[[Colonia (Roman)|coloniae]]'' throughout [[Latium]] and [[Campania]] to support the Roman war effort in the [[Second Samnite War]]. With these efforts and reforms, Appius [[Appius Claudius Caecus|Claudius Caecus]] was able to hold the censorship for a whole ''lustrum'' (five-year period), and the office of censor, subsequently entrusted with various important duties, eventually attained one of the highest political statuses in the Roman Republic, second only to that of the consuls.<ref>{{Cite web |last=thehistorianshut |date=2020-04-23 |title=The Tale Of The Censors’ Revenge Against Mamercus Aemilius |url=https://thehistorianshut.com/2020/04/23/the-tale-of-the-censors-revenge-against-mamercus-aemilius/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=The Historian's Hut |language=en-US}}</ref>