Censors and People’s Assemblies in the Republican Rome Cover Image

Cenzorzy a zgromadzenia ludowe w Rzymie okresu republiki
Censors and People’s Assemblies in the Republican Rome

Author(s): Anna Tarwacka
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, History of Law
Published by: Uniwersytet Opolski
Keywords: people’s assemblies; censor; lustratio; Republican polity

Summary/Abstract: The censor’s office was of crucial importance to the polity during the Republic, being an indispensable element of maintaining the balance. Censors were elected by the centuriate assemblies, which also voted a lex centuriata for them. As there is no doubt concerning the censorial ius contionandi, it seems that the censors never convened the comitia. It does not mean that they lacked competence: it was customary that they convoked the people only for the purpose of the lustratio ceremony ending the census. The censors’ influence on the comitia resulted from their power to decide on a citizen’s membership in a certain property class, centuria and tribus. Censorial notes enabled them to interfere with the citizen’s social status.

  • Issue Year: XIV/2016
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 45-56
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish