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/ˈsɛnsə/ · noun
(Ancient Rome, historical) One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and the 6th century C.E.) was a high judge of public behaviour and morality..
The Ancient Roman censors were part of the cursus honorum, a series of public offices held during a political career, like consuls and praetors.
And Nobly nam'd, ſo twice being Cenſor, / Was his great Anceſtor.
Neither [the Segetes Lustrantur and the Oves Lustrantur] are in this place, to be underſtood the Luſtra, which were wont to be Celebrated at Rome by the Cenſors, after the Cenſus of Citizens was made by a Sacrifice of the Suovetaurilia; for they had ceaſed long ago, as appeareth by what Cenſorinus writeth in his Book de Die Natali; at which time the Office of Cenſors also ceaſed, which ſome endeavoured, though in vain, to re-eſtabliſh.
[page 110] [Justus] Lipſius divides the Duty of the Cenſors into two Heads; the Survey of the People, and the Cenſure of Manners. […] With respect to the latter part of their Office, they had the power to puniſh an Immorality in any Perſon, of what Order ſoever. […] [page 111] 'Tis very remarkable, that if one of the Cenſors died, no body was ſubſtituted in his room 'till the next Luſtrum, and his Partner was oblig'd to quit his Office; becauſe the Death of a Cenſor happen'd juſt before the ſacking of Rome by the Gauls, and was ever after accounted highly ominous and unfortunate.
At the head of his victorious legions, in his reign over the ſea and land, from the Nile and Euphrates to the Atlantic ocean, Auguſtus proclaimed himſelf the ſervant of the ſtate and the equal of his fellow-citizens. The conqueror of Rome and her provinces aſſumed the popular and legal form of a cenſor, a conſul, and a tribune.
Use censor when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Censor means (Ancient Rome, historical) One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and the 6th century C.E.) was a high judge of public behaviour and morality..
Common synonyms include censorian, censurer, bowdlerize, expurgate.
Possible antonyms include decensor.
The Ancient Roman censors were part of the cursus honorum, a series of public offices held during a political career, like consuls and praetors.
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The Censors were always two in number, and were originally chosen from the Patricians exclusively. In B.C. 351, we find for the first time a Plebeian Censor, G[aius] Marcius Rutilus. In B.C. 339, a Lex Publilia was passed by Q[uintus] Publilius Philo when Dictator, enacting that at least one of the Censors must be a Plebeian.
The headmaster was an even stricter censor of his boarding pupils’ correspondence than the enemy censors had been of his own when the country was occupied.
There being a censor of public morals I will refrain from giving that worthy warrior's reply when he had digested this astounding piece of information; it is sufficient to say that it did not encourage further conversation, nor did it soothe our hero's nerves.