''Capite censi'' were literally, in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

, "those counted by head" in the

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

. Also known as "the head count", the term was used to refer to the lowest class of citizens, people not of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

es, owning little or no property; thus they were counted by the head rather than by their property. Initially ''capite censi'' was synonymous with '' proletarii'', meaning those citizens whose property was too small to be rated for the census. Later though, the ''proletarii'' were distinguished from the ''capite censi'' as having "appreciable property" to the value of 11,000

ass Ass most commonly refers to: * Buttocks (in informal American English) * Donkey or ass, ''Equus africanus asinus'' **any other member of the subgenus ''Asinus'' Ass or ASS may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Ass'' (album), 1973 albu ...

es or less. In contrast, the ''capite censi'' are assumed to have not owned any property of significance.

Gaius Marius Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbric and Jugurthine wars, he held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his important refor ...

, as part of the

Marian reforms The Marian reforms were reforms of the ancient Roman army implemented in 107 BC by the statesman Gaius Marius, for whom they were later named. The reforms originated as a reaction to the military and logistical stagnation of the Roman Republic ...

of 107 BC, allowed these non-land-owning Romans to enlist in the

Roman legion The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period o ...

s. For the first time, men no longer had to own property to fight for

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Because these men had no property, they became the clients of their generals and veterans looked to them for land or monies after demobilization. Since the reforms did not include a permanent demobilization method divorced from army commanders, soldiers became closely linked to their generals for the process of rewarding them for service on demobilization (retirement from active service). The lack of a permanent demobilization process run by the government in Marius' military reform would help facilitate the demise of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

Notes

Social classes in ancient Rome {{Ancient-Rome-stub

See also

Notes