Lucius Marcius Censorinus was a

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 throug ...

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 Kin ...

in 39 BC, during the

Second Triumvirate The Second Triumvirate was an extraordinary commission and magistracy created for Mark Antony, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Octavian to give them practically absolute power. It was formally constituted by law on 27 November 43 BC with a ...

. He and his colleague Gaius Calvisius Sabinus had been the only two senators who tried to defend

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

when he was assassinated on the Ides of March in 44 BC, and their consulship under the triumvirate was a recognition of their loyalty. Marcius Censorinus was

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...

of Macedonia and

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

from 42 to 40 BC. He and a

Fabius Maximus Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, surnamed Cunctator ( 280 – 203 BC), was a Roman statesman and general of the third century BC. He was consul five times (233, 228, 215, 214, and 209 BC) and was appointed dictator in 221 and 217 BC. He was ...

were the last proconsuls honored abroad with the title "savior and founder" and with a festival bearing their names before the establishment of the

imperial monarchy An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

under

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

. Following the civil wars of the 40s, Censorinus took possession of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

's beloved house on the

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

Family

The

Marcii Censorini Marcius Censorinus was a name used by a branch of the plebeian '' gens Marcia'' of ancient Rome. The ''cognomen'' Censorinus was acquired through Gaius Marcius Rutilus, the first plebeian censor, whose son used it. The ''gens Marcia'' claime ...

were a branch of the

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same Roman naming conventions#Nomen, nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (p ...

Marcia'', but

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

notes their "ancestral prestige, barely conceding precedence to the patriciate." They had been supporters of

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 ...

and were consistent ''

populares Optimates (; Latin for "best ones", ) and populares (; Latin for "supporters of the people", ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated academic dis ...

'' throughout the civil wars of the 80s and 40s–30s. Lucius's father, who had the same name, was one of

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had ...

's enemies in 88 BC. Censorinus's daughter (or possibly his sister) married

Lucius Sempronius Atratinus Lucius Sempronius Atratinus (died 7 AD) was a Roman politician who was elected suffect consul in 34 BC. He is mentioned in ''Pro Caelio'', a famous speech in defense of Marcus Caelius Rufus by Marcus Tullius Cicero. Biography Probably born a ...

, suffect consul in 34 BC. His son Gaius Marcius Censorinus was consul in 8 BC.

Political and military career

Censorinus was

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

in 43 BC, evidently ''praetor urbanus'' before he went to

Mutina Modena (, , ; egl, label= Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. A town, and seat ...

in support of

Marcus Antonius Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...

, if a caustic remark by Cicero is to be trusted. Along with others who joined Antonius, he was declared a public enemy by the

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. After the

Battle of Philippi The Battle of Philippi was the final battle in the Wars of the Second Triumvirate between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian (of the Second Triumvirate) and the leaders of Julius Caesar's assassination, Brutus and Cassius in 42 BC, at P ...

in 42 BC, Antonius left Censorinus in charge of Macedonia and

, where he remained as proconsul until he was relieved by Asinius Pollio in late 40 BC. Censorinus celebrated a

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

over Macedonia on the first day of his consulship in 39 BC. It has been argued that the triumph was meant to display a new ''concordia'', the recently reaffirmed unity among the

triumvirs A triumvirate ( la, triumvirātus) or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs ( la, triumviri). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are ...

and their power to honor their supporters, and marked Censorinus's achievements only secondarily. Like his consular colleague Calvisius Sabinus, Censorinus began as a partisan of Antonius, but successfully navigated the political shoals as

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

acquired sole power. Among his other rewards for loyalty, Censorinus was allowed to buy Cicero's house on the Palatine, which the orator had exerted such strenuous efforts to restore after its confiscation in connection to his exile. Its value was reckoned at 3,500,000

sesterces The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The na ...

. Although the Palatine house, along with Cicero's other confiscated property following his death, was sold ostensibly at public auction, the symbolism of its possession can hardly have been left to chance. The house next passed to T. Statilius Taurus, whom Cicero notoriously associated with Calvisius. As consuls, Censorinus and Calvisius brought a proposal to the

on behalf of representatives from

Aphrodisias Aphrodisias (; grc, Ἀφροδισιάς, Aphrodisiás) was a small Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Hellenistic_period, Hellenistic city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Anatolia, Turkey. It is located near the modern village of ...

, who complained of abuses during the civil wars. The city was accordingly granted status as an independent ally and received additional benefits and privileges.

Priesthood

In the inscription that records the ''

quindecimviri sacris faciundis In ancient Rome, the were the fifteen () members of a college (''collegium'') with priestly duties. They guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate. This ''collegium'' also oversaw ...

'' who administered the

Secular Games The Saecular Games ( la, Ludi saeculares, originally ) was a Roman religious celebration involving sacrifices and theatrical performances, held in ancient Rome for three days and nights to mark the end of a and the beginning of the next. A , sup ...

of 17 BC, Censorinus occupies the most senior position, second only to

Marcus Agrippa Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (; BC – 12 BC) was a Roman general, statesman, and architect who was a close friend, son-in-law, and lieutenant to the Roman emperor Augustus. He was responsible for the construction of some of the most notable build ...

. He would have been a member of this priestly

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

(''collegium'') as early as 31 BC, and in 17 would have been of rather advanced age. Because he is known to have been active during this time, he is sometimes thought to be the Marcius Censorinus to whom

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

addresses ''Carmen'' 8 of his fourth book of odes. This Censorinus is identified more often as Lucius's son Gaius, the lesser-known consul of 8 BC.

Michael C.J. Putnam Michael Courtney Jenkins Putnam (born September 20, 1933) is an American classicist specializing in Latin literature, but has also studied literature written in many other languages. Putnam has been particularly influential in his publications con ...

, ''Artifices of Eternity: Horace's Fourth Book of Odes'' (Cornell University Press, 1996), pp. 145–15
online.
/ref>

References

Selected bibliography

Unless otherwise noted, dates, offices, and citations of ancient sources from T.R.S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'' (American Philological Association, 1952), vol. 2, pp. 338–339, 362, 374, 382, 386, 426–427; vol. 3 (1986), pp. 48–49. * Syme, Ronald. ''The Roman Revolution''. Oxford University Press, 1939, reissued 2002. * Syme, Ronald. ''The Augustan Aristocracy''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcius Censorinus, Lucius 1st-century BC clergy 1st-century BC Roman consuls

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

Quindecimviri sacris faciundis Roman Republican praetors

Family

Political and military career

Priesthood

See also

References

Selected bibliography