Censorinus

• A cognomen in the gens Marcia, Cic. Brut. 90, 311 al.—
• II A grammarian of the third century, whose work, De Die Natali, is extant.

Κηνσωρῖνος, the name of a plebeian family of the Marcia gens. The name of this family was originally Rutilus, and the first member of it who acquired the name of Censorinus, was C. Marcius Rutilus [No. 1, below], who is said in the Capitoline Fasti to have received this surname in his second censorship, B. C. 265. Niebuhr, however, remarks (Hist. of Rome, iii. p. 556), that this statement is doubtful, as he might have derived it from the circumstance of his father having first gained for the plebs a share in this dignity.

1. C. Marcius Rutilus Censorinus, C. F. L. N., was the son of C. Marcius Rutilus, the first plebeian dictator (B. C. 356) and censor (B. C. 351). He was consul in B. C. 310 with Q. Fabius Maximus, and while his colleague was engaged in his brilliant campaign in Etruria, Rutilus conducted the war in Samnium and took the town of Allifae. He afterwards fought a battle with the Samnites, in which he was probably defeated; for the statement of Livy, that the battle was a drawn one, is almost outweighed by his confession, that the consul himself was wounded and a legate and several tribunes of the soldiers killed. (Liv. 9.33, 38; Diod. 20.27.)

On the admission of the plebs to the priestly colleges by the Ogulnian law in B. C. 300, by which also the number of their members was increased, Rutilus was elected one of the pontiffs. (Liv. 10.9.) He was censor with P. Cornelius Arvina in 294 (Liv. 10.47), and a second time with Cn. Cornelius Blasio in 265, the only instance in which a peison held the office of censor twice. It is mentioned above that he is said to have received the surname of Censorinus in this honour. After his election Rutilus rebuked the people for having conferred this dignity upon him again, and brought forward a law enacting that no one in future should be eligible to this office a second time. (Liv. Epit. 16; Eutrop. 2.18; V. Max. 4.1.3; Plut. Cor. 1.)

2. L. Marcius Censorinus, C. F. C. N., consul with M'. Manilius in B. C. 149, the first year of the third Punic war. Both consuls were ordered to proceed to Carthage: the command of the army was entrusted to Manilius, and that of the fleet to Censorinus. In the negotiations between the consuls and Carthaginians which preceded actual hostilities, and of which Appian has given us a detailed account, Censorinus acted as spokesman because he was the better orator. After the Carthaginians had refused compliance with the commands of the Romans, who required them to abandon Carthage and build another town not less than ten miles from the sea, the consuls formally laid siege to the city; but Censorinus was compelled shortly afterwards to return to Rome in order to hold the comitia, leaving the conduct of the siege in the hands of his colleague. (Appian, App. Pun. 75_90, 97_99; Liv. Epit. 49; Flor. 2.15; Eutrop. 4.10; Oros. 4.22; Vell. 1.13; Zonar. ix. p. 463; Cic. Brut. 15, 27, ad Att. 12.5.) Censorinus was censor in B. C. 147, with L. Cornelius Lentulus Lupus. (V. Max. 6.9.10.)

It was to this Censorinus that the philosopher Cleitomachus dedicated one of his works. (Cic. Ac. 2.32.)

3. C. Marcius Censorinus, one of the leading men of the Marian party, is first mentioned as the accuser of Sulla on his return from Asia in B. C. 91. (Plut. Sull. 5.) He entered Rome together with Marius and Cinna in B. C. 87, and took a leading part in the massacres which then ensued. It was Censorinus who killed the consul Octavius, the first victim of the proscription; he cut off his head and carried it to Cinna, who commanded it to be hung up on the rostra. Censorinus shared in the vicissitudes of the Marian party, and took an active part in the great campaign of B. C. 82, which established the supremacy of Sulla. He had the command of one of the Marian armies, and is first mentioned as suffering a defeat from Pompey near Sena. He was afterwards sent with eight legions by the consul Carbo to relieve the younger Marius, who was kept besieged at Praeneste; but on his march thither, he was attacked from an ambush by Pompey, and was compelled after considerable loss to take refuge on a neighbouring hill. His men, believing him to be the cause of their defeat, deserted him in a body, with the exception of seven cohorts, with which miserable remnant he was compelled to return to Carbo. When Carbo shortly afterwards abandoned Italy in despair, Censorinus united his forces with those of Brutus Damasippus and Carrinas, and these three generals, after an ineffectual attempt to force the passes of Praeneste with the object of relieving the town, marched towards Rome, hoping to take the city as it was destitute of men and provisions. Sulla, however, hastened after them, and a dreadful battle was fought near the Colline gate, which ended in the total defeat of the Marian army. Censorinus and Carrinas took to flight, but were overtaken and brought back to Sulla, who commanded them to be put to death, and their heads to be cut off and carried round the walls of Praeneste to inform Marius of the fate of his friends. (Appian, App. BC 1.71, 88, 90, 92, 93.) Censorinus is spoken of by Cicero as one of the orators of his time, and as tolerably well versed in Greek literature. (Brut. 67, 90.)

4. (Marcius) Censorinus, one of the friends of Q. Cicero in Asia, B. C. 59 (Cic. ad Q. Fr. 1.2.4), may possibly be the same as the following.

5. L. Marcius Censorinus, L. F. C. N., a violent partizan of M. Antony, and one of the praetors in B. C. 43. (Cic. Phil. 11.5, 14, 13.2, duo praetores, 12.8; comp. Garaton. ad 12.8.) When Antony passed over into Asia after arranging the affairs of Greece in B. C. 41, he left Censorinus governor of the province. (Plut. Ant. 24.) His adherence to Antony procured him the consulship in 39 (D. C. 48.34), and we learn from the Triumphal Fasti, that he obtained a triumph for some successes he had gained in Macedonia, which must consequently have been his province.

6. C. Marcius Censorinus, L. F. L. N., son of No. 5, was consul in B. C. 8 (D. C. 55.5; Plin. Nat. 33.10. s. 47; Censorin. 22; Sueton. Vit. Horat.; Lapis Ancyranus), and seems to have obtained subsequently the government of Syria, from the way in which he is mentioned by Josephus (J. AJ 16.6.2) in the decree of Augustus securing certain immunities to the Jews. He died in Asia in A. D. 2, when he was in attendance upon C. Caesar, the grandson of Augustus. His death was universally regretted: Velleius Paterculus calls him (2.102) " Vir demerendis hominibus genitus."

There are several interesting coins of the Marcia gens, bearing upon them the names of C. Censorinus and L. Censorinus; but it is impossible to determine to which of the preceding Censorini they belong. Five specimens of these coins are given below. The first three contain on the obverse the heads of Numa Pompilius and Ancus Marcius, the second and fourth kings of Rome, because the Marcia gens claimed to be descended from Ancus Marcius [Marcia Gens], and the latter was supposed to be the grandson of Numa Pompilius. In these three coins Numa is represented with a beard, and Ancus without, probably to mark the relation between them of grandfather and grandson. The obverse of the first contains the inscription NUMAE. POMPILI. ANCI. MARCI., and that of the second NVMA. POMPILI. ANCVS. MIARCI. The reverse of the first represents two arches, in one of which Victory stands on a pillar, and in the other is the prow of a vessel, with the moon above. The reverse of the second contains two prows also with a figure of Victory; and both coins seem to have reference to the harbour of Ostia, which was built by Ancus Marcius. The reverse of the third coin represents a desultor riding with two horses, as he was accustomed to leap from one to another in the public games, while they were at full gallop. (Dict. of Ant. s. v. Desultor.) The fourth and fifth coins are of less importance: the fourth has on the obverse a youthful head, and on the reverse a horse at full gallop; the fifth has on the obverse the head of Apollo, and on the reverse, Silenus. (Eckhel, v. p. 245, &c.)

(Appius Claudius), is ranked by Trebellius Pollio among the thirty tyrants [comp. Aureolus], although the number is complete without the addition of his name, and he belongs not to the reign of Gallienus, but of Claudius Gothicus. Censorinus, having devoted his youth and manhood to a military career, attained to the highest dignities. He was twice consul, twice praefect of the praetorium, thrice praefect of the city, four times proconsul, and discharged at various periods the duties of numerous inferior ap pointments. Full of years, and disabled by an honourable wound received in the Persian war, under Valerian, he had retired to pass the evening of his days on his estate, when he was suddenly proclaimed emperor by a body of mutinous troops, and invested with the purple at Bologna, in A. D. 270. Having, however, displayed a determination to enforce strict discipline, he was forthwith put to death by the same soldiers who had raised him to a throne. If any genuine medals of this prince exist, which is very doubtful, they have never been described with sufficient accuracy to render them of any historical value, or even to enable us to determine whether the names Appius Claudius formed part of his designation. Birago, in his Numismata (Mediol. 1683), quotes a Greek coin supposed to indicate the third year of the reign of Censorinus; but, since no account is given of the place where it was preserved, it was in all probability a forgery, especially as we have no reason to believe that the pretender maintained his authority beyond the space of a few days. Tillemont supposes, that the Victorinus mentioned by the younger Victor as having assumed the purple under Claudius is the same person with our Censorinus. (Trebell. Pollio, Trig. Tyr.; Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, vol. p. 37.) [W.R]

the compiler of a treatise entitled de Die Natali, which treats of the generation of man, of his natal hour, of the influence of the stars and genii upon his career, and discusses the various methods employed for the division and calculation of time, together with sundry topics connected with astronomy, mathematics, geography, and music. It affords much valuable information with regard to the various systems of ancient chronology, and is constantly referred to by those who have investigated these topics. The book is dedicated to a certain Q. Cerellius, whom the writer addresses as his patron and benefactor (100.1), and was composed in the year A. D. 238, in the consulship of Ulpius and Pontianus (100.21). Censorinus terms Rome the "communis patria" of himself and Cerellius (100.16); and this fact, along with those detailed above, comprise the whole knowledge we possess with regard to the work and its author. Other Works

A fragment de Metris and lost tracts de Accentibus and de Geometria are ascribed, but upon no sure evidence, to this same Censorinus. Carrio, in his edition published at Paris in 1583, divided the twenty-fourth chapter of the de Die Natali into two parts, considering the latter half to be from a different hand, and to belong to an essay de Naturali Institutione. Editions

The editio princeps of Censorinus is in 4to., without date, place, or printer's name, and contains also the Tabula of Cebes, Plutarch De Invidia et Odio, an oration of Basil upon the same subject and his epistle to Gregory of Nazianzus "de Vita Solitaria," all translated into Latin.

The second edition, printed at Bologna, fol. 1497, is combined with the Tabula of Cebes, a dialogue of Lucian, the Enchiridion of Epictetus, Plutarch and Basil De Invidia et Odio.

The first critical edition is that by Vinetus, Pictav. 4to. 1568, followed by those of Aldus Manutius, Venet. 8vo. 1581, and Carrio, Lutet. 8vo. 1583.

The most complete and valuable is that by Havercamp, Lug. Bat. 8vo. 1743.

The most recent edition is that of Gruber, Noremb. 8vo. 1805. [W.R]

(1) One of the ephemeral Roman emperors who appeared in so great numbers under the reign of Gallienus, and are known in later Roman history as “the Thirty Tyrants” (q.v.). Censorinus had been distinguished in camps and in the Senate: he had been twice consul, twice praetorian prefect, three times prefect of Rome, and four times proconsul. After having passed through this honourable career, he retired to the country, being now advanced in years, and lame from a wound he had received in the war against the Persians during the reign of Valerian. It was under these circumstances that he was proclaimed emperor at Bologna, A.D. 270, in spite, as it would appear, of his own wishes; and by a species of pleasantry he was nicknamed Claudius, in allusion to his lameness (claudus, “lame”). The strict discipline, however, which he wished to introduce gave offence, and he was slain by the very soldiers who had raised him to the throne.

(2) A grammarian and philosopher, who flourished under Maximus and Gordianus, about A.D. 238. He wrote a small work entitled De Die Natali, which was so called because composed on occasion of the birthday of his wealthy friend Q. Cerellius (A.D. 238), and largely taken from the Pratum of Suetonius. It treats of the time of birth; of the influence of one's genius, as well as that of the stars, upon the birth-period of an individual; and embraces many other topics of a chronological, mathematical, and cosmographical character. The style of Censorinus is good, though not free from the blemishes natural to his time. We have also a fragment, De Metris, ascribed to the same writer. He composed also a work on accents, and another on geometry, but these last two have not reached us. The principal MSS. are the Codex Coloniensis (formerly Darmstadtiensis) of the seventh century, and one in the Vatican of the tenth ceutury. The first critical edition of Censorinus was that of Jahn (Berlin, 1845). A later one is that of Hultsch (Leipzig, 1867).

(3) C. Marcius. A Roman distinguished as having been the only one to be twice chosen censor (in B.C. 294 and again in 265).